Verbalizing

This past week, Igz and I have been enjoying the lovely Hill Country of Sri Lanka.  It’s possible that my love affair with this part of the country might have something to do with its San Francisco-like climate, but the waterfalls and mountains and lush green valleys of tea plantations as far as the eye can see are definitely charming me.  The first little town/village we visited was called Ella.  While there wasn’t much more after a small handful of guesthouses, tea shops, and a train station, the surrounding countryside was full of day-hikes that would make any in Marin county green with envy.  Igz and I took our time here as an opportunity to slow down, enjoy the fresh and cool air, and take in the scenery.  Plus, this little village -hands-down- had the best food in Sri Lanka (as of yet).  Sri Lankan cuisine is quite different from Indian (much lighter, a little spicier, lots of savory curries made of fruit, coconut butter is used in place of ghee) and it’s a BIG mystery to me why Sri Lankan restaurants aren’t dotting the streets of the Bay Area the way Indian restaurants are.  At any rate, I’m going to learn some Sri Lankan cooking before I leave!

After Ella, we put on our game faces and headed to Dalhousie, the base camp so-to-speak for Sri Pada (aka Adam’s Peak) which translates as the Mountain of the Sacred Foot.   This refers to the footprint-shaped mark at the summit (7,400 feet), which is believed by Buddhists to be that of the Buddha, , Siddartha Gautama, while others assert that it is the footprint of Adam, left by his entrance into the world after being cast out from Eden.  Ascending Sri Pada is a sacred pilgrimage that all Sri Lankans are expected to make at some point in their lifetime.  Always keen on a physical challenge, Iggy and I naturally were enthusiastic about summiting the peak.  The tradition is to begin the climb about 2 am to ensure you reach the summit around sunrise.  It went someting like this… 145 am: alarm goes off, coat my feet and ankles in DEET and the ayurvedic leech deterent called Siddhalepa.  215 am: bleary-eyed and with the silliness that sleeplessness can bring on, we exit our hotel and walk up the road to the trail head.  300 am: pause to set-up tripod for some night-shots, energy and mood high.  4:00 am: climb becoming steeper but exercise endorphins going strong, mild dizziness and light-headedness but determination in full effect. 5:00 am: believing the summit was “right around the corner” and knowing my muscles couldn’t take much more, i made the mistake of asking a young boy how close we were to the top.  1 km?!  assume the boy must be lying. 5:15 am: beginning to wonder if i have it in me.  starting to see the beginning of lightness in the sky even though the sun doesn’t officially rise for another hour.  ask someone else how far to the top.  1 km?!  blast!  5:30 am: close to weeping.  iggy begins to carry my pack (and his) and becomes my coach.  i think i fell in love with him a little more on that mountain for his unconditional love and encouragement in the midst of my dramatic displays of exhaustion.  he sees the summit and points it out to me, thinking it will make me feel better.  i can’t believe how fucking far away it is and crumple in defeat.  he convinces me to keep going.  5:45 am: we reach the summit.  all of the pain in my legs melts away.  gorgeousness abounds. 6:15 am: descent begins. 7:15 am: descent in progress. legs feel like spaghetti. 8:15 am: wow, i can’t believe we really climbed all these steps.  my legs hurt. my knees really hurt.  how did that Sri Lankan grandma make it up to the top and back down?! 9:15 am: waddling. broken.  9:30 am: BREAKFAST! 10:30 am: BEDTIME!

And 3 days later, we’re still waddling a little.  As the universe would have it, the next guesthouse we checked into put us on the fourth floor so we are going up and down the stairs like a couple of octogenarians.

We are currently in Kandy, the second largest city in Sri Lanka.  Kandy is famous for its scenic landscape and lovely lake, but one of its main draws is its Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.  Yes, it does sound a little strange.  We went from the place of the sacred foot to the place of the sacred tooth.  The temple (supposedly) houses a tooth of the Buddha, which was taken from his funeral pyre a long, long, long time ago.  The tooth has survived many location reassignments, wars, ransacks and pillagings, and is encased in a series of golden dagobas… behind locked doors.  Igz and I have our doubts about there being any tooth behind those doors or within those dagobas but we checked out the temple nonetheless.  We have another day to poke around the lovely country side in this area and then we head north on Xmas eve for the Ancient Cities.

More to come from the ruins of the Sinhalese empire…

Happy holidays n stuff!

Love-

Allison