Lucky for me my weekend adventure was not a solo event. Hanna was kind enough to agree to
accompany me, and together we convinced Emil to come along. He had only one concern; a
cross-country skiing event that is famous in Sweden that was being televised on
Sunday. It was very important that
he return for Sunday. Oh the Swed’s
and their Nordic sports. Ha ha. So the three of us decided to go
to the “hill country” for the weekend.
This is the central part of the country where they make tea. It is one of Sri Lanka’s largest
exports. We also decided we would climb Adam’s
peak, also known as Sri Pada. It
is one of the highest mountain ranges in Sri Lanka, approximately 2,250m and
has been a pilgrimage site for thousands. It is known as Adam’s peak for various reasons, depending on
religious belief of those ascending it. For some it is the place where Adam set
foot on the earth after being cast out from heaven; for others it is the sacred
footprint left by the Buddha as he headed towards paradise; or the Butterfly
mountain where butterflies go to die: or it is the footprint crowning the peak
to be that of St Thomas the early apostle of India. The pilgrimage season begins in December and runs until May.
There are countless steps to the top, and the pathway is light by vendors and
lights along the way.
After a day at the school Hanna, Emil and I made a mad dash
for the train station. We were
released a little early from SLSPO (Sri Lanka School of Prosthetics and Orthotics
aka the school) and wanted to make sure we started our trek early. We had consulted one of the other
ex-pats (Eleanor from England, Elly) at the school about where we should stay
and how long it would take us to do things. She gave us names and numbers for hotels, as well as advice
on transport. Elly told us it
would take us a little over 3 hours to get to our weekend adventure. This was a very incorrect estimation I
later found out. However, I am
glad she under estimated the time, as I am sure Emil or Hanna would have backed
out.
After our dashing about, we arrived at the train station
sweaty, but on time. No one runs
in Sri Lanka, because its too darn hot.
Honestly! Who runs in 40
degree weather (plus humidity)? Only foreigners.
After the train all 3 of us squeezed (with our baggage) into
a tuk tuk to arrive at the bus station. We made it just in time … to wait. Apparently they don’t run a strict bus
schedule, it’s just whenever the bus is full. After about a hour of waiting we were on our way. It was an interesting experience, to
say the least. The driver was
crazy. He was really fast compared
to all the other drivers on the road. Not only was the speed crazy, but he
would drive down the middle of the road, honking at tuk tuks, motorbikes, other
cars, and small buses to get out of the way. He would only stay on his side if the vehicle was a truck or
bus that was larger. A few times we narrowly escaped a head
on collision. Despite my opinion
of the driver, Hanna told me this was one of the better bus drivers. Yikes! Along our journey we picked up other passengers, at
“bus stops”; the assistant driver would hang himself out the side door yelling
the destination of our route. When he spotted someone who wanted to travel with
us he would warn the driver, he would subsequently slow down and people would
hop on. One man tripped and fell during one of these “bus stops”. I was certain
he was under the tires of the bus; I feared we would end up with a dead man or
an amputee. However, he popped up
from the ground and got on the bus.
The roads were rough, lined with vendors selling anything
from fruits and vegetables to plastic toys. The “stores” (I write this in quotations, because some were
more like a shack) were selling washing machines, treadmills (really? In this
heat?), and other random things.
Very strange sights. The
Bollywood music was blaring out of the bus’ speakers the entire way, as we bumped
along the road. The young guy who
was sitting next to me fell asleep and used me as a convenient leaning post.
Not fun, especially when the seats are already so narrow.
We arrived at 11:30 pm at our hotel in Dalhousie, in the
hill country; River View Wathsala Inn.
The lights were all off and we were obviously the last guests to
arrive. Emil, Hanna and I shared a
room together, which helped to save a few Rupees. I got a twin bed, which was an “interesting” piece of
furniture. The bed was slatted,
but the slats were so far apart that the mattress with me included, fell
between each slat. Oh well, I
wasn’t there for long. We were
told by Elly that we had to start our hike at 2:30 am in order to be at the
summit for 5:30 am. It seemed
utterly ridiculous to be venturing on this hike so early, however the end goal
was definitely worth the effort.
A wonderful bonus to this trip was the cool temperatures. During the night the temperatures dropped to about 10 or 15 degrees celsius (you can see my scarf and Emil's hood in the photos). This was a much needed relief from the muggy air in Columbo. I loved climbing into my warm clothes, and using a blanket at night. It reminded me of fall in Canada. However, the Sri Lankan's dressed like they were the north pole. I even saw some of them climbing with Santa hats on (however, still had their flip flops on). I laughed. I can now understand why I see people marching around Toronto in the summer with a toque or coat on. During the day it warmed up to about 25-30 degrees. Lovely! Again, the Sri Lankan's still think it isn't warm.
The hike began in darkness, along Hatton Road. The only lights were that of the
vendors which lined the path, as well as the “street lamps” shinning from
above. Buddhist flags (red, white,
yellow, and blue) were hanging above our heads and along either side of the
path. Despite the late hours,
there were ample people about. As
the night progressed and the stairs kept looming before us, there were more and
more people. It wasn’t just a path travelled by people my age, but anyone from
infants in their mother’s or father’s arms, toddlers, to people in their
seventies or even eighties. I do admire all the efforts; some had people pushing or pulling them up the
thousands of steps to the top. The last few stairs were the worst, because of the
utter mayhem; there were so many people trying to get to the top. The actual top was such a small area,
that it was no wonder there was a kind of traffic jam.
 |
| Making our way to the top under the night sky |
 |
| Sunrise at the top of Adam's Peak, Sri Pada |
 |
| Emil, Hanna, myself, and thousands of Sri Lankan's; we made it! |
After battling the crowds we got to the top at about 5:30
am, and awaited the sunrise. It
was spectacular, for a lack of better description. The colors of the
sun were amazing, and the beauty of the landscape was sprawling before us. I also think sharing this experience
with literally thousands of others made the event even more amazing.
Since this is a religious pilgrimage a prayer procession
began at 6:30 am (I think). The
Buddhists bent down and began to pray to the Buddha that was situated at the
top of the mountain. The chanting was interesting and
soothing as you watched the sunrise.
 |
| A taste of the chaos |
 |
| The color Buddhist flags seen along our pathway |
 |
| Making the descent |
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| You can see the shadow of Adam's peak in the background; its the pointy cone shape |
After taking numerous photos Emil, Hanna and I began our
descent. This was also a
challenge. After a while your
thighs were so fatigued they began to shake. When we finally made it back to the hotel we quickly ate
breakfast, showered and packed up. Emil went home to Columbo to ensure he was
home for the skiing event, while Hanna and I headed off on another 2 hour bus
ride further East. We went to the
town of Nuwara Eliya, known for its tea.
 |
| Labookellie Tea Factory, Nuwara Eliya |
Our new hotel owner, Wasantha Thalpage, met us at the bus
station. He organized a driver to
take us to the tea plantation, Labookellie Tea Factory. Once we arrived at the estate, the
driver waited for us as we went on a tour of the factory, enjoyed the aromas of
the drying tea leaves, had a cup of complimentary tea on the veranda over
looking the hills, bought some tea to take home with us, and took some pictures
of the Tamil ladies picking the tea leaves.
 |
| Drying tea leaves |
Here are some interesting tea facts:
Tea came to Sri Lanka when the coffee plantations were
decimated by disease in the 19th century. In 2008, Sri Lanka
overtook Kenya as the second most important tea producing nation, with an
annual production of 330 million kg.
Sri lanka tea (branded as Ceylon tea) sells at auction at prices 50%
higher than its rival and market leader India. Despite this, wages for Tamil tea pickers is extremely low,
about $3/day – where the pickers must pick a minimum of 20 kg of tea leaves a day. Tea bushes are pruned back to 1 m in
height, every 5 years, and the tea pickers (all women) move through rows of the
bushes picking the leaves and buds (light green leaves not the dark green, as
we were told at the factory). The
bushes usually last about 60 years, are then uprooted. The leaves are brought to the factory
and withered by air blowing at them through mechanized troughs. The leaves are then crushed, starting a
fermentation process. The art in
tea production comes in knowing when to stop the fermentation, by firing the
tea to produce the final, brown-black leaf. Tea is graded by the size and quality. The finer the tea is cut or crushed the
stronger the tea, the larger the leaves the lighter the taste.
 |
| Tamil women picking tea leaves |
After we finished our tour of the factory, our driver
brought us to King Fern hotel. An
amazing little hotel located in the hills of Nuwara Eliya. It was a very quaint sight, with
beautiful gardens, and run by the most pleasant Sri Lankan couple. The welcomed us provided us with a room
overlooking the town, so we could wake up and see the sunrise over the horizon
(yes, we woke up again very early.. ugh).
Hanna and I were both extremely tired after our day of hiking, sight
seeing, and traveling. We ate dinner at the hotel and then went to bed at 8pm.
 |
| Sunrise from our hotel veranda |
On Sunday we awoke to another fantastic sunrise, at 6 am. After we enjoyed the view we had breakfast, which was eggs, toast with
pineapple jam, fresh fruit, and coffee (the coffee actually tasted ok). We asked Wasantha were we could find a
good place to hike. He was
surprised we were willing to tackle another climb after yesterday’s
adventures. Wasantha
volunteered to take us on a hike up the highest peak in Sri Lanka, Mount Pedro. He told us it was not a well defined
trail, and he would need to accompany us.
So after he helped his wife with getting the other guests breakfast, off
we went. We definitely would not
have found this place on our own.
There were a few times we were battling leaves and bushes, we even heard
a wild boar running down the mountain!
 |
| Top of mount Pedro |
We reached the top of Mount Pedro, and before us was this wonderful
view. You could see for miles and
miles the tea estates. Wasantha
gave us a little education on the area as well as explained some of the plants
and trees. It was a
great finish to our weekend.
After a stop to enjoy the view, we had to promptly get down the
mountain, as we had to catch our train in a couple of hours. Hanna who is very tall, picked up her
pace and soon left Wasantha and I in her dust. It is very hard to keep up to a Swedish gazelle! Poor Wasantha had to run to keep pace
with her. I have never seen a Sri
Lankan move so quickly.
 |
| Wasantha and myself |
When we got back to the hotel we quickly packed our bags, and Wasantha's wife had a lunch packed and ready for us to take on the train. How amazing is that? Such a great couple. I don't think I have been treated so well at any other hotel I have ever stayed at. I will definitely write a raving review on Trip advisor for them (the hotel owners in Sri Lanka rely very heavily on the reviews from trip advisor. If they dont make it into the books like lonely planet or on the internet, then they don't survive).
We took the train back to Columbo passing through the hill
country. It was a scenic ride, and
allowed us to see some more of the country. After 7 hours on the train we arrived home. I had to quickly do a load of laundry
and pack my bags. Monday I would
be heading north to Vavuniya. This
will begin my mentoring or teaching at the prosthetics and orthotic clinics….
The actual purpose of this trip!
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