August - reasonable weather - inexpensive destination

[HappyHolidays75]

Hi

I'm trying to sort plans for next summer and the weather keeps getting in the way! Either ridiculously hot or raining.
We've got 2.5 weeks, end of july/start august.

Ideally south east Asia (loved Malaysian Borneo, and even more so Sri Lanka) but many places are in monsoon season.

Travel style - backpacking, public transport, budget guesthouses.

We like - outdoor stuff (bikes hikes snorkelling canoeing.....), different food, different cultures, some sightseeing/city stuff (but more outdoor/nature stuff).

Appropriate for a single mum + kids aged 10-16.

Can anyone recommend any fab places they've been that might fit the bill?

Doesnt have to be long haul necessarily.

I've wondered about Indonesia, southern India, Cambodia, Thailand, Georgia, Romania but not certain about any. South America and Africa are options too.

Were transferred, not where!

Thank you @SJane48S. I like your DH already

Absolutely, we always avoid anything offering any kind of interaction. Nothing better than observing an animal in the wild doing its own thing without it even knowing you’re there. Sadly, even those advertised as ‘ethical’ often do upsetting things so agree research is key.

Nice to know that ethical is possible to do there though so you’ve convinced me, Sri Lanka it is!

(Thank you for starting the thread OP)

@1234Bubble1234 Thank you! It was after watching that Race across the World bbc series that got me thinking about Georgia. (I'd have loved to do the race!). What time of year did you go? Any tips or must-do's?

@NormaBean
Public transport was great. As most people do, we booked the Ella-Kandy train (or whatever section you do) via a local agent to get a reserved seat. The rest we did as we travelled. Train Colombo-habarana. Bus to trinco, bus down the east coast to Arugum Bay (2-3 buses, but pretty much hop off hop on - local people unbelievably helpful in pointing out the next bus etc). Bus to Ella, then train to kandy. We always had seats, maximum cost was about £2.50 for a 3-4 hrs journey.
Driver would definitely be faster and cooler at times, but I have always enjoyed travelling this way.

Wildlife - we also went to Minnerya organised through our homestay guest house (if that's your kind of thing the family at Disna homestay are fabulous - spent our first 3 days there, and they'd help us make sure we got on the right buses etc - took bus to pollonuwara and sigirya).
I've been putting photos in an album today so full reminiscing mode 🤣

@HappyHolidays75

I was there at the end of August/start of September. We went about 7 or 8 years ago. We started in Istanbul and travelled across Turkey and then into Georgia. We went to Kazbegi, a town named after the mountain which towers over it. There is an amazing church there you can walk to, which is beautiful and we also did a hike to a glacier. The road to get there too is awesome , its called the Georgian military highway - we went to the bus station but ended up getting a shared taxi which meant we could stop to take lots of photos. We did some hiking in Borjomi national park too, visited a cave monestary called Vardzia which was really fun and interesting. We spent some time in the wine region as well.

One of my favourite foods was called a khachapuri which is a like a cheese pie. I still have dreams about eating them!

There were some hostels in Tbilisi, and we stayed in lots of guest houses too. Everybody was so kind and friendly towards us and we found it really easy to get around.

We also went to Azerbaijan a few years ago for a week and loved it. There is a night train from Tbilisi to Baku I think, so you could spend a few days there at the end of your trip. Near Baku there are some mud volcanoes, and an area which is always burning as gas is coming from the ground.

Let me know if you've got any other questions!

@1234Bubble1234
Night trains too - we love them!
I've ordered a guide book and I'm sure will be back with questions!

highly recommend Cambodia. had an amazing time there last august but didn't back pack, though I think you could

How did you find the weather @lu9months?
Did it disrupt your plans much? Did you manage beach time as well as sights? Am assuming monsoon season.
Backpacking definitely possible there, I'd just discounted due to perception of weather.