“If anything can go wrong, it will”
I must begin by stating (just for the record) that as of December 18, 2006 a.k.a. our ambitious quest to conquer the magnificent Adam’s Peak, (better known as Sri Pade), my respect for Edward Murphy has grown in great abundance!
“I remember it as clearly as it were just yesterday. There were six of us enthusiastic expeditors. Hope and anticipation glistening in our eyes. We had unanimously decided on the challenge. The scene was set. We were to take the 6 a.m. inter-city train from the Fort railway station to Hatton and then get picked up by the owner of the rest house we were to stay in, from there. Now, this was in fact ‘The Plan’. Little did we know at the time though, that every single aspect of this very ‘plan’, would eventually fall apart, not even leaving behind a trace of it’s existence…”
So now on with the retelling of an once in a lifetime story… We arrived at the Fort station at 5.30 a.m. comfortably ahead of schedule, bought the tickets and jumped on. Only to find out, the train was jam-packed and we wound up being squished into the furthermost carriage of the train…standing! This did not come across to us as the most favourable of prospects, taking into consideration the duration of the journey ahead; estimated prior to the trip to be aproximately five hours. However, on chatting with some regulars (something we possibly should have done prior to getting on), we soon found out that the journey didn’t take five hours at all, but rather, close to eight hours! As it was just a one night excursion, standing for eight hours on a train wasn’t something we had bargained for, especially since conserving all our energy for the rigourous night ahead, was top priority.
Note: If you do intend to take the inter-city train, get there atleast an hour or more ahead of time or pre-book first class tickets as there are only a limited number available. In short, don’t do as we did.
Therefore, immediate measures had to be taken. ‘Plan B’ had to come to the fore; the inter-city bus. So, at the next station itself, the six trekkers clambered out and awaited the train back to Fort (observers may have questioned our sanity on seeing us back within an hour but, anyways…) Then we trudged our way to the bus station and finally…we were on our way.
The bus actually took only about 3½ hours, so it didn’t put us too far behind schedule. But, of course I spoke too soon. We had been given specific instructions by our soon to be host, to stand at the main bus stand, next to the big Bo-tree. So there we stood, backpacks and sleeping bags (don’t ask why we took them) in hand, waiting for our dear host. Two hours and about ten calls later, we find out that the van on its way to pick us up had broken down enroute and couln’t be contacted so, we decide to hire a van from opposite the bus stand and find our way to Punsisi Rest, our eventual destination. About ten minutes into our journey towards Maskeliya, we spot the van meant to come pick us up at a nearby garage. So of course, we had to switch vans. Once the repair was done (more time spent on the road) we all packed in and were now definitely on our way!
Up until the point all are bags spilt out on to the main road, that is. We had so much luggage that I’m guessing it was too much of a strain on the back door. So one minute we’re peacefully travelling along and the next, we’re looking back at our luggage strewn all over the road. I mean how is it possible for so much to go wrong in one day? The only thing left to happen now, was for one of us to fall off the mountain! Which of course did not happen…thank heavens!
The rest of our journey proceeded without much disarray and we finally arrived at the pleasant Punsisi Rest at Nallathanni. We were greeted with a scrumptious lunch, after which it was rest and conserving energy time for the weary travellers. That night at the strike of midnight, we were to start our ascent…
The time was finally upon us…and as we stepped out into the chilly night air, all dressed up like eskimos, bright-eyed and cheery, we strode confidently onward, completely oblivious to what lay ahead. An hour or so into the journey and a few layers of clothing lighter (having stripped off a few articles as it had grown progressively warmer), we came to what couldn’t have been anything besides an entrance of some sort. One hour into the journey and we’ve only made it to the entrance? Which is by the way at the very foot of the mountain! From which point, when we look upward, all we could see was this unending stream of tubelights. It’s a good thing to keep them in mind, as after a while, reaching that final tubelight will be your sole desire…the solitary thread by which your sanity hangs….
Now this, if at all, should have acted as a definite premonition of the nature of things to come. But, for some unknown reason, we failed to take heed.
By this time we had also added on a ‘faithful four-legged guide’ as well to our party of six. He was promptly christened “Ben” for no apparent reason actually. So, from this point onward it was Ben at the fore, egging us on. Many were the times, he’d trot ahead and catch a few winks whilst awaiting our eventual arrival. After about another hour or so, we got to the Siddhalepa centre. Quite exhausted at this point, you can imagine our joy when we were told by a guys there, that this was in fact the half-way mark and that the end was near. (If I could only get my hands around the neck of that lying sod!!!)
After resting our weary bones there for a little while, we got back on track. Still following the lights, which by this point I was convinced were fixed on the moon…we kept going and going and going, until we could go no more. We kept at it, on all fours at times…just staring out at the tubelights, willing them with every step we took, to stop spiralling further and further away from us.
On our way up we also came across this place popularly referred to as Indikatu Pahana, where hundreds of strands of white thread were strung along one wall of this stairway and packets of kasaya etc., nailed to this pillar. According to an elderly man of the area, in days of old, when the entire area had been jungle, Indikatu Pahana had been a sort of transit point, where people would rest and sew up their torn clothes. The excess thread they would leave here for others after them to use. Even the kasaya’s were left there for pilgrims to rejuvenate themselves for the rest of their journey.
Intense exhastion and the ultimate test of will power was yet to come, as two hours later, we were still gazing up at the sea of lights over head. We didn’t seem to have gotten any closer to the summit and the higher we climbed the further the peak seemed. Yet another 45 minutes down the line, it became almost impossible for me to keep going. The weather was chillier, the sheer volume of lights ahead of us, even after climbing all this time, was way to frustrating to even begin complaining. Much pep talks and motivational talks later, I was told that I had almost reached the top! The top was actually in sight but I wouldn’t believe it until I actually saw it for myself.
Misty and freezing, I must say my first impressions of the summit at 5.30 a.m. weren’t all that great! For some reason I guess I expected more or maybe it was possibly due to my rather disturbed state of mind at the time. Adding to our ‘series of unfortuante events’, we sat huddled together in the freezing cold (additional layers back on) for a good hour or more, only to be told via the intercom that as a result of the thick mist, we wouldn’t be able to see the sunrise. To make things worse, whilst we’re there clad like polar bears shivering away, we see an old bow-legged lady, barefoot and wearing only a thin saree appear before us as though out of no where. Shamefaced and crestfallen, we dragged our feet to the resting hall on the side, where we all just slumped together in a ball and fell fast asleep out of sheer fatigue.
About two hours later, after a good nap, we were better able to appreciate the spectacular scenary and 360º panoramic view around us. I must admit it was incredibly breath taking, making it well worth our rigourous effort. However, it was now time to make the all important decision – do we climb down or jump off? Rather reluctantly I agreed to the unanimous decision of going with the former suggestion and thus began our descent.
Walking or crawling, chilly or humid, tubelights or no tubelights, sunrise or no sunrise, taking on Adams Peak is a must for anyone claiming some sort of Sri Lankan identity. It was an experience like no other…memorable right through to the end. Am I glad I did it? Yes of course. Would I do it again. Not in this lifetime!
Accomodation
Punsisi Rest – Delhouse Adamspeak, Maskeliya
Tel. 051-4920313/ 0777- 665401
