A special excursion was planned for Tuesday 18 March: Renil Fernando wanted to take us to climb the second highest mountain in Sri Lanka, Adam’s Peak, a pilgrimage site for Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims. To avoid the ascent during the midday heat, the 2243 metre high mountain is normally climbed at night. In the evening, we met at Renil’s house, who has already climbed the peak three times, and waited for a group of 30 of his course participants, whom he had managed to encourage to go on the trip and had organised a bus. They then travelled four hours to the mountain region. Once there, they set off to climb the last 1000 metres in altitude on a path of 7 – 8 kilometres with 5500 steps. On steep sections, the steps were staggered and there were many stations where you could refresh yourself, eat something or go to the toilet. The snacks were vegetarian, as Buddhists abstain from eating meat for one or two days before embarking on the pilgrimage. In order to respect the Buddhist custom, our group also abstained from eating meat the day before. The actual ascent normally takes 8 hours. Some of the group climbed to the summit quickly so that they could witness the sunrise at the top. The rest of the group experienced the sunrise during the ascent, which was also a wonderful experience. A persistent cloud caused the sunrise to be delayed. Sooner or later, all of the group arrived at the summit. There was a small Buddhist temple where Buddha left his footprint. There was also a large bell, which each pilgrim was allowed to ring as often as they climbed Adam’s Peak. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed in the monastery. Renil, who had already climbed the peak for the fourth time, struck the bell four times and told Fabian to strike the bell once. Many thanks once again to Renil for the informative introduction to the summit. The descent, which only took 4-6 hours, took considerably less time. In the evening, we set off again on the 4-hour bus journey home. After 40 hours without sleep, we were finally able to return to the hotel and look forward to going to bed. Let’s see if this was the last ascent to Adam’s Peak.

# All reports and videos: https://tatsu-ryu-bushido.com/samurai-camp/