Ella, Sri Lanka - independent travel. Horton Place National Park. There are a lot of interesting places in Ella, as for a small village

Nine Arch Bridge, Sri Lanka

The 9 Arch Bridge was built in the village of Gotuwala during the period of British colonial rule. This bridge is located between two railway stations - Ella and Demodara (Demodara) and is the largest in Sri Lanka. The huge, over 30 m high bridge is located at an altitude of 945 m above sea level, which is why its second name is "Bridge to the Sky".

The uniqueness of this massive bridge lies in the fact that it is built entirely of dense rocks, brick and cement, without the use of steel.

There is a popular story about its construction: when work was just begun, the First World War. A batch of steel destined for construction was selected and used by the military for their own projects. When work got up locals Sri Lanka firmly decided to build a bridge from the materials at hand - stones, bricks and cement, without the use of steel.

The history of the construction of the Nine-Arch Bridge

The main builder is P.K. Appuhami, born in 1870, he was a popular drummer and devil dancer. Once, after the ceremony of Tovil (Thovil), he returned home without changing clothes, in the traditional costume of the devil. His path ran through the station in Ohiya (Ohiya), where at that time the railway had already been built. It was there that Appuhami met with the Briton, who decided that he was in front of a fiend. After this incident, the British and the Sri Lankan became friends and Appuhami began to help with the construction of the railway in order to attract labor.

The lowland between the two hills was occupied by a bog, the British engineers began to get worried about this. The question was how to securely install the 9 pillars of the bridge on the ground. By that time, Appuhami already enjoyed the trust of British engineers and, having figured out exactly how to act, asked that the construction of this massive bridge be handed over to him. After refusing the first time, the British finally agreed the second time.

Appuhami began work on this difficult site in 1913. He organized people to be thrown down into the bog, big stones until they filled it to the very bottom. Only after that, he began to build brick columns, on the foundation formed from fragments of rock. The drum engineer completed the job in a year, and the cost of construction was so low that the British were not at all sure of the structural integrity of the bridge.

Appuhami was so confident in the quality of the work done that he even promised that the first time the train passed over the bridge, he himself would lie under the bridge. Subsequently, when the railway was first put into operation, he kept his promise.

Sri Lankan folklore says that the British offered Appuhami payment for his work on the construction of the bridge - four carts of silver coins that he brought from Colombo. Appuhami, in turn, held a feast for the residents of the surrounding villages of Parabedda and Puranwela and distributed food and treats for two days, and then distributed one silver coin to each villager. The bridge was commissioned at the end of 1921.

How to get to the Nine Arch Bridge

get to Nine-arch bridge you can from the nearest cities of Ella or Demodara.

• From Demodara to the bridge you can take a tuk-tuk, or by train from Ella to Demodara, and from there walk to the bridge.
• From Ella you can walk to the bridge, the distance is about 200 m from the Ella railway station, for this you need to go from the station along the road leading to the small peak of Adam.

Weather in Demodara

The best time to visit Demodara, like Ella, are two periods: January - April and July - September. At this time, the most favorable weather for walking and cycling is established.

The rainy season in Demodara takes place between May - June and October - December. At this time, there is an increased amount of precipitation and cloudy weather, which is not favorable for trekking.

Hello friends!

I finally made it to Goa! 5 times in India and only for the first time came to see off the sacred luminary beyond the horizon. All around Russian speech, inscriptions in Russian and in the menu of cafes - dumplings and borscht. A strange feeling, in fact... For not all compatriots here are illuminated by the sacred glow of the third eye. But I will write more about Goa a little later and I promise to make it as interesting as possible. Many people want to hang out here for the winter season, don't they? For now, read about the possibilities.

And now back to the events of a year ago! There, where the tea plantations of the village of Ella in Sri Lanka are drowning in the majesty of the steep cliffs and fogs of the Ceylon highlands. Having come here for the first time as part of our tour of the island, I firmly decided to stay here longer. For everything around is the way I like it: quiet, beautiful, foggy and cold.

Typical landscape of Ella

In general, I try with particular zeal to find places in the tropics where you can freeze. You can call it part of my travel lifestyle. Not everything...

What especially hooked me in Ella is the amazing nature. When we lived in a small home-stay with Sri Lankan grandfather Peter, even some deer came to us from the forest. I'm not talking about birds and all sorts of small biological species, such as spider bugs. There is a jungle around, so there are a lot of living creatures around, sometimes even too much.

But the rich fauna is not the most important thing here. The fact is that Ella stands almost on the very edge of the so-called. The Ceylon Highlands and literally 1 km away from it, the surface of the earth sharply goes down, forming the so-called. Ella Gap (Failure). IN good weather You can even see the lighthouse from here south coast, somewhere in the Galle area. Where else can you find this??? And all around are steep cliffs.

Road to Ella

I have seen something similar only in the Indian and Nepalese Himalayas, where you are simply lost in the clouds. And you are silent, looking into the white shroud and centuries-old pines through it. For to describe such greatness in words seems terrible blasphemy. Here, look better photo.

How to get there?

You can get to Ella from Colombo or Kandy by a whole string of trains that go to the final station of the highlands - Badulla. Only it is best to leave from Colombo, because the same train arrives in Kandy fairly packed (if you have not booked first class for yourself, of course) And it takes 6 hours to go.

Well, in Colombo - by air! Subscribe to price notifications on the Moscow-Colombo route so as not to miss a delicious promotion:

Attractions Ella

Not surprisingly, all that is worth coming here for is natural beauty. It is they who add up all the local magic. We were literally saturated with fogs, rains, rocks and evening cold during the short time that we lived here. You get off the train in an extremely comfortable railway station somewhere on the edge of the world and rocks and clouds crash into you right from the platform.

For example, Ella Rock

Main peak in the vicinity, which is very difficult to confuse with anything, because it rises very majestically. You can climb it from the village in 2-3 hours! Look up the routes on maps.me, the trails are marked there. Just do not get lost, because the forests there are dense, and there are a lot of leeches and other tropical joys in them.

Foggy Ella-rock from Little Adam's Peak

At the beginning of the trails, well-wishers from the category of local "guides" often graze, offering their services for some fee. Sometimes, very aggressively and persistently. There were even cases when, in case of refusal, they sent unlucky trekkers along the wrong road.

During our stay in Ella, we did not meet such unfortunate guides, because we did not particularly rush to Ella Rock. But, they were warned by vigilant guidebooks. Now I warn my readers!

Little Adam's Peak

One of the most important sacred sights of Sri Lanka, Adam's Peak, is far away and getting to its foot is already a rare austerity. Therefore, you can make an easy hike on its “lite version” in Ella. The path goes through the forest and tea plantations, past steep cliffs and wide coniferous trees.

Performance at the top

The ascent is easy, takes 50-60 minutes and is rewarded with stunning views of the peaks. Especially if you do not stay among the crowded crowd and go a little further south, to the cliff.

Anyuta inhales the clouds

A heavily overgrown path goes there, the difficulty of breaking through which is compensated by an even more awesome view: the valley, tea fields and the inimitable grandeur of the Ella Rock stone wall.

View from the outermost ridge of Little Adam's Peak

There is also a nine-arch railway bridge.

I never thought that I would go through the jungle to look at some bridge there. But this one is definitely worth it. True, it can be difficult to find it, because it is hidden from prying eyes by broken roads and dense forests.

But “the seeker will find” and after 2-3 unsuccessful turns, as a result, we crawled out to a steep cliff, from which a view of the wooded jungle and the old colonial railroad bridge through the gorge.

In fact, the bridge

But even more joy was the family of the Sri Lankans, who have had a house right on the path for many years now. Therefore, an incredibly charming young guy named Asanka with his father drinks tea and cookies with bananas for all the guests at the donation. I, who was reading the legendary Shantaram at that time, silently called him Prabaker. For the smile described by Robertsky 1 in 1 corresponded to the one that I found in Asanka.

Asanka (left), we (in the middle) and Asanka's father (right)

When you are in Ella, stop by to chat with Asanka and his father. They will be glad. These are one of the few Sri Lankans who behave like human beings. For the majority local population, as I already wrote in an article about traveling around Sri Lanka - rare degradants.

Walks in the woods and local paths

While I was looking for a home for us for a couple of weeks, I suddenly discovered chic secluded options a little away from the local hangout (1.5 streets) overlooking the cliffs, surrounded by fogs and tall tropical coniferous giants. Walk away from the main tourist heel - you will see many stunning beauties. There you can also look for rooms or even apartments with kitchens for a long stay.

Just one of a kind

Ravana cave

I didn’t know anything about Ceylon before, but upon arrival I involuntarily began to be imbued with the amazing antiquity of the island. Where else can you find statues and ruins of Buddhist monasteries over 2,000 years old? What about the graves of Adam and Eve themselves? And the places of the main events of the ancient epic Ramayana?

So, thanks to the latter, another place near Ella became popular: the cave of Ravana, where an evil demon kept Sita, the bride of Rama himself, in captivity. Then, as usual, justice prevailed and Ravana (not without the help of the monkey prince Hanuman), snatched off the awesome cradles from Rama and blessed Ceylon was cleared of demons. True, judging, again, by the habits of the local population, not very effective :)

Cave from inside

The cave is located main road running along Ella Rock. Go and ask, the locals are very willing to show you the way. It is especially beautiful during fog and rain (as it was with us). They got wet, of course, but they enjoyed the mysticism and complete loneliness in full.

Railway loop of Demodara station

Another marvel of engineering in Sri Lanka. At 15 km from Ella there is a station where the road makes a loop, cutting through the hill to drop the height very sharply. I don’t know about you, but I love such railway tricks with passion. And there are a lot of them around Ella ... Why is the train ride here from Colombo itself. The views along the way are beautiful to the point of clouding your mind: the train is coming almost on the edge of the abyss.

A piece of demodar loop

Upon arrival at Demodara, we were looking for a good vantage point and, unfortunately, one was not found. Therefore, the loop could only be seen in parts. Well, okay, but the smell of flowers and the earth wet from monsoons was wonderful. This is enough for me...

About food, housing and the Internet

True, with budget food, it’s strained here, because everything is tailored for tourists, even small eateries with 3 chairs. With housing - a little better, especially away from the railway station (they rented a small dark room with a giant bed for $ 9).

Hotels and everything else is the best search here

We are here because we had an excellent veranda and relatively good Wi-Fi at our disposal. Well, 2 cats in addition, for the right to use which I am happy to pay extra (I say this in all seriousness).

At first, we were not going to call in Ella - by this moment everyone wanted to get to the ocean as soon as possible, moving every couple of days is very tiring. But we decided that in one day we just won’t get there ( railways in Sri Lanka, far from everything is covered, the main transport is buses). It was decided after the Horton Plateau to go to Ella for a couple of nights, then get on the bus and rush towards the ocean (as it turned out later, getting to the ocean from Ella, as well as from Nuwara Eliya, is not a problem at all - 6 hours of shaking on the bus and you on target :)

By the way, here is our route - as you can see, we did not stop north at ancient capital Pollonaruvu to look at the old temples, which was later regretted. In a word, in Sri Lanka there is something to do for 3 weeks and a month or more!

If you live in Ella for several days, then you can go to the waterfall and climb Ella Rock, but we only had a day. We chose a walk to the Small Adam's Peak (only the shape is in common with the big one) and by 9 arch bridge.

To the small peak of Adam, the path goes through tea plantations.
This is how tea blooms.

View from small Adam's peak.

The 9-arch bridge 30 meters high between Ella and Demodara stations is the pride of Sri Lanka. They write that in Sinhala it is called the Bridge of 9 Heavens - if you stand below and look up, you will see 9 heavens. The bridge was built without metal structures - only stones and cement. According to legend, when it began to be built, all the metal went to the needs of the First World War and skilled Sri Lankans built it without metal in 1921. I suspect that the project was still British.

The bridge is really beautiful.
And here on the rails we met local gopniks - they asked for a smoke and money, a classic :)

And then we drank beer and water in a cafe with such a magical floor.

The sequel will be about the ocean!

Ella the most atmospheric city in the mountains.

Ella is the most atmospheric city in the mountains. The tourist life is in full swing there! :) Lots of cafes and restaurants. Lots of tourists. But you can also relax calmly away from the center and walk along the chic woodland or go to a Buddhist temple.

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Anonymous Russia

Ella is a place from a fairy tale.

Ella is a place from a fairy tale. Our friends said that you can walk there for several weeks and watch how the nature around changes. We were surprised by this advice, it seemed that it would be boring in the mountains, but after a couple of days of being there, you understand that it cannot get bored. And there are many places around where you want to go and see beautiful landscapes from different angles. We found a wonderful hotel in the mountains, which offers a gorgeous view. If we return, we will definitely visit Ella again. If you choose where to stay: in Ella or Navara Elia, definitely the first one.

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Anonymous

4,0

It is worth going to Ella only to swim and admire ...

Evhenf Ukraine

8,0

Green and beautiful gorgeous views from the mountains

Green and beautiful, gorgeous views from the mountains. Little Adam's Peak is worth a visit - the climb is not difficult. In the city, you can have a delicious meal at Chill Cafe and Dream Cafe. Ravana waterfall is not worth a special trip, it is better to stop for a couple of minutes on the way to Ella, if possible. Great massage at 98 acres resort & spa, but the price is very high. Massage there can be ordered even for non-guests. In the city itself, you can get a massage in the salons on main street, but their appearance is terrible, I did not dare. Finding a tuk-tuk is not a problem, you can bargain, but if you need to go somewhere uphill, then you respect the driver and give him more than you agreed upon arrival)

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