Ella is a very small town in the highlands of Sri Lanka, surrounded by tea plantations, and for me the first city I have seen in Sri Lanka, which is largely characterized by tourism. On the main street nice cafes and restaurants line up with hotels as well as clothing and other souvenir stores.
Nine Arches Bridge
This viaduct bridge is a good example of British colonial train line construction in Sri Lanka. The construction was completed in 1921.
The bridge is 91m long and just under 8 meters wide. Embedded by palm trees and tea plantations, this structure is simply very beautiful to visit. I think as good as every tourist in Ella walks to this bridge. We were very lucky with the location of our hotel and could see from the terrace on the bridge and passing trains embedded in this beautiful landscape experience.
The hike to Little Adams Peak
No matter if you stay in Ella directly in the center or if your hotel is a bit outside, the hike to Little Adams Peak can be done in most cases directly from your accommodation - the trails here in Ella are not very far. A good place to start the hike is at the 98 Arch Hotel. Here, a fairly level path leads along the hotel grounds before you have to climb a few steps to get to the top - from the starting point of the 98 Arch Hotel, the climb takes no more than 30 minutes. At the top you have a beautiful view of Ella Rock and other mountains.
Activities that you can do there in addition:
For adrenaline lovers, there is the option to zipline down about halfway up the climb. Which in my opinion is very cleverly done - there are 2 ziplines right next to each other - so you can really do the experience in pairs, possibly making it a little less scary.
At the entrance of the zipline there is also a climbing wall to climb.
Further down at the pool bar of the 98 Arch Hotel there is the possibility to swing on an oversized swing. There is an offer to borrow beautiful dresses and flower wreaths for a few dollars and then be photographed in this garb on the swing with beautiful nature in the background. There everything is done for THE perfect picture - there is a professional photographer and 2 employees who dive the swing as well as straighten the robes again and again so that they look especially beautiful in the picture.
In between you always see animal companions, so this cow has good climbing qualities!
This hike did not impress me as much as the one to "big Adams Peak", but it is a good alternative for those who do not want to hike for hours and still want to enjoy a great view.
Restaurant recommendations in Ella
Cafe Chill is located right in the center of Ella and is a large two-story restaurant where you can have a good meal or drink no matter what time of day it is. Besides the local cuisine, they also offer international cuisine like pizza or burgers. This place is very nice and the food is good, it feels like it is already a bit of a mass checkout. Many large tour groups come to eat here every 2 hours and then take turns with the next large group. If you like to go there, it is recommended in any case to reserve a table there.
Cafe UFO is also located right in the center of Ella. We had reserved a table there and it was worth it. Exactly on this evening there was live music and the place was completely full. Similar to Cafe Chill, there was both local and international cuisine. The staff was very friendly and the live music created an incredibly nice atmosphere that evening.
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