Well barring any dust cloud intervention from Iceland I`m of to India on the 22nd of may, hopefully big upload of new foto`s, I`m actually going here,

It looks a great place to be, lots of mountains walks, great place for foto`s even for me.

Manali (alt. 1,950 m or 6,398 ft), in the Beas River valley, is an important hill station in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh, India, near the northern end of the Kullu Valley.

Manali is administratively a part of the Kullu district, with population of approx. 30,000. The small town was the beginning of an ancient trade route to Ladakh and, from there, over the Karakoram Pass on to Yarkand and Khotan in the Tarim Basin.

Manali and the surrounding area is of great significance to Indian culture and heritage as it is said to be the home of the Saptarshi, or Seven Sages, It`s not a 100 miles form Ladakh were I went last year, hopefully more in the way of mountain views and flowers ect in the Kulla valley.. watch this space, doubt I will update much in India this year, but hopefully loads of snaps when I get back..Have a  couple of extra batteries for the D3, thanks to my fav 7 day shop deals, loads of memory cards, 32 meg ones an a portable harddrive, life gets no better that this, oh yea and a great companion to boot..bless What`s the worst that can happen the dust kick in while I`m there and I have to stay in India, yea, down to the tigers I go, hehhe.

paulC