THAT place

I'm in Bangkok.  Given that I didn't buy a return ticket, I'm sort of sitting here trying to figure out how to leave.  I really don't like being in this country...as in, really HATE being here...but for the time I shall forgo the rant.

I did some other stuff in Sri Lanka, which I'll update shortly--I lacked internet access most of my time there, and on the occasions I did have access, I tended to suffer from power outages.

Well, stay posted.  I should be back in Phnom Penh tomorrow, and then I can put up pictures and stuff.  If I'm not too lazy.

Ratnapura: Or, How to Recover from Adam’s Peak

I awoke at 7am the next morning when the guesthouse came to my room, calling me for breakfast.

I wanted to get breakfast…the problem with this a) I felt too sick to get out of bed and b) even if I hadn’t felt like crap, it was firmly impossible for me to move my legs.

I had to ask them to bring the food to my room.  I simply couldn’t walk.  It was like being hamstrung--my calf muscles and thighs were seized up in painful knots.  I walked like a robot without knees.  Worse, I was so dehydrated that I felt physically ill.  I had to have them bring me a lot of lemon juices till I felt like I could eat again.

I decided I’d stay in Ratnapura for several days just to let my legs recover.  Walking around town was comical at best; at worst, just embarrassing and painful.  I doddered around like a kneeless robot, and everyone was like, “Ha ha, Adam’s Peak!!”

I hate showing I’ve been affected by things (I AM NOT A MERE MORTAL!), so I mostly hung out at the internet café, Pizza Hut (lol, it’s been so long since I’ve had crappy American food, come on!), and in the guesthouse’s massage parlor, where I got a leg massage till I fell asleep.

I called it a day and went back to bed.

Not interesting, I know.

Adams Peak II: Why It's Better Not to Have Expectations or Think You're Invincible

Ha ha, OK.  Time for an update.

When last you heard me, I’d scaled this mountain all night long and was shivering in a dog-pile with some other folks who’d climbed the mountain with me.

This was actually the part that sucked the most--it was close to freezing point, no one had any food, and it was still 6 hours til dawn.

There were buildings for pilgrims to sleep, but at this time, most were already filled with other pilgrims.  So, we sat on cold concrete steps and shivered and starved together.  I managed to roll into a ball and doze off for about 30 minutes.  That was all.

Finally, dawn came…and this was the part that ruined Adam’s Peak for me, unfortunately.

First, as the lighting changed, it was apparent that the peak itself kept getting covered in mist (or rather, clouds given that we were at 7000+ feet).  But as the sun rose, it became apparent that there was a high-altitude cloud cover on the horizon, as well as the landscape below.   We were sitting in the middle of a gray, misty, colorless sunrise, which was distinctly NOT what I'd expected.   To make matters worse, even this was obscured by a megaphone spitting out a corny sunrise theme song.

The stuff that blocked my view

I was like, Dammit!

When you climb Adam’s Peak, you’re supposed to watch the sunrise.  It’s a spot where you can see the sun literally plop over the horizon.  One second it’s dusky, the next second, all is bathed in the light of a golden sunrise.  The only other place in the world that exhibits this phenomenon is somewhere in Arizona.  How cool is that?  And, on the one day out of the year I managed to climb the peak, brave the elements, and wait all night---it was FUCKING CLOUDY.

And I don’t understand it…everyone was eagerly watching the grey clouds lighten.  Taking pictures.  And stuff.  But not me.  No way was I taking a picture of a crap sunrise obscured by a megaphone.  Hell, I wasn’t even going to look in it’s general direction, so angry was I at the world ruining my hard-sought sunrise.

It was like this:

Call me an ungrateful douche.

I only knew one thing for sure…I wasn’t going to hang around there anymore.  Picking up all my gear, I pushed my way through the multitudes and headed down the other side of the peak, towards Ratnapura.  Disillusioned, I didn’t take any pictures, nor did I bother to see Krishna’s/Adam’s footprint on top of the mountain.  I didn’t pass Go.  I didn’t collect $200.  Not me.  I was getting off the damn mountain.

Still operating under the delusion of invincibility, I then hiked down 14 km of steps under the rising sun.  At first, that was really nice.  It was a great nature trail which quickly soothed my rage at the world.  It looked like this:

Something I learned while doing this is that the path to Ratnapura is much more arduous than going down the peak to Dalhousie (the one I‘d climbed the night before).  Longer, more beautiful, but more arduous.  I assumed that because it was longer, it would be much less steep…ha ha.  It actually takes you down out of the mountain range itself, not just to the foot of Adam's Peak.

Worse, because you’re walking down hill, you don’t even feel the exertion.  I didn’t even realize what I was doing to myself until after about 10 km, when I began to realize how hard it was for me to control my legs.  Walking down 4 more km of steep, railless steps was probably not an ideal way combat this problem.  There were times when I honestly thought I was going to pitch forward and tumble hundreds of stony feet to my death.

Like this:

Yes, those were steps all the way down to the mountains below you.  And then some.

Apparently, you’re supposed to use a walking stick as you descend.  However, because I’m blithely unaware of my physical body and of the fact that I’m not invulnerable to physical exertion, I had just sort of disregarded all advice to bring a walking stick.  And I wound up regretting that.

Eight hours later, I reached the bottom of the trail, which becomes a bunch of bucolic gardens and houses and dead ends into a village.  My legs were so stiff I could hardly walk them at that point, but I still managed to get to the bus stop and get a slow, un-airconditioned bus that went to Ratnapura along narrow, winding roads over-looking steep rock faces.  I made it there by about 4 pm, meaning I had been constantly traveling for the last 30 hours.  And hell, the only thing I’d eaten was an old cheeseburger, a couple of chapattis on the Ratnapura trail, and several cups of chai.

I still don’t know how I did that.  ADVENTURE.

In Ratnapura, I found a guest house where I instantly went  to my room, rolled into a ball, and gratefully went to sleep for the next 12 hours.

And that's about all I can say about Adam's Peak.  Check all sunrise-oriented expectations at the gate and remember your walking stick.

Adam’s Peak I

I’ve put this off almost a month just trying to find words for it.  It was…an adventure.  Within a single 24-hour period, Adam’s Peak encapsulated just about everything sublime and shitty about traveling.

I shall attempt to give it words in this unnecessarily long, 2-part post.

Adam’s Peak is a pilgrimmage site in multiple religions--Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam.  There's a giant footprint at the top that's considered to that of a divine figure according to which religion you believe.  You can explore the full details on this excellent website if you are interested in the nitty-gritty:

http://sripada.org/text-0.htm

And if you climb up at night, there's supposed to be a brilliant sunrise, in which the sun magically pops above the horizon without much warning.  Cool, huh?

Suffice to say, spirituality + nature trails + spectacular sunrise + mountain climbing under the stars was enough to appeal to me from the start (which is when I had a 24-hour layover in Colombo that time I went to Doha).

I just sort of got on the bus from Colombo and headed to a town that seemed remotely close to Adam’s Peak on the map I was carrying.  When the bus stopped at Hatton and refused to go farther due to encroaching darkness, I hired a taxi to take me to Dalhousie (at the foot of the mountain).  You can do this for about 1000Rs, and probably a lot cheaper if you bother to negotiate.

So, I got into the little three-wheeled tuk-tuk, and we drove at top speed through narrow winding mountain roads into the darkness.  Took about an hour to get to Adam's Peak from Hatton.

Adam's Peak--At Night

The driver let me out at the foot of the mountain.  There were a lot of guesthouses around, but being the plucky duck I am, I didn’t actually bother to check in, rest up, and set my stuff down.  My delusions of invincibility reared their ugly head and I started up the mountain carrying everything I possessed.  Guesthouses are for WIMPS!

But first, I stopped to eat the old hamburger from BK in Thailand, since I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

I was then joined by a group of Sinhalese youth who kept trying to engage me in conversation despite the fact that they could scarcely speak English (like seriously about as well I speak Khmer).  I didn't particularly want them there, but they were ridiculously hard to shake off, as I was to discover.

The Six Samurai

So, we climbed.

Luckily, the steps are fairly easy to walk up for the first leg of the journey.  There are little shops and tea stalls everywhere (which I made liberal use of.  Sri Lankan tea is prepared like Chai, and it's GOOOOD).  Everything’s all lit up--there are lots of stores, tea houses, resting points, and things to sit on.

Shops and stuff along the way

For the religiously inclined, there’s a place at the outset where you can get the monks’ blessings before setting out on your pilgrimmage.  There are several places along the way where pilgrims can participate in rituals…at one point, my entourage felt it was necessary to get me to brush my teeth in a mountain stream.  I never did figure out if that was part of the ceremonials or not, but at least oral hygiene did not go neglected that night.

Ritual

Shortly after that, we came to a halt.  One of the entourage disappeared into a trail off the path.  Then another followed.  Soon all six of them were missing due to a “big problem” as one of them put it.  I have no fricken clue where they went; all I know is I sat there for about 15 minutes before deciding to move on.

And so I climbed.

At this point there were many others also climbing.  People you wouldn’t expect--fathers with toddlers on their shoulders, elderly women, whole families, Thai monks, ancient genderless beings being carried on litters by a team of men.  All sorts of people just coming up and going down, exchanging greetings, snacks, and laughter as we all walked together along the jungle mountain trails under a canopy of darkness and stars.

I must have been ¾ of the way up when I was approached by my team of six, now four short, breathless and distraught.

They informed me that some of them had been arrested for cannabis possession (apparently the word they use for it in Sri Lanka), that they had been taken in for questioning, and that I had been targeted as a potential suspect as well.  My friend informed me that the only reason we weren’t all in jail was because he had a friend who’d recently been put on the local police staff.

Of course I’m sitting here like:

Good thing I kept walking, I guess.  (Just btw, No, I was not in possession of cannabis, nor was I offered any.  I was completely clueless the whole time, which is why that whole instance weirded me out as much as it did.)

The thing about Adam’s Peak is, when you get to the top, the steps get ridiculously steep, and because they curve around, it becomes impossible to gauge how much farther you have left to go.  It seems unending--just endless steep steps on a rock face.  Stairway into heaven.  I kept stopping because I didn’t want to hurt my legs.  You can stop in the middle of the stairwell, if need be.  That’s fine--everyone else was doing just the same thing.  All people milling about, coming and going, stopping, chanting, praying, each going about their own journey in their own way.

At about midnight, we made it to the top.

At 7000+ feet, it was cold.  I put on the extra clothes I had brought specifically for that purpose and wrapped a cloth around me…three shirts, two pairs of pants, a keffiya, and a shawl were scarcely enough, for the mountain was windy and dark.  There were warm buildings to sleep in, but they were already filled, so we huddled and shivered together on a stone ledge, foodless and sleepless till sunrise.

Waiting at the top

And that's about what it's like to climb Adam's Peak.  Be prepared for PART TWO, in which I detail my the sunrise and my descent downward.

Don't Do What I Did

So, this is what I've done so far on my little vacation. The whole thing was masochistic insanity, and I DON'T recommend you go about this in the following manner:

- Took a night bus to Bangkok to catch my flight (I left a few hours earlier than last time specifically so that I wouldn't miss my flight again).

- Didn't sleep.

-  Got to Bangkok Airport a few hours early and fell asleep on a bench.  When I awakened in time for the flight, it had been delayed by 3 hours (I don't know why this couldn't have happened the first time, when I went to Doha.  No, it happened the day I came early).

- Spent $10 on a tiramisu and a bag of cookies (lol, yes, ten dollars).

- Discovered Sri Lankan Air gives meal vouchers during delays.  Bought a Double Cheeseburger at Burger King and saved it.

-  Left at midnight and came into Colombo, Sri Lanka at 3 am and got locked out of the hostel.

-  Pounded on hostel gates till they gave me a room (which had unexpectedly gone up in price.)

- Woke up at 11 am and went to the Bus Station.  Got a bus to Hatton.

- Arrived in Hatton at 6 pm, and discovered it was too late to go to Dalhousie, the pilgrimage site I wished to attend.  (Though the bus ride to Hatta is a beautiful, tortuously-wending journey through the mountainside, so definitely come check it out sometime).

- Takes tuk-tuk taxi to the mountain for 1200 rupees, down a bumpy, narrow, 1-lane back road with sheer cliffs and no guard-rails, on which two buses habitually pass each other.

- Arrives at 7pm and walks up 5200 stairs, still carrying all luggage in a backpack.  Eats BK cheeseburger from yesterday.

- Arrives at the top at midnight.  Realizes there are no more spaces for sleeping, so shivers and dog-piles with a group of co-pilgrims till 6 am.  Realizes there is no food.

- Discovers the day is cloudy and misty, and view is obscured by a lit loudspeaker.  Discovers we're too wedged-in to move.  Gets chewed out by co-tourist for loudly suggesting that we move.

- Refuses to watch sunrise under such conditions and instantly hates Adam's Peak.  Dismisses the journey as "a total waste of time".

- Storms 12 km down the mountain range to Ratnapura.  Injures legs and cannot walk.  Somehow forgot to eat more than a single Chapatti or drink anything.

- Drags self to bus station and takes bus to Ratnapura, another 2 hours on a cliff road in which we nearly collided with another bus.

- Drags self to massage center and promptly passes out.  Wakes up sicker than a dog the next day due to muscular strain and dehydration.

Yeah.  I'm not saying it was a bad journey--most of it was quite beautiful and entertaining.  My point is, don't structure your vacation the way I did.  That was stupid.  At least don't carry your luggage up a mountain in flip-flops, and don't hold any expectations.  Also, don't take the Ratnapura trail unless you like suffering.  Just go back to base camp and take a bus or taxi the next morning if you want to go there.

I'll shortly make a separate post about Adam's Peak that is more than just negativistic summary.

Obligatory Update

Not to keep you all waiting months to hear back from me or anything, but my disdain for this blog is rivalled only by my disdain for the unremarkability of my own life.

To make a long story short, yes, I've moved successfully.  It happened several weeks ago.  I'm now living in a smaller apartment that's on the top floor and therefore much hotter, and also more expensive.  The only redeeming factor is that it's literally right next to the school I teach at.  I'll put up pictures of it if I ever stop hating it.

I don't really want to talk about it.  Actually, I'm sick as crap of keeping this blog.

On the plus side, I'm going to Sri Lanka tomorrow.

Also, I found out I can write in Arabic:    العربية

:)