Adam's Peak: the sacred moutain. Trip in Dalhouise, Sri Lanka

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"... You need to know how [...] on the island of Seille there is a great mountain, with the monument of our father Adam. The hairdressers as having to live here, there and then left his mortal remains, which were both found them his teeth and the bowl she ate ... "--
With these words, Marco Polo described the Peak of Adam. The English Stills, even defined the top: . Personally, I read books in which they described as the pilgrims risked death in order to get on top and make sure the benefit of the vote and those who were on the way to the fatigue or cold. Was born in me the desire to be able to climb, one day, at this unique summit and enjoy the mystical atmosphere of his pilgrimage.
As soon as set foot on the island, as my illustrious predecessor, the famous traveler Ibn Battuta, the one I wanted was climb. Does not seem true, therefore, to be specific to its slopes. I look enchanted the top, the look and searches from about 1000 meters below, comfortably seated under the canopy of a dilapidated bar s'affaccia the only road that crosses the small country. I, with my traveling companions, in anxious expectation that he should stop the deluge! I am concerned that the ascension is at risk. As usual, I have the spirit of the traveler, but not the time and tomorrow we shall share in accordance with the rigid travel plans. After about two hours the rain continues to fall. There is no more time or you leave now or we surrender the hill. It starts!
Uncomfortable in the company of rain, the hike begins along a cart employed on both sides, for about a kilometer from shops that sell for the most basic provisions to the pilgrims from the waterproof blankets, flashlights from votive objects . Initially, nothing is' presage anything exotic, but there are files and files of bus and minibus parked in the yard, I noticed that because of strange bundles of grass laid on the windshield. According to a local superstition this would make your vehicle free from accidents. Trivia aside, where are all finished?
After about fifteen minutes to meet a Buddhist monaco, which accompany us for a good half hour. They say surprised to see two western adventure in the rain. In this stretch, the path, in good sale in almost imperceptible, and from time to time s'immerge literally in the fields of tea. From here forward will meet, as we approach the summit, an increasing number of people. That's what the question before. The route is so long that the pilgrims are distributed evenly throughout the journey. Are crowded, however, the ambalama, places of rest along the way built to give shelter to the pilgrims. The first is found at the Dagoba Japan-Sri lanka Friendship. These seats stage resemble small villages as well as dormitories where there are shops, always open, selling everything small kiosks where you can refresh. At about halfway, the trail becomes more challenging and difficult because it turns into a continuous and steep flight of stairs. Among other steps are irregular in height and width it breaks up further. If we add that are consumed by the passage of millions of people and made slippery by rain power the game is to reach the top if not exhausted at least tired. The most impervious comes when the trail of steps (about 3,500) climbs through the forest. The humidity is unbearable! Needless to find support in the billboards that, all along the way up, mark down the advance until the number reached zero because the last has not quite arrived, but it still continues to rise. The arrival is signaled by the end of the steps, when you're on top, on the small plateau that is home to the sacred temple. At the top is' cold, in the meantime, however, has stopped raining. A dense fog and darkness of the night enveloping us in a kind of Dante's circle. We pay homage all'orma sacred, belongs to anybody, to Adam, the Buddha, in St. Thomas, or Shiva, it does not matter, we are enveloped in a mystical almost palpable. Unfortunately, because of the time, we can appreciate the extraordinary landscape which otherwise would benefit from the top. Let's see some pilgrims to touch a bell. We try to do the same thinking of a sign of reverence, but the guardian of the temple stops telling us that only those who are already on the summit has the right to play it. On the way back, at several points, we are forced to use torches brought from home. The light poles along the route are sometimes so distant that without batteries literally walking in the dark. Affects the time and in spite of bad weather, the unstoppable flow of people, young and old, who continues undeterred to rise from the bottom. We meet three elderly women who had passed to same which, recognizing, as they say no to the summit. Almost all of them up with heavy blankets for protection from the cold, so that seems to see a procession of fairy-tale figures. After the most rugged, namely those of steps, we stop to rest and eat something at a restaurant. Sit next to three Buddhist nuns and a kind of order piadina Bolognese, very good, and a Coca Cola. Jump from surprise to hear on the radio of a shopkeeper song Gautam Gupia, of which I had bought a cassette four years before in India. Where to start Dalhouise Ila Cece and we are waiting for the Yellow House. The path is now well lit. The darkness of the night along with the widespread religious boring nenia from the speakers, arranged on the course, make the end of the pilgrimage more exciting than ever. Girandoci back, looking towards the summit, the trail seems to be the lava flow of a volcano erupting. When we arrived now meet several young people to go up, all together. They seem to be in tour groups and parish, surprised to see two down from the western peak of Adam, give vent to curiosity submersible applications.
The pilgrims are the most extraordinary aspect of the climb to the Peak of Adam. The meetings that are during the rise are numerous and drugs. Walking alongside, alongside with the pilgrims and the fact of sharing the effort creates a sincere solidarity, regardless of race or belief. We met nice "chicken, old gasping, people climb singing, others praying. Many were barefoot, some were sick or even dying, worn on your shoulder, lying on a litter, to be roped in young people. Here and there, Capannelle pilgrims were seated at rest, many sleeping on the benches of the dormitories. Throughout the climb was a tangible feeling of going to see something sacred, something to live ascetic. Everyone saluted, even a nod, a little 'come to us in the mountains when we meet on the trails.
The climb all'Adam's Peack that achieves remarkable height, to be in Sri lanka, the 2243 meters, is a strange undertaking mountaineering. The experience is a journey into the trip. The Peak of Adam is something unusual in a Sri lanka other than the delta plains of history - cultural, the hills of tea plantations and tropical coasts of the Sea, a true "world apart."