On the distant horizon hazy in orange light, and nearly imperceptible to the untrained eye, was the faint outline of Sri Pada’s humped form.  At the top of the mountain known more commonly as Adam’s Peak, was a geological anomaly that had earned itself a spot among the most sacred places on earth.  There, pressed into the rock, was the impression of a human footprint over five feet long and almost three feet wide.  Sri Pada, or “Holy Footprint,” had come to represent the melding thoughts of the four great religions.  Hinduism preached the footprint to be that of Shiva as she performed her creative dance at the dawn of time, while Buddhists believed it to be but merely the marker for Buddha’s real footprint cast in sapphire and buried in the heart of the mountain.  Conversely, Muslim and Christian tradition held that Adam himself had made the impression when he stood on one foot for a thousand years as penance for his sin. She had come here from Wales only eight months earlier, moved from the constant drizzle of southwestern Britain to the cool mountain wilderness of central Sri Lanka.  Her stepfather had made a fortune directing one of England’s largest tea companies, so when asked to pack up the estate and journey to Nuwara Eliya, Lord Bullard graciously obliged.      Sri Lanka is an island nation southeast of India and situated between the Gulf of Mannar and the Bay of Bengal.  It is the site of the sacred mountain of Sri Pada, also known as Adam's Peak, in which exists the "Holy Footprint." Summit Temple on Sri Pada Adam's Footprint ("Holy Footprint")