We had all set our alarms for 145am, so we were up and ready to leave around 215am.

It was still dark, but luckily, the trail up Adam’s Peak is well lit, and there are a lot of stalls on the way.

At the start of the trail is an arch, known as  Makara Torana or Dragons Arch, where you are encouraged to sign a book and leave a donation.

Some parts of the trail were very well lit!

Not long after we started walking, we were joined by 3 dogs, who ended up walking quite a long way with us.

The start of the trail is okay and pretty manageable. The steps are widely spaced out, and it feels quite easy. There are a lot of stalls, rest places, and shrines along the way, and as we were there in the pilgrimage season (during Poya days in December and May), it was all lit up. There were, though, more people coming down the mountain than going up it initially.

We stopped at one of the shrines, which hadn’t yet been fully completed. We were all blessed by a Buddhist Monk and received a thread bracelet for a small donation.

We picked up some more water and snacks on the way.

Although we had been walking for quite a while by now, the top of the peak still looked a long way off.

And the climb was beginning to get steeper. At this point, Zoe decided that she wouldn’t be able to make it to the top as she still wasn’t feeling that great and hadn’t eaten very much over the last couple of days. So she decided to have a little rest before heading back down.

The rest of us continued upwards. At one point, we came across what looked like spider webs on the side of the path. Apptently Buddha had torn his robe in this spot and he had stopped his climb until he was able to mend the loose strands of his robe so they would not get caught on the brushes and rocks along the way.  In order to commemorate that moment, pilgrims take a long white string from this spot and carry it along the railing until the entire string has been unwound and released. It has also been said that pilgrims drew string along the path to demarcate the pathway down the hill.

There were also areas where what looked like pieces of fabric were tied to a shrine.  It is said that these are tied as a prayer and for protection.

It seemed like we had been walking forever, trudging up the steps. What was amazing, though, was looking at some of the other people climbing up. Many of them were barefoot or just wearing flip flops. A number of them were quite elderly and were literally hauling themselves up each step or being supported by family members. It was quite humbling to see.

I saw the sign for just over 4000 steps and realised I still had another 1,400 to go!

As we got closer to the top, there were quite a few people resting and sleeping on the side of the steps. At one point, Karen got really bad cramps in her thighs and had to sit down to massage it out. The boy next to her suddenly woke up and Karen just said ‘hello’, it was a very funny moment.

After around 3 hours of climbing, we were almost at the top. You could hear the monks singing and chanting over the loudspeakers, and there were a lot more people around.

Adam’s Peak is 2,243m high with a total of 5,500 steps to climb up (and down again). It is also known as Sri Pada or Sacred Footprint. There is a 1.8m rock formation at the summit that is said by Buddhists to be the footprint of Buddha. Hindus believe it to be the footprint of Shiva and Muslims, and Christans believe it to be the footprint of Adam after he was ejected from the Garden of Eden or St. Thomas A shrine to Saman, a Buddhist deity charged with protecting the mountain top, can be found near the footprint.

Once you get to the top and the temple area, you have to remove your shoes. You are then allowed to walk through the temple and pay your respects. There are no photos allowed inside the temple, and this is strictly enforced.

It was quite cold at the top, so it wasn’t pleasant walking around barefoot. I also dug out my hat and jacket to wear. There were a lot of people at the top waiting for sunrise, and it was difficult to find a spot.

Unfortunately, the sunrise wasn’t particularly spectacular as it was very cloudy.

But we did get some great views of the clouds amongst the mountains.

After a while, we walked back down from the temple area and put our shoes back on. We were going to start going down a path when Karen suddenly realised it was the wrong path. This meant we had to take our shoes off again so we could walk across the temple area to the start of the correct path. But it also meant we got the chance to ring the bell at the top. Everyone rings it the number of times they have made the pilgrimage, so we all rang it once. It is also said to wake you up so you can complete your descent safely.

It was then time to start the descent, once we had put our shoes back on.

It was a lot busier going down, and quite a few people were also on their way up. The views out over the reservoir and mountains were stunning.

We passed some shrines that we hadn’t been able to see clearly on the way up.

At one point, we passed some ladies who were getting ready to go tea leaf picking. The traditional woven baskets have been replaced with lightweight bags to make it slightly easier for the women to carry them.

We also passed some monks who were on their way up to the top.

We took quite a few photos on the way down.

We also passed the spider web area again

As we descended, we came across Sama Chatiya, the World Peace Pagoda. This stupa was built by the famous Japanese Buddhist monk Ven Nichi Fuji in 1976 and is maintained by several Japanese monks.

We also saw a chipmunk and some monkeys on the trail.

Towards the end of the trail, you could look back and see how far we had climbed. It’s around a 7km hike each way.

Once at the bottom, we walked across the river. A lot of pilgrims bathe in the river washing themselves with lime to cleanse themselves before starting the pilgrimage.

We paid our respects at the Buddha statues at the end of the trail, too.

We were all knackered when we got back to the hotel. It had been a difficult climb and descent, and my legs were definitely shaking when I stood still.

After a much needed shower, we headed to breakfast, which was a mixture of delicious buttered chunky toast, flatbreads, fried eggs, and sauces.

Zoe told us that she had met up with one of the three dogs again on her way down the trail. It was like a furry spirit guide.

We had considered spending the rest of the day in Nallathanniya and perhaps doing a short trip to one of the waterfalls. But the weather forecast said rain so Terry kindly organised a driver to pick us up and take us to Colombo, our last stop on this trip. We packed up and left the Mango Tree Hotel.

It was another 4 hour drive, but definitely the right decision as when we arrived it was lovely and sunny.

We had booked at the Marino Beach Hotel, and it is beautiful.

After a change of clothes, we went upstairs to the rooftop pool and bar to have some cocktails.

The sunset was amazing.

We were all quite tired, so we decided to eat in one of the hotel restaurants. We chose the buffet style restaurant so we could try different dishes. There was a huge amount of choice of both traditional Srilankan dishes as well as more western style food.

Shortly after dinner we headed to bed.