The Hill Country

The hill country exists as Sri Lanka’s climatic surprise: cool enough for jumpers, misty enough for atmosphere, green enough to make photography redundant. The elevation does the work — Kandy sits at 500 metres, Nuwara Eliya at nearly 2,000, and the temperature drops accordingly. After the heat of Colombo or the coastal beaches, the hill country provides genuine relief, with evenings cool enough to want a fire and mornings that occasionally need a fleece. The train journey from Kandy to Ella — six to seven hours through tea plantations and tunnels — ranks among the world’s great railway experiences, regularly named in global top-ten rail journey lists. The towns at either end offer enough to justify extended stays.

Kandy, the cultural capital, sprawls around its lake with the chaotic charm of a city that grew organically rather than planned. The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic dominates the waterfront, housing what devotees believe is Buddha’s left canine, brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th century concealed in a princess’s hair. The evening puja ceremony — drums, incense, crowds pressing toward the inner sanctum — transmits significance regardless of your own beliefs, and is held three times daily (dawn, midday, and evening). Entry: 2,000 LKR (£5). Modest dress required, with sarongs available for hire if you arrive in shorts. Beyond the temple, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya (10km outside the city) reward a half-day visit with their orchid house and giant Javan fig tree, and the evening Kandyan dance performances — drumming, fire-walking, traditional costume — provide cultural programming that the city has refined over generations of tourist attention without diluting.

The Kandy-Ella train books out weeks ahead in first class, especially during the peak November-to-April season; second-class unreserved is the budget traveller’s solution. Arrive an hour early to claim seats; accept that you may stand for portions, though many travellers prefer the open doorways anyway, legs hanging over the edge as the train winds through hill country. The scenery compensates: tea plantations cascading down impossible slopes, tunnels giving way to sudden panoramas, stations where vendors pass samosas, vadai, and milky tea through windows for a few rupees. The blue and red carriages alternate by departure; the modern observation cars added by 12Go and Expo Rail offer reserved seats with panoramic windows for travellers prioritising comfort over the open-door experience. Stops at Nanu Oya (for Nuwara Eliya), Haputale, and Bandarawela tempt extended itineraries with their own attractions. The Nine Arch Bridge, visible as the train approaches Ella, has achieved Instagram fame that its Victorian builders never anticipated; the bridge itself, built in 1921 from stone and brick without steel, was the colonial era’s response to wartime steel shortages.

Ella itself has become backpacker central, which sounds like a warning but functions as a recommendation. The infrastructure that serves budget travellers — guesthouses, cafés, travel agents, hill-country cooking classes — also creates community, and the town has begun to develop boutique options for travellers who outgrew dormitories some decades ago. Hike Little Adam’s Peak (easy, free, 45 minutes up, views excellent) and Ella Rock (harder, free, two hours up, views superior); both are best attempted at dawn before the heat builds and the clouds close in. Rent scooters (1,500 LKR / £3.75 per day) to explore Ravana Falls, Diyaluma Falls, and the Demodara Loop where the railway crosses over itself. Eat at local places rather than tourist restaurants — the Ella Village Hotel rice and curry (800 LKR / £2) surpasses anything the cafés offer at three times the price, and the hill-country curries here, with their use of jackfruit, beetroot, and gotu kola, differ meaningfully from coastal Sri Lankan cooking. For the splurge, the Cafe Chill and Matey Hut both serve quality fusion options at moderate prices, and tea plantation lodges like Heritance Tea Factory above Nuwara Eliya turn the whole hill-country stay into a heritage experience.