Though World’s End at Horton Plains, Sri Lanka is not as well known as the towering Adam’s Peak, it is frequently ranked as the top hike in the country.   We took to the trail ourselves to find out more about this somewhat-hidden highlight.

Located within one of Sri Lanka’s many national Parks, Horton Plains would feel at home within the pages of a New Zealand nature book.  With gold-flecked grass, ferns and flax as far as the eye can see, you really could be excused for thinking you’ve somehow arrived in Aotearoa – fortunately for us though, this was 100% Sri Lanka.

One of the Best Views in Sri Lanka

If there’s one thing you visit World’s End for, it’s the spectacular views out over the surrounding valley and mountains.  Though this beautiful country is anything but short of great hiking tracks, World’s End is accessable to most people making it a great choice for holiday-makers.

The track itself completes a loop and can be approached from either side.  From the entrance, Mini World’s end (which is practically as beautiful as the main attraction) and World’s End is a 4km walk, at which point you continue through to Baker’s Falls (2km) and meander back to the start (3.5km).  All in all, the circuit is 9km of absolute beauty.

It is worth noting that the sheer cliffs of Horton Plains lack railing.  Though hikers benefit from incredible unobstructed views that would be roped off elsewhere, you’ll need to keep an eye on how close you get to the edge.  With drops of 300 and 1,200 metres respectively, few people who come unstuck live to tell the tale.

Hiking World’s End – How Challenging is it?

Though Adam’s Peak is considered the most recognised hike in Sri Lanka, World’s End, its lesser known companion, is frequently recognised as the best one around… plus it’s a whole lot more manageable thanks to its relatively flat profile.

The hike itself is absolutely gorgeous and not particularly challenging.

Don’t get me wrong, this hike isn’t a walk in the park but if you have a moderate level of fitness, you’ll complete it without any problems. Even if you’re totally lacking fitness, you’ll still be fine – just take your time and consider skipping the walk down to the falls.

Let’s Get Practical – What You Need to Know…

Though hiking boots wouldn’t go astray, World’s End is certainly manageable in trainers and comfortable clothes.

Throw a small bag on your back and whatever you do, remember your camera! If, like us, you have a drone, leave it behind though – they don’t allow them anywhere in the national park.

There is a small shop that sells snacks and drinks at the end of the hike but the Sri Lankan sun can be strong and though the walk isn’t particularly challenging you’ll still want to be well prepared.  We took a couple of water bottles each and some fruit to snack on… and then stopped by the shop for some celebratory roti and fizzy when we were done!

This national park is keen to protect its gorgeous wildlife as best they can and for this reason you’ll be made to disguard any unnecessary plastic before you start the hike.  You can save time by leaving anything you don’t need in the car (including the plastic labels wrapped around your water bottle).

To get into World’s End you will need to pay the entrance fee which is approximately 3000 Sri Lankan rupees (or USD20).  It’s not the cheapest of days by the time you pay for your ticket and transport (which we’ll talk more about below) but it’s absolutely worth it – presuming you’re not travelling on a budget, that is.

You’ll want to plan your route and timing around what you want to see out at World’s End too.  Not far into the walk you’ll be faced with the choice of turning left or right – left takes you to Mini World’s End first whereas a right turn will direct you to Baker’s Falls.  Both routes come with their own adventages and disadvantages but we’d recommend starting with Mini World’s End to ensure you get there before the mist sets into the vally.

Clear, unobstructed views out from the cliff-faces normally show themselves between 6am and 10am but as with everything in nature, there are no guarantees.  As a general rule though, the earlier you can make it out there, the more likely you are to be rewarded with clear views (though if you ask me, mist engulfing the valley would be pretty amazing too!)

Getting to Horton Plains

World’s End is smack-bang in the middle of a national park and because of this, normal cars are not insured to drive the roads.  This means that you’ll probably need to hire a local van or tuk tuk to get you into the starting point of the track.

We organised the required return transport through Red Dot Tours for USD50 and together jumped in the van from Nuwara Eliya.

Our departure time was bright and early in a bid to beat some of the crowds and the harsh midday sun.  Though we had planned to leave town at 5am, our drive to Nuwara Eliya took longer than expected and we connected with our driver just before 6am.

If you’re able to be in Nuwara Eliya closer to our scheduled time of 5am, we’d definitely recommend it. Yes you’ll have a hard time getting out of bed but it will be worth it to have the amazing lookouts to yourself!

Though we were originally a little hesitant to scrap our planned hike up Adam’s Peak in favour of World’s End, we could not have been happier with our decision.

Horton Plains was drop-dead gorgeous, an enjoyable, manageable walk and lets visitors have a little taste of New Zealand (without the hassle and expense of flying half way around the world).

It’s certainly worth juggling your Sri Lankan itinerary to swing by Horton Plains!

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Both Nathan and I are suckers for sea creatures.  From getting excited about spotting the tiniest little nudibranch whilst out on a dive to watching gigantic blue whales breach the surface of the ocean – we love it all.

It makes sense then that when we decided to come to Sri Lanka, a visit to a turtle hatchery was top of my list – I’d seen photos from friends and it sounded magical.

In my head I had imagined dozens of little baby turtles, tottling off down the shoreline, destined for the great blue and a life of freedom.  Sounds amazing, right?

I’d almost certainly over-romanticised the experience but in I went, hoping for a once-in-a-lifetime encounter for this animal lover.  What I left with was anything but.

The Writing Was on the Wall

From the moment I walked into the facility, I knew I’d probably made the wrong choice in visiting.

Dozens and dozens of babies were smooshed into a relatively little round tank and though I didn’t love it, it was easy enough to look past it when we heard that at most they would be there for three days before being released into the wild.

*Keep breathing Sarah, it’s not so bad*

Then we were invited to pick the babies up – again, I reconciled myself – with so many babies in the tank, chances are each one would only be held once before it finds its way to freedom (plus they’re so little, it’s easy to support them whilst holding them for a second or two).

And let’s not forget – they’re crazy cute!

*Okay, this is good*

… but that was where the positives stopped and the feeling of guilt started to set in.

We moved onto the next tank where a single adult turtle swam back and forth, back and forth, along the same far edge of the tank.

Would he ever be returned the the wild?  No, were were told – he was being held there to educate visitors.

Would we like to hold him?  You can take him out of the water and pose for photos, we were told.

It was at that point that the switch flicked for me.

This poor turtle must be picked up and passed around dozens of times throughout the day and when he’s not being shuttled from tourist to tourist for their next Instagram shot, he’s left pacing back and forth in his far-too-small tank, a sure sign of boredom.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Instagram as much as the next person (check us out if you’re not already!) but no photo should be at the expense of an animal’s wellbeing.

I’m not sure if things actually got worse at that point or if I had just decided that I didn’t want to be there anymore but from then on we saw more fully-grown turtles in tanks that were obviously too small for them and our ‘guide’ who was meant to be giving us a tour of the hatchery disappeared only to return to look over our shoulder.  We had hoped that we might have learned more about the work they were doing there, especially considering the 1,000 Sri Lankan Rupees we’d each paid (USD7 per person) for a guided tour but it wasn’t to be.

The feeding tank housed turtles for three hours a day (where unsurprisingly they spent time eating) but with three fully-grown turtles in the tank, there was very little room for movement.  Another tank housed one of these gentle giants in a space that was barely twice as wide as him.

Though I know the work they do here generally helps the turtles, we couldn’t help but feel sorry for the adults left behind – what kind of a life is that?

The offer was made to release a baby turtle into the ocean at an additional charge.  This was what I’d really come to do but suddenly as we stood there, we just knew we weren’t comfortable handing over any more money (1,500 rupees per turtle) to support this centre.

Photos online had shown dozens of turtles heading out to sea at once, each of them presumedly having a fair shot at survival.  The reality of sending two lone babies out into the ocean just didn’t feel the same – it’s a big world out there for two littlies by themselves.

Conservation Work?

Opened in 1996 to help promote responsible tourism, the turtle hatchery aids conservation by buying the turtle eggs from fisherman. This goes a long way towards discouraging them from selling the eggs…

Koggala Experience

Each night, when the sun goes down and the turtles have laid their eggs safety, locals dig them back up again.  We were told that in the past, men would sell turtle eggs to villagers that would eat them but thanks to the hatcheries buying them at an inflated rate, this is no longer an issue.  These eggs are now hatched, allowed to grow for approximately three days before tourists pay to set them free.  Thankfully any turtles that are not ‘purchased’ are released after hours by the hatcheries so of course the vast majority do make it into the ocean.

Though hatcheries aim to support turtle conservation, the benefits of their work have not gone unquestioned.  By removing and relocated the eggs, the gender of the babies can be affected (as the temperature plays a significant role in the gender outcome of eggs).  Allowing the babies to grow in captivity can also be detrimental to their overall chance of survival.

When the turtles hatch in their natural habitat, they head for the sea and swim for 48 hours non-stop, passing areas where most of their predators are. “But when they are hatched in simulated environments, they are put into tanks in which they swim for 48 hours. As a result when they are released into the sea later, they do not have the strength to swim past their predators and hence become easy prey.”

Upali Padmasiri, Wildlife Department Assistant Director

Final Thoughts

To be honest, both Nathan and I left feeling guilty and disappointed and we’re not the only ones.  Our friend Abbi at Spin the Windrose had a heartbreakingly similar experience months after our visit.

I’d love to say things are on the up but that just doesn’t seem to be the case.

Though I don’t doubt that setups like this obviously work positively in their conservation efforts, this felt more like a way to make money off incoming tourists than as a genuine means of turtle protection.  For us, it wasn’t so much about the cost of entry as the conditions that the adult turtles were kept in – we would have happily have paid twice the price had it been clear that funds raised were being reinvested into the centre to provide better homes for the turtles.

We visited hoping for a once-in-a-lifetime experience with Sri Lanka’s turtles but unfortunately left with a reminder that generally animals are better off left in the wild.

I know some friends have had amazing visits so it’s possible that we were just unfortunate in our choice of hatchery?  Maybe our expectations are different?  I’m not sure what to make of it but there is one thing I do know…

At least for us, we’ll stick to spotting turtles in their natural habitats.

If you would like to see turtles in the wild, they love riding the waves at Dalawella Beach.  We found half a dozen of so directly out from the rope swing.

This post is of course in no way affiliated with anyone and our thoughts are entirely our own.  Should you wish to visit (or avoid) this hatchery, it was the Sea Turtle Conservation Project & Hatchery, Koggala that we visited.

Have you been to visit the turtles in Sri Lanka?  If so, we’d love to hear of your experience and thoughts!

Adam’s Peak is a mountain located in central Sri Lanka (known locally as Sri Pada), the mountain is famed for the “sacred footprint”, though who the footprint belongs to will differ depending on your religion.

Buddhists believe the footprint was left by Buddha, Hindus claim it belongs to Lord Shiva whilst Muslims and Christians consider it to be Adam’s first step on Earth, once he was exiled from the Garden of Eden.

For many people, climbing Adam’s Peak is a religious experience or pilgrimage important to their faith and beliefs. For us, we were eager to see the footprint, experience the pilgrimage alongside locals and check out the view.

Riddled with injuries and very little sleep we arose (at a time we would normally be heading to bed) to prepare ourselves for our climb – we. We meet a couple of friends in Nallathanniya, a small village at the base of Adam’s Peak and with our backpacks filled with water, some extra layers of clothes, and the essential roti to see us through our journey, we began, racing to the summit before sunrise.

As we trekked along, cold and barely awake in the darkness of night, we stumbled past closed stalls and market places until we hit the starting point of the stairs. There we were greeted by several Buddhist Monks who tied cotton thread around our wrists as a blessing and protection for our journey.  Experiences like this are what travel’s all about!

As we gazed into the darkness, all we could see were lights illuminating stairs and with the end nowhere in sight (and reconsidering our choice) we gingerly started our climb. As we trekked up the stairs (roughly 5,200 of them), we were thankful for the benches and tea-houses scattered up the mountain – not only did they provide us with a place to catch our breath and give our legs a break from the crumbling stairs, they gave us the opportunity to people-watch. At one point, after watching several 60 year olds and a local with no shoes on wizz past us, we realised we still had a decent climb to go and hit the path again.

After what seemed to be eternity, we found ourselves only 500 hundred steps from the top.  Safe in this knowledge and with some time to kill, we settled into a tea hut with a cup of tea, before making the final climb. The last 500 steps were slow but we made it to the top and met the temple housing the “scared footprint”.  After a wait and a brief two second look at the footprint, we unanimously voted, whatever the engraving or mark was, didn’t look like a footprint to us!  As we battled with the hundreds of others at the summit for a place to view the sunrise, we suddenly realised the temperate had dropped and were thankful for the extra clothes we brought.  I layered up to watch the sunrise, taking in the sights and sounds around me.

Although there was too much cloud, causing us to miss the sunrise and the famed shadow of Adam’s Peak, it was an amazing experience and worth the walk. The walk down was much faster and it was surreal to see the beautiful scenery we had missed in the dark. As we reached the bottom, a sense of accomplishment passed over us and, once we got our first glimpse of the peak at the bottom, we were surprised by just how large it looked.

If you’re off to Sri Lanka, I would highly recommend Adam’s Peak.  It’s a great hike and with the locals making their pilgrimage, it makes for a unique and memorable experience.

What You Need to Know

How to get to Adam’s Peak

Most people take the Dalhousie route (also known as the Hatton route). Hatton is a major town which is accessible by bus and train. Dalhousie (a small village) is easily reached by bus, car or tuk-tuk and is around an hour’s drive from Hatton. Alternatively there is a less trekked route to the summit of Adam’s Peak – it takes longer hence being less traveled and it starts in Ratnapura.

When to go

Pilgrimage season is between December and May – during these months the path will be well-lit and there will be several tea houses open where funnily enough, you will be able to get tea (as well as water and some also offer light snacks). Outside of the pilgrimage season it’s still possible to make the journey, only it will be depended on the weather, and you will have to be a little more prepared with torches and food, as the huts and lights won’t be operational.

How long does it take?

Depending on your fitness level, the amount of people on the track and the conditions on the day, it can take anywhere between two and a half and four hours to get to the top. Try to ensure you reach the peak before sunrise to watch the shadow of Sri Pada emerge as a reflection in front of you .

Top Tips to Make the Most of Adam’s Peak:

• Check for local celebration days (poya days), as these times become extremely busy with people choosing to make their pilgrimage, making it an extremely slow journey with long waits to reach the top.
• Take something warm for the top as it’s cold up there and depending how fast you reach the summit, you could be waiting a while for sunrise.
• Pack a rain jacket as it rains often!
• Book a nights accommodation in Dalhousie (there are many options for budget guest houses) so you can get a little sleep before the trek.
• Start your trek around 2am to see the sunrise – you want to give yourself the very best chance to see it.

Looking for other ideas for Sri Lanka?  Check out my itinerary here!

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