Everyone heard such a name smelling like real tea - Ceylon. This is an island in Hindustan, where the still favorite tourist destination is located - the glorious and blessed land, because it is translated from Sanskrit by the familiar name of the state - Sri Lanka. The highest point here - 2524 meters - is the peak of Pidurutalagala Mountain, which cannot be climbed - it is forbidden, but tourists climb the second largest peak constantly. This is the famous Adam's Peak. Sri Lanka is indeed a fertile and glorious land, and this peak is very popular, almost sacred, even among locals.
Geography
Washed by the warm Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, this island of South Asia was once connected to the mainland, which is eloquently testified by the sandbank preserved to this day - Adam Bridge. Chronicles say that the complete separation of this interesting part of the land did not happen earlier than 1481 - during a powerful earthquake.
So the Adam Bridge stopped bringing land pilgrims to Adam's Peak. Sri Lanka is a state that appeared on the island. The island is mostly occupied by coastal lowlands, and the mountainous small part is located in the center of the country. In addition to colorful sunsets and sunrises, everyone visiting Adam's Peak Sri Lanka gives the richest in its diversity world of nature - both plant and animal.
Animal world
There are more than four hundred and fifty species of birds, many of which are not found anywhere else on earth. Spring - March and April - will amaze with a huge number of beautiful butterflies, which are also many here - two hundred and forty species. You can meet on your trip around the island with wild boars and jackals, there are many buffalo in the wild, there are deer, bears, foxes, porcupines. And of course, crocodiles, monkeys and elephants, which are watched by tourists before climbing Adam's Peak. Sri Lanka is a country that is interesting most of all for the animal and plant world. Although among locals accustomed to such diversity, climbing this mountain makes sense more sacred, religious, and not only among Buddhists.
Vegetation
The island is almost entirely composed of national parks and reserves. Only reservations for wild animals and plants are more than fifty. Fourteen percent of the island is a protected land; these are Sinharaja, Mineria, Vilpatu, Bundala and others. Three thousand species of plants are protected by the state, and a quarter of them are brightly blooming. In addition, there are seven hundred and fifty kinds of medicinal plants, one hundred and fifty species of orchids, there are relic ferns.
Tourists see all this splendor when climbing the Adam Peak (Sri Lanka). Photos taken here adorn almost every site of travel agencies, since the island is a kind of mecca for tourists. Visitors to the country are loved and eagerly welcomed, with great attention to the natural heritage of the island. The climate is beautiful in almost all seasons: monsoons from the northeast go from October to March, and from the southwest from June to October.
Adam's Peak, Sri Lanka
Photos taken by people who have visited this mountain to meet the dawn or seeing off the sunset capture not only the surrounding landscapes. First of all, this is the footprint left on the top and belonging to Adam who came down from heaven, which Christians are absolutely sure of. But Buddhists and Hare Krishnas agree only with the fact that the one who left the imprint really came down from heaven. But it was a Buddha. Or Shiva.
The pilgrimage even formed a certain season here - from December to May, not only tourists visit local attractions (Sri Lanka, Adam's Peak). There are much more indigenous people who literally fall to this sacred imprint and pray kneeling. Once every resident of the country is simply obliged to climb the mountain and touch the shrine that Sri Lanka preserves. The tour can visit Adam's Peak, of course, at any time, if tourists are not confused by crowds. Seventy percent of the island’s population is Buddhists, each of which must visit this holy mountain.
Climbing
Now let's get down to the information about climbing the Adam Peak (Sri Lanka): the description, sights, even the climatic rationale for the early start of the trip will accompany a detailed story. Climbing up healthy people directly will not take more than two hours, but it is better to leave the hotel before dawn, because climbing a mountain in the afternoon, when the heat is more than thirty degrees, is a dubious pleasure. As soon as the sun rises, the heat immediately begins. Therefore, you need to get out at about three in the morning.
You need to have lanterns, water and warm clothes with you, because it’s definitely not going to be hot at the top. If barely awakened tourists hope for desertedness at this almost night time - they are mistaken. The steps leading to Adam's Peak (Sri Lanka), where the only path to the mountain is located, resemble the Moscow metro in the rush hour that has not yet ended. In addition to sleepy tourists, old men and women, men and women with children, many with babies, disabled people on crutches, and numerous groups of pilgrims roam the stairs. And tourists, by the way, are not so many. The most interesting thing is that at three in the morning the human flows up and down are the same. Only newcomers want to see the dawn, and their minority. The main thing for pilgrims is to climb a mountain and touch the shrine.
Five thousand two hundred steps
The staircase itself is very beautiful at this time: a vibrant, moving chain of lantern lights in the hands of rising and falling people sharply going up and breaking there looks very impressive against the background of the night sky. In any case, getting lost or off course is impossible. The steps are so well-drained in places that they have lost all flatness, you need to go carefully. For those who were tired throughout the journey, food and water trade was organized both in the face of single private traders and in the form of full-fledged cafes.
With a gradual climb, people feel both heat and cold: despite the not-too-tiring climb, it gets hot from walking, but it is not recommended to expose yourself to the piercing piercing wind, it is better to sweat in warm clothes than to freeze and catch cold without it. The emerging sun brings real miracles to Adam's Peak (Sri Lanka). A height of 2234 meters would not be so remarkable in another climatic zone. And here, the light, flaring up, visibly changes its colors from the darkest burgundy to dazzling yellow, illuminating an endless valley. But not even this is the most wonderful.
Place for pilgrims
Tens of thousands of people come here every day, they do this, once again we emphasize that it’s not easy for everyone to climb their lips to touch a sacred place - the footprint on the very top of the mountain. Supporters of the four religions practiced in the country equally consider this place sacred. For Buddhists, this is Sri Pada, the trail of Buddha, for Hindus, Srivan Adipatam (space dance), Muslims are sure that it was here that Adam stepped on the earth, and Christians say that St. Thomas, the apostle who preached in India, left his mark here. From December to May, the pilgrimage season lasts. The rest of the time it often rains, during which climbing is not only uncomfortable, but also dangerous.
And the mountain is becoming gloomy, colorless. The most unique moment of the ascent is the sunrise, during which even not too believers experience something like reverence. And delight is for sure. In the ghostly illumination just before sunrise, the mountain seems to be shrouded in fog, then girdles with a rainbow of radiance, intensifying with every minute, and unusual mirages appear above the sacred trail. This is what tourists are waiting for. But there are so many local pilgrims at sunrise that the observation deck becomes cramped. This is the mystical place of Adam's Peak. Sri Lanka receives reviews for the most part from tourist groups who have visited this particular place - a lonely and mysterious mountain that rises directly from the jungle.
From Russia for exotic
For Russians, this direction is not widespread, although this small state (a little more than the Moscow region) can offer tourists a lot. The rarest monuments of history and culture, mainly associated with Buddhism, among which many are on the UNESCO list, have been preserved here. What do we know about this island, except tea and beaches? Perhaps nothing ... Why? Since there are few Russians here, and they appear quite rarely, it is believed that Sri Lanka is not at all intended for a purely entertaining vacation, as we like: there are almost no nightlife, as there are no megacities and shopping centers intended for active shopping.
Thoughtful, calm and contemplative people who prefer to rest in shades of Buddhist humility like to be here. However, the resort - and even alpine - is, it is Nuwara Eliya. And on the outskirts of the village of Ella, there is a seven-peak rock called Little Adams Peak (Small Adam's Peak). Sri Lanka in no way connects these two mountains, located in completely different places, one of which is holy. Between them there is simply a purely external small resemblance. Well, nature is just beautiful everywhere.
Road
After a flight from Kandy Airport, you need to take a bus to the train station and buy tickets to Hatton. Then again take the bus to Dallhousie, where the ascent to the Adam Peak (Sri Lanka) will begin. How to get to the top - described above. In the vicinity of the sacred mountain, many small and very small hotels have been built, some are quite cheap, and living in them is quite comfortable.
Recall again: Sri Lanka is not Thailand, where the conditions for tourists are breathtaking. Traveling on their own will experience especially many difficulties. Aside from tourist routes, even food is not so easy to find, since street food is not very popular among the local population. Shops are closed in the evenings and on holidays.
Temples
The peak of Adam was called a Muslim mountain in the sixteenth century, but Buddhist pilgrims began their ascents to its peak so long that the first campaigns were lost in the depths of centuries and even millennia. On the barren and bare granite site, it was impossible not to notice one and a half meter long and seventy-six centimeters wide recess in the shape of a human foot.
Now a temple was built here, under which a sacred imprint remained on the rock. Along the edges, this trace is as if gilded, and granite glows with precious stones. On this mountain, a Buddhist temple is adjacent to chapels of other faiths.
Butterfly Mountain
The Sinhalese who inhabit the island have for many centuries called this mountain nothing more than Siripada, which translates as “Glorified Trail”. It has long been believed by the people that the water that accumulates in the depression left by the foot of the Buddha miraculously cures all diseases. And the Veddas, who came to another peninsula, called Adam's Peak "Butterfly Mountain" - Samanal Kanda.
Saman is a mystical divine creature, the patron of this area and butterflies, which are gathered here by many thousands every year in the very last hours of their lives. Muslims, on the other hand, came up with the most beautiful legend, thanks to which the mountain has its current name: Adam, expelled and punished, stood here on one leg for a thousand years, until Allah had mercy on him.
Travelers
For many centuries, Adam's Peak has attracted travelers-explorers from all over the world. First, in the fourteenth century, the Arab traveler Ibn Batut climbed the mountain - then there was still no such improvement on the rise, as in our days. His follower, the Venetian, the discoverer of the new lands of Marco Polo, also visited this mysterious place. After these two people, who described in detail the mountain and its features, the widest pilgrimage began, and not only Buddhists.
The longest stairs in the world, from time to time incredibly steep, also managed to grow into legends. For example, the chains that are adapted instead of the railings are said to be installed by Alexander the Great himself, although historically this cannot be confirmed - the stairs themselves are somewhat younger than the time when the famous commander conquered India.
Tourists reviews
Tourists who came to conquer Adam's Peak in February were impressed by the difficulty of climbing in the rain. People were so tired even that they were in good shape that the next step seemed to them to be the last - the wind literally blows, and the railing is not everywhere. Upstairs it turned cold - no more than ten degrees, plus rain and wind. But there are thousands of pilgrims; under the roof of the temple it will not be possible to take refuge.
Then my legs hurt for another week, but there are great pictures and videos from the top. Even in the rain they turn out wonderful, to say nothing of sunrise! Nobody turns off the camera, cameras also do not rest for a second during sunrise for 15-20 minutes. Still would! Just imagine: against the background of the moon a red glow appears, which visually brightens the surroundings every second - and gradually the view becomes more and more extensive.