ExperienceAdventure

Adam's Peak — Sri Pada — as a pre-dawn pilgrimage with the line of pilgrims behind you, the dawn breaking on the summit. Pidurangala at four for the wider view of Sigiriya. A guided climb up the rock face itself for those who'd rather take it the harder way. A balloon over Dambulla and the cultural triangle at first light, the temples small below.

The hill country runs the longer routes. Little Adam's Peak before breakfast, Ella Rock for the longer legs. The new Pekoe Trail walks three hundred kilometres of tea country from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya to Ella; we take it in days that match your pace. Horton Plains delivers the precipice at World's End; the Knuckles range delivers a forest the maps barely touch. Pidurutalagala, Kirigalpotta, Totapola — the island's three highest peaks — are for those who want a summit register to sign.

Kitulgala holds the white-water rafting on the Kelani — the river the bridge in The Bridge on the River Kwai once crossed — and the canyoning routes off it. The Belilena caves, where the earliest human remains in South Asia were found, take a torch and a guide. Bandarawela runs the paragliding when the wind is right. Mountain bikes work the estate roads.

Every adventure is run with a private guide and a safety brief that takes longer than the marketing copy. The island is generous; the rope is checked twice.