 It would have been faster to walk the railway line to Kithaella, the starting point of the Ella rock walk. We hung around the Ella train station for an hour, 50 mins after the designated departure time, just to take the red rattler to the next stop on the Colombo line. I amused myself by talking to the locals and the tourists that were waiting for the blue Xpress train. We'd been warned not accept any offers of a guide once we arrived at Kithaella, however we fell straight into the clutches of a local shyster masquerading as a guide/farmer. He told us not to go up the regular path as it would take too long and he knew a short cut. DOH! We knew straight away of his ploy but he was harder than a leech to shake off. Ok mate, you can walk ahead of us, but we're not giving you any money. He got us completely bamboozled, so we were not able to find the correct path. Anyway, it was an adventure and we got to walk through some chest high wild lemon grass paddocks that in hindsight were probably home to the local cobra population.
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 The Honey Bee Guest House was perfectly located at the base of Little Adam’s Peak. We were able to take a short hike up the side of the rock on a little dirt road and then on stairs that had been chiselled out of the rock. At a little over 1140metres high, Little Adam's Peak is an easy climb and we had spectacular 360deg views across the valley. The Nine Arch Bridge is in between Ella station and Demodara station. It spans 91 metres and is 24m high. The architectural masterpiece is set in picturesque surroundings in between dense jungle and tea plantations.
 During our first afternoon we witnessed an incredible spectacle. A ritual called Sidi was being played out by the local tea pickers who are Hindi Tamils. I couldn’t find anyone to explain what they were doing but by any account it was completely mind blowing stuff. The noise started first. Loud blaring trumpeting and beating of many drums. A large group of people were dancing and walking in front of a slow moving truck. They stopped at the junction of the hill towards Little Adam’s Peak and had to make a left hand turn up the hill. This would have been accomplished quite easily had there not been a tree trunk mounted on top of the truck and jutting forwards over the front of the bonnet like some medieval jousting pole. On the end of the trunk some ropes were tied and at the end of the ropes a man was suspended pendant like. He bobbed around, twirled and swung backwards and forwards from the momentum of the truck. How he was suspended was the most astonishing sight. There were multiple large gaff hooks perforating his back, thighs and calves. Other men sometimes held his hands and pushed or pulled him and with the help of all the participants, they managed to navigate the bend without ripping him from his rigging. We followed them up the hill and down to the little Hindu temple behind their village and watched in awe as they continued their ritual. The families were crowding around, all dressed in their finery. Little children, babies and the elderly all took part in getting close to the swinging man and moving even closer to be blessed by him. There seemed to be quite a few people dancing, trance like and chanting and there were two little boys about 9 or 10yo that had two of the big hooks in their backs and the ropes tied to these were held by older men who seemed to be leading them about. One little boy, his back arched and eyes rolling in his head seemed to be in an ecstatic state while those around him doused him with water and squeezed juice from what appeared to be limes into his eyes.  There was buckets of water being thrown about and then someone brought a silver platter piled with Kumkuma, a cornflour looking powder made from turmeric and slaked lime. This was used to mark the faces and foreheads of worshippers. And then just when we thought all this wasn’t crazy enough, someone handed their little baby to the swinging man - I’m guessing for an extra blessing. I spotted an woman who had a small jewelled spear like object embedded through her cheeks - in one side and out the other.  There were only a couple of westerners watching the spectacle and my friend Yolanda and I had front row seats! I am loathed to make any judgement about the event, it was just so very different to anything I have ever witnessed. And at the same time these people seemed to be awestruck by my appearance and many of them stared and commented on my hair. I’d just coloured it bright red and I guess they had never seen anything like it. Their reaction to me was on par with our reaction to their weird and awesome ritual. It truly is a strange and wonderful world. |
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