…roughly 330AM

Why do people climb Everest?

This was a question posed by Sammy as we were trail blazing up Adams Peak

A group of climbers were coming down at the same time

It seemed like this group had given up on reaching the summit

The weather had turned sour

Reddy pipes up, “How long to the top mate?”

One of the members of the group responds “You are about a quarter of the way up…”

I look at the man in disbelief

“Don’t worry mate, just put one foot in front of the other and you’ll get there. Just don’t stop,” he sarcastically retorts.

Gravity adding further weight onto my tiring quadriceps and calves

 

145AM

The alarm goes off

I hear torrential rain outside

Under the donah warm and toasty

I hear movement in my room

Reddy is awake and bright

“Come on mate get up…”

I internalise and process the snug comfiness

“F…it…alright..” I convince myself as I throw aside the mosquito net

“It seems like its raining pretty hard outside…” I suggest pretending to yawn

“We’ll have a look outside, she’ll be right…” he calmly replies.

 

Down the stairs at the lodge we were staying at

The other two, Sammy and Tommy sleepily come bumbling down

“Morning lads,” Sammy sings with an unexpected burst of energy.

“Sounds like its raining pretty hard outside…” I once again suggest, to the whole group this time.

“Ye, it does eh..sounds pretty bad…” Tommy agrees.

 

We venture outside to assess the situation

Slightly cool with a moderate breeze

Our breath condensing in the crisp air

The road reasonably dry

Crickets chirping in the darkness

 

The sound of torrential rain outside was just from the waterfall outside the lodge

It wasn’t a downpour at all

I suddenly became relieved that we weren’t ascending during a monsoonal storm

“How energised are we for 2AM in the morning,” announces Tom

“Ye, just a casual morning walk,” retorts Sammy.

Known as Sri Pada by Buddhists

Sivanoli-patha by Hindus

Al-Rohun by Muslims

And Adam’s Peak by Christians

Is a sacred mountain to all four major religions in Sri Lanka

There is an over-sized footprint embedded into the rock at the summit of the mountain

To Buddhists it is the left foot of Buddha

To Hindus the footprint is of Lord Shiva’s

And according to Abrahamaic tradition, it represents Adam the first ancestors first step after being exiled from the Garden of Eden

Ibn Battuta the fabled Moroccan adventurer and traveller

Scaled the heights of Adams Peak in 1334CE and mentioned using iron chains to help pilgrims get to the top

…possibly 0300AM

We were seeking shelter

Amongst a handful of other hikers

Under some rudimentary tarpaulin along the path

It was bucketing down and the wind picked up

The monsoonal storm finally caught up to us and was hampering our ascent

“What do you reckon boys?” Tom postulates

A pindrop of silence … (expect for the torrential rain enveloping us)

…we just looked at each other

…nodded

…and pushed on into the assault (like true serious mountaineers).

 

..possibly 0400AM?

We had reached the fabled last 1km of the hike up Adam’s Peak

“It’s the vertical!” Reddy stammers as the stairs ahead were pushing 180degrees

The end was not in sight (due to the darkness and mist)

But the weathered had cleared…for now

The last 1km was known to be just completely vertical

The last push

The final battle

Cleansing the soul of its impurities

Before reaching the spiritual goal of reaching the top

Yet at that very moment

There was some serious questioning of my aerobic capacity

It was at this time that I was reminded that Old hunch-backed bare-footed shoe-less slipper-less ammamas (grandmas) were known to scale these heights

 

..probably0445AM?

We had reached the actual VERTICAL

 

0520AM

I couldn’t see the summit

But I could hear people at the top

I probably had a further 100m to go

I took a seat

Closed my eyes

Unknowingly entering a metaphysical domain

My breath slowing down

A sense of bliss charged my body

The omnipresent benediction of previous ammamas had given me the strength

‘I had made it!’

0530AM

The first familiar face I see at the top was Sammy

“Mate that hell of a vertical…almost did me”

Tommy clammers over…

“Here mate have a Milo”

We tuck into the fruit and biscuits we saved for ourselves at the top

Sunrise was not for another 45mins

And it was freezing, wet and dark at the top

But it didn’t matter…

“We had made it”

As the light brightened

I realised we were walking on clouds.

0630AM

Reddy passes some tea over from the shop at the top

“How good are these tea vibes!” bellows Sammy.

0645AM

We were the last group

Before we decided to make our way down

We walked about 20 steps down before Sammy jumps in,

“I think we are about half way down, right”

0730AM

The weather was clearing

Revealing the stunning scenery invisible to us previously in the dark

The banter bus unquestionably ensued on the way down as we pondered on life’s great mysteries.

 

Aeration rating: Hella fresh

*Photo credit to Reddy with his Olympus and Tommy with his drone

** Credit to Biscuit our guardian mountain puppy

***We also didn’t get to see Buddhas footprint because we ascended Adam’s Peak during the rainy season / off season and the temple at the top was closed

****We would recommend taking hiking sticks and the infamous tea vibes at the summit is a must