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I need suggestions for a 10 day winter break

sim667

sim667

All aboard the 303 bus.
I normally save my leave for the end of the year to make sure I've got plenty for festivals and stuff in the summer, and normally I'd really splash the cash, hence going to Vietnam last year.

But this year as I'm trying to put money away to go away for a good few months next year, I'm looking for suggestions for somewhere cheap.

Ideally somewhere I'll be fine on my own, I'm not bothered about blazing sun and beaches (although I've been feeling a desire to chill out a bit this time when I go away), but I'm keen on History, culture and stuff to photograph.

Has anyone got any suggestions? I've been looking at Sri Lanka a bit, anyone got any experience of it there?
 
Sri Lanka is lovely, probably a long way to go for 10 days but doable too. Sigiriya (google it) is a must, but you've got to miss the crowds which means going in at first entrance (7am). Safaris (elephants mainly, SL is big on elephants), plenty of Buddhism to photograph, Galle is a beautiful place, well, the fort is. I know of a very nice place to stay in the fort too, cheap as...is called The Loving Nest, flat above a shop. It's on the internet. Travel anywhere by train for tuppence. Kandy is horrible, my friend actually got mugged at the very chaotic bus station there, but is necessary as a transit point for certain places. Tea plantations are vast and beautiful. Yeah, Sri Lanka is cool and I haven't even mentioned the cricket I went to in Colombo. Colombo is a bit of a nightmare though, cricket apart. Negombo beach...I could go on.
 
Been nearly 17 years since we went to Sri Lanka (On honeymoon). An amazing, beautiful place. We went to the first entrance at Sigiriya, we were staying nearby, and it was just stunning.

If not Hong Kong is amazing (in a different way) or, though not warm, Iceland would give you a lot of photography opportunities.
 
Sri Lanka is interesting especially if you're into archaeology and Buddhism .. not what I'd call a happy chilled out place though, it's been battered yet again very recently, this year, by major floods. A very long way to go for just ten days too.
 
bimble said:
Sri Lanka is interesting especially if you're into archaeology and Buddhism .. not what I'd call a happy chilled out place though, it's been battered yet again very recently, this year, by major floods. A very long way to go for just ten days too.
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And, tsunamis aside, it also got battered not that long ago by a very long and bloody civil war. I was there a couple of years ago and you can still feel the undercurrent of tension. The people are largely poor and the shops, as in normal day to day food shops etc, are bloody expensive. Their next civil war will be class based - economic, not ethnic.
 
Yep. I was there not very long ago too and met a couple of people who after a brief chat told me about many family members lost to the tsunami and/or to the war. Agree you can feel the pain and scars of it all still very much, and people are poor and tourism re-starting after that long break makes things sometimes a bit pushy.
 
Just go to Canary Islands, Portugal, Greece or something.

How the heck are you gonna save any money on a trip to Sri Lanka? Not budget in my book.
 
Riklet said:
Just go to Canary Islands, Portugal, Greece or something.

How the heck are you gonna save any money on a trip to Sri Lanka? Not budget in my book.
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Greece is closed in winter, Canaries are a beach and I don't think 10 days in Portugal are what the OP has in mind.

How about Jordan? Few days in Petra etc. Plenty to photograph. Not been myself but it's always on the list. I'll get there one day.
 
Morocco. Winter flights are pennies and the trains / buses are dirt cheap. You can eat like a king in the off season for buttons & you have to sorta work at finding places to drink, so the temptation to spunk £££ on lager is minimised.

Sri Lanka I found a bit meh but cheap once you are there
 
Riklet said:
Just go to Canary Islands, Portugal, Greece or something.

How the heck are you gonna save any money on a trip to Sri Lanka? Not budget in my book.
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It may be expensive getting there, but when you're there its cheap..... it balances out.

I mean in europe now I'm looking at £40 a night just for a sodding single bed in a hostel dorm..... I was trying to work out going to amsterdam for 3 days and gave up, because it came to £300...... thats a 1/3rd of what I spent going to Vietnam for 17 days.
 
I've also been having a look at South Korea, but got a feeling will be more expensive for hostel etc there....... I think I can push it to two weeks with the amount of leave I've got, or if I go over xmas and new year, 2.5-3 weeks if I plan carefull.
 
not-bono-ever said:
Morocco. Winter flights are pennies and the trains / buses are dirt cheap. You can eat like a king in the off season for buttons & you have to sorta work at finding places to drink, so the temptation to spunk £££ on lager is minimised.

Sri Lanka I found a bit meh but cheap once you are there
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Morocco is a good shout, but don't know if I'd want to go for 10 days - 2 weeks...... Is there that much to keep me entertained?
 
Cuba is great, but expensive (it's not over-resorted unless you want to be on a resort, there are loads of other alternatives, b&Bs, etc); ditto Costa Rica.
Guatemala very cheap (once you're there) but a bit iffy in places - maybe a bit much if you are travelling alone
I wouldn't go for Sri Lanka just because a/ so far away and b/ war-criminal Army types running so much of the tourist economy.
Maybe Gambia? English-speaking, bright bright sunshine, plenty to photograph (tho a lot of the history is pretty grim, slave trade and so on), and they just got rid of their longterm evil-clown dictator so you can go with a clear conscience. (I've never been, don't know about the expense, but believe me the country is DESPERATE for more visitors so there could be good deals.)
 
Oman? Might be trickier on a budget but absolutely stunning, will be warm, very safe, you can cheap eat Indian/Pakistani cafes, you wouldn't want to visit without staying in a desert camp for a night or two and trying to get down to Salalah and Nizra, which might be more difficult on your own. Amazing country though.
 
Soz misread! What about Georgia or Montenegro then?

Or Corfu then boat to Albania. Cheeky bit of Albanian winter.

Or Mexico? Morocco? Could be cool for photography?
 
Riklet said:
Soz misread! What about Georgia or Montenegro then?

Or Corfu then boat to Albania. Cheeky bit of Albanian winter.

Or Mexico? Morocco? Could be cool for photography?
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Morocco has a potential.

Wouldn't Georgia/Montenegro be cold as fuck then?
 
Morocco has plenty to do if you want to waste your time - its actually more interesting in the winter I find - you could easily waste 2 weeks pootling about and using mostly public transport.

Georgia and Montenegro would possibly be well chilly - both have ski resorts that open in the winter if that is any guide - less harsh right on the coastlines though.

Algeria is another one - can be a little dodgy - mostly undeserved - though but apparently worth it. I was supposed to be there 18 months ago but things conspired to break that trip. cheap flights in winter
 
trabuquera said:
Cuba is great, but expensive (it's not over-resorted unless you want to be on a resort, there are loads of other alternatives, b&Bs, etc); ditto Costa Rica.
Guatemala very cheap (once you're there) but a bit iffy in places - maybe a bit much if you are travelling alone
I wouldn't go for Sri Lanka just because a/ so far away and b/ war-criminal Army types running so much of the tourist economy.
Maybe Gambia? English-speaking, bright bright sunshine, plenty to photograph (tho a lot of the history is pretty grim, slave trade and so on), and they just got rid of their longterm evil-clown dictator so you can go with a clear conscience. (I've never been, don't know about the expense, but believe me the country is DESPERATE for more visitors so there could be good deals.)
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The problem with The Gambia is the 10 day bit. They often try to upgrade you to 14 days for free as they don't have many doing 10 day holidays. So better for a week or a fortnight.
 
So my mum rang me up last night and said they want to go on holiday for xmas, and would I like to go with them. Mentioned if I did they'd go somewhere I could do some SCUBA.

She hasn't decided where yet, but knowing her it will be somewhere peng as fuck.
 
sim667 said:
So my mum rang me up last night and said they want to go on holiday for xmas, and would I like to go with them. Mentioned if I did they'd go somewhere I could do some SCUBA.

She hasn't decided where yet, but knowing her it will be somewhere peng as fuck.
Click to expand...

Sweet. We're going to St Martin on boxing day, with a side order of Anguilla. See you there!
 
sim667 said:
Mum mentioned the Maldives...... but I don't know if I'll just get bored there.
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Depends on where, a lot of hotels/resorts are the only thing on a small island, which unless you're honeymooning and bonking 24/7 would get dull pretty quick. But there are some larger islands, but yeah, most beach based business.
 
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