Ravana Country: Photos from Ella Rock, Ravana Falls and Ravana Cave

I decided a while ago, that I am going to start exploring places that are referred to in the Ramayana epic. I took a trip up to Ella about 10 months ago, and here are some photos from that trip.

This is me in Ravana Cave in Ella in April 2007. I did this climb to the cave on the second day after having gone up to the top of Ravana Rock on the first. It took only an hour or forty five minutes to get up here after parking the car at the bottom of the hill near an ancient temple. It was a shorter climb, but it was scarier. My legs were like jelly afterwards, but I was glad I did it. This is where the legendary Ravana left Sita for safe-keeping. I bet there was some serious nookie going on inside this cave. There’s a tunnel at the back which according to legend leads to Ravana Eliya, which is between Hak Gala and Nuwara Eliya. Clearly, the former Emperor of Lanka knew the importance of exit strategy.

 

This is the view of Ravana Falls, from the balcony of my room at Ambiente. To get to the top of Ella Rock, you have to start by following the railtracks which go above the waterfall.

This is the point at which the water becomes the fall.

This is the view from the balcony of my room. That’s Ella Rock on the right which is the tallest mountain for miles. The one opposite is called Little Adam’s Peak, because apparently people think it looks like Adam’s Peak. I didn’t see the resemblance.

This is the view from the top of Ella Rock. It takes about two hours to get here from Ambiente, if you know the way. The directions in the guidebooks are confusing, but half the fun is getting lost and finding your way. It took seven hours for the whole walk, including three hours spent lost in a forest.

I finally got back along the railtracks, it was dusk, and the mist was moving in fast.

Ella has some of the best views in Sri Lanka, and in my opinion, it is highly underrated as a tourist destination, notably even by domestic tourists. Perhaps this is because it takes about 6 hours to get there by car from Colombo, but in my opinion it is worth it.