"Guys.............. which is the place out of India where we can all go without spending all of our life's savings and still call it an awesome vacation"....................??
When we look for vacations outside India, our thoughts wander around the world. We start with Europe, then decide it's too expensive and save it for later. The same happens to the U.S and south america. Then we sling shot around the world in a millisecond and reach Thailand (one of the most sought after tourist destinations in the world). But how many of us actually think about that little island of our south east coast. So close by that as per mythology there existed a bridge linking us to the Island.
The truth is Sri Lanka was never an option while I was thinking about places to see outside India. But when it was suggested by one of my friends, it suddenly sounded brilliant.
What do we want from a vacation, peace (read as phone switched off), fun (read as accompanied by booze) and anything else that is not routine. Lanka had all of it and accompanied by great friends, it was just an awesome idea.
So we planned and planned and planned and kept planning .............. until the friend who suggested Lanka said "cock ur hole, stop planning and let's book the fucking tickets"............... So we did. After 15 mins and Rs. 12,300/- per head of investment, we were all set. But now, we seriously had to plan cos the tickets were non refundable!!!
We didn't know anybody who had been to Lanka before, so we had to resort to the internet (of course this means Google) and books. And one of those books was our savior.
"Lonely Planet"; this book is now famous world over, its gives you information that is practical and almost impossible to find, even on the web. We found all our hotels, transportation through the book. It also saves you from being taken for a ride. It gives detailed reports about pricing of each and every tourist attraction and warns you of possible dangers. The book was our Bible in Lanka and we never let it go. In fact there was a time during the trip when we thought we had lost the book and it got everyone really upset, made me wonder if we would have been that upset if one of us had got lost??!!!.
The trip was just AWESOME. Of course, not all things went as per our "PLAN", but what the hell, a bunch of single guys on an amazing trip, who cares about the plan. We rocked the place and it was a trip to remember for ages. Writing about every aspect of this trip would take too long and make this blog more of a bore than it already is, so I'll probably do it in parts some other time.
But if anybody is wondering where to go for a budget vacation, I vote for Lanka. This place is a gem in the Indian ocean!!!
