Conquering Bible Rock!

Departure Time:     1030 hours (to Kandy) & 0330 hours (to Bible Rock)

Departure Venue:   Fort Railway Station & Bambi's archchi and seeya's house (Kandy)

Travel Mode:         Colombo-Kandy Train & Van

Adventurers:           Avanti, Bambi Asiri Wickramasuriya, Osanda Senapathiratne, Nilesh and Jay-D Perera, Yohan Fernando, Anthony and Rebecca (from Sweden) and Kalana (driver)

Sometimes I think it is totally unfair that guys have a freedom advantage over girls. Why do you think that is? Because guys are strong, or girls are more naïve? Anyway, it doesn’t seem fair, but I am truly glad and thankful to God for giving me my parents, and for making them so cool with me being ‘one of the guys’. (Although they are not so sometimes, I can always talk and get through to them!)

So although I was thrilled when Bambi asked me to come to Kandy with them (and on a hike), when I announced that I was going to ammi last Wednesday, I got mixed emotions. At first, all was good as ammi knew I had to get out as much as possible before I went to the US, or started work. But when thaththi got home, he convinced her that it was raining there and therefore abit dangerous, so I was not allowed to go. However, after abit of coaxing, and promising that we would not climb if it was raining, I got permission.

So, around 10am on Thursday, me and Osanda met up with Bambi at the Fort railway station to catch a train to Kandy. We managed to find three seats together, and surprisingly the train took off on time, and we were on our way. I was excited to go to Kandy again… In my opinion, it is the New York City of Sri Lanka!

We arrived in Kandy around 2pm (3 and a half hours from Colombo), and made our first stop at Devon for lunch. After a hearty meal, we headed over to Trinity College, as Bambi had to go for choir practise, during which Osanda agreed to give me a tour of Udawatta Kelle – a natural forest area behind Trinity College.

At first we were not allowed to enter (as they do not allow couples to enter following some complaints by schools etc). However, after explaining to the man in charge that we were NOT a couple, and that I just wanted to look around and take some pics, we were allowed inside.

It was truly amazing, as the natural forest now had a pathway that you could take to go deeper into it. It smelled so fresh, from the rain, and made me feel like we were walking into Jurassic Park! On either side of us was thick forest area, which I am sure consisted of many wild creatures. (I, however, ignored the feeling of fear, and trotted happily along.) While walking along, Osanda was explaining all the animals that resided in Udawatta Kelle, and we hoped of spotting some… Fortunately, God was on our side, as we did!

Apparently there was a pathway that led to the hill behind the Dalada Maligawa, but unfortunately, halfway through, we realised that it was now blocked, so made our way back to the main path. Suddenly I was stopped by Osanda who then pointed to a spot where my foot had been a second ago, to a peacock green scorpion, who was snapping its pincers at me. I was stunned at first, coz I wasn’t sure what would have happened if it had stung me… but I later realised its true beauty (especially its colour!), and we snapped some pics of it.While walking back to the entrance we also chanced upon two wild boars (Pumbas!), who ran away at the sound of us approaching. We also saw a garandiya, who slid away from us, and a few types of birds.

Walking back to the Trinity chapel, we then watched as Bambi finished his choir practise. We also met Nilesh and Yohan (they are part of the choir too), and made a few plans to meet up the next morning.

Me, Bambi and Osanda then made our way back to Kandy town and to Bambi’s seeya’s house. We soon ran into his archcha and cousin, Shala, on the road, and convinced her to come walk around the town abit. We went to the Kandy YMCA for soya ice-cream (which was yummy!), and also to the Kandy City Centre (KCC), now a fully-fledged mall. We then made our way home, hoping to get to bed soon as we had to wake up early the next morning.

Back at home, we also met Shala’s new puppy, Barney. He was sooo cute (and as naughty as Bambi!) , and was teething on our hands, and showing off his squeaky toy! We played with him for abit, before we headed back down to play abit of Tic Tac Toe (“and another tic”) on Bambi’s phone. (Bambi showed us the art of winning when you play second, and we had some fierce competitions.) 

Since I was the girl, Bambi’s archcha was kind enough to make a special room just for me, and we soon said good night, and I retired to a very comfy bed, and had a good night’s sleep.

Waking up close to 2.30am, the three of us soon washed up, drank the Milo that Bambi so kindly made for us (which WAS yummy!) and had some fish buns as breakfast. At around 3.15am, we met the others.
Nilesh had managed to get a van to drive us to our hiking point, mainly because we had two guests come with us – Anthony and Rebecca, from Sweden. I also met Nilesh’s brother, Jay-D, for the first time. Although I was quiet the ride to the base of the rock, Yohan and Jay-D’s constant chatter kept all of us entertained.

 

We reached the base at around 4.30am, and readied ourselves for the climb. As it was still dark, none of us were too sure about the start of the hike, but we were encouraged by Bambi, and soon headed up the hill (our driver, Kalana, joined us too). Losing our way once or twice (which was all part of the fun!), we finally got on the right track… We ducked under fallen trees and stepped over thorn bushes, and trekked onward without a stop.

Closer to the top, we took a few stops (mainly for my benefit)… and Bambi walked behind with me, while the others went on. Jay-D was the fittest of all and sprinted up the hill ahead of us, with Nilesh following close behind. But, thankfully, none of us missed the sunrise, as we reached the top of the hill JUST as the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds. It was an AMAZING sight! We just couldn’t take our eyes off the sky.

After a quick KU-check (I had none, sadly!), we then made our way to one end of the hill, and came upon a rock surface, where we rested for awhile. Anthony and Rebecca worked on their tans, while the rest of us involuntarily worked on ours as well… while we tucked into sandwiches and drinks. Bambi also pointed out all the neighbouring mountains to us (Saradiel, Uthuwankanda etc), and tried making plans to climb them as well.

After awhile, we decided to check out the other end of the rock, and made our way there behind Yohan, now turned into a Nat Geo commentator, and showing us around. (but he soon quieted down when we realised there might be wasp nests around there!)

The other end of the hill housed a mini Buddhist temple, and a flat rock area which you had to climb down to… me and Bambi, being the daring ones, jumped at the chance of climbing down, and were soon followed by Osanda and Nilesh.

After snapping a few pics, we then made our way back up, and decided to head back down. Some of us were better at going down than coming up, so took off downhill at a speed, while the others climbed down cautiously. Yohan was my guardian on my way down, keeping an eye out for me and jumping everytime I slipped (and let out a squeak). Thanks, Yohan!

Back down, we did another KU-check… and I STILL had only one! Oh well.. And once everyone was down, we decided to join the others to go to Pinnawala, as we still had some time to kill before we had to get back to Colombo.

I hadn’t been to Pinnawala in awhile and was shocked to see how amazing it looked! The reception building was made, and looked like a professional zoo. I was glad that these elephants were given so much precedence.

We walked down to the river, as we had come in time to see the elephants bath time, and soon saw all of them coming down the road in a herd. From huge elephants to tiny aliyah patiyas, they made their way to the river to bathe. It was amazing to watch, as although they are so huge, they are very graceful creatures.

We watched and snapped pics of them for awhile, before we made our way back up to the orphanage area, to see the remaining elephants. We were even allowed to touch a baby aliyah who hadn’t gone down for a bath… and although he was abit smelly, he was really cute.

Oh! And i almost forgot! Bambi carried a SNAKE! It was sooo scary...! i stayed far away from it... but it was one of the 'Everything' list Bambi had wanted to do, so he carried it around his neck. YUCK! (but am proud of Bambi!)

[Apparently it wasn't as SLIMY as all of us thought, but scaly! Gross..]

Soon after it was time to go back to Colombo, as Osanda had an event, and me and Bambi had choir practise. We got off at Rakwana, and said goodbye to our (old and) new friends – Nilesh, Yohan, Jay-D, Anthony and Rebecca – and boarded a train to Colombo.

We reached Colombo, with time to spare, at around 3pm… but hung out at church, chatting and going over the exciting events of the day. Me and Bambi had quite a few scrapes on our legs, as we were the only ones who hiked in shorts… but I loved my scrapes and wounds!