The small town of Ella is a beautiful place to spend a few restful days. The town is largely made up of a long main street lined with restaurants, and paths leading off to attractive guest-houses where some excellent home cooking can be sampled. One of the prime attractions here is Ella Gab, a cleft in the hills where the land drops a dizzying 1,100 m into the plains below. The best view of the Gab is from the garden of the Grand Ella Motel.

Ella is walking country and guesthouses will be able to provide hand-drawn maps of scenic walks, such as the 4 hour long hike southeast of the town to Ella Rock, from where there are splendid views across the Hill Country. An easy, mostly flat 2-hour long walk winds through tea plantations southeast to Little Adam’s Peak, which affords great views of the surrounding countryside. Visitors are advised to set off early to reach here before the clouds descent.

Environs : About 4 km south of Ella is the Rawana Ella Cave, where Sita is said to have been held captive by Rawana. A few kilometers south of the cave are the 90 m high Rawana Falls, which are especially photogenic after a boat of bout of rain.