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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT I FAILED TO PUBLISH THIS ENTRY FROM WAY BACK AT THE BEGINNING OF MAY....SO HERE IT IS, EXTREMELY OUTDATED BUT YOU MIGHT FIND IT INTERESTING. Second (and last) chapter on Bhutan - beware, this one might be a bit long... TREKKING LIFE The thing with trekking is that, other than the scenery, each day is pretty much the same. So rather than boring you with a blow by blow, I thought I'd give you some insight into the daily rhythms and routines of Bhutan trekking life. Each morning would start with a knock [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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