We stopped in 2 towns during our tour of the hill country: Nuwara Eliya and Ella. Nuwara Eliya is an old colonial town while Ella is more like a recently created tourist destination.
Hill Country — Nuwara Eliya
Nuwara Eliya’s temperate climate gives this town a very different vibe. It is located in the center of a valley surrounded by hills including the tallest mountain in the country, immense tea plantations and picturesque waterfalls including Dunhinda Falls. The British colonials loved this town because of its moderate climate. You might think of Sri Lanka as a tropical paradise (which it is) but includes the moderate climate zones where fruits like apples and strawberries are grown. Leeks are a major crop in backyard gardens surrounding the town — but we never saw them on any menu. We had dinner at the Hill Club — a special experience which took us back 100 years as we were served and toured around the grounds by servers in period costumes. There are paths in the nearby hills through the tea plantations and we hiked to the World’s End with an 800m vertical drop which we did not attempt to ascend — do this hike early in the morning because fog builds up and impedes your view of the plains. |
The second town we visited, Ella, is a beautiful small backpacker-hub on the southern edge of Sri Lanka’s Hill Country. It has become the go-to town in the hill country for tourists and as a result has a reasonably well-established tourism-orientated economy. For example, there is an espresso coffee and fish and chips shop as well as backpacker-style bars aimed solely at the visitor. It’s basically a nice relaxing base for exploring the surrounding country. Ella’s situated in the middle of beautiful countryside, with small vegetable plots in the valleys, tea plantations on the hill slopes and forests on the tops. Some of the finest tea in the world is grown around here where elevations exceeding 4,000 feet. The climate throughout most of the year is typical of the high Hill Country, with a hot sun by midday, but a moderate air temperature. It will often rain in the afternoon, but only for an hour or so. |