Day 11: Fourth day in Sri Lanka

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Our sleeping schedules are officially back to crazy. Today was our last full day in Sri Lanka so we thought, “Hey, why not wake up at 1:30 in the morning and climb one of the highest mountains in Sri Lanka.” So that's exactly what we did. We slept for around 5 hours before we woke up, and started walking. From our hotel to the mountain was a good 30-40 minutes, so we got to the mountain around 2:30am. We spent the next 2 ½ hours climbing Adam’s Peak. It is a very religious mountain meant for Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. I think I forgot to mention it's 6,500 stairs and it goes above the clouds. We actually went up pretty fast for what most people do at 3am.

When we got to the top it was 5, and we had to wait for sunrise for us to get points for this scavenge, so we had to wait a good 45 minutes at the top where it's very cold so we could get a picture of the sky as proof. This scavenge was by far one of the hardest ones we could do, and it was actually very cool, and the sunrise was absolutely gorgeous. Going up was ⅔ of the battle, we still had to get down.

Getting down was brutal, and I was so glad I had my knee brace because there was a good amount of pain that went into getting down the mountain back to our hotel. My knees and feet are currently hurting a lot, but it was a very unique scavenge so it was somewhat worth it. When we got back to the hotel we just ate breakfast and we were off on our 5-6 hour trip back to Colombo. Yayyy!! More car sickness!!

We got back to Colombo a little before two, so to try and get more points before check in at 3, we went out in the lovely heat of 116 degrees and did 125 pts worth of scavenges. We got back before 3, and after check in we went to shower before dinner at 6. Dinner was at the Dutch Hospital, which is apparently a very good restaurant. All of the good was very good, especially the ice cream. Bill has promised us 24 hours of rest and transition because it is officially the half way point, so I am very excited for lots and lots of sleep and some relaxation time. So until next time!! ;)

Daddy’s View:

I used to do this bike ride called the Triple Bypass in Colorado, 120+ miles, up and down three peaks, starting near Denver.  It wasn't so much a competition with others as much as with yourself.  It was similar to one average Tour de France leg, but for a middle aged man of modest fitness, it might as well have been the whole Tour de France.  

I did the ride several times with friends, finished in strong times, and felt like dying multiple times, on every ride.  Yet I was so happy afterwards, drinking beer with my buddies.  I kept going back year after year - the satisfaction of doing something hard, that was good for me, just felt great.

Sri Lanka was like the triple bypass.  

The last peak we had to climb was literal - adam’s peak, or Sri pada. It’s a tall hill/short mountain with a temple at the top.  It has been claimed by christians, muslims, buddhists and Hindus as holy ground for their religions.  Everyone gets along up there - it's like a Unitarian mountain.

We got to the base after several hrs on the road from nurawa eliya. It was in the middle of nowhere, at about 8pm. We got right to sleep, and started the hike at 2am. Here we are at the entrance at 2am.

Sydney was like robocop going after criminals - steady, unbreakable, intimidating.  It was 7km to the top - the first 3km is winding steep hills, then the last 4km are stairs.  Not baby, wimpy, stairs - these were up-to-your-knees-test-your-religious-faith stairs.  

We saw thousands of elderly, families, disabled, poor, wealthy, natives, foreigners, making this ridiculously challenging climb in the middle of the night. We got to the top in time for sunrise. It was cold.

The sunrise elicited something i'd never heard - a collective simultaneous dead silence leading to a reverent gasp from hundreds of us crowding together at the top.  Here's the wall to wall bodies of people who climbed that ridiculous mountain.

 

Here's us as the sun was rising.  The temple at the top had Buddha's footprint, but it was also where Adam was cast out from Heaven, and also has Hindu significance, and also some significance with Mohamed in Islam.  Anyway, it was a cool view.  

6hrs, round trip, door to door.  Sydney led the charge wire to wire - in my biking days we would say she was “hammering.”  One highlight - there was a vendor serving coffee in fine china near the top (it was freezing at the top).  Best coffee ever.

We got back at 8a, didn't even shower, had breakfast and jumped right in the cab by 9a for a six hour trip back to Colombo to beat a 3pm sharp scavenge deadline.  

We closed out the leg, we all had a group dinner where I had wine for the first time in what feels like months, and packed up and left for the airport at 1:30a.

Notable items:

• Mosquito nets are awesome. I am totally on board with these being the simplest right now solution for malaria.  We slept with them for three nights, no bites. Last night at Adams peak, slept for three hours, no net, Sydney got 20+ bites.  
• I found out from GSH teammates after the leg that there are train cars with AC and seats.  Apparently my $2 ticket for 6hrs with goats and chickens and standing was third class.
• Chinese are the large large majority of tourists everywhere - they are buying land, businesses, and tourism. Everyone everywhere just has a sense of inevitability around china taking over the world. 
• One example. Outside our hotel in Colombo there is 24/7 dredging of the harbor.  Turns out China has purchased 400 acres of new land THAT THEY ARE BUILDING THEMSELVES.  They are adding this land onto Colombo, and are building huge commercial properties there. They will thereby own a huge part of Sri Lanka’s capital city.  
• Everywhere in south and Southeast Asia, “Ok” and “yes” apparently means “my auditory sense is functioning and I hear that you are saying something.” They do not indicate understanding or consent.  
• There’s lots of honking. However 9 out of 10 honks are out of kindness - they are letting others know they are in their blind spot, they are passing, they are approaching.  Only 10% are “get out of the way” or “you're an idiot” honks.  It also helps that all the horns make clown car toy-like honks rather than mad max thunder dome honks.