The start of a new day- Adam’s Peak

To get to see this view we had to leave our hotel, the bed for which we paid for, at 11 o’clock. We advised the evening staff at the hotel that we wouldn’t need turning down that night. A very bumpy ride through the uneven roads during which we had convinced ourselves that we could grab some sleep. Pah!
After the near three hour drive we then headed off up Adam’s peak, the 4th highest in Sri Lanka. This pilgrim site is either the place where Adam first set foot in the world or where Buddha left it. There is a rock in the shape of a footprint at the very top. Devotees have to make this journey once in their lifetime and tourists once in their two week holiday. Thousands of steps up the same number down is a real challenge. The biggest challenge though is trying to find a spot to see the sunrise. The early ascenders bags the steps up which everyone else has to try and climb making the jam at the top tighter.
We made the summit and visited the temple where disappointingly the footprint in covered over with a piece of wood.

We managed to grab a spot that we fiercely defended until the sun rose into a stunningly clear sky. Everyone started to head off but our guide took us to the other side of the mountain to see the shadow of the mountain captured by these first rays. The pyramid shape of the shadow gives you some idea how steep the hill is.

The descent killed the other parts of our legs that the ascent hadn’t and the sun that we had come to see became our torturer as the heat and sweat levels rose.

Another 3 hours back to the hotel through some beautiful countryside that we were too tired to enjoy a snooze and then a trip to a tea factory for a reviving cuppa. Not sure it’s going to reach our legs though.

Lovely Thai curry to finish us off. Early start tomorrow. Deep joy.