Lucky Stars


 

In Nuwara Eliya, we live at 6,182 feet of elevation. Our little town features a hill with a radio tower perched upon it. This hill is the highest point in all of Sri Lanka. To climb the hill all the way to the radio tower, you need to secure permission from the police. We were unable to secure permission to climb to the top, so decided to climb as far as we could without permission. We did mention to the landlord's twelve year old girl that we endeavoured to climb the hill.


 

So, we trishawed into town, then set out along a road on the edge of the town and picked up a nice trail that followed a waterfall. However the trail became more obscure after a half hour of climbing, but we ventured on, managing to follow the trail through the ever thickening jungle. At points along the way, the jungle brush was higher than our head. We both had secured sturdy sticks by this time and with each step, whacked the bush along side the path. Sri Lanka has six types of poisonous snakes. Our sticks acknowledged our constant vigilance to avoid dying from a snake bite as we pushed through the jungle.


 

The path became more obscured. Bill found and hung a child's purple sock on the ground and slung it onto a tree branch for a marker. We carried on, banging at the brush as we picked our way along. Almost near the top of the hill the jungle thickened and the brush became almost impossible to penetrate. Our desire was to go on – we were nearly there! However, I decided that our good judgement was telling us to turn around and head back down the hill.


 

Head back? Head back where? The trail was gone. The ever prepared Wendy and Bill had to regroup. Using our best, err, weak orientation skills, we decided we had to head downhill. Slipping and sliding, we pushed and banged our way down through the jungle. Bill looks like a male borderline that has been doing some serious cutting due to all the blackberry scratches on his forearm.


 

Feeling quite lost, we stumbled along, wishing we had told someone besides a twelve year old kid where we were going. But then, just as we began to worry, a child's purple sock appeared, dangling from a branch. We were saved! Relaxing, we travelled along the trail that became more and more discernable with each step. With risk comes a rush. Astrologically, we were both born under lucky stars.

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 21, 2011 at 10:08 AM

    Now getting lost is all part of the adventure because you enjoy being found. Maybe you should consider setting this as a trail for a running group.

    ON ON

    CHOO CHOO

    ReplyDelete

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