WEATHER: Glorious 24C
HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Getting to the end of the walk before
the rain came down
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not realizing that today’s walk was
longer than yesterday
WORD OF THE DAY: Are
we there yet?
THANKS TO ALL MY
WATER CHARITY DONATIONS SO FAR:
The Papster and Michael Sydenham
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 12km-downhill……..
BUDDHA QUOTE FOR THE DAY:
You,
yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and
affection.
So today I always knew we had a walk, but the Intrepid
itinerary made out that yesterday was the biggest day and today was
shorter. Well according to me that was
NOT the case and also to the ‘proper’ walkers they said today was definitely a
lot longer and when we left the managers bungalow at 7.15am this morning and
Shiver filled us in on the mornings events he even said we have 12-15km to walk
today. The upside was that we are going downhill
95% of the way and was the only positive I took as we started out. There was a 40 minute uphill section to start
off with and warm us all up and I was psyched into being the last again
today. We got a small stop at a
waterfall and we also passed a group of children on their way to school. There were about 15 of them and an older
fellow with a stick to keep them all moving so as not to be late. I don’t think he appreciated us stopping them
and saying hello but again we took some photos with them all in it and they
were all pushing and vying for a spot so they could all see themselves and not
one child asked for money. I really hope
that this area keeps its charm like that and I feel that Intrepid try and keep
it all low key and frown upon gifts and lollies to given out, unless you have
enough for everyone, in the long run it is not beneficial as kids fight over
things and it is not sustainable. The
last of the uphill section was called Devil’s Staircase to which there actually
isn’t any stairs but there may as well have been as it was so steep you wouldn’t
be able to ride a bike down it without citing an injury. I was with Susie Q telling her about my move
to Ethiopia, so it took a little of the thought out of it and even though it
was only 150m, it felt like more.
After a lengthy stop we were on the downward walk for the
rest of the morning. It sounds easy, but
with the pressure of your toes hitting the front of your sneakers and in some
places my knees were getting some effect when you do something for 5 hours I
guess something is going to rub, wobble or fall off. Well I am happy to say nothing fell off but
it was a tough morning that is for sure.
I enjoy walking, just not up hill, so I was not the last of the pack
today as the Irish Gals pulled up the rear today with Indika. I have a feeling they may have been a little
hung-over from last night, it’s the only thing I can think of as they were at
the front of the group yesterday. But
they are young and when they needed to they caught up to us when required. So I sat in the middle pack with Susie Q,
Cuzy Bro, Jen and BK for most of the day.
There were sections that they would get a good run on, but somehow I
always managed to catch up and it was nice to have some company for the walk
for a change.
We stayed as a group till around 10.30am when we stopped
for a fruit infusion and a mug of tea and after that it was on for all. So we wound our way down and as we passed an
elderly gentleman he told our guide Morgan that rain was on the way and to high
tail it as fast as we could. Well my
little tired legs just wouldn’t move any faster but I took the idea not to stop
and take as many photos so as to get to the end point sooner rather than
later.
We passed one more little plantation village that was
harvesting carrots and I have never seen so many at the one time and we also
got to see the day care center there and it was nap time for the little ones
and they were nesting in what I would call sheets that were suspended from the
roof. There would have been 5-6 kidlets
all just ‘hanging’ and they looked like the stork had just delivered them all
that morning. They just looked bug eye
at us all as we came in to say hello and have a look around. There were a set of twins that arrived for
their check-up and they would have been around 5 months old. I went over to say hi and they didn’t want to
hold my finger or touch me, so the mum took one of their hands and touched me
and the baby just started bawling her eyes out…. Oh I am so sorry- didn’t mean to upset the
little tike, so I exited left out the door and I could hear her crying as we
left. I wonder if that is something I
will have to get used to if I get my wish and work in an orphanage when I head
back to Ethiopia? My white skin scaring
the pants off the little ones.
I had small scare when we were on a section of a road
when I saw something move. I had asked
the previous day about snakes and was told that they were in hibernation and
this was not the time for them to be out and about. Well I saw some move directly for me and I
screamed, which in turn put BK and Jen on their toes till we looked again at
what had moved and it was a green chameleon.
OK so it wasn’t a snake, but it had made a run for me till we both
scared each other and he jumped into a bush.
Well the story grew and grew and by the time I go to the restaurant a
few hours later I had actually encountered a KILLER chameleon that was gnashing
its teeth at me, it was a meter long and I am sure I heard it call my
name. Ahhhh so this is how stories get
embellished….. Now I understand!! After 4 hours of downhill I was starting to
get a little antsy, a little tired and a little fed up along with a few others
in my group. When I asked Morgan how
much further it was to go, he pointed to a roof of a house that seemed like 20
hours away and said we are heading to that house…. I am regretting having asked the question,
but when the road is winding it isn’t a true indication as by 12.40pm we arrived
at our final destination. Just as we
walked under the verandah the heavens opened and then it rained for the rest of
the afternoon. The restaurant that was
our finishing point had a spectacular view of Sri Lanka’s tallest waterfall-
Bambarakanda. This fall, due to its
sheer drop of 241m, is the highest in the whole of Sri Lanka. Set amid an
evergreen forest, it is formed by the Uduweriya Haputale Mountains' Kuda Oya
(river), a tributary of the Walawe River. It cascades in a torrent (especially
in the wet season) from a rocky outcrop into a deep, basin-like pool. Because it had started to rain as we ate
lunch they waterfall picked up in volume in water and due to the weather we
were unable to go to the pool of the waterfall for a swim, as the path down can
be slippery in the wet. Well I had made
my mind up that I wasn’t going to go down, I had taken enough steps that day,
but I was saved the embarrassment of not going thanks to the rain.
Al I can say I was so thankful that I finished the 23km
walk. I can now kick back and enjoy the
last 4 days of the itinerary. I really
was worried on just how hard the walk would be and I am just ecstatic that I
finished. I am also thankful for team
Perth and team NZ for encouraging me today and sticking together as a group, I
really did enjoy the company and as we were going downhill I was able to talk
and wasn’t breathless as I had been on the uphill climb yesterday. After a delicious lunch there were 2 vans
waiting to take us to our accommodation in Hapatule for the night. The ride took us 45 minutes and with us still
being 1600m above sea level, on a single country road, there were some close
shaves when there were some ongoing traffic as we had to shuffle back and forth
to get past each other. It was nice to
get back the main road that had 2 lanes, probably wasn’t any safer, as the
cliff edge was there the whole time but at least we didn’t have to shuffle
around vehicles on the edge of a mountain.
We made it to Haputale just after 2pm. It will be nice to have a hot shower and some
time to take a load off my feet. I was
certainly more tired today than I was yesterday. There was an option for us to have a drive of
a tuk tuk this afternoon and for those interested had to be ready to go at
3.30pm. I love those things and wasn’t
going to pass up the offer, so with our big bags delivered to our rooms I got
to have a shower and start to re-pack my bags again for the last few days of
tour. We were lucky our room faced incredible
views with an elevation of 1431m above the sea level, we were surrounded by
hills covered with cloud forests and tea plantations we had a view across
the Southern plains of Sri Lanka.
3.30pm and it was time for our tuk tuk lesson. There were 6 of us and we walked about 10 minutes
to the local oval where there was one tuk tuk waiting for us. I was a little disappointed there was only
one as I had hopes of being able to race against each other, but there wasn’t and
I still get to drive one. Well I went
first and we weren’t allowed to drive the tuk tuk on our own. We controlled the speed and were able to
steer the thing, but we weren’t allowed to have a go alone. It wasn’t until dinner time that Indika
explained to be able to drive tourists the tuk tuk drivers need to have a
tourist license, which not all of them have, so if they are busted letting us
drive their tuk tuk with no license, and them not having a proper license then
he gets into a lot of trouble. So
knowing that, it all makes sense and it was still pretty cool to cut a few laps
of the oval. After nearly getting
killed, well run over, by a tuk tuk I still find them cute. There are over 500,000 tuk tuks in Sri Lanka,
not all of them taxi’s. Auto rickshaws,
commonly known as three-wheelers, can be found on all roads in Sri Lanka
from the curvy roads through the hill country to the congested roads of Colombo transporting
locals, foreigners, or freight about. Sri Lankan tuk-tuks are of the style of
the light Phnom Penh type. Most tuk-tuks in Sri Lanka are a slightly modified
Indian Bajaj model, imported from India though there are few manufactured
locally and increasingly imports from other countries in the region and other
brands of three-wheelers such as Piaggio. In 2007 January the Sri Lankan
government imposed a ban on all 2-stroke three-wheelers, and therefore the ones
imported to the island now are only with a four-stroke engine. Most
three-wheelers are available as hiring vehicles, with few being used to haul
goods and as private vehicles. A few
three-wheelers in Sri Lanka have distance meters, but the vast majority of
charges are negotiated between the passenger and driver, and we got a chance to
drive one, well with a little help.
Dinner was at the hotel and then I retired early to bed
to get a blog written and just get some down time. I was up to the day I fell off the tuk tuk
and with my arm still throbbing it was quite easy to remember, well the actual
fall details are a little hazy, so I just used some liberal license to tell the
story as I remember. We are off to the
beach tomorrow and now on the home run for the tour. It has been an amazing tour to date, very
active, very busy and we have had a great group and leader. These are the tours that will stick in your
memories for a lifetime and I have been blessed to have been able to spend this
adventure with people I now call friends.
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