My Budgeting Break: Ella (2)

Nine Arches Bridge, Demodera. Photo Credits: Hiru Piumwardena

In the interests of keeping it real, lemme tell you that my first thought on seeing the water at Ravana Falls was, “yuck.” Shampoo sachets, soap wrappers, shopping bags and plastic bottles littered the once pristine falls. The waterfall itself was still beautiful, but now it was choked with people who were enthusiastically soaping themselves and bathing full Sri Lankan-style. The water was murky and polluted, filled with the grime of hundreds of visitors’ bodies.

Human contribution to the banks of Ravana Falls. Photo credits: Hiru Piumwardena

Ravana Falls. Photo Credits: Hiru Piumwardena

Fortunately for us, the Ravana Ella has a calm pool and a rather slippery, rocky (but safe) pool further up where there weren't any people. We aimed for the latter. While I stayed on the rocks and took pictures, the others quickly changed clothes and jumped in. Since we were higher up than the hordes washing below, the water was clean. Still, it’s not a good idea to stay in it too long.

There is a restaurant on the opposite side of the road called Ravana Ella Restaurant. They serve a killer chicken fried rice. Lunch was fried rice, chicken curry and Elephant House cream soda. Excuse the lack of pictures - we were too hungry to think of taking any. The bunch of us polished off several kilos of rice and the bill still only came to about LKR 150 each, which is a fantastic price.

That's Me! Photo Credits: Hiru Piumwardena

We took a bus once again, this time to the start of the trail to the Demodera Nine Arches Bridge. I’d lost all sense of direction by this time; I know it was LKR 40 distance. We got down where the bus conductor told us. There was a tourist board sign welcoming tourists to the bridge so we kept walking down a minor road that turned into a dirt track, that turned into scrub land, that turned into full-on mountain and finally intersected with the rail track. We came to the Demodera Nine Arches bridge just in time to see a train go by.

Sausages roasting on an open fire...

The rest of our hike went by fast enough. We hiked to Ella station, and caught the 7pm train to Ohiya station, about 2 hours down South. There, we stayed the night at Angel Inn, a hiker’s rest on the Welimada road just 5 minutes from the Ohiya railway station. After dinner and a quick barbecue, we crashed.

Photo credits: Hiru Piumwardena

Next morning, we hopped aboard the Badulla-Colombo Fort train that arrived in Ohiya around 8.20am. After much wrangling, all of us managed to get seats. We were lucky; many people stood the entire journey. The ticket prices were the same as before. If you’re taking the train back, make sure you book seats.

We arrived in Pettah around 4.30pm, tired and sore but with hearts and souls full of beautiful scenery and the magnificent views of our country. Here’s to another hike soon: Hip hip hooray!


(Approx.) Time Taken: 2 nights, 2 days
{Approx.) Total Cost : LKR 4000 per person
Satisfaction : 4/5
*All pictures are subject to copyright © Asuka Randeniye 2016. Photo Credits: Lahiru Piumwardena