Journey to Sri Lanka: A Night Among Hundreds of Sri Lankans

Travel opens us up to new challenges, to the environment, to the perception of people, shapes our characters, is inspiring and gives a lot of satisfaction. Someone once said that travel is the only the thing that we become richer by spending money on. I agree with this statement one hundred percent! I spend money on nothing as easily as buying a plane ticket to another exotic country…

The first place I thought of was Sri Lanka, where I went a few years ago with my husband Piotrek. Called the Pearl of India, it has something that makes me want to go back there and more than once! Everyone will find something for themselves here - beautiful nature, animals, heavenly deserted beaches, smiling people, amazing culture and the spiciest food in the world.

Our adventure with Ceylon began, like probably most travelers to this country, in Colombo – a city that probably once made a huge impression. Currently, the remains of colonial times, mainly railway stations, ports, and government offices, give us only a small idea of ​​what Colombo might have looked like in the old days. During our two-week trip around Sri Lanka, we visited Kandy, Dutch Galle, the charming Ella Hills and several national parks. We also spent some time in the south of the island, in beach towns – Mirissa i Tangalle. However, we unanimously agreed that the absolute highlight of this trip was climbing one of the highest peaks in Ceylon, Adam's Peak, which is located in the heart of the island.

Beaches and Treasures of Ceylon

SRI LANKA - Waikkal, Sigirya, Habarana, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Yala, Tangalla
Pristine beaches, green palms, the best aromatic curry in the world and the downright disarming smiles of the locals, who will often lend you a helping hand. This is the delightful Sri Lanka!

Jesus, Buddha and Shiva

This sacred mountain of Sri Lankans is the destination of numerous pilgrimages. There are many legends about this place, which change depending on who tells them. Adam's Mountain is important not only to Buddhists, but also to followers of Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. The legend that is closest to us is that Jesus left a footprint on the very top when he descended from heaven. If you are a follower of Buddhism or Hinduism, replace Jesus with Buddha or Shiva, respectively.

After a stay in the cultural capital of Sri Lanka, Kandy, and a few days of wandering around tea plantations, watching animals, observing fishermen around Galle, we decided to do something crazy, something spontaneous, something that would allow us to touch the real Sri Lanka, get to know its inhabitants, their everyday lives and customs. And most importantly – do all this away from tourists!

Wild crowds where we didn't expect them

We decided that climbing a peak over 2000 meters above sea level with a few locals and possibly additional companions in the form of lizards was a great idea. Without thinking much, we packed our backpacks and jumped on the first bus leaving for our dream destination.

The route, which led through twisting serpentines and the driver who wanted to give us a heart attack, I will never forget. As well as the incredible views that unfolded from the windows of that battered vehicle and the smiles of the incredibly nice Sri Lankans traveling with us, for whom we were a huge attraction.

Imagine our surprise when, about ten kilometres before the town of Dalhousie, the base camp for the summit, we saw large buses, vans and cars on the side of the road on both sides. In front of them, people were eating, washing and relaxing. What's going on?! Could it be that the clientele of large travel agencies like Neckermann has already arrived here?

It was even worse on site – cars everywhere, crowds of people everywhere! General chaos and noise. One thing we didn’t agree with was that among these wild crowds there were no Germans, Americans or other tourists. We started asking around about somewhere to stay or a place where we could leave our luggage for the duration of our night climb. It wasn’t easy, because Dalhousie’s accommodation facilities weren’t the most developed.

Sri Lanka & Maldives

SRI LANKA, MALDIVES - Sri Lanka and Maldives - Waikkal, Sigirya, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Yala, Tangalla, Maldives
Pristine beaches, green palms, the best aromatic curry in the world, azure water in the Maldives and sand like milky white flour. It will turn out that the vacation of your dreams is becoming a fact!

A friendly Sri Lankan comes to our rescue

Amal, who we met there, tapped his forehead and informed us that we must have gone mad, because tonight is the biggest holiday and about 300 thousand Sri Lankans are planning to climb the mountain! Thanks to Amal's enlightenment, we learned that once a year, between December and May, Sri Lankans of all faiths go on a pilgrimage, during which they pay homage to the footprint of Buddha, Shiva, Jesus - depending on the religion they follow. And we happened to come across the most important day of the period!

Luckily, Amal had rented us a small room in his house, where we decided to rest before the climb that awaited us. The town itself was poor, small and dirty. And the view of the illuminated peak and the almost five thousand steps (allegedly) that led to the temple was simply breathtaking! During lunch at a local restaurant, we met a guide who, for a small fee, offered to help us climb the peak on unbeaten, familiar trails.

Pilgrimage to Adam's Peak

At 2:00 a.m., along with a crowd of 3, we set off up the stairs, on a three-hour trek. What at first seemed like an easy, several-hour walk up the stone steps turned out to be a fight for the smallest bit of free space on the narrowing stairs.

Walking the first kilometer with all this crowd wasn’t easy – avoiding old people lying on the ground, resting, and screaming children, and stopping every now and then to catch our breath or drink some water in one of several pubs located on our route…

We decided to skip this type of attraction and enter the jungle to climb parallel to the designated route to the top. Slipping on the mud, in my beautiful white sneakers, which were no longer white and beautiful, catching on to branches so as not to fall down! Practically at the very top we had to go from the outside of the protective railing at the stairs above the precipice (which we realized later, while descending, when it was already light!). Fortunately, we reached the place at about 6:00 in the morning!

The Wealth of Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA - Anuradhapura, Sigirya, Dambulla, Kandy, Peradeniya, Nuwara Eliya, Ella, Yala, Koggala
The beautiful interior of Sri Lanka, where both the places and hotels captivate with their beauty. The program includes all the best - places of worship, spice plantations, green tea hills and safari in the National Park.

The wild crowd pressing towards the Sri Pada temple, where the legendary footprint is located, the crying children, the crush – all of it was worth the sweat and my white sneakers. But the most amazing thing was watching the sunrise and the views from Adam’s Mountain at that memorable moment.

As it turned out, the views and footprints aren’t the biggest attractions here! Our guide told us about an interesting phenomenon that happens at sunrise, when the perfectly triangular peak of the mountain casts a shadow on the clouds hanging below the peak. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to see this phenomenon. Maybe next time…

The fulfilled dream of an adventure, of getting to know the real Sri Lanka, its friendly inhabitants, although in excess, made us much richer in new acquaintances, new experiences, new memories.

Much wealthier, we began our journey down.