Ella is a beautiful small village in Sri Lanka’s hill country carrying a few shops, hotels and guesthouses. It stands after a short deviation from the Bandarawela – Badulla road. It possesses a beautiful little railway station through which the Badulla railway passes. The heavily winding Ella – Wellawaya road strategically leads to the beautiful Ravana water falls flowing down a cave just by the roadside.
The Ravana Ella cave lies 4500 feet above sea level on the foundation of a cliff. This beautiful tourist location is at a 7 miles distance from Bandarawela. The Ravana water fall is known to be one of the widest waterfalls of Sri Lanka. It pours itself down through the Ella gorge, a gap between two hills. The water beautifully courses down in three stages for 9 meters and then curves itself in a stream flowing through the gorge under the bridge. The view beyond the gorge is gorgeous that on a bright day one can see right across the southern coast of Sri Lanka through the strikingly beautiful backdrop of mountains and valleys.
A traveler writes: “The view through the Ella gap was probably the best in the entire island. It was quite early and the isolated hills on the plain popped up like little islands in the mist.”