Knuckles Range

Deep in the interior of Sri Lanka is a mountain range named Knuckles Range. This moniker, given by early British surveyors to the area, is so named as it closely resembles the clenched fist of a giant man. Knuckles Range is a UNESCO Heritage Site due to the flora and fauna found there; some species are endemic and not seen anywhere else in the world.

April 12 and 13^th are the Tamil and Sinhala New Years and as the dates landed on a Thursday/Friday, a nice long weekend was created that allowed us to travel (a long and dirty bus ride) to the Kandy District in order to hike the Knuckles Range with a guide. Another VSO volunteer, Marjorie was with Bill and me.

Day 1: Two hours driving into the Knuckles region in 4x4 Safari Jeep: 5 hours of hiking to base camp.

Day 2: 8 hours of hiking to the caves; camp out. Porters carrying food, tents, sleeping bags.

Day 3: 8 hours of hiking to home stay in the Knuckles

Day 4: 4 hours of hiking to the rarely seen falls: only 3 other foreigner groups have ever attended to these falls. Drive back to Kandy.

This expedition proved to be highly eventful. We encountered leeches; hundreds of them! Our guide Amul carried a mixture of Dettol and water in a large green spray bottle and every hour or so soaked our socks and boots with this spray. However, Marjorie concluded that the leeches evolved to know that Dettol meant human beings and so, she believed leeches are actually attracted to the Dettol. She may be right, as these bizarre and disgusting creatures clung to our ankles, socks and shoes. We bled all over the place. To my great horror and disgust, one actually ventured up my shorts to bite my unmentionable nether region, which my travelling companions found amusing.

Initially we were so disgusted with them and tried scraping them off with rocks and sticks. When the numbers multiplied and we began recognizing the tenacity of their suckers, Bill dug out his Leather man and pliered them off of us. However, due to the sheer abundance and tenacity of the leeches, we just resorted to pulling them off with our bare fingers and flinging them away from us, only to find them quickly inching their way back to our feet. They littered the trail, particularly as we travelled down a one hour stretch of the hike aptly known as Leech Lane.

Leech Lane was infested. So, instead of pulling them off every now and then, we rushed through this part of the hike, despite the difficult terrain and the stumbles we all encountered. Stopping on the trail meant certain invasion and risk of being bled to death.

We all did face plants and stumbles were common. Bill had two rough stumbles resulting in broken eye glasses, a broken cell phone and landing backwards into a foot of water soaking a lush paddy field. Marjorie reframed our stumbles as, "Elegant slide, Bill", "Good lead with the bottom" and "Fancy footwork". No serious injuries resulted, just minor bruises.

I was stung by some "poison nettle plant" in three places. These stings were invisible, but left my legs burning and then itching. Apparently, this condition can last for about a month. Potentially, "boils" can develop that can leave a person unable to work for a month. At least that is what our guide said as he rubbed some ayurvedic oil into my legs.

Knuckles Range is absolutely spectacular and absolutely rugged. It lies in the most remote regions of Sri Lanka. The mountains are littered with tiny ancient villages of approximately ten families; these villages hug the steep cliffs or lie deep in lush jungle and amidst emerald green patty fields. We saw huge grasshoppers and giant spiders laying in wait for prey in huge webs. Endemic birds fluttered about, monkeys peered out from tree branches and we were fortunate to see a rare snout nosed horned lizard laying her eggs. Butterflies flitted everywhere.

Sri Lanka has 244 species of butterflies of which, 23 species are endemic to Sri Lanka. We watched the mating dance of a huge mating pair; black and white Common Mormons. The air was electric with cicadas; their deafening cries came in regular, systematic sounds, like the crashing of an ocean wave upon the shore.

We saw wild cardomen and wild nutmeg and palms high in the mountains. In the caves where we bunked on Day 2, cardomen pickers and Toddy tappers continue to use the caves as they have done for centuries. We traipsed through pygmy forests and bamboo forests. We splashed in waterfall pools populated with fresh water crabs and tiny minnows. We dined on rice and curry for breakfast, lunch and supper. I, as usual, maintained a huge appetite, while Marjorie and Bill gagged down enough to keep nourished.

One of the porters, clad in flip flops, ambled ahead and swung his machete carving out a trail for us in order for us to proceed through the thick overgrowth. He chopped bamboo canes and handed us walking sticks which we couldn't have managed without.

It was hard slugging for four days. Our knees hurt by Day 2 and by Day 3, we were all on Ibuprofen. Just the same, it was all rather magical. Knuckles Range is the heart and soul of Ceylon; unspoiled and raw, yet serene and quiet, like the hush of a whispered prayer.