The Central Highlands Railway and Ella

You won't find many mentions of Ella in the guide books.  Until 5 or 6 years ago it was just a sleepy town clinging to the mountainside amongst the tea plantations. When the civil war came to an end and tourists began to return in numbers the back-packers in particular discovered that train travel was a cheap and easy way of travel around the country.  The line from Columbo to Kandy became a popular way to travel between the two large cities.  Inevitably stops along the way began to attract visitors, and so Ella was discovered.  Ella "City" is now a busy place, hugely popular with gap-year students. The tea plantations are being built upon as locals vie to build more and more guest houses with increasingly dramatic views of the wonderful scenery, and the centre is alive with bars and restaurants catering to every nationality.  Strangely it is not yet spoiled, the views are magnificent, but we had a feeling it will not be long before the place is overrun and it loses its character.  Almost certainly the tourist juggernaut will move on down the line and develop the next sleepy village in the same manner.

Ella Rock - The View from our Room

Our reason for coming here was not for the destination, but for the journey. For 110 rupees (less than $1) you can buy a second class rail ticket from Nurwala Eliya to Ella, a journey

of nearly three hours.  But you may not get a seat. Our driver skilfully ensured we had a good seat and were able to cross from side to side and hang out the window repeatedly to try and capture the most stunning views. It might have been exciting for others to ride the footplate and jump off and on at each station, but we still felt like children, and enjoyed the journey in comfort.