Middle-aged flash packers

The manager of our hotel does like a chat and he stayed and talked to us while we ate breakfast. It meant I had to eat a slightly under cooked egg which I’d normally give to Steve – gah! At least it wasn’t yesterday or I’d have had to eat the onion pancake.
Our first train journey of the trip, we caught the train from Kandy to Hatton.
We had pre-booked second class seats a month before as they are very much in demand. You can get first class tickets but you can’t see so well through the windows apparently and no class means standing all the way!
We shared our compartment with a multi generational Sinhalese family. We spent most of our time fighting off their attempts to feed us! The main man was extremely concerned that we had no lunch and wanted to give us his own meal. It was rice wrapped in a banana leaf (the ultimate in eco friendly packaging) with a variety of curries. Very, very kind.
Arriving in Hatton was a bit of a bun fight but we managed to get out of the station intact and into probably the worst tuktuk there to take us to Dalhousie. Still, the tuktuk guy drove well apart from a moments distraction when he didn’t see a bus hurtling towards us.
And so to our accommodation in Dalhousie, the home of Adam’s Peak.
I felt myself recoil in horror when I saw the entrance to the property. there didn’t seem to be an entrance, not even a doorway. A man appeared out of somewhere which had a gate in front of it. With my heart truly in my flip flops I followed him in, down some unfinished concrete steps and into the bowels of the earth. He opened what looked like a cellar door and led us into….a perfectly acceptable room. Phew! Had me worried there.
Adam’s Peak is a mountain (2243m high)in the Highlands area that has religious significance for many Sri Lankans. They walk up the 5500 steps, making a pilgrimage to Bhudda. It’s become a bit of a thing for foreigners to climb it too in the early hours, getting there for the sunrise.
We decided we’d do it in the afternoon to miss the crowds ( apparently it’s horrendous) and see the sunset Instead.
I can’t say it was easy and I was probably the sweatiest I’ve ever been when we arrived at the top. It was a great walk though. Lots of Sri lankans walking with us – young boys and girls, families with children, old ladies walking barefoot and even a man with just one leg. Along most of the route are stalls selling food and water and various souvenirs. Splendid isolation it is not, but a great atmosphere.
We sat at the top and watched the sun go down. Magical.
We got back down just after 8pm, in time for a well earned beer.