The second weekend: sunrise and succes

My second weekend was a long one. Because on Wednesday it was Poya (full moon), which is a day off every month, we extended our weekend. We took the van from our coordinator and a driver drove us, eleven volunteers, to the hill country. On our way, we visited an elephant orphanage. I didn't like it. The elephants were chained and you could ride ont them. Not something I want to give money to...

Later we arrived at our (gorgeous) hotel in Kandy and visited 'the temple of the tooth', in which the tooth of Buudha lays (you can not see it, but let's just believe it). The next day we went to Sigiriya and climbed the 'Lions Rock', 1200 steps. It was really hot, but the views were gorgeous.

After lunch, we went for a mountainbike trip in Sigiriya Village. It was funny to cycle in Sri Lanka! The roads were horrible, but as a Dutchie, I had just enough cycle skills to survive. After the cycling we went to two temples in Dambulla.

The next day we had a nice sleep in and strolled a little around Kandy. I wasn't feeling too well, so I was happy to get a little rest. Later that day we got back on the van and drove through the hills to Dalhousie, a village at the foot of Adams Peak/Sri Prada.

That night we woke up at 1:30 to get ready for our climb. Adams Peak is the most famous mountain of Sri Lanka, 2243 meters, 7 km hiking, 5200 steps! Apparently Adam set his foot on this place when he got kicked out of the garden (I don't know where Eve went, sorry). Buddhist believe that Buddha left his footprint at this mountain, so lots of Buddhists also make the climb.

Unfortunately I was still feeling awfull, but I at least wanted to try to see how far I could get. After alsmost getting lost within the first 5 minutes, we found the right path and started our climb at 2:00. In the first kilometer we passed two monks who blessed us, of course in exchange for a donation, but I really felt like I needed some blessings.

After a while, I left my roommates Lotte and Lisan and walked on my own. At some moments, I enjoyed it so much, the quitness, all the stars; it was gorgeous. At other moments it was awfull, cause I kept feeling nauseous and very weak. My lungs were not too happy with this adventure, so I took a billion breaks.

Being on my own, I had lots of time to think and reflect on loads of things. This kept me busy, in combination with all the excercise and pausing. At some point, everything went more automatic. Of course, I felt my knees, especially as the amount of steps grew when getting closer to the top. I was not going to give up anymore, not now I already had gotten this close.

After two and a half hours, I reached the top. Half of our group already was up there and they welcomed me enthusiastically. their cheering made me realize that I really made it to the top! It felt really good! I never expected it to make it, feeling this awfull! But I did! Sa bliid!

At the top it was extremely cold. The layers I brought were just not enough, so I was freezing. I had to wait for another hour untill sunrise, but I forgot how horrible I felt during that hour when the sun showed up. It was breathtaking, impossible to describe in words. It kept amazing us. After watching the sun rise, we were able to visit the temple at the top. I rang the bell up there as it is tradition. You need to ring the bell as many times as you've climbed the mountain, and it felt good to ring it! After a stroll and some group pictures, we started the hike back.

Getting down 5200 stairs is not super amazing, but the gorgeous views made up for it. It was nice to see what was exactly surrounding Sri Pada, which is hard in the darkness of the night. I took lots of breaks again, this time to take a billion picture. Did I already tell how stunning everything looked? I would have never wanted to miss this, what an experience! I'm a little proud that I made it, willpower! (Or maybe the blessings of the monks did the thing...)