Knuckles - The stuff of legends

Team of 5

2 Days in January 2013

Public Transport

My usual travel buddies, Prishan and Lathika and I were arguing about which hike to do next - Knuckles or Peacock Hill. After research showed that Peacock Hill was not that great a challenge to surmount, we concluded on Knuckles as the place to go. We made one mistake - Global Warming.

It is now coming to a stage where weather patterns had become so erratic that it cannot be predicted by the greatest of equipment for a span over a week. We checked the weather over Knuckles before planning and it all seemed manageable. Light showers in patches and a good deal of sunlight - stuff that we are quite used to. But let me get to that later.

We spoke to Dinesh Deckker, a seasoned and ardent traveller who runs Nadegura.Com to get more info on the topography and landmarks on the trail that we were going to take. We decided to take the route from Kandy > Wattegama > Bamberalla route. Planning the travel time was painstaking because we were using public transport. We finally settled upon taking a bus from Fort to Kandy at 3.30 am as the first phase. It is advisable to get to the station at least an hour early if this is a long weekend. Lots of folk are going back to their hometowns and therefore the long queues for outstation buses. Our promised 3.30 am AC bus didn't turn up because the driver was hungover from last night (Or so we concluded). The next available AC bus was the 4.30am. Our connecting 'flight' from Kandy to Wattegama at 7.15 am. Thanks to our hungover bus driver and the even more hungover new bus driver, we missed the train from Kandy to Wattegama by 5 minutes. So bus it was from Kandy to Wattegama.

We reached Wattegama in about one and a half hours to catch the bus from Wattegama to Bamberalla - where our trail was supposed to begin. I can't remember the route number. Its 682 or 628. But you can't miss it. Once you're on the bus, just get down at the final stop at Bamberella. Don't confuse Thawalantenna, the bus halt with Thawalantenna the town. You need to get down at the latter which is at the end of the bambarella route. There is a little grocery titled 'Thilaka Welanda Sela'. Thilaka aiya is a legendary name among Knuckles hikers since the trail starts from his shop. There are two

routes to take. One is the slightly longer and better laid 'Knuckles Peak Road' or the shortcut that cuts across several private estates to reach the trail head. We only had a couple of maps from the Survey Department and a compass. So we took the Knuckles Peak Road. There is a nice little bungalow on the way titled 'Sandalu' at the bottom of the Knuckles Range. We met the manager Anil on the way to Bamberalla and he showed us around the bungalow and was forthcoming with some useful tips. Sandalu Eco Resort can be booked through the following link. The trail divides into two at this point - one going to Sandalu and one going to the foot of the trail. There is about a kilometer of hiking to do before you reach the trail head. Once you reach a concrete road, look for a little sign on the ground reading 'Knuckles Peak Nature Trail'. You need to turn right from here and now you're on the trail.

The hike

It was drizzling from the time we started. And it just got worse and worse once we started the hike. The weather was atrocious at best making the hike bordering on dangerous. Being the absent minded buffoon i am, i took all the essentials needed in my backpack - except for a raincoat. And paid the price heavily. Not to mention that my bag was not water proof. So except for a couple of clothing items, i didn't have any dry clothing at the end of the hike. Always always make sure that you carry dry clothes in a water proof bag.With the rain came another complication. Leeches. It was like being in 3D version of the movie '300'. The Battle of Thermopylae and all that. You can't afford to stop for too long in any given place when its raining this hard. If you have a phobia on leeches, DO NOT do this hike during the rainy season. We initially just flicked off the little creatures with our fingers, but they were persistent. Ultimately we just gave up and let them have their own way until we reached our camping spot. They would fall off eventually leaving little red dots on your body.
It can save your life in a hike like this.

The mist was extraordinarily thick and the path is treacherous. Keep in mind that this is not a path on a road
map. So there is basically no road. This is of course the case with any hike. But the beauty of the land we live in is just stupendous beyond. You will have to wade through overgrown Mana fields, bamboo forests and all other sorts of wilderness. Add to that a couple of absolutely gorgeous waterfalls that are just a hand's reach away from you and then it's just heaven on earth. The climb becomes very steep in some places requiring you to use both hands and legs. Given the muddy and slippery nature of the trail thanks to the rain, this adds an extra element of difficulty. Travel as light as possible and be properly equipped. I cannot stress this enough. The mist will reduce your visibility at times to like 5 meters. You can of course do this hike when there is absolutely no rain at all. Then the degree of difficulty is lesser - if you're into that kind of thing.

The summit

It was beautiful. Its a bit of a surreal experience at any given time to be on top of a mountain knowing that not many people have been lucky enough to see what we are seeing right now. Altogether there are around 34 peaks in the range with 5 of them being the highest. Our vision was barred with a thick mist on most parts of the panorama. But what we were able to see was extraordinary. Unfortunately it was raining far too hard and and we were shivering even more harder. So none of us were in a position to handle a camera let alone take one out. So that is one sight that will stick in our heads and we wont be able to share it with the rest of the world.

The camp

On our way to the summit we passed a couple of flat areas big enough for our two tents. We decided to come back down from the summit and camp at the last water source we found. It was an open area with no wind coverage. This of course is a bit dangerous. On an area such as Knuckles, being exposed to the strong winds and the climate during night time is not the cleverest thing to do. But we weren't sure of having access to water further down the trail and we were physically not in a state to go any further. Added to this was the drastically lowering visibility due to the mist. So we pitched up camp. We washed ourselves as best as we could from the river/pond that was next to us and settled in for the night.

The night

This was easily the longest night I've ever been through. We all cramped into one tent for dinner and to chat as friends do. But the temperature was atrociously COLD. I've never been a fan of cold temperatures after the Pattipola hike i did last year. But Pattipola was nothing compared to Knuckles during rain. To make matters even worse, there was no chance of making a fire given the rain outside and there was no chance of finding dry firewood either. So it had to be the tents. The rain ceased to a mild drizzle at most but the cold was unbelievable. We were shivering from head to toe although we were adequately covered by whatever dry clothes we had. Two of us camped in one tent and 3 of us in the other. It was a very very long night. At one point i remember waking up and asking the other guys what time it was. There was a loud groan across both tents when someone said its only 10pm. 8 more hours till morning. The wind was in its full force and at one point, Prishan and i were wondering how long the tents will last before they get blown away. Fortunately for us, the ground pins were sturdy and held its own till morning. Through gnashing winds and ice cold temperatures all five us made it through the longest night of our lives and the experience of a lifetime.

The hike back home

It is well documented that the weather in this range is unpredictable. And they were right. We woke up to a gloomy morning still cold as hell and this amazingly turned into bright sunlight and as hot as Colombo within half an hour. The sunrise was just unbelievable. Its as if Knuckles has its own life and dictates its own terms on how it lives. We woke up and looked at the summit that we reached last evening and the climb we had to do to go back.

It was a memorable and extremely rewarding hike. So much learnt for our next camping trip. There is something about the wild that makes you forget the toils and troubles of everyday living. Its like a drug that takes you by the collar and makes you get addicted to it. The difference is, the high that you get from finishing a hike like this will last forever.

Contact me through this post if you need more info on how to get there. I'm no expert. But I'll tell you what i know and better yet, direct you to people who know better. More pics can be found on my Flickr profile here 

Until the next post then, adios.