Spanner in the works...

I had so many plans to use this week of holidays to get organised at home and for school, so that I could holiday without thinking about it. But it doesn't always work out that way.

After a lovely Christmas and Boxing Day with family and friends, I got up Thursday morning to go to the dentist, and when I was only a block away, I was going through an intersection (perfectly legally and not speeding) when an idiot driver decided to turn right from the opposite direction and smash into me!

The bruises are quite lovely, and thankfully I only have a bit of a sore neck, but my car is a write off because both airbags went off and it is ridiculously expensive to fix them.

Add to that i've had a horrible throat infection and couldn't get out of bed for three days (so I didn't need a car anyway).

So it's been a great end of year. The good news is that I got the car for a steal, and it's market value is just about what I paid for it 4 years ago, it also cancelled out a few of the planned holiday jobs - car service and car cleaning! So hopefully the insurance will kick in and I'll have a new car for the new year!

Hopefully by Thursday I'll be feeling fine!

Until then, Happy New Year...

the plan

You need to know that I'm a planner. I like to know how things will happen in order to enjoy them. This poses a problem for someone who also likes to travel independently. It seems there is a pretentious crowd of travellers who think that travelling is only real and authentic if it is spontaneous. But the reality of this can be less romantic: I've spent enough time waiting hours for trains and walking streets in sweltering heat looking for somewhere to sleep, only to find myself in a less than hygienic room on a lumpy foam mattress, sharing stale air with 19 other people.

So I say, make travel work for you. If I'm going to be less stressed knowing where I'm staying in advanced, I'll have much more fun using daylight hours to explore and experience. When I only have limited time, as I do now that I have a real job (albeit with longer holidays than most), I don't want to waste it on organisation. Relaxation and Enjoyment are my priorities. So I like to have a skeleton plan that I can work with and change as I go. I know it always changes, but that's what makes travel so great.

So, here's the plan so far.

• 3 Jan - fly to Bangkok, stay overnight only.
• 4 Jan - fly to Phnom Penh. (FYI airasia has bargain flights)
• a few nights in Phnom Penh
• Bus to Battambang for a day or two.
• Boat to Siem Reap - apparently can take a long time, but sounds like a great way to see real life in Cambodia as it passes floating villages and locals at work in rural areas.
• Siem Reap for at least 4 days - this is where I get to visit Angkor Wat. Sounds like it needs a few days to get around. V. exciting.
• Back to Phnom Penh by bus.
• 14 Jan - fly PP to BKK. Join an Intrepid trip for a week travelling Thailand north east from BKK towards the Myanmar border. I won a voucher for this trip, so I figured I'd better make use of it. For itinerary visit here: http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/TSP
• 21 Jan - fly home from BKK

get ready...

In 13 days I will head off for a sojourn into South-East Asia. Well, Cambodia and Thailand at least. I guess I'll be sticking to the tourist trail for most of the trip, but I hope to get a glimpse of a different way of life than my own and learn a little about the story of these countries and their people.

Hopefully I'll relax too. And maybe meet some good people. And take some interesting photos. And eat tasty food. And not contract malaria.

Probably need to do a bit more preparation. I've booked the flights, and the first night's accommodation and an intrepid tour for the last week. But that's all. I just haven't had time to think about it, now that school has finished (at last!) I might have some head space for it.

... well after Christmas anyway.