007 - Sri Lanka. God a little closer on Adams Peak or: how enlightenment wants to be hard-won

007 - Sri Lanka. God a little closer on Adams Peak or: how enlightenment wants to be hard-won

Längerer Beitrag – schneller Überblick:

The day we climbed Adams Peak and sought enlightenment

The day starts shortly before 2 am. We get up, put on our layers of clothing and head straight for the trail. There is a mountain ahead of us and over 1100 metres of altitude, thousands of steps and all that in the darkest of nights. I think.

First of all, it is much less cold than expected. It is a starry night and there is hardly any wind. At the beginning, there are stalls with hats and gloves and hot tea every few metres. The stalls become fewer and fewer, but every 10 minutes there is a new stall offering the usual things. Especially the hot sugared tea tastes good and gives us quick, but only short-term energy.

It is said that Buddha, Shiva and also Adam are worshipped up there. So there is something for many religions. Incense sticks are sold. Scented lamps too. Small Buddha figures. And a huge amount of stuff, the meaning of which I still don't understand in this place. Toys, teddy bears, decorative stuff. Who, please, buys such things at 2 or 3 in the morning when going up?

We run at different speeds right from the start. If I'm honest, I don't think I'll ever climb this mountain. I want everyone to go for themselves. I don't want them to wait for me. Moppi and Kathi walk up much faster and soon I have lost sight of them.

Gerd stays with me and runs quite slowly. I think to myself that if I start slowly, I can manage my strength better. And that works out quite well.

It doesn't take long and Kathi joins us. That means she was running too fast at the beginning and is now running at my slow pace. There is no sign of Alex, but since we don't catch up with him, he seems to be ahead.

I am very grateful that Gerd stays with me. He carries my jacket, the backpack with all our picnics and my water bottle. He is really sweet. Sometimes he walks a few steps hand in hand. But somehow it doesn't fit, our step rhythm is so different. After a short time, maybe half an hour, I am so out of breath that I doubt the sense behind all this action. After 45 minutes, I don't even have the strength to doubt it.

I think of Momo and especially of Beppo, the street sweeper. One, two, broom stroke. One, two, broom stroke. One, two, broom stroke. That's how I can bear it. I only see the 3 stairs in front of me, when I have made it, I can decide anew whether I go on.

The next tea spurs me on, Gerd is full of praise but snorts like an asthma sufferer and we walk and walk. The steps are of course sometimes high, sometimes flat, in no case uniform and sometimes very long. So every step is something new. I try to think positively. It doesn't work. I try to think that I will surely be full of enlightenment up there and feel a blissful feeling. Maybe Buddha (or in doubt, Shiva or God himself) will appear to congratulate me and enlighten me. All these thoughts last just 2-3 flights of stairs, because after that I'm back to the primal instincts: Breathe. Strength. I simply have no condition. I briefly think about changing my sports programme and starting endurance sports again right after the holidays.

Immediately, however, I remember my own promise never to make decisions under extreme conditions that I later regret. I postpone the inner discussion until later.

At some point I look at my watch and see that it is already half past three. A little less than the planned 4 hours. And we are still alive. We are being overtaken again and again, but we can still do it. It would be a laugh if we couldn't manage this tiny bit.

Kathi reminded us that it's good if the next time her sports self has such ideas, we can disagree with her.

We meet a lot of people, mostly Sri Lankans of all ages. Old, very old people are partly supported. Young families, carrying sleeping babies, walk up the mountain in peace of mind. Or even down. Very many families are up at sunset and stay up during the night and then go down in the very early morning. Somehow this path is busy all day long.

I see many people walking down with their faces contorted in pain, many are being supported. There is such a loving atmosphere here and a great willingness to help. In this energy I finally find peace with this mountain climb (but the meaning will remain closed to me until the end). I set the OM mantra of Master Choa Kok Sui on my mobile phone and he hums me up step by step in a good rhythm. Maybe it is imagination. Maybe it is the OM that now accompanies me up to the top. I feel better, it is easier and I feel very good. Almost a little in the flow.

On the way, we meet the two Germans with whom we had already played UNO in the hostel in Kandy. And at some point I hear a ringing, clanging and singing. Of course I think it must be one of the pilgrims singing again. And then I am amazed to see the mountain top. In full illumination. A last break and the information that it is only about 10 minutes to the top and that sunrise is not until 6.10am. So we still have three quarters of an hour. And what can I say? I made this climb in 3.5 hours. I am beaming. Gerd too. We treat ourselves to a cup of tea with many others and our breathing slowly calms down again. I am amazed at how well I feel. I am completely okay again relatively quickly.

Now, shortly before 6, we walk the last 10 minutes and see the temple, the Buddha and Shiva sites. I don't get anything of Adam's footprint. But a huge church bell is ready to ring. The one who reaches the top is allowed to ring once. I do so and am somehow euphoric now. Gerd takes me in his arms and we are both incredibly happy to have mastered this challenge. I remember my first marathon in Berlin and the finish through the Brandenburg Gate. A similar feeling of joy and exhilaration overcomes me now. We look for a nice spot to watch the sunrise and are richly blessed. This clear sky has so much to offer. The play of lights behind the mountains, then at some point the orange saturation of the sky. Simply beautiful. Very very moving. As we stand, looking at the sky, a monk starts chanting. For 15 minutes I feel transported to a Buddhist monastery. I pay homage to the day. And I am grateful. Grateful that I can experience this. Grateful that I can experience this with my children. And thankful that we are simply wonderful as a team.

For the descent, we treat ourselves to a cup of tea, eat the rest of our picnic and head down. Breathing-wise, no problem, but from the halfway point I hardly notice my calves, shins and ankles. I think I've put a bit of a strain on them. But I have to get through it and walk slowly but surely back to the hotel. I'm not sure if I did myself a favour with my barefoot shoes when running downhill. Later, however, I realise that all those who wear hiking boots also have this pain.

Once downstairs, we shower, change and have a hearty breakfast. We miss the bus, but a taxi takes us to the station in Hatton. Here we are lucky to catch the second to last train to Ella and even get 2 seats. The children want to sit at the open train door anyway and let their legs dangle outside. My plan was that the journey to Ella would take about 1-2 hours. After all, it's only 52 kilometres as the crow flies. We actually drive for about 5 hours and are completely exhausted.

We've been on our feet since shortly before two, we've climbed up and down more than 5,000 steps and now we have to take the train. My legs are already aching with sore muscles, which we had in mind when our daughter came up with the idea of climbing the mountain, Muscle cathi name. We then walk to our accommodation in Ella. Uphill, of course. A quarter of an hour.

We move into the 4-person room, walk down into town (downhill is even worse) and eat moderately well. Kathi will remember it all night long.

Shortly after 8, we are all completely knocked out in bed and fall asleep almost immediately.

Shownotes for iTunes: https://www.leben-pur.ch/007-sri-lanka-gott-ein-wenig-naeher-auf-dem-adams-peak-oder-wie-die-erleuchtung-schwer-erkaempft-werden-will/


Info:

Hotel Grand Adams Peak

Barefoot Shoes VivoBarefoot Stealth Ladies

Adams Peak Info or at Wikipedia

Homestay Ella

Travel guide: Stefan Loose Travel Guide Sri Lanka

Facebook group to travel in Sri Lanka

Rail Sri Lanka

 

Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka

Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka
Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka
Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka
Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka

Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak

Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak
Leben pur! Unterwegs. Sri Lanka and Adams Peak
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Beate3Wagner
Beate3Wagner
5 years ago

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