Oh! Colombo 

I have been having a great time travelling to Ella, the hottest spot in the hill country and probably the most beautiful area of our hill country with perfect weather conditions. The visitors to this town are mainly backpacker tourists along with some others.  The town, though small, is expanding rapidly and accommodation is in high demand. Buildings seem to be popping up all over haphazardly to meet this demand. It would be great if the local authorities took a bit more interest in checking out these buildings and also establish some guidelines on the constructions and their appearance. 

Something that our local government authorities should learn and adopt from Europe is that the construction in the villages that we travellers go gaga about in Europe are monitored by the village authorities with strict regulations regarding the height of the building and the colours used for the exteriors of the buildings and the shape and appearance of the roofs. The insides of the homes can be of a design that the owner wishes but the appearance of the houses and its exteriors are controlled and well monitored. There is no point of all the beauty and serenity and amazing views when the town turns out looking hideous. 

Ella, a town that has gained popularity recently, seems to have been discovered in the last couple of years owing to many travel writers publishing stories of its beauty and the warmth of the people living there. I came across the following review, which I would like to share with you, since it is so apt about the area. 

“Like most places in Sri Lanka, the people here earn their money from tourism. The nice thing about Ella is that there doesn't seem to be anyone trying to con you or rip you off, which makes for a nice laidback, relaxing stay. The other nice thing about Ella is the climate. It reminds me of a hot English summer. Hot during the day and nice and cool at night. If you fancy climbing the peaks that are dotted around Ella, then make sure you take sun protection and water.” 

The Ravana falls and many other attractions around Ella are of interest to the locals too. Ella is packed with locals during the weekend and it is a lovely sight to see them parked in picnic areas cooking their meals and enjoying it. The not so nice part of this is that some of them do not seem interested in cleaning up after them and items such as plastic bottles, bags etc. are scattered around in the picnic area when they set off merrily on their travels. 

It would be great if the local authorities took some interest in supervising the cleanliness in the area and also monitor the disposal of garbage. This is applicable not only to Ella but the entire island since there is no point is being blessed with such a beautiful country if it is filthy and unprotected.