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Hi All
Looking for some options for plan B if the situation doesn’t improve in SL by January.
Current itinerary is UK-Chennai, one night then on to Sri Lanka for a 10 day tour. From Colombo down to The Maldives for 5 nights before returning to Chennai via Colombo. Return is single ticket so I can keep that and transit airside, outbound I might be able to change with Sri Lankan so as to depart Chennai later and transit Colombo for Male.
Basically, I’m looking for some alternatives either in India of flying onwards from Chennai?
Thanks.
It’s only a short hop to Thailand
Really hope you get to go, but should say that the state of SL right now is
very VERY awful. My brother & family have been living there for years, and right
now they’re driving round Scotland looking at houses in case they have to leave
“in a question of hours”.
It took them a week of going out at 0200h to different service stations just
to get enough litres of petrol to get to the airport.As Yorkie says, Thailand is v close, as is Singapore.
Good luck! Things could change so much by Xmas, of course.
Thailand should work, I’ll look at booking the IC Hua Hin as a backup. I really hope the situation settles soon, there were some positive noises from the IMF a few days ago. Good luck to your family Michael.
Tbf, I wouldn’t support the govt spending precious fx reserves on air fuel for non-essential transport given the terrible situation there. Hoping the situation gets better soon.
Winter is a great time to visit north Indian states like Rajasthan etc. Some fabulous palaces that are managed as hotels. It is also off peak for hill stations such as Coorg or Ooty. Can also be a good time to visit Goa, just after the Dec peak.
Tbf, I wouldn’t support the govt spending precious fx reserves on air fuel for non-essential transport given the terrible situation there. Hoping the situation gets better soon.
Winter is a great time to visit north Indian states like Rajasthan etc. Some fabulous palaces that are managed as hotels. It is also off peak for hill stations such as Coorg or Ooty. Can also be a good time to visit Goa, just after the Dec peak.
Thanks, we’ve nibbled at Northern India, Jaipur was one of my favourite cities in India. Hill stations might be an option, not that bothered by Goa, much prefer Kerela.
Thailand should work, I’ll look at booking the IC Hua Hin as a backup. I really hope the situation settles soon, there were some positive noises from the IMF a few days ago. Good luck to your family Michael.
We’re also big Hua Hin fans. IC is great (on points?). If you have young ones, we’ve found the Marriott to be excellent, while I think the “loveliest” is the Centara.
Sounds like you have done a fair bit of India. Have you been further north? Amritsar to Shiela is a fabulous route. The mountains will be chilly in January, but it’s such a fabulous trip. You would need to indirect from Chennai to get to Amritsar and the most convenient airport back out of the region will be Chandigarh and IndiGo fly direct IDC-MAA.
Other than that, it’s easy to get to Bangalore and from there a tour through Mysore and the western Ghats. If you like hill country, Ooty is lovely. You can always end that trip with a bit of Kerala.
Happy to offer more detail if you like and are up for self-organising which will be much cheaper and very little hassle.
Sounds like you have done a fair bit of India. Have you been further north? Amritsar to Shiela is a fabulous route. The mountains will be chilly in January, but it’s such a fabulous trip. You would need to indirect from Chennai to get to Amritsar and the most convenient airport back out of the region will be Chandigarh and IndiGo fly direct IDC-MAA.
Other than that, it’s easy to get to Bangalore and from there a tour through Mysore and the western Ghats. If you like hill country, Ooty is lovely. You can always end that trip with a bit of Kerala.
Happy to offer more detail if you like and are up for self-organising which will be much cheaper and very little hassle.
Many thanks, I’ll have a look. A lot will depend on whether I can change my multi-flight with Sri Lankan to transit Colombo for Male or if I need to cancel. If the UK advice remains in place at least I’ll be able to claim for that flight on insurance.
I am in a similar situation. We planned a trip to Sri Lanka in January and flights are booked on miles, with BA (on Qatar) there and back with M&M (on LOT). Given that they now expect the current crisis to continue to the end of next year, we are considering changing our plans, but given the expiration of M&M miles, we need to make a decision soon.
Any recommendations?
Thailand should work, I’ll look at booking the IC Hua Hin as a backup. I really hope the situation settles soon, there were some positive noises from the IMF a few days ago. Good luck to your family Michael.
We’re also big Hua Hin fans. IC is great (on points?). If you have young ones, we’ve found the Marriott to be excellent, while I think the “loveliest” is the Centara.
I’d have said try Kerala, but it seems you’ve been there already. We went to Kerala a few years after a trip around some of Sri Lanka and it felt very similar broadly speaking.
FCDO just updated its travel advice for Sri Lanka, very happy we didn’t cancel.
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