Travel is a fickle mistress.

Well, this was unexpected.

One day you're going about your business doing things in Cambodia, the next you've changed plans and decide to go to Sri Lanka - somewhere you never considered going. Ever.

Its not quite South East Asia (more like, South East of India) which is where I wanted to focus this trip, but it looks like I'm about to wongder a bit further than envisaged. But I'm not really one to pass up an opportunity like this.

For the past three-ish months I'd had a pretty solid plan, though lacking in finer details (dates, budgets etc) - northern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia then (maybe) home (depending on how poor I was). I was actually really looking forward to going to Myanmar in the next few weeks and I've got a tourist visa which is valid for three months. (I'm still going to Myanmar, but I've just put the trip off for another month.)

But every so often things change. Ok, things change all the time. Always. Stay with me, ok? (I even changed this sentence a few times.)

Best laid plans, as they say.  

You may recall from my last post about travelling with a group of about six people into Cambodia from Laos and our little motorcycle gang. It was cool. We all split up after Kampong Cham - four of us went to Phnom Penh, the rest to Siem Reap. But even in Phnom Penh we split up again. I have a feeling that, little did I know, the decision I made that day of which way to head after departing the bus would set off the chain of events that led to me agreeing to go to Sri Lanka.

One of our group had booked a place to stay where she would meet a friend who was on a short vacation. I, along with two others, a couple, decided to go together toward the riverside. I'd read about a decent backpackers near there and their hotel was close by too. It so happened we had roughly the same itinerary and amount of time that we wanted to spend in Cambodia. Naturally (as attested to in another post) we ended up travelling together all up for about two weeks. (Incidentally the longest I've ever travelled with the same people.)

Together we had left Phnom Penh for southern Cambodia - Kep, Kampot and the beach town of Sihanoukville. (Then I was to go back to Phnom Penh then Battambang in the northwest then Siem Reap, while they eventually decided to go to the Thai islands and then to Bangkok.) Throughout our travels, the couple had been chopping and changing their plans and budgets on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis on which country to go to next. Thailand? Vietnam? The Philippines?

I chortled quietly at their indecision *chortle, chortle, chortle*. "I'm pretty sorted", I thought to myself, "Myanmar, Myanmar, Myanmar - yeah!" *Chortle*

"Sri Lanka?" he suggested based on a website which charts which countries have good weather in any given month.  
   
"You could come with us."

After a little (and I mean a little) research, I had no conceivable reason not to.

I had more than enough time, (arguably) enough money, flights were cheapish and I could get a 30 day visa on arrival (according to my research).

And so here we are. Tickets booked to a country I have no idea about and had no idea I'd be going to two weeks ago.

Let the fun continue!

Posted in: Cambodia,sri lanka,travel,travellers