By the time the trip actually occured in Dec 2012, Hamsa had to prioritize a trip to US above this one and so it turned out he third couple had cancelled their journey with us. So, AJ & I landed in Lanka 3 days prior to Prana/Manoj. Being the trek friendly couple (or so I'd like to believe :P ) that we were we headed straight to Adams Peak, Delhousie. A beautiful 4 hour journey that we began at 4AM took us thru green winding roads to the 1st hotel we were staying at called 'Slightly Chilled'. Formerly this hotel was known as Yellow House and till date it is yellow in color, but what is to die for are the views from the rooms at this property! We could see the mountain we were out to conquer- Adams Peak, also called Sripadaya. It was to be 5000 steps up to the peak which housed a place of worship but more importantly allowed us to see a glorious sunrise!! By evening we had figured out that we had to begin our trek at 2AM and we had to carry our food since nothing much was available up there. (This apart from Mr AJ's camera equipment that he refuses to part with). Remembering the chilly winds from my last experience i shopped the local shops to pick a nice thick bomber jacket for myself. The hotel staff were very helpful and gave us a torch and lent AJ a wind cheater too!
It was raining the previous day and there was of course the constant threat of us not being able to climb the mountain. To top it all, AJ was also playing the lazy card to the extent possible trying to ensure that we sleep in a bit more and start late! But on my insistance, we set the alarm for 1 AM and woke up groggy eyed! The hotel staff were kind enough to provide us with some food and we finally set off. There was another couple from UK who started off along with us and provided good company until we hit the steeper bit of the climb...you can figure out what happened next! :D
On our way to the top, we saw a number of buddha statues, most magnificent of all was the one lying down at the entrance of the mountain. On we went, higher we went steeper the climb!! Then slowly we started seeing other climbers (well seasoned ones of course!) who started a bit late but were catching up with us! Huffing n puffing we finally managed to reach the top. There was a fair crowd all waiting the catch a glimpse of the much touted golden sunrise and we were not disappointed. As the sun rose, we saw a sea of clouds below and the rays of the sun lighting up the entire place like a fireball! it was indeed a sight to behold and worth every ounce of pain felt during the climb! We managed to get a decent number of pics and then the indecent descent began! :P
Once we were done with the sunrise we took our shoes off and visited the temple on top. The temple only opens at 6 AM, the poojas are nice to watch. The views around are FANTASTIC!
Man, was the climb up easier, the climb down began with an uneasy sense of aging as my knees started to hurt, soon they were making rickety noises and later I could feel it developing a will of it's own as it refused to help me climb down the stairs!!
About 2/3rds of the way down I really began to feel I had to give up...only AJ's constant words of encouragement took me thru.. to give you a perspective, the last 1/2 KM took me nearly an hour to hobble. Once in the hotel we realized the worst part of the whole thing, our room was below ground level 2 floors!!! Aaaarggghhh!! The descent wasn't over yet! Now I guess you get the pun indicated in the title of this chapter :P
Finally we managed to get a couple of hours sleep and then limped our way back out of the hotel. The drive to Kandy was again breathtakingly beautiful, only our heavy legs made it impossible for us to get out of the car for any pictures.
Sripada had ensured it lived up to it's name and gave us 'special feet' indeed- we were walking like a pair of penguins! :-))
It was raining the previous day and there was of course the constant threat of us not being able to climb the mountain. To top it all, AJ was also playing the lazy card to the extent possible trying to ensure that we sleep in a bit more and start late! But on my insistance, we set the alarm for 1 AM and woke up groggy eyed! The hotel staff were kind enough to provide us with some food and we finally set off. There was another couple from UK who started off along with us and provided good company until we hit the steeper bit of the climb...you can figure out what happened next! :D
On our way to the top, we saw a number of buddha statues, most magnificent of all was the one lying down at the entrance of the mountain. On we went, higher we went steeper the climb!! Then slowly we started seeing other climbers (well seasoned ones of course!) who started a bit late but were catching up with us! Huffing n puffing we finally managed to reach the top. There was a fair crowd all waiting the catch a glimpse of the much touted golden sunrise and we were not disappointed. As the sun rose, we saw a sea of clouds below and the rays of the sun lighting up the entire place like a fireball! it was indeed a sight to behold and worth every ounce of pain felt during the climb! We managed to get a decent number of pics and then the indecent descent began! :P
Once we were done with the sunrise we took our shoes off and visited the temple on top. The temple only opens at 6 AM, the poojas are nice to watch. The views around are FANTASTIC!
Man, was the climb up easier, the climb down began with an uneasy sense of aging as my knees started to hurt, soon they were making rickety noises and later I could feel it developing a will of it's own as it refused to help me climb down the stairs!!
About 2/3rds of the way down I really began to feel I had to give up...only AJ's constant words of encouragement took me thru.. to give you a perspective, the last 1/2 KM took me nearly an hour to hobble. Once in the hotel we realized the worst part of the whole thing, our room was below ground level 2 floors!!! Aaaarggghhh!! The descent wasn't over yet! Now I guess you get the pun indicated in the title of this chapter :P
Finally we managed to get a couple of hours sleep and then limped our way back out of the hotel. The drive to Kandy was again breathtakingly beautiful, only our heavy legs made it impossible for us to get out of the car for any pictures.
Sripada had ensured it lived up to it's name and gave us 'special feet' indeed- we were walking like a pair of penguins! :-))
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