Ella1


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Ella, Ella, beautiful Ella! It's a lovely, peaceful town in the hill country, 1,041 metres above sea level. Gorgeous tea plantations, spectacular views, perfect temperatures, the best guesthouse of our trip, delicious food and a great cuppa tea. What more could you possibly want? Well, I guess Gordon wanted a beer or two. But he got that!
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\HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN

\NEGOMBO

\TISSAMAHARAMA

\ELLA

\KANDY

\COLOMBO

\\LINKS

\CONTACTS

Ella, Ella, beautiful Ella! It's a lovely, peaceful town in the hill country, 1,041 metres above sea level. Gorgeous tea plantations, spectacular views, perfect temperatures, the best guesthouse of our trip, delicious food and a great cuppa tea. What more could you possibly want? Well, I guess Gordon wanted a beer or two. But he got that!

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Going to Ella? We have two words for you: STAY HERE!! The Mountain Heavens Hotel was fabulous. It is a newly-constructed guesthouse that currently has four lovely rooms with ensuite bathrooms. The food was great, the view was spectacular, and the service was first-class. Shanta, who seemed never to get a day off, was incredible, and apparently did everything around the place, from serving our meals to looking after the accounts to clipping the lawns by hand with garden shears. He treats all the guests like royalty and is a credit to his employer! Just an amazingly helpful, friendly, polite person who kept us happy the whole time we were at Mountain Heavens. I don't think we could have gotten better service at any five-star hotel. And the graphic designer in me would like to point out that they got someone with a clue to design this sign. One of the better pieces of graphic art in Sri Lanka (not saying a lot, I know!) I love Sri Lanka, but there is some painfully hideous graphic design going on there! And yes, I know this website is not perfectly formatted, but I have 1,150 photos to go through and other real work to do, so I refuse to spend my time making every photo and text boxes on these pages absolutely perfect. So there! Just go to Sri Lanka, and stop worrying about my kerning.


Gordon welcomes you to Ella, in three languages!	A view from our guesthouse. There are some beeyoootiful waterfalls around Ella. There is some beeyootiful tea in Ella. I did my damndest to drink it all.

Going to Ella? We have two words for you: STAY HERE!! The Mountain Heavens Hotel was fabulous. It is a newly-constructed guesthouse that currently has four lovely rooms with ensuite bathrooms. The food was great, the view was spectacular, and the service was first-class. Shanta, who seemed never to get a day off, was incredible, and apparently did everything around the place, from serving our meals to looking after the accounts to clipping the lawns by hand with garden shears. He treats all the guests like royalty and is a credit to his employer! Just an amazingly helpful, friendly, polite person who kept us happy the whole time we were at Mountain Heavens. I don't think we could have gotten better service at any five-star hotel. And the graphic designer in me would like to point out that they got someone with a clue to design this sign. One of the better pieces of graphic art in Sri Lanka (not saying a lot, I know!) I love Sri Lanka, but there is some painfully hideous graphic design going on there! And yes, I know this website is not perfectly formatted, but I have 1,150 photos to go through and other real work to do, so I refuse to spend my time making every photo and text boxes on these pages absolutely perfect. So there! Just go to Sri Lanka, and stop worrying about my kerning.	The Mountain Heavens Hotel, which was (a) high on the mountain and (b) heaven. We spent four nights here, which included my birthday, and I frankly could have spent my whole trip here and been perfectly happy! The place may not look like a lot in this photo, but believe me, the rooms are lovely, the view is unbelievable, and the place is absolutely immaculate. Definitely the cleanest acommodations we had in Sri Lanka, and that includes the rather upscale Holiday Inn in Colombo. I would have happily eaten off the floor. This place is so new that it still needs business. It's not in any of the guidebooks, but it's better than any other place in Ella. Go check it out! Shanta will take excellent care of you. This place was recommended to us by an Argentinian-German couple we met at the Curd Shop restaurant (yes, their buffalo curd with fruit and treacle is most yummalicious!) as we were looking through the guidebook for a place to stay. I'm so glad they let us know about it! Shanta is my hero. http://www.mountainheavensella.com/index.htm

Gordon reads on the grassy terrace outside our room. We ate our breakfast here every morning. FANTASTIC! Now I'm back to dribbling cereal on my computer keyboard.	There are two rooms on the lowest level. Ours is on the right. Note all the WINDOWS. All the better to enjoy the breath-taking view!


Another day, another awesome view. Sigh. Much better than being here in front of my Mac.	Above: Gordon hikes up the mountain to Mountain Heavens. Gordon in an unappreciated cameo shot as he prepares to brush his teeth (geez, nobody appreciates my talents. It's my latest and most daring work: *Man With Colgate)*. Finally, Gordon and Natalie up on Little Adam's Peak, on Natalie's BIRTHDAY!!!!! BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY!!!!! Those are tea plantations behind us.

Baaaaaad things happen to fruit bats who decide to roost in power lines in Sri Lanka. This was a sight I saw more times than I could count. Poor little devil!	Everybody walks the rails in Ella. EVERYBODY. The trains travel through at about 10 kmph. (For you Americans, that's SLOW!)

Kids love having their pictures taken with a digital camera, then seeing the results. We attracted quite a crowd at the Curd Shop (there's another photo on the Home page) in Ella. A quartet of cuties!	Gordon and I atop Little Adam's Peak on middle-aged Natalie's birthday! We decided not to attempt Adam's Peak itself. Colour us cowardly, but the thought of climbing 4,800 steps straight up ON OUR VACATION seemed slightly insane. Look, we work out at the gym regularly at home. Instead we opted for the more leisurely and still-scenic hike up Little Adam's Peak. A perfect birthday! BIRTHDAY, BIRTHDAY, BIRTHDAY!
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All photos and text copyright Natalie Rowe 2008 - Stealing brings bad karma. Don't make me set my lawyer-husband upon you!