Soaring 2243m high above the surrounding hills, Adam’s Peak is one of the most celeb rated places of pilgrimage in Sri Lanka. It has a curious natural depression at its summit which has been dubbed as the Sacred Footprint by many religions. The Buddhist story claims that it is the footprint of Buddha himself, Muslims claim that the footprint is that of Adam, Hindus claim that the footprint is created by Shiva and Christians claim it to belong to St. Thomas.
During the pilgrimage season, thousands of visitors make the climb up Adam’s peak, typically making the climb during the night to catch the awe inspiring views at the breaking of dawn.
Our guidebooks tells us to allot 4 hours for the climb, but we meet a lot of travellers along the way who have done the climb and say that it can be done in well under 4 hours. All thoughts I have of a pleasant stroll up the hill, taking relaxing stops at the tea stalls along the way are dashed when, after talking to a number of people, Vic decides he wants to do the climb as quickly as possible.
We get up at 3 am to start the 7 km climb on the lit and mainly stepped footpath (there are around 5500 steps) up the mountain. The climb is gruelling, with the last hour essentially being a wall of non-stop stairs, but between seeing elder villagers going up barefoot and mothers making the climb carrying babies, it’s hard to complain.
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| 3 am |
When we finally do make it up to the top in just over 2 hours, panting and out of breath, we find a quiet ledge away from the rest of the people at the side of the mountain and enjoy the views offered by the first sunrise of our trip.
