Mountain High on Sri Lanka’s Pekoe Trails

Image Source:Ianlockwood

Scenes from different parts of the Pekoe Trails (Stages 9 & 12).

In the last six months, I have been curiously excited to learn about the Pekoe Trails, an initiative with socio-economic goals that promotes a networked series of hiking paths through Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands. The initiative has a helpful website and you can use All Trails and Wikiloc to assist with walking the trails. Raina and I did our first trail (stage 1) in November and I have just returned with friends after completing three of the most interesting stages (9, 10 & 12) in the Horton Plains National Park area. Walking new mountain paths for three straight days through varied landscapes in gorgeous Sri Lankan winter weather gave me the kind of lift that is so rare in our busy lives. I was reminded of the challenges and joys of trekking and completing long hikes in the Palani Hills with friends during my school years. On your next visit to Sri Lanka be sure to put a Pekoe Trail or two (or even all 22) on your bucket list. I have written reviews for All Trails and am posting them here for my regular readers.

Pekoe Trail Stage 9: Bogawantalawa ⇌ Dayagama (13 January 2024)

This is a wonderful stage of the Pekoe Trails with excellent mountain landscapes and superb mountain walking. The trailhead is relatively difficult to get to and involves a drive to the Bogawantalawa valley and town. I led a group of several OSC teachers who were new to the area. We set out from Colombo early passing Ingiriya and Ratnapura before coming up to the Central Highlands via the scenic back road from Balangoda. The initiative was part of the Sunshine Committee’s effort to promote wellness in our faculty and support teams. We also wanted to recce the trails for upcoming student trips. The weather, after a damp week with torrential rain and lightning storms across the island, was clear and crisp. We stopped several times to appreciate the views and cloud forest of the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary that the road cuts through.

I started off the hike with my trusty five-year-old hiking boots disintegrating after a mere 100 meters! Luckily, I had brought an extra pair and after a call to Mahesh (the OSC driver with us) I was ready to go. My companions (Kamila and Dominic) and I started with a steady climb through the tea gardens of Bogawantalawa using the All-Trails app to navigate. The rest of our team went with Mahesh on the long drive around towards the Iona Villa via Agarapathana. A cup of tea at the assistant manager’s bungalow gave us a much-needed boost.

Image Source:Ianlockwood

The rare endemic Daffodil Orchid (Ipsea speciosa)

The Stage 9 path continues through a steep, narrow pass that opens up into a very different landscape of montane grasslands. The area is reminiscent of what you encounter in the protected areas (Eravikulam, Grasshills, Kudremukh etc.) of the high Western Ghats. The pass is called “Jacob’s Ladder,” a name that presumably dates back to colonial times. In most of Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands, montane grasslands have been converted to tea and timber plantations so experiencing a large area of grasslands is a real treat. I searched for and was thrilled to find the rare endemic Daffodil Orchid (Ipsea speciosa) here. It is associated with mid-elevation grasslands in the Central Highlands and not surprisingly there are very few suitable habitats left for it. We hiked about about 1-2 kilometers along the edge of the grasslands that are part of a large marsh that was quite boggy. The path then joined a farm road that meandered through fields of cultivated grass used for dairy production. We had occasional views of Kirigalpota (2,388 m) and the high Horton Plains plateau. There were sections of eucalyptus forest with mixed natural vegetation (tree ferns, Rhododendrons etc.) somehow surviving along streams. It got late and we modified the last bit of the official trail, hitched a short tractor ride and then hiked into Bopatthalawa in order to get close to our night halt at the Iona Villa.

Early path in Stage 9 looking back to Bogawantalawa town.

Approaching Jacob’s Ladder

Jacob’s Ladder pass on stage 9 of the Pekoe Trails.

Jacob’s Ladder pass on stage 9 of the Pekoe Trails (ground-level perspective).

Pekoe Trail Stage 10: Dayagama ⇌ Horton Plains (14 January 2024)

The Pekoe Trails Stage 10 was our main goal on this three-day Pongal weekend and we were thrilled to be able to hike into Horton Plains National Pak on foot using the disused, old road from Dayagama. We had a team of six OSC teachers and friends who did this trek at a leisurely pace. We were keen to see the landscape and understand the path and ecology that it passed through. The key thing was ensuring that we spent the night near the trailhead. We stayed at the quaint Iona Villa and were dropped at the trailhead (Dayagama Bus Stand) by Mahesh, our school driver. The first two-thirds of the trek involved gradually ascending an untarred tea road to the park boundary. We encountered few people and there were good views over the heavily cultivated Daygama Valley. The skies were overcast and several times we encountered birds of prey circling above us (two Black Eagles, a Honey Buzzard etc.).

There is a ticket booth at the entrance to HPNP and a friendly guard issued us tickets and we walked into the cloud forest in the early afternoon. The path is cut at such a gentle gradient here that you can really enjoy all the plant life and remarkable montane ecosystem that Stage 10 passes through. We never saw any leopards and bird sightings were modest (a mixed species group of Sri Lankan white eye, tits, warblers etc.). We finally leveled out on the plains around 4:30 pm. There were wide-eyed people with long lenses hunkering down in their SUVs looking for leopards as we emerged from the forest. Being up at 2,100 meters the air was pleasantly chilly and clean. The parking lot was still quite full and most visitors were getting ready to head off the plateau. We met up with Mahesh and then proceeded slowly down to Haputale with plans to hike Stage 12 the following day.

Pekoe Trail Stage 12: Udaweriya ⇌ Haputale (15 January 2024)

This trail is one of the finest walking paths in Sri Lanka and traverses a variety of landscapes as it follows the high ridge of the southern escarpment from the Horton Plains/Ohiya area down to the saddle in the hills at Haputale. Kamila and I were joined by Aaron and Benson for this leg. They will be bringing 14 students here as part of our Experience Sri Lanka! Week Without Walls program and we wanted to recce the path. After doing the previous two days of hiking the Pekoe Trail our legs were slightly tired. Despite the sore muscles, we found this to be a reasonably straightforward, scenic and enjoyable stage that is understandably one of the most popular stages of the Pekoe Trails.

The Udaweriya Valley. with views west towards Horton Plains. World’s End is on the furthest high ridge.

We made a slight modification on our route of Stage 12 that avoided starting at the lower side of the Udaweriya Valley. Instead, we started above the abandoned tea factories soon after taking the road towards the Hill Safari Guest house from the Ohiya-HPNP road. Earlier we had taken the train up from Haputale (standing room only, but 3^rd class tickets were only LKR 60), gotten down at Ohiya and then taken tuk tuks up to the road leading to the Udaweriya Valley. Several years ago, I had stayed at the Hill Safari Guest House with my family but it was good to take in the dramatic scenery again. The view looking west over the terraced fields and hamlets of the Udaweriya Valley and onto the high Horton Plains plateau is stunning. Migrant Blue-Tailed Beeeaters buzzed around above us and the calls of the Sri Lanka Scimitar-Babbler added to the magic of the place.

There are several small hamlets at the beginning of stage 12. Tamil families who work the tea estates were enjoying the bright sun and blue sky as they celebrated the Pongal long weekend. Our high point was just under 2,000 meters and from there the trail follows a little-used tea road heading down the ridge in an easterly direction. A short section of trail was overgrown-mainly by Eupatorium (now referred to as Devil/Siam weed (Chromolaena odorata)) that has grown up on this old bridal path. (Note: almost all of my pictures from this hike have Eupatorium in them!) We could hear the nearby trains clattering along the tracks so there were no worries of being lost. We followed the All-Trails map and did not get off the path too much. Stage 12 then followed through mature (non-native Pinus caribaea) pine plantations with large fallen trunks, a tea estate and then patches of forest and grasslands before ending up at the scenic Idalgashinna station.

Tunnel #36 soon after Idalgashinna station on the Pekoe Trail Stage 12 path to Haputale.

In the Idalgashinna- Adhisham section of stage 12 you start off on the railway line and then pass through tunnel #36. Soon after the tunnel, the path turns back slightly and you ascend the ridge that overlooks the track. The ridge is part of Thangamale Sanctuary– a protected area that has a mix of natural and plantation vegetation. There is a bit of a drop off here but with caution and care you are not in any danger. I appreciated this slope for the relatively undisturbed montane grasslands with numerous Rhododendron arboreum trees. There were also clumps of the small but beautiful Nepal Satyrium (Satyrium nepalense) ground orchid in the grasslands. The gradient is a gentle as Stage 12 descends towards Haputale. You pass through 4-6 pockets of natural (cloud) forest. Giant tree ferns, mossy dwarf trees and a cool, damp environment welcome you. Each forest patch had a stream with clean water. These forest patches contrast with the towering eucalyptus trees that have been planted on the montane grasslands. I was happy to see the grasslands still surviving against the odds-this areas seems to be ideal for a montane grasslands restoration effort.

There are fine examples of Rhododendron arboreum on stage 12 of the Pekoe trails as you walk parallel to the Ohiya-Haputale train track.

We came out at Adhisham monastery after being on the trail about 3-4 hours. Because of the Pongal holiday there were many visitors. I appreciated observing several key mountain birds species on the property including the Dull Blue Flycatcher, Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike, Orange Minivet, Cinerous Tit and Yellow-eared Bulbuls (see my E-bird list https://ebird.org/checklist/S158949998 ). Our group completed the trail at the main road just east of Adhisham. We had to get back to Colombo and it had been a productive and enjoyable day.