The Missing Truth About Climbing Little Adam’s Peak in Ella, Sri Lanka.

 

 

Dear Fellow Travellers,

Hello from Ella in Sri Lanka.

While in Ella, I agreed to walk up Little Adam’s Peak with my sister and brother-in-law. The walk from Ella to Little Adam’s Peak’s summit is approximately 4.5 kilometres (return) and is said to take about 45 minutes each way. The walk was described in four guidebooks as easy, mostly flat, and with a small amount of climbing at the end.

The hotel’s reference to Little Adam’s Peak summed up the expected experience:

This walk is unlikely to make you break out in a sweat, and the entire round trip can be completed in about two hours. The first part of the walk is quite flat … some climbing is required to reach the summit. The view from the top is more than worth the gentle exertion though, offering a splendid panorama of Ella Rock and The Gap.

Well, they were all wrong! All the guidebooks lied.

• It was uphill all the way. There was no “flat” and nothing ‘easy’ about the walk.
• I did break out in a sweat – big time.
• The walk was two hours one way.
• ‘The small amount of climbing at the end’ was not just uphill; it was more than 300 vertical steps.
• As for “gentle exertion”. Nothing was gentle about the blood pounding in my head when I finally reached the summit. This climb was heart-attack material!

Having reached the summit (at the height of 1,141 metres), I was too exhausted and out of breath to appreciate the “splendid panorama”. And I thought I was fit! There is nothing ‘little’ about Little Adam’s Peak.

I didn’t feel a sense of achievement – I just felt jilted by the guidebooks. In hindsight, I should have stayed in Ella drinking coffee and left the walk up to the others to complete.

Walking up Little Adam’s Peak would have to be one of the worst experiences of my life. Well, perhaps not, but it sure felt like it. I left the others at the bottom of the mountain and took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. It cost me a lot of rupees, but it was worth every one of them.

Till the next adventure,

Joanna

 

Editor’s Note: I first published this blog post in February 2021 and have since revised it for accuracy, thoroughness, and relevance.

 

Disclaimer: This post contains no affiliate links. All views and opinions are my own and non-sponsored. All photos are my own and remain the copyright of Joanna Rath/Just Me Travel.

© Just Me Travel 2018-2025. All rights reserved.

 

Have you faced a challenging climb? What was the outcome? Did you feel a sense of achievement or not?

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