The Sojourn Journal: Visit to Horton Plains and Adam’s Peak

As another step in our journey towards fellowship without borders, we launched “Sojourn”, a project to host Rotaract Club of Bombay Film City (our twin club) in Sri Lanka for a week. Rtr. Pragatheeswaran Vipulanandan shares his experiences about a visit we made to one of the glorious spectacles of the island. 

Our trip towards Horton Plains started by night train. It was a good time to share stories and get to know more about the Indian Rotaractors. By 4.30 am we reached the Pattipola station; shivering, yet enjoying the chilly climate. After quickly refreshing ourselves at the station, we started our journey towards Horton Plains. The sunrise was breathtaking amidst the mist! The warmth of the sun rays was superb when we started hiking; talking, taking selfies and also not forgetting to enjoy the atmosphere and the surroundings. Baker’s falls, world’s end and the mini world’s end were the hot spots over there. The whole trail was about 11km. The views from the world’s end and the mini world’s end were awe-inspiring. We felt like floating above the clouds as if we were angels and we wished we had a home over there.

By evening we took our train towards Hatton. Tired, yet still with a lot of energy and passion we got on the bus towards Nallathanniya where the trail to Adam’s peak begins. As we got closer, looking at the mountain with the lights lit up made us so eager to touch the top! Talking and sharing stories yet again, it was an easy climb for everyone! No one felt the pain of their worn out feet till they reached the top! Our climb started at 11pm and we reached the top by 3.30 am, giving us ample time to rest till the sun rise; which was said to be a glorious sight to watch. Among us, no one had been able to watch the sun rise before. So everyone was hyper as the east horizon began to get red. And wooooow! The sun rise was astonishing. Due to the cold atmosphere we were barely able to feel the warmth of the sun rays.

Our climb back down started at 7am and lasted for 4 hours. Cramps and muscle pains made the descent a bit harder and slower than expected. We reached Hatton station around 12 noon and took our train back to Colombo. The route through Nanu-oya was the best train ride ever! Beauty so mesmerizing; caves, waterfalls and of course, the sun set, made us all speechless. A tiresome yet the most enjoyable two-day trip ended at Colombo fort around 8pm.