sadwanker abroad

I'm BACK! So this is my final blog (at least for this journey). I've been appaulling over the last 3 weeks about updating the blog. I actually wrote something when I was in Paris, but never got around to publishing it. Then got caught up in family and friends and never seemed to have the time or the inclination. So this final blog includes the entry I wrote in Paris, plus my final words written from good old Melbourne. The Bit I Wrote from Paris..... Ahhh Paris in the Springtime I have completely fallen for Paris. It's so grand, beautiful and cosmopolitan. The first thing that struck me when we arrived two days ago was how muti-cultural the place is, particularly in comparison to Italy. Not sure if it's a reflection of Italy's immigration policy or ... read more

Well, we seem to be the victims of climate change here in Tuscany. Apparently this is the wettest spring in memory. It has rained every day since we arrived - but there have also been moments (even hours on occasion) of sun. With the continuation of great coffee, the rolling hills of Tuscany, ancient villages, risotto funghi, etc etc etc one really can't complain about the weather. We had the usual disasterous arrival.....got here at 3pm by train on Saturday, car rental place closed at 1pm for the remainder of the weekend. It continues to be the case that all things in life can be solved with money....so we spent a ridiculous 60 Euros ( you would think they would have a Euro symbol on this damn keyboard) to get to our castle. Yes, that's right, ... read more

Well, here we are in Sorrento where I am presently sitting in an Internet Cafe that actually serves coffee! Very happy little camper I am. Getting to Italy proved to be a trial - but I haven't had much luck with airlines throughout this trip so I'm not sure why this should have been any different. But before I go on about the Italian adventure I'd like to say a couple of final words about India. I feel that in the interests of keeping this blog amusing that I have made India out to be a backward and laughable place. It's not. There is no question that India is something completely different. Although much of India has hurtled headlong into the 21st century, they have done so without becoming Americans (more than can be said for ... read more

Ladakh is a different India altogether. Largely Buddhist, with a big Tibetan refugee population - life is slow and peaceful here. Leh is really a summer place. It's inaccessible by road in winter and, as I was informed by someone on the plane, this is the second coldest habitated region in the world (Siberia wins first place). I arrived in Leh very early in "the season" as the road from Manali won't open for at least another 10 days. As a result the foreign tourists are very thin on the ground and many of the shops, restaurants and guesthouses are still closed. When I decided, way back in Australia, to come to Leh I had been planning to either get in some more trekking or to spend some time doing yoga and getting Ayurvedic massages if ... read more

Bhutan: Chapter One As I think I mentioned previously, arrival in Bhutan was delayed by almost a whole day due to a flight change. This affected those of us coming from Delhi and from Kathmandu - which proved to be 6 out of 8 of us. As a result, day one was anything but a "rest day" as we were picked up at the airport, given a welcome cup of tea, threw our stuff in our hotel room and rushed off to go to the Tiger's Nest Monastery. The walk up to Tiger's Nest was part of our preparation for the trek ahead, and was pretty challenging - about 1000M ascent almost straight up. But the walk was so worth while. The Monastery somehow clings to the side of a steep cliff and seems to dangle ... read more

Well it's been a long time since I've updated this blog and a ridiculous amount of water is under the bridge. I had meant to at least send a final update on India before I left for Bhutan - but the server was down in the hotel I was staying in on the last night. I'm now in Leh in the very far north of India. It's freezing!! Which is very strange because yesterday it was 43 degrees in Delhi - my body doesn't know what to think. And worse still, all my warm clothes were filthy from trekking so am shivering to death while I wait for them to dry! Last night in Delhi I learned a very important lesson.....I am far too old to stay in "budget" accommodation!! I flew into Delhi from Bhutan ... read more

Since my last entry we have completed a whirlwind visit to Rajasthan - 8 nights in all, 3 of which were spent on overnight trains - and had 2 nights in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. I am exhausted and swimming with images - good and bad of this strange country. Jolanda and I have decided that everything in India is bizarre and irritating - and pretty much every experience is one or the other, and most are both! However, to return to where I left off....arriving in Jaiselmer in the Thar Desert. Jaiselmer in a word is magnificent!! The Jaiselmer fort, where about 15,000 people still live, rises like a giant sand castle out of the dessert. The whole feeling of the place is that of an outpost - almost wild west - town. ... read more

I'm here and everything they say about India is true. It is a complete assault on all of your senses - and it's somehow wonderful and horrible all at the same time. But to begin at the start.... Arrival in India was a baptism of fire for me. My flight from Sydney was delayed by 5 hours which meant that I would miss my flight from Mumbai to Delhi that evening. In Australia that seemed like no problem - Qantas called and advised that they had changed my reservation to the following morning and arranged for accomodation in Mumbai. But my quiet confidence through the flight had not accounted for India's unique manners, bureaucracy and love affair with the form. First I had to learn that Indians do not like to say "no" - it took ... read more

Well....I have finished packing. Adair is finished (well not really, because there is still money to be collected, but this is now in the accountants hands) and I am footloose and fancy free. With trying to get into shape for the Himalayas, fiddling around with all the rubbish involved in closing the doors on a 10 year old business and trying to adjust to a "new life" I don't feel that I've stopped in months. That long plane ride is looking like a much needed rest. Welcome to my travel blog! I'm hopeful that this will prove to be a brilliant idea. If you are interested in getting sporadic updates on my travels then all you need to do is subscribe - there's a "subscribe" button on the left hand side of this page. By the ... read more