Fens Travels

Motorcycle pilgrims.

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 06:25:56 +0200

A few blogs ago I mentioned hiring a motorbike and riding up to Adams Peak ... mission completed Monday March 26th! Three days later and my buttocks have at last recovered enough to allow me time to sit at the computer and write about it.
Saturday morning we woke at 6 am in Midigama, just enough time for sneaky surf. As the sun rose Niall and I set off across the train tracks with our boards for what was to be a quick uneventful few waves before we hopped into a Tuk-Tuk to Hikkaduwa. We certainly weren’t accompanied by the uneventful, I had the wipeout of the trip so far with one of those waves which drag you down and along for a while and disorientate you so much that you have to open your eyes to know which way you need to swim to catch a breath again. Niall had even less luck snapping his leash when going under what looked like my big wave's bigger brother! Seen as we had paddled out to a reef break he had a good 20 minute swim ahead of him to rescue his board from the rocks (to tell the truth I think it may have taken a little longer but he insists that he was swimming like a champion). Thankfully due to the ingenuity of BIC, the board held out and was eventually reunited with its owner.
Ready for a sleep we packed up a small bag each, ate some breakfast and set off for Hikkaduwa. By 12 we had arrived, purchased a roadmap, returned my surfboard and glugged down a couple of milkshakes, by 1 O’clock we had swapped one passport and 20 quid for two 250cc Honda motorbikes. By 1.30 with a scrap of paper and a scribbled route plan, two full tanks of gas and 500km ahead of us we were on our way.
Having not ridden a bike in over 10 years I was a little concerned that the test drive would involve me wrapping the thing around a tree. I was pleasantly surprised, my tomboy motorbike childhood brought it all gushing back to me, we zoomed through the jungle roads with trees aplenty and not once did I ride up any of them. Winding round corners, shooting past rice fields, racing through small towns. All the while fierce sunshine beat down forcefully on our polystyrene caps, our arms shaking from the throttle, our faces smeared with soot. For hours we sped into the heart of the Island, eventually the sun drenched day turned sepia and fruit bats the size of foxes flocked overhead. After 200km and four hours we eventually rode into a twinkling Ratnapurna- city of gems.
Once sourcing a guesthouse there was just enough time left for me to laugh hysterically at Niall’s minstrel appearance (before being confronted with my own), evict a man eating (or more to the point Fennie eating) spider from our room, and fill our bellies with rice and curry. At last I happily surrendered myself to a deep and peaceful sleep.
Next morning we rose for breakfast and applied some first aid to our route card which, covered in oily thumbprints held together with celotape and stiff with dirt was beginning to look more and more like a treasure map everyday. Our calculations suggested that we had at least another half days riding ahead of us. Back on the road as the kilometers ticked by we began to gain in altitude and soon found ourselves snaking through acres of tea plantations, rolling hills of lime green tea leaves and higher still past rows of elegant pine trees which smelt like home, valleys, reservoirs, a cool breeze.
Twice we stumbled upon some kind of religious ceremony that involved all members of a village congregating on the road. Accompanied by beating drums and the toot of trumpets the women danced, hoped and shook themselves in a trance like hysteria while the men gathered together in restrained groups looking on, arms folded stroking their chins and doing manly things like attaching pictures of Gods onto long planks of wood and hoisting them onto the back of trucks.
By lunchtime we had at last arrived at our destination Delhousie 1km from the path which leads you up the 7km trek to the top of Adams Peak. We checked into a guesthouse, ordered some rice and jumped into the river for a good wash. After bathing I spent the rest of the afternoon struggling to sit down and resting my legs for what in the next few hours was to be quite a climb.
Adams Peak (elev 2243m) is known by Christians as the place where Adam first set foot on earth after being cast out of paradise, for Buddhists (who refer to it as Sri Pada) it represents the sacred footprint left by the Buddha as he headed toward paradise, for Hindu’s it was Lord Shiva. For over 1000 years it has been a sight of pilgrimage. Regardless of your creed the time to be there is sunrise. As quaint as this sounds it does mean waking up at 3am to begin the assent which (depending on how much tea you drink on the way up) can take anything between 2.5 – 6 hours.
By 5.30am Niall and I were at last plodding up the final few steps to the top, settling in amongst the devout masses which was as competitive as getting a good spot in a group hug. Huddled together, barefoot, wrapped in shawls and blankets to shelter us from the wind, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Motorcycle Heathen we all watched as the sun stretched over the horizon, brought form to the landscape and flung curious shadows into space. After sunrise, Niall and I (weary of how many miles of road lay ahead of us that day) paid our respects to Buddha, gave Lord Shiva the nod, thought about poor old Adam and wondered about Eve before beginning a hurried descent.
Come 10am, after a few false starts (courtesy of Niall’s grumpy motorbike) we were eventually on the road again heading off in the direction of Hikkaduwa and this time taking a less scenic yet slightly more direct route for we needed to return the bikes the same day.
Apart from some fairly hairy overtaking scenarios, a few bump starts, abrupt stops, kicks yelps and expletives (mostly due to the fact that Niall’s grumpy bike had no intention of cheering up), the remainder of the day was spent in a heat haze of diesel fumes, adrenaline bursts and throttle bursting bat-out-of-hell style motorcycle madness. Smeared with bug guts and drenched in sweat Niall and I (now both on my bike as his gave up the ghost 20k’s before the finish line) limped into Hikkaduwa at 5pm Monday 26th. Finally our bodies gave up, refused to be comfortable either sitting down or standing up we had it seems overdosed on fun and for the next few days paid a painful price. Thankfully one week on however my muscles strain to remember the pain and all I have when looking back on our adventure are flashes of the good bits, the smiles, the speed and the story.

Fens Travels

Motorcycle pilgrims.

Highway Code anyone?

Sri Lanka

Bed Bugs and Cowgirls

Photos

Singapore

Back in Delhi

8/2/07 Gorakpur

7/2/07 somewhere outside Sonauli

30/1/07 Phakding

27/1/07 Labouche ( Kalar Pattar )

1/24/06 Dengboche

22/1/07 Tengboche

19/1/07 Namche

18/1/06 Phakding

16/1/06 Bupsa

11/1/07 Shivalaya

5/1/07 Kathmandu

03/01/07 Kathmandu