Just visiting. Couple more days here and then off to Sri Lanka. It's lovely here but I think I preferred Hong Kong.
Yeah it was a bit impromptu. I've never done Asia but the flights weren't too terrible and after veen did Hong Kong the idea just stuck with me. My boyfriend and I grabbed 5k from our accounts and booked the cheapest flights we could manage which landed us in Hong Kong and then Bangkok and Sri Lanka. Get home isn't as cheap and we're not going to make Feb 1 rent but it's so worth it. I needed a vacation and a detachment from my computer and work obsessed life. Seeing how other people live is always a refreshing experience and reminds me to cherish the bigger / smaller things In life. Where have you traveled to?
Sounds wicked, I'm really keen to get to Sri Lanka at some stage. Um, this trip started in Bangkok, spent a few weeks in Thailand, a month in Laos, a month in Cambodia, two months in Indonesia, then came back to Cambodia and decided to make a go of it in Phnom Penh for a while. I've been in PP for four months now, living in a Khmer-style apartment in the city.
Man I'm incredibly jealous. I've been dating this guy since mid August so we're at the point where we love to be together all the time but aren't ready to say let's run away for months. I had no idea how this would go. I mean... This could have turned out to be a complete disaster. Luckily, it seems as though our shit isn't superficial as we've been happier here even in shifty hostels with paper thin walls, 24 hour airport ordeals, and some questionable street meat turned bathroom camping. If you can not hate someone during those situations, that's pretty epic. I would love to do Chang mai and phuket and some of the beaches here. Or zip lining in Loas. It'll have to wait though. He wants to go back to Ireland next summer to see his family, etc. I am so down for a grown up Europe trip. I'll let you know about Sri Lanka and any exciting things. The Bangkok to Sri Lanka flight on Sri Lankan air is super cheap. (also Bangkok to Hong Kong on Sri Lankan air is the same price) My programmer is from there and is going to be taking me around so I expect to get a back roads look. All I know so far is "don't trust Sri Lankans. They are very cunning. Do not trust them. Except me of course."
Check out Tangalle beach (if it has recovered after the tsunami). Amazing beach shacks which will cook you whatever fish they have caught that day. (Caveat: after the destruction, a bunch of German property developers were buying up cheap land so it may have become peppered with resorts.) Kandy and all the hill stations and tea plantations are amazing too, for a complete change of scenery. Will probably be colder and more misty this time of year though. And the North has opened up now, after the protracted political upheavals and security situations, but it's an adventure getting there. And the Sinharaja primary rain forest is a trip. Beware of leeches.
I sent this to Kosala, my old programmer and current tour guide. I still don't know what he has planned but I'm okay with whatever. I think the tentative plan is go down south today - see some beaches, enjoy the views. Then come back to the Colombo area, do some work, and then go all around up north. Its beautiful here. I got into the hotel around 1am. Him and his family are from here and I'm expected to be a conservative traditional girl. That means NO cigarettes, NO alcohol, NO knees showing, NO sleeveless shirts. I guess I'll actually fulfill my New Years Resolution to quit smoking. If I have to go 9 days here without cigarettes, it's not like I'm going to start again when I get back. So worth it though to get a real look at Sri Lanka and live like they live. I loved Bangkok and some of the areas that we wandered into, but the one tour we did was so white and English speaking and cameras clicking that it made me cringe. The election was yesterday. Lot's of noise, fireworks, cheering, people running around the streets right now. The area we are in is for the opposition party so its more joyous than murderous. We'll see how it goes as we get up north. All of our plans are super tentative based on whatever political situations may arise. So far it seems to be going okay. Cheers!
All of you are talking about Asia, but not a single mention of Malaysia. I'm sad. Insom, even though saying "go there!" is a difficult thing to do, especially when that "there" is another country, if you have any means, check out Malaysia. One of the best months of my short life was spent there. I have pictures. Pm me if you want places to check out.
Malaysia is on the list for next trip. It was on this list but my mother decided she wanted to go to Costa Rica for her birthday so I only had time for Hong Kong and Bangkok and Sri Lanka. The original plan was to go Sri Lanka to Malaysia to Sydney and then home.