Walking
Walking in Sri Lanka, from the dry zone to the hills
Sri Lanka is small enough to cross in a day, yet it climbs from hot, flat plains of reservoirs and ruins to cloud forest and tea estates over two thousand metres up. Walking it shows that change at the pace it deserves.
By Walter Pellow20 October 20264 min read
Most visitors see Sri Lanka from a minibus window. That is understandable, because there is a great deal to see and the roads are slow. But the island is also one of the most rewarding places in South Asia to walk. In the space of a couple of weeks it is possible to walk among the ruins and reservoirs of the ancient kingdoms, up into the wild mountains of the Knuckles range and through the tea estates of the hill country, in landscapes that change from one day to the next.
The dry zone
The north-central plains, the dry zone, are flat or gently rolling country. Ancient reservoirs, rice paddies and scrub jungle are scattered with rocky outcrops, many of them topped by temples or monasteries. Walking here is easy underfoot but hot, and it is best done in the early morning. The rewards are great: village paths along the banks of the tanks, the reservoirs built by the ancient kings, where egrets, kingfishers and water buffalo gather. There are paddy fields, small temples and, with luck, elephants on the shores of the reservoirs at Minneriya and Kaudulla. The rock of Sigiriya and the ruins of Polonnaruwa, with their great carved Buddhas, are within easy reach.
The Knuckles range
Rising north-east of Kandy, the Knuckles range was named by British surveyors for its resemblance to the knuckles of a clenched fist. It is a wild, steep range of forested peaks, cloud forest, grassland and deep valleys, with remote villages in its folds. Together with Horton Plains and the Peak Wilderness, it forms part of the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka World Heritage Site, recognised for its exceptional range of plants and animals, many found nowhere else. Its trails pass through cardamom plantations, forest and terraced paddy, past waterfalls and viewpoints such as Mini World's End, where the land drops away sharply to the plains far below. The weather in the range is notoriously changeable, and mist can roll in quickly.
Walking it shows that change at the pace it deserves.
The tea country and the sacred peak
South of Kandy, the hill country rises to its highest points. This is the heart of the tea industry, established by the British in the nineteenth century after a fungal disease destroyed the island's coffee plantations. Steep hillsides are covered with neatly clipped tea bushes, with the factories and bungalows of the estates set among them. The paths of the estates, used by the pickers, make wonderful walking, with views across valleys of green to the mountains beyond. Hatton and Norwood are tea towns in this landscape.
Above them rises Adam's Peak, Sri Pada, a steep, conical mountain of more than two thousand two hundred metres. A rock on its summit bears a large hollow resembling a footprint, revered as the footprint of the Buddha by Buddhists, of Shiva by Hindus, and of Adam by many Muslims and Christians. In the pilgrimage season, roughly from December to May, thousands of pilgrims climb its thousands of steps through the night from the village of Dalhousie to see the sunrise from the top. On a clear morning, the peak's shadow falls as a perfect triangle over the clouds to the west.
The hill country has its own wildlife too. Purple-faced langurs, found only in Sri Lanka, live in the forests, and the island's endemic birds, such as the Sri Lanka blue magpie and the yellow-eared bulbul, can be seen by patient walkers in the cloud forests. Leeches are common on forest paths in wet weather, and gaiters or leech socks are worth packing. The rewards are worth the minor inconvenience, and the views, when the mist clears, are among the finest on the island.
The walking tours
Explore Worldwide's Walking in Sri Lanka, thirteen nights in July and November, includes the dry zone, with Dambulla, Minneriya and Kaudulla, Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa. It also covers the Knuckles range and Mini World's End, Kandy, and the tea country of Hatton, Norwood and Dalhousie.
Explore Worldwide's Active Sri Lanka, thirteen nights, includes Wilpattu National Park, Anuradhapura and Mihintale, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, the Knuckles range and the Matale valley.
Good walking shoes, a light waterproof and sun protection are essential. The hills can be cool and wet even when the plains are baking.
By Walter Pellow, the name Atlas & Passage’s editorial team writes under. Prices and dates in the trips below come from the operators and can change.
