At this moment I am sitting in a lean to on a beach looking at the Indian Ocean. Like everywhere in nature I've been in Sri Lanka this it is spectacular.
As often happens on the road when I'm overseas there are so many experiences happening in rapid succession there isn't time to process one before the next comes along.
I want to capture the last few days of experience in the mountains before my mind is overtaken by this blue green water.
I had read about Sripada (Adams peak) online and was intrigued. It is said that this place, the top of a mountain, is sacred to Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.
In order to get to the town at the base of the mountain we first took a train from Kandy to a town called Hatton. The train, which took four or five hours, cost Rs.220, less than two dollars.
There were no seats in first or second class; when we got on the train it was packed with mostly foreigners. The terminus of the train line is a town called Ella. This ride is written up in guidebooks as one of the most beautiful in the world so the train fills with westerners.
Usually there are many waterfalls along the way but Sri Lanka is having a bad drought, which is evident to me. Having lived in California so long I know drought stricken rivers and lakes when I see them. Although the vegetation is still lush.
The train ride to Hatton was slightly reminiscent of India in that people sit on the floor and men navigate their way through the human maze carrying different kinds of foods yelling out there wares in a language I don't understand.
There were mangoes and Vada (like a savory Indian donut, although in this case it was a savory Sri Lankan donut) and tea and oranges.
Once at the train station in Hatton we switched to a local bus to get to the town called Nallathiniya. The bus ride made me feel like I was riding one of those mechanical bulls. I was standing up and the mountain road was one lane, narrow and filled with S curves.
On both the train and the bus we passed many tea plantations. Acre after acre of tea all of which would be picked by hand growing along steep hillsides. There were a few people in the fields picking the tea. Men and women with cloth baskets over their backs which were attached to their heads. They would pick the tea leaves and throw them in the basket over there backs. Hard work in the hot sun; think about that next time you sit down for a cuppa (as my British nuns say).
The bus let us off in town and I had to Google mapped it so I knew where to go to find our hotel. We walked down the dirt road which was lined with stalls selling the most bizarre assemblage of items. It was baffling.
There were many stalls which sold an array of plastic crap. By plastic crap I mean dolls, blowup things, I can't even explain it, just a bunch of crap.
Then there were the requisite trinkets. Stalls with bracelets and necklaces and some clothes. And there were many candy sellers. The candy was interesting, what was more interesting was that every vendor had exactly the same items.
There was ginger candy that had no ginger in it. There was a lot of an item that looked like big blocks of fudge but was actually made of wheat flour and sugar and fruits. It came in brights green and red, some the color black licorice.
The plain one was kind of weird the green one was better. I know this because I received a generous sample but I didn't buy any.
A fair number of the local people in town were high. They were chewing something akin to beetle nut which they sold wrapped in leaves and I definitely smelled weed in the air too. I guess that's why they had so much candy!
We found our hotel without any problem, and that itself was unfortunate. The hotel was a total pit and a real rip off. At $35 a night, which for me is expensive, the man didn't recognize that we had booked in advance.
The rooms I booked online said they each had a private balcony, there was no balcony. There also was no hot water, no soap, no towels, no toilet paper. The most unnerving thing for Swamiji was that her room didn't lock from the inside but she dealt with it like a trooper.
I didn't care about any of the weird. I've been in my share of funky hotel rooms at this point in the journey. It didn't unnerve me at all.
Since we knew we would be getting up about two in the morning to start the ascent we tried to get to bed early. The idea is to be at the top of the mountain at dawn.
At 9 o'clock I tried to go to sleep but that was impossible. There was a cacophony of sound both inside the hotel and outside on the street.
There is a Sri Lankan dish called kottu which is made in a wok with metal implements. The cook slams the implement into the wok making "a distinctive sound" according to one of the menus I read.
From my bed I heard distinctive sound of Kottu, tuk-tuk engines, splashing around in the communal bathroom and the animated conversation of the Germans woman staying in the other room.
Despite all this my mind was happy and peaceful. None of it was upsetting to me. I really continue to see the fruits of my practice starting to bloom. What a blessing.
I dozed on and off till 2 AM when it was time to get dressed and start climbing. That is a story fir the next blog entry...
As often happens on the road when I'm overseas there are so many experiences happening in rapid succession there isn't time to process one before the next comes along.
I want to capture the last few days of experience in the mountains before my mind is overtaken by this blue green water.
I had read about Sripada (Adams peak) online and was intrigued. It is said that this place, the top of a mountain, is sacred to Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.
In order to get to the town at the base of the mountain we first took a train from Kandy to a town called Hatton. The train, which took four or five hours, cost Rs.220, less than two dollars.
There were no seats in first or second class; when we got on the train it was packed with mostly foreigners. The terminus of the train line is a town called Ella. This ride is written up in guidebooks as one of the most beautiful in the world so the train fills with westerners.
Usually there are many waterfalls along the way but Sri Lanka is having a bad drought, which is evident to me. Having lived in California so long I know drought stricken rivers and lakes when I see them. Although the vegetation is still lush.
The train ride to Hatton was slightly reminiscent of India in that people sit on the floor and men navigate their way through the human maze carrying different kinds of foods yelling out there wares in a language I don't understand.
There were mangoes and Vada (like a savory Indian donut, although in this case it was a savory Sri Lankan donut) and tea and oranges.
Once at the train station in Hatton we switched to a local bus to get to the town called Nallathiniya. The bus ride made me feel like I was riding one of those mechanical bulls. I was standing up and the mountain road was one lane, narrow and filled with S curves.
On both the train and the bus we passed many tea plantations. Acre after acre of tea all of which would be picked by hand growing along steep hillsides. There were a few people in the fields picking the tea. Men and women with cloth baskets over their backs which were attached to their heads. They would pick the tea leaves and throw them in the basket over there backs. Hard work in the hot sun; think about that next time you sit down for a cuppa (as my British nuns say).
The bus let us off in town and I had to Google mapped it so I knew where to go to find our hotel. We walked down the dirt road which was lined with stalls selling the most bizarre assemblage of items. It was baffling.
There were many stalls which sold an array of plastic crap. By plastic crap I mean dolls, blowup things, I can't even explain it, just a bunch of crap.
Then there were the requisite trinkets. Stalls with bracelets and necklaces and some clothes. And there were many candy sellers. The candy was interesting, what was more interesting was that every vendor had exactly the same items.
There was ginger candy that had no ginger in it. There was a lot of an item that looked like big blocks of fudge but was actually made of wheat flour and sugar and fruits. It came in brights green and red, some the color black licorice.
The plain one was kind of weird the green one was better. I know this because I received a generous sample but I didn't buy any.
A fair number of the local people in town were high. They were chewing something akin to beetle nut which they sold wrapped in leaves and I definitely smelled weed in the air too. I guess that's why they had so much candy!
We found our hotel without any problem, and that itself was unfortunate. The hotel was a total pit and a real rip off. At $35 a night, which for me is expensive, the man didn't recognize that we had booked in advance.
The rooms I booked online said they each had a private balcony, there was no balcony. There also was no hot water, no soap, no towels, no toilet paper. The most unnerving thing for Swamiji was that her room didn't lock from the inside but she dealt with it like a trooper.
I didn't care about any of the weird. I've been in my share of funky hotel rooms at this point in the journey. It didn't unnerve me at all.
Since we knew we would be getting up about two in the morning to start the ascent we tried to get to bed early. The idea is to be at the top of the mountain at dawn.
At 9 o'clock I tried to go to sleep but that was impossible. There was a cacophony of sound both inside the hotel and outside on the street.
There is a Sri Lankan dish called kottu which is made in a wok with metal implements. The cook slams the implement into the wok making "a distinctive sound" according to one of the menus I read.
From my bed I heard distinctive sound of Kottu, tuk-tuk engines, splashing around in the communal bathroom and the animated conversation of the Germans woman staying in the other room.
Despite all this my mind was happy and peaceful. None of it was upsetting to me. I really continue to see the fruits of my practice starting to bloom. What a blessing.
I dozed on and off till 2 AM when it was time to get dressed and start climbing. That is a story fir the next blog entry...
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