Little Adam’s Peak
The short climb. Steps most of the way and it does not take a morning.
Tours
Twelve things we can arrange
You ask us, we arrange it. That is the difference between booking through us and booking through a website: there is someone here who knows which of these is a bad idea in the rain.
TwelveThree on foot from here, three that take a whole day, three half-days with a vehicle, two that are not a viewpoint, and a scooter.
Most of the prices below came from the owner in one long message and they are printed here as he gave them, in the currency he gave them in. Where a price is per vehicle, what it costs each of you depends on how many of you there are, so the number we confirm before you commit is the total for your actual group.
Three of these have no price on them yet. They say so.
When you ask about one, we will tell you whether we run it ourselves or hand it to somebody we know.
Three you can do without a vehicle
Nine Arches Bridge
The one everybody photographs, and the only real question is what time a train crosses it.
We do not publish an answer to that here. It changes, and a wrong time costs you a morning standing in the wrong place. Ask us the day before and we will tell you what we know that day.
Ella Rock
The harder of the two climbs from here.
It is also the one with a scam problem: signs that point the wrong way, and people who offer to help and then charge to un-lose you. It is walkable without a guide if you have the route downloaded before you leave. Ask us and we will tell you honestly whether you need us for it.
Three that take the whole day
Yala Safari
- LKR 25,000 per vehicle, up to 4 people — the driving
- €60 per person — park entry and the jeep
- Picked up around 02:30, back in Ella around 14:00
- Park and jeep via Inla Safari Tours
Two prices because there are two separate things. The vehicle from here to the park and back to Ella is LKR 25,000 and carries up to four people, so what it costs each of you depends on how many of you get in it. The €60 each covers the national park entrance, the jeep safari inside the park, breakfast, drinks and the tickets.
Pickup is around half past two in the morning, which is not a misprint — it is what it takes to be inside the park when the animals are up. If there are fewer of you than fill a vehicle we will try to put you together with other guests, because five or six people makes the same day cheaper for everybody.
The safari itself and the park tickets are arranged by Inla Safari Tours in Tissamaharama, the owner’s sister company, rather than by us. We do the transport and the arranging from this end.
Udawalawe Safari
- LKR 24,000 per vehicle, up to 4 people — the driving
- €60 per person — park entry and the jeep
- About three hours inside the park
- Arranged for groups of four or five
The nearer of the two parks, and the shorter safari: about three hours in the jeep. The vehicle from here and back is LKR 24,000 for up to four people, and the €60 each covers the park entrance, the jeep and the arranging.
Nothing was said to us about food on this one, so do not assume breakfast the way you can at Yala — ask, if it matters to you. We have not been given a departure time for it either, and we would rather leave that blank than guess at it.
Lipton’s Seat
Tea country, and a viewpoint people get up in the dark for.
We have no price for this one yet. It is the only trip on the page the owner did not put a number against, and rather than invent one we will tell you what it costs when you ask.
Three half-days with a vehicle
Diyaluma Falls
- LKR 5,000 per person
- Three people minimum
- Leaves 11:00, back 15:00 – 16:00
- Transport and the day arranged by us
A waterfall you can walk above — the second-highest in Sri Lanka, and the waterfall most people go to from Ella. There are natural pools at the top and you can swim in them.
It leaves at eleven, which makes it an afternoon rather than a whole day. That is worth knowing if you were planning to climb something in the morning.
Other waterfalls
- LKR 3,000 per person
- Three people minimum
- Which one, and what you travel in, depends on numbers
Diyaluma is not the only waterfall within reach and it is not always the right one. There are several around Ella and we will run a trip to them at LKR 3,000 a head, with the vehicle chosen to fit however many of you there are.
Which one is worth the trip changes with the rain. Ask us in the week you are here rather than deciding from a photograph taken in a different season.
Galpata Amuna
- LKR 3,000 per person
- Four people normally, to make it run
- Leaves 11:00, back around 15:00
- A tuk-tuk or a small car, depending on how many of you
A small waterfall with a pool, and you can swim in it. That is the whole of it, in the owner’s own words, and we are not going to inflate it into something larger — the point of this one is that it is the local one. Diyaluma is where everybody from Ella goes. This is the other kind of afternoon.
It normally takes four of you to run. With fewer, ask anyway — we can usually put something suitable together if a vehicle is free.
Two that are not a viewpoint
Sri Lankan Cooking Class
- LKR 4,000 per person
- Two sittings: 12:00 – 14:00 and 17:00 – 19:00
- Any day, if somebody wants it
- The price includes the food you cook and then eat
You cook traditional Sri Lankan dishes and then you eat them, which is why there is nothing else to pay at the end of it. Two hours, two sittings a day, and it runs on whichever days people ask for it.
It is taught by a local cook, not by our staff. Tell us a day and which of the two sittings you want and we will arrange it from here.
Meditation with a Monk
- Free — the sessions cost nothing
- LKR 3,000 per person for the ride there and back
- Four sittings a day, at a temple in Ella
- Not on a Poya day, the full moon
A Buddhist temple in Ella runs meditation sessions and you can join them. The sessions themselves are free of charge. What you would be paying us for is the ride to the temple and back, which is LKR 3,000 a person.
The temple runs four sittings a day, and this is the shape of them as we have been told them:
- 06:00 – 07:30
- Silent meditation, then breathing and walking meditation.
- 09:00 – 11:00
- An hour guided inside the pagoda, then an hour of loving-kindness and silent meditation, with time for questions.
- 14:30 – 16:30
- The same again, in the afternoon.
- 18:30 – 21:00
- An introduction to Buddhism and the viewpoint, a tea break, then silent, breathing and walking meditation.
That is the temple’s timetable and not ours, and a temple is entitled to change its mind without telling a hostel. So we will check it for the day you want before you go, rather than have you trust a web page. Nothing runs on a full-moon day.
Getting yourself around
Scooter Rental
Not an experience. A way of reaching the other eleven.
No daily rate on this page yet. Ask and we will tell you the rate, the deposit and what we need to see before we hand over a key.
Two things worth checking before you decide: what your travel insurance actually covers on a motorbike in Sri Lanka, and what licence you need to ride one here legally. Ask us and we will tell you what we know.
How arranging one works
You message us with what you want and roughly when. We come back to you with the total for however many of you there are and what time you would need to leave. You say yes or you don’t.
The prices on this page are per person or per vehicle exactly as marked, and the ones in euros are in euros because that is how they were quoted to us. What we have not written anywhere is when or how you pay, because we have not been told — so ask, and do not send money to anybody until a person here has answered you.
There is nothing to pay on this website, and nothing is booked until we have both said so in writing.