http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/sadwanker abroad/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from sadwanker abroad en-us Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:56:05 BST Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:56:05 BST 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 writt http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-280394.html 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 us http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Volterra/blog-278995.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Italy/Campania/Sorrento/blog-276895.html 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 w http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Jammu-and-Kashmir/Leh/blog-274440.html 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TO MY ATTENTION THAT I FAILED TO PUBLISH THIS ENTRY FROM WAY BACK AT THE BEGINNING OF MAY....SO HERE IT IS EXTREMELY OUTDATED BUT YOU MIGHT FIND IT INTERESTING.Second and last chapter on Bhutan beware this one might be a bit long...TREKKING LIFEThe thing with trekking is that other than the scenery each day is pretty much the same. So rather than boring you with a blow http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Bhutan/Gasa/blog-273447.html Bhutan Chapter OneAs 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Bhutan/Paro/Taktshang-Goemba/blog-272066.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-271811.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-265591.html 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 pr http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/New-Delhi/blog-263268.html 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 stop http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-260826.html