Arriving after sunset on a damp and cloudy evening following heavy rain, we awoke the next morning to a blue sky and hot sunshine. Ella is located at nearly 3,500 feet / 1050 metres altitude so we were prepared for the cool weather that I had experienced previously, but this was nothing like that. As you will read in the next post, it got even hotter and we had some sweltering hill walking ahead of us!

Having first experienced it nine years ago and more recently recommended it to my parents, I chose the Ekho hotel not for its architecture but because of its picturesque location and attentive service and neither let us down; no cloud to spoil the view and a caring approach to the hotel’s guests even with full occupancy on the Saturday night; locals escaping Colombo for the fresh air and tranquil environment.

Each bedroom is named after a train, bearing its name and with the room number the first three digits of the service number; together with train ticket key fobs and other train themes in the rooms, an especially nice touch given what was to come for us.

The penultimate image below shows the view from the garden hot tub – with hot being the operative word.  In the cool evening air, a lovely way to relax and even better when a cold beer is delivered with an even colder frosted glass.  Cheers!

Steve