Climbing Bible Rock
by Sun
I’ve seen Bible Rock many times from the Kandy Road. This time we actually climbed it. Great view.
This is how it looks from not even all the ways up.
The climb seems daunting, but you can take a Rs. 600 trishaw from the Mawanella town pretty far up. Eventually it gets too steep, however, and you have to walk. It’s path, then rock, then stairs, then you’re on the plateau. When you get to the end the view is pretty boss.
Fun Facts
Everybody knows Bible Rock cause you can see it from Kadugannawa, on the Kandy Road. It’s not a religious site, it’s just called that cause it looks like a Bible, but you can also call it Batalegala Mountain.
Apparently the rock attracts a lot of lightning. So if there’s lightning, don’t climb. There’s a small house atop that looks like it was opened by Anuraddha Ratwatte (think that’s what the plaque said).
Deets
If you like there’s a fuller gallery of photos up on Flickr. There is a much more detailed description of the hike here.
To get there we took the Kandy bus from Fort at about five in the morning, which was a breeze. Ended up next to a Scottish guy who quit his job at HSBC to come teach English in Kandy. Thought he was Burgher until I woke up and talked to him. The ride there is great and we found a beautiful place for breakfast before town. From there it’s about 20 minutes by trishaw to the base of the rock, then about 90 minutes of walking/stairmaster. There’s wasps, so don’t make too much noise.
It’s important to note that while there is a temple and some buildings, there is no water at the top. That’s the reason we came down sooner rather than later. There are a few houses along the path, they kindly gave us cool water to drink. Getting back is the doozy, as getting back into Colombo always is. Wish I could take a helicopter.
Posted on Thursday, January 19th, 2012 in Photography, Sri Lanka, travel.
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Nice views!
Nice trip. I ‘be been there last 4th of February on very damp and misty day.
This year we are planing camping on top of Alagalla on the very same day. if you are interested let me know.
Mind you, it’s a tradition of the villagers to celebrate the independence day on top of Alagalla.