Sri Lanka's backpacker mountain village — the Nine Arch Bridge above the tea terraces, hoppers and kottu from the main street, and that train ride between Kandy and Ella
Ella is a small mountain village in Sri Lanka's central highlands, perched at 1,041 metres in the tea-growing region — a compact strip of guesthouses, rooftop cafés, and local food stalls that became one of Asia's most popular backpacker destinations after the Kandy-to-Ella train route was named one of the most scenic rail journeys in the world. The Nine Arch Bridge — a colonial-era viaduct of nine arches cutting through the tea terraces and jungle above the village — is one of the most photographed structures in Sri Lanka. The village itself offers hiking to Little Adam's Peak (2-3h return),…
Ella's mountain setting was identified by British colonial planners as suitable for tea cultivation in the 1870s, and the surrounding hillsides were cleared for tea estates that still operate today. The Kandy-Badulla railway line (now known as the Colombo-Badulla line) was completed through the central highlands in 1924, requiring the construction of bridges including the Nine Arch Bridge — built without steel, using only brick, cement, and rock because World War I had cut off steel supplies from Britain. Ella remained a quiet road junction until the 2000s when it began attracting internation…