December Hike Day 2: Horton Plains

World's End

Camp was cold.

There were freezing gusts of air that blew so hard, we heard the trees howl and moan throughout the night. Thank God we were all cramped inside one big tent and had each other's body warmth. Trust me, it still didn't help. We all slept in fits & starts and that only coz we were so tired.

The dying fire BEFORE it revived

And did I mention that we had to wake up at night to put out a fire? Yeah, so were were very responsible and put out our campfire completely before we went to sleep. Thanks to the crazy wind however, one tiny stray ember had been brought back from the dead. By the time we heard the crackle, there was a merry little fire going, happily feeding on a log close by.

We set off... (on a paved road)

The boys put it out of course. Nearly froze to death in the process.

Next morning, we went to Horton Plains. Seriously, words cannot describe just how LONG that walk is. I swear, I have the heart of a hiker; my body needs to catch up. Not to mention that my bestie is an avid cam-'o-holic (as opposed to an amateur photographer) and would take a photo every 5 minutes. No hate - I love that girl.

We took the left route; came back the right way :P

On the way to Baker's Falls

Anyhoo, we did it. Conquered both Little and (Big?) World's Ends-es. The views were of course breathtaking and cold. The wind was biting and sharp, and I could feel the skin of my lips cracking bit by bit the longer we stayed. But man the experience was worth it.

And then back down, through Baker's Falls and the crystal clear water that was more like glass being blown in a factory. We avoided the crowds and crept further down from the falls. There we splashed some water, struck some poses, took some pics (of course) and refreshed ourselves. It was divine.

... Sigh

😂😂😂

I'll tell you what wasn't divine though.  There was absolutely no cell coverage. None. It was a nice respite from my bestie's office (which kept texting her for some reason) but seriously. We were on top of a mountain!!! Also, we needed to call down to our tour coordinator Amila aiya to send up the cruise cab and our lunches. Without signal, we couldn't reach him so we started WALKING out of the park and down the road till one of us got a bar. It was past 4PM when he finally came up and we hurriedly ate coz we had yet another hike to do.

Oh. I just realized how long this post is. You know what guys? Thotupola kanda can wait till next week :P Till then, check out more pictures from our hike here  (@travel_with_hiru) and here (me! @girlwithabudget)

(Approx.) Time Taken : 10 hours
(Approx.) Total Cost    : LKR 10,000 (for 4 people)
Satisfaction                 : 4/5

*All pictures are subject to copyright © Asuka Randeniye 2016

December Hike Day 1: Pattipola Railway Summit

Railway Summit @ Pattipola. The two signs are on the right. Credits: Lahiru Piumwardena

Heiyo! Right now I'm on a train, heading home after yet another trip - this December is full of trips. So by the time I get home, this post will be up and ready to be read; welcome to my first, full-fledged, camping+hike trip!

We started off by taking the Super Line Luxury bus from Pettah to Bandarawela at 10.00PM. The ticket is LKR 900 per person and the seats are like heaven. They were so comfy that we missed our stop and ended up in Badulla! 

Pettah to Badulla via Google Maps

Nine Arches Bridge in the mist

Not to worry though because that way, we managed to catch the 5.20AM train from Badulla to Pattipola. We were gonna catch the train from Bandarawela anyway but this way, we got on from the station it starts from so we all got seats :)

The view on the way is breathtaking, I am a literature major and I have no words to describe it. Follow my instagram here and these other accounts here and here to get an idea... it was truly amazing and I'm gonna try to do justice to it here with the few pics I have.

We had breakfast at Happy Cafe within spitting distance of the Pattipola railway station. Mind you, everything is within spitting distance there; it is one tiny community. The local food there, like rotti, hoppers etc. are good; the sandwiches are terrible and terribly overpriced too. We bought 2 packets of sandwiches (chicken and cheese) and 3 rottis with accompanying curries and it cost us LKR 620 for 4 people.

Our plan was to do the railway summit hike which is to walk along the railway line towards Ohiya station till we came to the highest point in the Sri Lankan railway. Again, the view was spectacular and it took us about 1 and a half hours of slow trekking. Unfortunately, the beauty was spoiled by a ton of trash - people had thrown plastic cups, gum wrappers, shopping bags and all kinds of rubbish on either side of the tracks as they passed on the train.

Summit!

After plenty of stops for pictures and selfies - never mistake the two - we came to the summit. Interestingly it is located on a bend and there were two signs on either side of the bend declaring the summit. 

We also went through one of the longest tunnels in Sri Lanka. We waited for a train to pass and then walked into the creepy, cold and dark tunnel. I do not wanna try that again.

Long ass tunnel #creepy

Our camp :) Yes, that's the garbage :P

We got back to Pattipola in time for a late lunch. We were coordinating with Amila aiya*, a very nice gentleman who provides camping gear and off-road vehicles to aspiring explorers and nut jobs like us. He gave us lunch in his own home and then packed us off to our camp site, barely 2km down the road towards the Horton Plains reservation from Pattipola station.

Then ensued a hilarious 4 hours of clearing the campsite, setting up a torn (yes, TORN) tent, building a fire, keeping it going and basically, making the campsite habitable. I have a very bad opinion of humans after seeing the kind of garbage they threw away: diapers, underwear, tissues, shopping bags, glass bottles, plastic bottles and more. We had to scatter ash all around the tent to make sure roaches didn't crawl in, thanks to all the rubbish people'd left behind.

I'm minimizing the suffering, but it was an extremely windy day and the fire was not easy to build. Nor was it easy to cook on the small camp stove we had. But once we did... YUM! Never have instant noodles and sausages tasted so good.

*slurp nom nom

We slept late and tossed the whole night thanks to the moaning of the wind around the trees that surrounded us. More to come next week so stay tuned everyone!

(Approx.) Time Spent: 1 day
(Approx.) Total Cost  : LKR 7000 (for 4 people. We also took LKR 5000 worth of stuff for camping, hiking etc.)
Satisfaction                 : 3/5

*Please contact me via instagram or twitter for his contact details if necessary

**All pictures are subject to copyright © Asuka Randeniye 2016

December Vacation Hike

Hi everyone, long time no see! I've been so busy with work and all that I decided to take a quick break - except that break was the whole of November. #sorrynotsorry

Anyhoo, I am back and I am kicking off the December holidays in style. Four of us will be going on an EPIC hike+camp trip this upcoming weekend. Why epic you ask? Well, thanks to the Sri Lankan calendar gods we have not two, but FOUR DAYS (I just made that bold to show you how psyched I am :D) in that weekend (Monday and Tuesday are holidays). We will be going to Pattipola, Ohiya and Bambarakanda Falls for sure and depending on the weather, how tired we are etc. we'll improvise our route along the way.

Oh and did I mention the camping?? I am so excited that I don't even re... yes I did. Oh well.

About that... I have a confession: I've never been camping.

Ok, so I've been in a tent when I was like 5. Or maybe 6. That doesn't count. Thanks to some spectacularly protective parents, the most adventurous trip I've been on before I became an official adult was to the beach. 

Yep. *takes a moment to let the lameness of my childhood trips sink in.

So this is my moment to let all my childhood dreams and frustrations fly. Fingers - and toes - crossed that it's not gonna rain (literally) on my parade. 

*sigh

Obviously, there won't be a post next Monday but keep your eyes peeled coz I will be tweeting and gramming my adventures and mishaps as much as my phone signal and battery will allow me. There's another big trip coming on but that'll have to be a secret for now.

He hee, welcome December! Onwards, hikers!!!