Sri Pada (Adams Peak)

This my rickshaw driver that took me from Kandy to the wrong train station that I asked for. I rarely take photos of the dreaded ricky's but this one was special. Within 30 seconds I had seen two people morph themselves, (terminator style), around his windshield whilst somehow spinning away without impact. I suspect the reason he took me to the wrong station was that he was as good as blind.

After some very poor directions I got off the bus in the wrong place and had to run to a train connection. The train was well worth the ride, snaking its way through the tea plantations and forests of the hill country.

Another bus rounded a reasonably successful four ride day. The Green Hotel was open and tried to make me eat all this food. A soup, 2 huge plates of rice, 5 curries, a salad, and poppadoms.

I couldn't manage the rice.

The early evening was spent with Bobby and Jemilla buying local snacks like dried pineapple and coconut sweatmeat ready for our 3am departure time. Having to get up at 3am pretty much stopped me sleeping at all so I was reading until 1am.

We had 15 minutes of warmth at the top before the heat generated from the 5,200 steps, wore off and we were freezing in the wind with the locals. Everyone sat there wrapped in everything they bought waiting for the sun to rise.

Sunrise was an awesome, spiritual experience.

We looked out at Mt Pedro, Sri Lanka's highest peak, and Worlds End were we would decide to visit the next day.

The sea of clouds partly obscured the lake below. It created a spectacularly sea-of-clouds effect which unfortunately hindered the reputed view of the coastline on a clear day.

On a poya day such as a full moon there are 10,000 plus people climbing the mountain. The entrance to which is three person wide gap in the concrete wall. It was total chaos with around only a 1,000 people today.

After sunrise we were treated to the shadow of the peak on the clouds below.

The pilgrims lit candles...

... and offered prayers.

This guy was as mad as a badger.

Many of the locals left unfurled threads beside the path on their way.

This boy was very keen to see himself on my camera. A very bolshy chap, he even asked if could have the camera, though I think he was after a copy of the photo.

He was one of many people we posed for photos with. The pilgrims were all really smiley and friendly and keen to chat.

The Dagoba close to base shimmers in the morning sun.

The first kilometre of the trail is an eclectic mass of shops selling everything from sweat meats to plastic flowers and cuddly toys. The shops were all open 24/7 as the local pilgrims start to climb around 9pm and the gringos climb around 3am.