5500 Steps Along the Pilgrimage Climb to Adam’s Peak……

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5500 Steps Along the Pilgrimage Climb to Adam’s Peak……
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<h1>Adam's Peak, a sacred spot for believers of every faith— and those that have none:</h1>
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<p>&nbsp;Jutting sharply skyward from the lush jungles of southwestern Sri Lanka &nbsp;is the 7362 foot (2243 meter) peak of Sri Pada, the 'Holy Footprint'. &nbsp;Also called Adam's Peak, the mountain has the unique distinction of &nbsp;being sacred to the followers of four of the world's major religions: &nbsp;Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Long before the development &nbsp;of these religions, however, the mountain was worshipped by the &nbsp;aboriginal inhabitants of Sri Lanka, the Veddas. Their name for the peak &nbsp;was Samanala Kanda; Saman being one of the four guardian deities of the &nbsp;island. For Hindus, the name of the mountain is Sivan Adi Padham, &nbsp;because it was the world-creative dance of the god Shiva that left the &nbsp;giant footprint (5 feet 7 inches by 2 feet 6 inches). According to &nbsp;Buddhist traditions from as early as 300 BC, the real print is actually &nbsp;beneath this larger marking. Imprinted on a huge sapphire, it was left &nbsp;by the Buddha during the third and final of his legendary visits to Sri &nbsp;Lanka. When Portuguese Christians came to the island in the 16th century &nbsp;they claimed the impression to be the footprint of St. Thomas who, &nbsp;according to legend, first brought Christianity to Sri Lanka. And &nbsp;finally, the Arabs record it as being the solitary footprint of Adam &nbsp;where he stood for a thousand years of penance on one foot. An Arab &nbsp;tradition tells that when Adam was expelled from heaven, God put him on &nbsp;the peak to make the shock less terrible - Ceylon being that place on &nbsp;earth closest to and most like heaven.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>&nbsp;The mountain is more easily seen from the sea than from land, and also &nbsp;more impressive. Early Arab seafarers fascinated with the pyramidal peak &nbsp;wrote of it as "the highest mountain in the world" (it is not even the &nbsp;highest in Sri Lanka), and "visible from three days sail". The ancient &nbsp;Sinhalese also believed it to be of great height and a native legend &nbsp;tells "from Seyllan to Paradise is forty miles, and the sound of the &nbsp;fountains of Paradise is heard here". Visited by many early world &nbsp;travelers, among them the Arab Ibn Batuta (1304-1368) and the Venetian &nbsp;Marco Polo (1254-1324), Adam's Peak attained a legendary status as a &nbsp;mystic pilgrimage destination. Today the pilgrimage season commences in &nbsp;December and continues until the beginning of the monsoon rains in April &nbsp;(from May to October the mountain is obscurred by clouds). Certain &nbsp;parts of the path leading up the mountain are extremely steep and the &nbsp;climbing chains secured in these sections are said to have been placed &nbsp;by Alexander the Great (365-323 BC), though there is no evidence that he &nbsp;made it this far south on his Asia travels. Atop the peak is an oblong &nbsp;platform (74 x 24 feet) where stands a small Buddhist temple and the &nbsp;shrine of Saman with the strange footprint. Votive offerings are made &nbsp;here, especially of a coil of silver as long as the donor is tall, for &nbsp;recovery from sickness; and rain-water taken from the footprint is known &nbsp;to have a wonderful healing power. Adam's Peak is also called &nbsp;Samanalakande or the 'butterfly mountain' because of the myriads of &nbsp;small butterflies that fly from all over the island to die upon the &nbsp;sacred mountain.&nbsp;</p>
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<h2>&nbsp;For kings and commoners alike:</h2>
<p>&nbsp;Whatever legend one may believe, it is obvious that Adam’s Peak is &nbsp;among the world’s sacred mountains. The site has been a place of worship &nbsp;for kings and commoners alike. Its pilgrimage season runs during &nbsp;the dry period between January and April, when both Sri Lankans and &nbsp;foreigners visit the mountain for its lush greenery and mountain tracks. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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<p>&nbsp;Typically, three routes are available to visitors. One takes 10 miles on &nbsp;foot starting from Ratnapura. The other starts from Kuruwita and takes &nbsp;12 miles on foot, and the shortest begins from Maskeliya and takes &nbsp;around four miles and &nbsp;5500 steps. The easiest way, however, is from &nbsp;Hatton, which which lies 32 km southwest.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>&nbsp;Climbs usually begin at 1am to catch the sun’s rays above the &nbsp;surrounding forest and tea country. This destination arrives after four &nbsp;to five hours of climbing through the night, in darkness. Some do choose &nbsp;to make the ascent during the day, and camp through the night to catch &nbsp;the ceremony welcoming the sunrise. &nbsp;</p>
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<h1><strong>How to climb Adam’s Peak – How to get there:</strong></h1>
<p>&nbsp;You need to get to the town of Nallathanniya (Dalhousie) which is a long &nbsp;narrow windy road away from anywhere. The drive is beautiful with great &nbsp;scenery and plenty of tea plantations on the way but it is slow going. &nbsp;It is approximately 3.5hrs from Kandy (all mountains), 3.5hrs from &nbsp;Nuwara Eliya (all mountains) and 5hrs from Colombo.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>How to climb Adam’s Peak – The town of Nallathanniya (1,200mtrs):</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;To sum it up – nothing. Nallathanniya is only there to house pilgrims &nbsp;for Adams Peak. There are plenty of stalls that sell anything from &nbsp;little statues to clothes to balls. Surprisingly they seem to sell an &nbsp;awful lot of kid’s toys which I didn’t really understand. These stalls &nbsp;continue from the town into the lower section of the climb. Well known &nbsp;accommodation like Slightly Chilled is approximately a 10min walk from &nbsp;the official start at the wrong end of town whereas Singh (Sing) &nbsp;Brothers is right at the very start of the climb just over the bridge. I &nbsp;stayed in Singh Brothers and they are very nice but the accommodation &nbsp;is basic. But if it is location you are interested in then it couldn’t &nbsp;be better.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp; My strong advice would be to leave Nallathanniya once you are finished the climb</ins>. &nbsp;Maybe go somewhere like Nuwara Eliya if you planned to go to Hortons &nbsp;Plain. You will be back from Adam’s Peak at approximately 10am so it &nbsp;gives plenty of opportunity to get to somewhere more productive or &nbsp;relaxing for the following day.&nbsp;</p>
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<p><strong>How to climb Adam’s Peak – Climbing Adams Peak:</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;It is a 1000mtr (3300ft) accent to climb Sri Pada from Nallathanniya. &nbsp;There are two good things about this climb. First of all there is no &nbsp;altitude to deal with so altitude sickness is not a problem. The second &nbsp;which makes a 1000mtr climb much easier is the steps. The whole climb is &nbsp;completed on concrete steps which I thought were in very good condition &nbsp;despite what any guide book may tell you.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>&nbsp;The climb will take between 2.5hrs to 4hrs to get to the top depending &nbsp;on fitness. The aim is to be at the top for sunrise which happens at &nbsp;about 6am. Most people aim to be at the top for around 5 to 5:30am which &nbsp;means leaving between 2-3am. Of course you are going to do some &nbsp;sweating so make sure you bring some warm clothes for the top as it can &nbsp;be chilly in the wind if you are waiting around looking at all the moths &nbsp;up there (A strange phenomenon). The earlier you get up there the &nbsp;better a spot you will be in for the sunrise as good vantage points are &nbsp;limited. Of course the downside is that you are waiting in the cold and &nbsp;dark for over an hour at least. Sri Pada can also be climbed during the &nbsp;day if you are really against getting up at 2am.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>&nbsp;A few minutes into the climb you are scooted off the path briefly in &nbsp;order to pass some Buddhist monks and give a donation. They ask for &nbsp;1000ruppees and it is all off tourists. This is them basically chancing &nbsp;their arm to get extra money. This is only a ‘donation’ and is not an &nbsp;entrance fee. As long as you are aware of this then you can make your &nbsp;own choice. But if you are surprised like I was and pushed along with it &nbsp;all done so quickly it seems like you have to pay it which is not the &nbsp;case. It left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>&nbsp;The whole climb is lit up by lights so there is no need to bring a torch &nbsp;(Out of season the lights are off, see below). There are plenty of tea &nbsp;stations along the way for the whole climb so you could actually get &nbsp;away without bringing food/water but it is better to bring something &nbsp;more substantial for yourself as it is mainly snacks/chocolate at the &nbsp;stops.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>How to climb Adam’s Peak – The top and Sri Pada:</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;From the town the temple on top looks huge and spectacular. From the top &nbsp;the temple is not spectacular at all. The views are wonderful but the &nbsp;temple is not. It has the same footprint as a helicopter pad and that is &nbsp;about it. You can see the temple in 10minutes. The views of the &nbsp;surrounding countryside on the otherhand are worth the trip and does &nbsp;make the trip a little spiritual. The only pity is that you can only see &nbsp;one side at a time and the views from the top are a little obscured by &nbsp;fences and bushes. If you arrive at the top early it is probably worth &nbsp;seeing the temple first so you can start the decent earlier after &nbsp;sunrise.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;The toilets are at the back of the temple, the other side from the way you got up.&nbsp;</p>
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<p><strong>How to climb Adam’s Peak – When to go:</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;Peak season is January to March but new years and full moons are to &nbsp;be avoided at all costs. I know of two people who went separately during &nbsp;these times and didn’t get to the top because of the crowds. It can &nbsp;take from 6-10hrs to get up! Sri Lankan new year’s (mid-April) is also &nbsp;to be avoided. I went on a weekday in January and had no problems with &nbsp;crowds. The weekends are also much busier and should be avoided if &nbsp;possible. The stairs is reasonably wide at the bottom but towards the &nbsp;top it is almost single file so with huge crowds this really backs up. &nbsp;The pilgrimage season lasts until around May. After this the lights are &nbsp;turned off and most tea-stations are not open but Sri Pada is still &nbsp;available to climb as normal. You just have to be a little more self &nbsp;sufficient. You can be unlucky with the weather and if it is raining the whole &nbsp;experience can be miserable so make sure to look this up before you make &nbsp;your final journey to Nallathanniya. During the summer (off season) &nbsp;there can often be heavy rain in the evenings but this should stop &nbsp;before midnight.&nbsp;</p>
<h1>Gallery:</h1>
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