Breathtaking Hikes Above 2000m in Ella

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        When you picture Sri Lanka, golden soft beaches probably pops up before your eyes. But this beautiful island can also offer a totally different side, one of misty green lush landscape. It’s a side with a blanket of green tea bushes as far as your eyes can see, divided by waterfalls and small mountain villages. It’s a side where you can go hiking above 2000 m, walk to the end of the world, or in the footsteps of Adam. Welcome to Sri Lanka`s Hill Country! We went on three hiking trips around the sleepy town Ella. On two of them we went with a guide.

1. Above Ella Town

Senadhi, the owner of Ravana Heights Hotel where we stayed, used to be a mountain guide in Ella, and suggested that we could go with a guide to some of his favorite tracking routes. Our guide and his son, who was a tuk-tuk driver, picked us up at our hotel after breakfast. We then drove on small roads through a Tamil village, up in the mountain above Little Adam’s Peak.

Along the way we had spectacular views over the valley Ella Gap. The landscape was incredibly green and lush, even at this height, almost 2000 m!

Our guide was walking barefoot!

Amazing views!

We mainly walked on a nice and solid track in between tea bushes.

But some places the path was almost impossible to see, completely covered with jungle. Good thing we had a guide with us, finding our way, or we would have been pretty lost!

Our guide finding the path through the jungle.

And we walked and we walked……

The landscape was so green and lush even at this height!

We also met some, more or less friendly animals, like this cow.

Our guide was great! He was 83 years old, with only one tooth, walked bare feet, and was wearing a sari! He was born in Ella, and has lived there all his life with his wife and seven children. He learned English as an adult, working as a driver for a tea company, and spoke perfect English. He used to work as Sendahi’s (the owner of our hotel) driver in Colombo, but retired a few years ago. Now he does walks with tourists, and his son is his driver. Such a real gentleman!

Our smiling and super fit guide of 83 years old.

Our guide wearing his sari, carrying his umbrella and fleece jacket. Always prepared for rain. But luckily the rain never came.
All around us were thousands of tea bushes, like a sea of green!

Thousands of tea bushes all around us.

Our guide with his lunch in a plastic bag.

A short stop to look at the view!

The path got a bit steep towards the end, returning to the road where the tuk-tuk was waiting for us.

A bit steep at the end towards the waiting tuk-tuk.

Admiring the lovely view.

So glad to see our tuk-tuk driver waiting for us as at the end of the trip.

2. Towards Bandarawela

We really enjoyed our first hiking trip, and decided to take another one a couple of days later with our great guide! This time he took us to the highest mountain around Ella, above 2000 m. This was, if possible, even more spectacular view-wise than the first hike! This trip had more variation, taking us through spectacular tea plantations and a small mountain village. The air was also cooler, which was nice when walking.

Tea plantations as far as our eyes could see.

Thousands of tea bushes making everything so green and lush.

We literally walked through the tea plantations.

Most places we walked on a nice path through the tea plantations.

Some places there was a nice sandy and solid path to walk on…..

Nice solid path to walk on.

But not everywhere…… And some places even our guide was a little bit of uncertain where to go.

Some places even our guide got lost.

Bit luckily he always managed to find the right way!

The landscape opened up at the top, with great colors!

Everywhere, as far as our eyes could see, we were surrounded by bright green tea bushes. They were all planted in rows, making a beautiful pattern in the hillsides.

The tea bushes are making a beautiful pattern in the hill sides.

Small hills with nice tea pattern.

A long our walk we met some people clearing the grounds for grass, and planting more tea bushes. As if it was not enough tea already!

Some men clearing the grown and planting more tea bushes.

A man clearing the ground.

After a couple of hours walking, we came to a small village in the middle of the tea plantations. This is where the tea pickers, mainly Tamils, live.

A mountain village where the tea pickers live.

The village people also grow their own vegetables and rice.

Rice and other vegetables at the village.

Walking through the Tamil mountain village.

The people in the village was really friendly! They came out of their houses saying hello to us and shaking our hands, as we walked through the narrow streets.

We met friendly smiling people in the village.

Our guide even met an old childhood friend from his schooldays in the village, whom he hadn’t seen for years! Seeing their smiles when they realised who the other person was, was a great moment!

Our guide met a childhood friend whom he had not seen for many years.

Especially the village’s children were really curious and friendly, waving and running next to us as we walked. They wanted to talk to us, but “Hello” was the only English word they spoke, so unfortunately not much of a conversation. Some even wanted us to take a picture of them, and really enjoyed seeing themselves on the camera’s monitor afterward! Great fun for both us and them!

Waving Tamil children at the village.

The children at the village wanted us to take a picture of them, and look at themselves on the monitor at the back of our camera. Great fun!

As in many cultures, the women has the hardest jobs! Addition to tea leaves picking the whole day, it was their responsibility to collect and carry home the wood for fire. Sure looks heavy!

Women carrying wood back to the village.

A smiling Tamil women carrying fire wood back to her home.

A tea picker in the green ocean of tea bushes. The tea pickers wages are very low, only around 3 $ each day. It is expected that each person pick a minimum of 20 kg of tea leaves per day.

A tea picking women.

After a long day walking among tea bushes, we were so glad to see our tuk-tuk driver waiting for us. He was our guide’s son, and a grat driver!

Our great tuk-tuk driver. He is also our guide`s son.

On our way back to Ella.

We really enjoyed our two days of hiking in Ella Sri Lanka, with our lovely guide! We actually loved Ella so much that we ended up staying seven nights instead of two, which was our original plan. If you ever go to Sri Lanka, we would highly recommend a visit to Ella!


Would you like to go Ella? Please mail your comment in the my mail box below, ( basuratravels@gmail.com ) I can help you it. Thank you! If you like this blog post, or find it useful, please share it on social media!

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