A Goodbye Hike to Ella Rock

We awoke the morning of March 19th, not yet knowing it would be our last in the land known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.

After a satisfying breakfast of coconut honey roti and fruit, we began our ~1.5 mile descent from our homestay on the hill to the Ella Rock trailhead, which began near the Kithaella station train tracks. Along our route we passed vacant home stays, hotels, and restaurants that, just a couple days earlier, showed terminal signs of life. In town, the police had begun a mass sterilization of storefronts, banks, and restaurants along the now desolate main road. Locals lingered on the curb, donning a mix of masks and face cloths. Tension simmered in the air.

Ella Rock

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Wistful feeling aside, we both felt lucky to be healthy, and soon to be ensconced in a tapestry of tea trees. The hike, which took around 4-5 hours round trip, began with a short walk up the train tracks, before veering left through tea fields and gum trees.

The trail was quiet, and the towering gum-trees swayed with ease. Along the way we met another dogmatic tour guide, who - with his canine crony in crime - seemed to tag team in leading us along the trail.

We reached the summit and were pleased to find a juice vendor splitting open King coconuts, which are sweeter than the average coconut. We got to talking to this young man who introduced himself as Shashicka, who had the #3 transportation business in Ella. He drove tourists from all sorts of places all over the country. We told him we were thinking of leaving Ella to lay low at the beach for the remainder of our time in Sri Lanka, and he said he could drive us. We stepped aside, King Coconuts in hand, and verified that this guy wasn't a scammer. We agreed on a time and price and left to begin our descent.

Before completing the trail loop, we admired the views once more.