All started from Adams Peak for us

It’s been 20 years since this happened and I was in the university.  Janaka told me Dr.Nihal wants to meet you.
අන්න නිහාල් සර් උඹට හම්බවෙන්න කිව්වා

I said “I don’t know him… what’s the reason”
ඒ මොකෝ.. මම සර්ව දන්නෙත් නෑ

“well, he is planning an expedition to Adams peak via a pretty unknown direction. He is searching for suitable guys who can join him”

“There are two other bio students who have already teamed up with him”

“Someone had told him about you
”සර් සිරිපාදට හයික් එකක් යන්න ප්ලැන් කරනව, කට්ටිය හොයනවා.. බයො පොරවල් දෙකක් සෙට් වෙලා ඉන්නේ.. කවුරු හරි උඹ ගැන කියල

Then I realized this is going to be something worth checking and directly went to the department of zoology to see Dr.Nihal. Then I was explained about his map and expedition he is planning to carry out. Then I was more than thrilled with the idea and recommended Kusum who is also a physical science student, yet passionate in hiking. None of us thought this is going to be a starting point of lifelong friendship and path to the fruition of our common passion on wildlife, hiking and outdoor enthusiasm. Other two biology students who were in the team was Sudesh and Prasad. We 5 were a good team and more than ready for the hike.

It was one of the most exciting hikes I have ever done. Going to Adams Peak via Mukkuwatta (මුක්කුවත්ත) road, just before the season, was not anything I had heard of. So, I didn’t have any insight to the hardships we are going to face. This track said to be cleared and converted to a better one in some seasons by the plantation workers in that area, so they open an avenue for pilgrimage. Anyway, we hardly could see a track. So we had to go by the direction in most cases.

We left the university after an early lunch and reached Mukkuwatta (මුක්කුවත්ත) in a gloomy evening, where a truck was provided to reach the entrance of the track by the end of the plantation. Forest was so thick, and it was like entering a total dark world. Top on that, it started to rain cats and dogs. Jungle shrubs were so dense. Merely no room to set even a camping tent. After trying here and there, under the covers of darkness, we decided to somehow set a camping tent on uneven forest bed without considering any of the disciplines of camping.

Not to say it was one of the difficult camping sleeps for everybody. After having a very simple meal we all went to sleep, though sleep was nowhere close to any one, but for Kusum. That was the day we realized Kusum’s great skills in sleeping under any condition. Following expeditions proved it further. Today while I am writing this article on our sweet memories, after 20 years, I know Kusum is doing a very challenging solo hike in New Zealand which is Milford Sounds (53.5 km) – Such a coincidence! 

One funny thing happened was I got shocked with a big noise in the middle of the night just once I hardly went to sleep. Not only me, all were awaken and looking at Sudesh who is sleeping and talking in high tone.. what the f**k! Sudesh got up very gently and said “Sorry I couldn’t tell you I talk while sleeping sometimes”.. මචං කලිං කියන්න බැරිවුනා.. මම නින්දෙන් කතාකරනව සමහර වෙලාවට.. ගනන් ගන්න එපා...  and he went back to sleep in no time!

Dr. Nihal was already a seasoned field expert and ecologist with immense experience in the subject, yet his body language showed he too is not tackling the current situation without any challenges. Our biggest issue was navigation using the map since direction we should have gone ended up being impossible with undergrowth and different challenging terrains. In fact, our biggest fear was getting lost in Adams Peak. Even to get the correct direction with the compass, you need to see a distance. Thick cover of mist was obstructing the view. And the rain was intense. Nowadays we use GPS units to get the accurate location, but those days it was just a basic compose and the map.

Second day was tough and demanded all our remaining energy. As hikers we all have seen leeches and its not a big deal, yet I haven’t seen such a density of leeches anywhere in my life. When we consider our speed and the distance, we should be closer to peak or at least to well-known Hatton track by the end of second day. We all were doing our best to reach it and we know it will make us feel good. Now it is getting darker and darker. We all were feeling the uncertainty. We wished, we would see something in next 100 meters and we were continuing with the hope.  Dr.Nihal was ready to discuss next step and everybody wants to reach a known milestone somehow. After walking another one kilometer or so, Dr.Nihal asked me what we do? I said we should find a place to camp.. stretching ourselves too much without knowing the destination sounds wrong to me. Then it became the decision. By this time we had reached a small flat place by a stream, a better camping ground, at least better than last one.

Everybody was exhausted, hungry and thirsty. Most of all uncertainty seemed to have hit us. Anyway, we cooked a better meal since we didn’t have anything good for lunch. Once we were bit settled, it was time to evaluate our situation and options. Biggest fear we had was.. are we lost? If we should head to a different direction or do we need to start going back than heading further in to nowhere.

One thing, we were feeling at that moment was, somehow or other we are heading to a peak. We could see most trees hold small leaves and trees are ball shaped with curvy branches that implied they face lot of wind.

By the meantime, one who was washing the dishes down the stream shouted at us. come look at that.. hurry up.. then we jumped in to the stream and looked at that direction. We all saw a tiny light at a distance. First, we had to realize it wasn’t a star. Then we watched through the Binocular and found it was none other than the top of the Adams Peak. It was the time of truth and we all started to feel relaxed. So that night ended up being a good one.

We started tracking next morning and reached the Adams Peak by afternoon. Chief monk had already come to the Peak (මලුව) along with maintenance staff because Sripadha Season was starting soon. Then we chat with the Monk and said about our hike.

Chief monk was so amazed to learn the direction we came from.

"ඔය පාරෙ එන්න පුලුවන්ද? මහත්තුරු හරි ගමනක්නෙ ඇවිල්ලා තියෙන්නෙ"

Actually, we didn’t have any food left by that time, but some instance noodles. Monk saw what we were trying to cook and was kind enough to offer a better lunch.

"ඕවා කාලා හරියන්නේ නෑ මහත්තයො ඔයවගෙ ගමන් ඇවිත්.. අපි කෑම ලෑස්ති කරන්නම්"

It was rice along with onion sambal and a couple vegetables and one of the most amazing feasts I have ever enjoyed!

After spending some time, we started to descend through famous Hatton road. Just before leaving the peak (මලුව), chief monk said he is calling the Nallathaniya (නල්ලතන්නිය) police station to inform about us since there will be only one bus coming in the night that could take us to Hatton. So Police can keep the bus till we reach there.

Anyway, once we reached Nallathanniya, it was deserted as a ghost town, not even an open boutique to have a tea. We headed to the Police Station directly. They really welcomed us and prepared some tea while talking about our hike and everything. Anyway, bad news was Hatton bus was not punctual and some days it won’t come at all. Anyway, police officers on duty were so friendly and asked us to relax there and make ourselves comfortable in their facility.

One of the most significant characters we met here was Police Constable called Wasu (වාසු). This guys started explaining funny things happen in the Adams Peak season and it was so hilarious. We were not doing anything but laughing. He was so talkative and present things in a very unique sarcastic manner. I don’t see his skills in many of the comedians nowadays. He is such an amazing entertainer. He made us forget that we were waiting for a bus.

In a while, some other police officer came and said who knows if bus would come or not, let’s have some dinner! බස් එක කොයි වෙලේ එයිද කවුද දන්නෙ.. බත් ටිකක් කාල ඉමු.

It was a quite interesting invitation to join the people in the police station for dinner. We all are still thankful for this hospitality. It was a delicious meal. Not to say, as university students our experience with police wasn’t that good either. 

At last bus came and we headed back to Hatton and got into night train to Colombo.

After some time, while we were in university, we kept on talking about the hike, unexpected hospitality of Police officers and Wasu’s stories. Then someone suggested we need to thank them. Then we made another trip back to Nallathanniya to see them. On our way, we bought a couple of bottles of Arrack as a gift! They were surprised once learned we came particularly to thank them for helping us at the time we needed most. They said they help anyone as a practice, but this is the first time someone came back this far to thank them with generosity.

I don’t know where Wasu or other policemen today. One thing I can be sure of is, where ever Wasu lives and whatever he does, he should be making someone laughing with his stories!

Aftermath of this hike was interesting. Our passion for outdoor life grew and we started to do many other hikes and expeditions together. Team was enhanced with few more like-minded mates such as Devana, Prasanna, Lelwala, Uresh, Channa and Niroshan. It was a good team with different skills, but importantly all aligned pretty well.

This hike made me start loving Adams Peak for unexplained reason. I think it was same for others too. We hiked in Adams Peak whenever possible in different other directions as time permits. Since recent times there was a very kind old man, called Simiyon (සිමියොන් සීයා)*, who was a keeper of Adams peak මලුව whose shift lasts for two weeks! Unless a team of hikers reach, he doesn’t see anyone during this period. We really liked his company and listen to his experience of his very unique job. 

By today, some of our teammates are veterans in different subjects. They are actively engaging in some of the invaluable researches happen in the field and actively in the process of educating the next generation wildlife officers and university students. Some, including myself, are extending the boundaries of expeditions towards underwater ecosystems.

Many rivers start from Adams Peak and flow towards Indian ocean in different directions yet carry the same rhythm throughout the journey. We too are moving in our lives in different directions yet carrying the same passion… all started from Adams Peak!

* Very lately we heard the sad news of Simyon seeyas' tragic death due a flash flood within the vicinity of Idal ella (i.e. ඉදල් ඇල්ල), in Erathna route.