Visiting a new country is always exciting. Not doing any of the planning is also exciting.

I started the year with Southern India thanks to Linda and finishing with Sri Lanka, thanks to Carmel.

This trip is a bonus for the year. Our friend Carmel has worked and travelled in Sri Lanka and suggested a trip with friends would be fun. We started talking about it, then the bombs went off in Colombo- so we waited and watched and decided when things settled we would go. Carmel made all the plans. We booked and today is the day.

There are 17 of us. We’ll have our own bus and guide and our itinerary is tailored to our needs.

The fun started at the airport waiting for our 11.50 flight to Singapore. The Wilsons, Harrisons and ourselves swapping packing stories. Carmel has the heaviest bag but that is due to several bottles of wine. The wine in Sri Lanka isn’t the quality? taste? Whatever we are used to. So thank you Carmel for packing for the team. The rest of us have Gin!

We’re meeting the rest of the group in Colombo. Tomorrow starts with a walking tour. Always a great way to walk off the jet lag and get to know Colombo.

Arrival in Colombo was around 9pm. For our body clock around 1am. Being greeted with an orchid lei immediately makes it feel like a holiday. Somehow our guide missed Peter out of this photo!

Follow along with the blog. Discover Sri Lanka.