Romania impresses

I'm currently in Cluj which is my second stop in Romania. I have to say that Romania has surprised me so far, the cities are more modern than I would have expected and the transport is pretty efficient, I've met some really nice people and the 2 hostels I have stayed at are amongst the best so far. Going back to Novi Sad in Serbia where I last updated, my only full day there was spent mainly in the fortress area of the town which is the other side of the bridge and overlooks the city. As I said I preferred it to Belgrade as it was far more manageable and a lot less traffic to negotiate. After finding a delicious local pasta restaurant I went out to a couple of bars with the owner of the hostel who was Serbian but had actually lived in Wales for a while and had some interesting stories to tell. That aside my opinion of the hostels in Serbia was fairly low, I barely ever saw a member of staff so was unable to really get any inside knowledge of what there is to see. I have found the hostels in Croatia and Italy useful for this, so with only 5 days in Serbia its a shame that this happened, still I did see a fair bit by myself and enjoyed my time in the country nonetheless. Onto Monday then which turned into a hellish waiting game in the Serbian border town of Vrsac. Having got up early to get there I had, not unreasonably, assumed that a town only 12km from the Romanian border would have decent bus and train connections but it didn't. There was just the one train and it left at 6:20pm which was around 8 hours to kill before I could leave. The town itself was not a bad place but due to the train station being so far out of town and having no left luggage so I could leave my backpack I was forced to spend my time at the train station and the area surrounding it due to spending the last of my Serbian money on the train ticket and a sandwich to keep me going. The long waits are part of the traveling game but they are not really something that I enjoy, I prefer long journeys, at least then I feel as though I'm making progress. Anyway the time did eventually pass and 2 hours later I was in Timisoara, my first stop in Romania. I slept like a log and awoke the next day to explore. I have to admit to a slight degree of nervousness mixed in with the excitement whenever I enter a new country, it is usually washed away pretty quickly though and again this proved to be the case. Timisoara is stunning, its the 4 biggest city in Romania, a student city and has some really beautiful pedestrian streets and squares. The main one has the city cathedral at the end and looks out of a fairytale as many buildings in Romania seem to. The history of the city is also pretty cool. It was the scene where the unpopular Romanian leader was overthrown during the 1989 revolution. I would recommend reading about it, its a fine story. The day after, yesterday, I had another tough day of travel. I had to wait another 4 hours at the train station for the train to Cluj. It is also the first day I have had proper cold weather during the entire trip and I not even noticed until then that I had not even noticed that I had not even packed a warm coat, scarf, gloves or hat! rather than look for any of these I dived into a smokey, local bar and warmed myself up with a couple of coffees. The 7 hour journey to Cluj turned into 8 hours because of a delay. I met a really nice Romanian girl called Spiri on the train which helped pass the time. I am finding the locals here pretty engaging and a lot more interested in travel than those in Serbia. I think Romania does have a pretty good travel network though. As I mentioned the hostels have been great here, the one I'm at now, Retro Hostel, is rated as one of Romania's best. They are brightly decorated and aimed at backpackers the way a hostel should be. Cluj is actually in Transylvania and is described by lonely planet as 'a real city' which usually means its fairly ugly but I think it has a lot going for it and whilst not as picturesque as Timisoara I am having a great time here so far. Next up I hit the Saxon triangle of Sighisoara, Brasov and Sibiu. Brasov is meant to be the highlight of any trip to Romania and I intend to do some hiking there as well as head out to Dracula's castle in nearby Bram, this will fall on the 30th October which is a day before Halloween and that is a complete coincidence! I have changed my itinerary in places, Sibiu has been added in as it is supposed to be amazing and I am nearby anyway, I've also added an extra day onto Brasov due to Bram castle being closed on Mondays. To balance this I've decided not to go to Bucharest, I've heard nothing but bad things about it and feel a big dirty capital is something I could do without. I will still have to go here as its the route to Bulgaria and may have to stay a night depending on trains and buses. I have also removed Constanta, on the black sea coast as its too far out the way and added Ruse, on the Bulgarian side of the border which fits in better and is near a good national park, though I've not booked accommodation there yet due to uncertainty about getting there. I do intend to put some photos on here soon, hope everyone is well back in the UK and wherever else you might be.

lessons learned

I think the two most important things I have learnt so far from Europe with regards to my upcoming travels are that location is everything and to wing it all the way to Rio from India onward! What I mean is that in terms of meeting people and seeing the destinations being in the center or as near to it as possible is massively important! my 3 days in Belgrade, whilst good, were a real struggle at times as I was in a fairly crap hostel with not a single other person and a good 45 minute walk from the center of the city and in terms of nightlife and the time it took me to get anywhere I do feel I have missed out a bit with this one. Whilst I have an itinerary for beyond Europe I do not really intend to stick to it religiously, once I get to India all that matters is that I am back in Delhi for my flight to Thailand in mid February and so on. I guess Europe kind of had to go that way, especially Italy, it is kind of essential to book even though it is approaching the end of the season, all I can do now is go to each place I have booked over the next month or so, enjoy them, remember why I wanted to go there and make the best of them. It kind of sounds like I am not having fun which could not be further from the truth, I have had some great times already and Europe is such a small part of this trip that it really has to be put into perspective. Sarajevo was great, my second night involved a night at a Latin club with Mexican Bryan and South African Chris. It was a very lively place and the sort of club where you can have a chat with people if you are not so into the dancing side of things. I met a fair few people who were doing similar routes to me in terms of heading to India after Europe which surprised me a little but I guess I am getting quite far east now so maybe will meet more travelers with this sort of trip in mind. The final day my awful navigation of the place continued and by the evening I had given up with the culture and had a MacDonalds and watched Taken at the cinema, I shouldn't have bothered as both were shit! I left Bosnia the following morning, grabbing a final burek along the way, this is one of the national favorites and is a thin pastry stuffed with one of meat, cheese or Nutella bizarrely. The train to Belgrade took almost 9 hours but was fairly comfortable as train travel often is, I have always enjoyed long distance travel providing there is some level of comfort involved. I have no doubt I will be kissing that goodbye in India! I actually crossed borders 3 times on the journey as the train went into Croatia for a small stretch of it. It left me with 4 unexpected stamps in my passport, my first of the trip and an exciting moment for us travelers! I arrived at the aforementioned rubbish hostel and made it to the center the following day. Belgrade is not a beautiful city by any means, its the biggest I have visited since Italy, though it does have its attractions such as the fortress which towers over most of the city center and the old town which is busy but easy enough to happily get lost in. Due to the vast distances between my hostel and the city center I was unable to sample the legendary nightlife which I was rather annoyed at but I am sure there will be many more nights out to come over the next couple of years. The following day I took a walk to a town a couple of hours away along a really nice path along the Danube river which runs through the city. It was a world away from the hustle of the big city and was a relaxing way to spend the day. The heat has emerged yet again although it surely cannot last much longer, it is 26 degrees today in Novi Sad, really cant believe it! The train here was a simple affair and I am now in Serbia's second city which is most famous for the Exit music festival which takes place in June each year and is rapidly becoming one of the biggest music festivals in Europe. I have sampled the atmosphere today and much prefer it to Belgrade, its a much more manageable size and not as noisy or daunting. I head to Romania on Monday which may prove to be an adventure in itself as I can only get a ticket from here as far as a town on the border and then have to figure it out from there, should be interesting! It will also be my 50th day of the trip so far and I think I am doing pretty damn well so far!

Disorientated in Sarajevo

I'm currently in my hostel in Bosnia's capital city, Sarajevo. Today I have tried to get around and see the sights but they have mainly either been closed or I have been unable to find them. It's a bit humbling in all honesty as I've pretty much breezed through things so far, so to not actually be able to find what I want brings me down to earth a little bit. I like Bosnia though, Sarajevo in particular, its a bit more spread out than say Zagreb but you can still walk most places and there is a vibrant feel to the place with outdoor cafes and bars still going, though it is cooling now and I feel the heatwave is finally over as Eastern Europe finally heads towards winter. That being said its still warm here, I'd be surprised if its much below 20 degrees which is the kind of weather I would have expected when I started in September in Rome rather than mid October in Bosnia! My first stop in Bosnia was Mostar and despite my previous entry I did end up getting to see a bit of the town on my first evening. I ended up watching the Bosnian national team survive a second half battering to get a creditable draw in Greece in a world cup qualifier. Its good to see football is as popular here as anywhere else, the locals were getting properly into it. The next day I had a look round the old town, the highlight of which is the stunning Stari Most which is the bridge reconstructed after the war in the 90's. It really does illustrate the true senselessness of the war that two cities as beautiful as Dubrovnik and Mostar were bombed the shit out of for no apparent reason. I saw further evidence of the war with the ruins of a hotel near my hostel, seeing modern ruins is fairly shocking if I'm being honest. Dinner was a dirt cheap chicken risotto in the old town and there was still time to see the sunset over the bridge before the end of the night. The hostel here in Sarajevo is very inexpensive and pretty full of travelers, my first evening was spent playing cards and getting to know people over some surprisingly good Bosnian wine. I'm about 45 days into my trip now and it is starting to feel like a way of life now, not to say every day isn't exciting but it doesn't feel like a holiday anymore its actually just what I do. I think one of my favorite parts is my arrival in a new city and going out to explore after I have dumped my bags at the hostel. The one thing I did achieve was booking my train ticket to Serbia, its a 9 hour trek on Wednesday and will actually represent the first time I have arrived anywhere at night, I have Novi Sad after that and then its onto Romania!

What a difference a day makes

24 hours ago I was sunbathing on a beach in Dubrovnik, now I have just had to delay my first experience of exploring Mostar, Bosnia due to torrential rain, it really is quite a change in my fortunes! It was sad to leave Croatia at all really, not just because of the weather either! I have had a great time there, the cities and towns are generally beautiful, the locals friendly and helpful and even though a lot of places were quite quiet I did meet some wonderful people and have some great nights out, particularly in Rijeka, Split, Trogir and Dubrovnik. The difference between Croatia and Bosnia is fairly noticeable. The landscape is different, the people look different. Bosnia is mainly a Muslim country and I have already noticed a lot of mosques and heard a lot of prayers in the short time I have been here in Mostar, which is pretty much Bosnia's second city. I had a pretty great final 5 days or so in Croatia, which is a little surprising considering I have hit with a particularly vicious bout of man flu in that time. I think the reason for this has been the fairly hectic pace of my travel so far. I have been going to a new destination every other day since Florence almost a month ago and I think that may have caught up with me. It did mean that my full day in Torgir wasn't a particularly great one, I had decided to go to nearby Sibernik on a day trip but had to call it quits halfway through due to feeling rubbish. Its bizarre having a cold in a really hot climate, I had probably made it worse drinking the night before with Mario who ran the hostel in Trogir and a German girl who was on holiday in the area for a bit. After this it was time to head to Dubrovnik which I do not need to describe to you as its pretty much world famous now. I had to get back to Split and then take a 5 hour bus journey to reach Dubrovnik, it was really scenic, going along a windy coastal road. The bus briefly passes through a tiny stretch of Bosnia for around 20 minutes which is a little odd. I had cancelled my initial hostel as I noticed it was way out of the center and had some pretty bad reviews. I decided to splash out a bit on the only hostel in the old town area, it proved a good decision as the place was packed with travelers. I ended up going out into town with 3 guys from San Francisco, an Irishman and a Korean dude who spoke no English. There were not a lot of places open but there were enough of us for this not to matter and we ended up in a dodgy Latin club called Fuego which was an experience to say the least. The next day I went with the American guys to a nearby island for some snorkeling, cliff diving and swimming. It was another day where I felt lucky to be doing this and pinching myself with disbelief that I was still in Europe and we were approaching mid October. I went out for a beer and pizza with Paul the Irish guy when we got back, he had traveled pretty extensively to India and various other places I am heading so it was useful to pick up some more information about this. We also discovered that everything is around half the price outside the city walls which was good because Dubrovnik old town is by far the most expensive place I have been to so far and that includes Italy! The evening was along the same lines as the night before only this time we avoided the nightclub! Interesting story for those of you who follow the TV show Game of Thrones, they were filming in Dubrovnik whilst I was there, although I think they were just finishing it off when I arrived as we were denied access to a bar due to the closing which was going on. Anyway the little guy on the show ended up partying at the hostel we were staying at and one of the guys who worked there had a picture of him passed out on the hostels couch! My final day in Dubrovnik ended up being seeing the sights of the place such as the city walls walk which was stunning. I spent the afternoon on the beach again surrounded by impossibly good looking Croatian women, yes life was good! I avoided going out that night as my bus here was early in the morning. I have pretty much passed out, exhausted when I arrived here and my attempts to see the city have been thwarted by the weather so I have to wait until tomorrow to really see what Bosnia has to offer. I have tomorrow here in Mostar and then I go to the capital, Sarajevo for 3 nights, after that it is Serbia and Belgrade which is supposed to be Europe's ultimate party night! hopefully this cold will be gone by then!

Crazy heatwave continues

I had thought when I was in Zagreb that the great weather I've been blessed with during my trip so far was finally starting to fade, it had felt a bit cooler and I prepared myself for the cold weather to continue all the way to India. However as I've gone south the weather has gone crazy hot again. Zadar was 23 degrees, Split was 27! its actually getting hotter, even the Croatians think its crazy! The exodus of travelers has continued with the exception of Friday night in Split, here in Trogir it is just myself and one other guy staying. I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, it is out of season and it may well be the case that this continues to a degree up until India. I have to admit this has not been easy to deal with and it even got to the point where the reception desk at Hartington looked far more appealing than it should have done. However, I've no intention of going through with that and have simply started to plan my days a little differently. I've been eating at the cheap local restaurants almost every evening recently, tasting the amazing seafood this part of Croatia has to offer. I've enjoyed grilled sea bass, shrimp risotto and even had Croatia's equivalent of a mixed grill the other evening which was pretty damn good! I've also been learning a bit of the language which needless to say has made interacting with the local people a lot easier. The route since the last entry then, from Zagreb I went south to Zadar where I wanted to do a tour to the Plitvice Lakes national park. Sadly the tour was cancelled at the last minute so I missed out on this, still Zadar is a cracking place and I spent the day sightseeing and relaxing on the harbour. Split was next and there were a hell of a lot of people about, after seeing the sights the first day I climbed the tower the second day (still loving those views!) and then walked 4 miles to the beach and chilled out again. The Friday night in Split was fun, having booked a dirt cheap guest house, I decided to gatecrash another hostel which looked to have a better atmosphere. I eventually got kicked out around midnight but by then I was drunk with a bunch of Italians and didn't really care. Today I came to tiny Trogir, only a 30 minute bus ride from Split. It's a really nice little town and yet again I have spent the afternoon at the beach! I have 2 nights here and then its Dubrovnik! after that I am off to Bosnia and further into the unknown. Hello to one and all, missing you all!

Tourist trail goes cold but big hitters still to come

Quite strangely since my last update I have barely met any other travelers. In little Samobor, a 20 minute bus ride from Zagreb I can understand but the Croatian capital itself? Whilst it has limited the evening activities for a bit (probably needed as it was getting out of hand) it has been a pretty cool experience being the only tourist in town, especially yesterday in Samobor where I pretty much had the hiking trails and a half a castle to myself! As usual I will try to put the events in order. My second day in Rijeka was fairly sedated after the drinking the night before, I did not make it to the castle and it ended up being a day of fairly mindless wandering. On the Saturday I had an early start as I had elected to get the train to Zagreb, I pretty much had the entire carriage to myself and watched the train go past one empty station after another, I began to wonder where I was and if we were even going to Zagreb at all, the eerie mist did not help the situation much either. When we got to the capital I liked it immediately, its manageable on foot and the cafes and bars on the streets everywhere sum up its laid back culture. When I checked into my hostel the girl said the best thing to do in Zagreb is sit in one of the parks and look at all the beautiful women we have! sounded like a good idea but I did have women of my own to meet up with, the German girls I'd met in Rijeka, Nina and Nici. Sadly they had an early start so there was no bar crawl this time but we did go to a cracking little market with a nice view of the city, then they went to Budapest and I headed back to my hostel to be greeted by my room mate, yes you guessed it, an Aussie. I should have declined his invitation to go and drink local brandy's at the hostel bar but I didn't. Luckily I dozed off in the room shortly before I was due to meet him and woke up halfway through the night wondering what had happened, I was glad for it when he staggered in at 9am the next morning looking like death! The next day feeling fresh I did all the sights I could in one day in Zagreb, I climbed the tower which offered another great view, went to the main market and botanical gardens in the morning. In the afternoon I went to the beautiful Maksimir Park and had a fairly long walk, then stumbled across a random zoo in the middle of it which I thought I should visit too. A lot of this is made possible by Zagreb's excellent tram system which takes you to pretty much anywhere in the city. The next day, yesterday, I took a day off from Zagreb and went to nearby Samobor where I'd heard there was great hiking, it was a hot day, the first we've had in a few days. I have no idea where I heard about the place as its not in my guidebook! but no matter, the center was small and attractive with lots of outdoor cafes like Zagreb has. I was convinced at the time I was the only person staying in my newly opened, bright looking hostel at the time. Anyway I dumped my stuff and hit the trails, it was fairly steep but before too long I came across some remains of a castle, I wandered around them for a bit and found part of it where I could sit and view the whole city. I was completely alone, in 23 degree heat with a view of a beautiful, random little town in the middle of Croatia, not another tourist or person in sight. This was the sort of experience I had come traveling for, it was a special moment. After this I hiked through the nearby woods, past abandoned churches and got back to the peaceful little town. Then I had a beer at one of the outdoor bars and watched the sunset, it had been a pretty great day. Back at the hostel I did meet 3 Aussie girls but all the bars were closing by then so there was not a lot we could do. I came back to Zagreb this morning and have just been using this day to catch up with all the boring bits and pieces. Tomorrow I have Zadar which is mainly an excuse to take an excursion to the Plitvice Lakes national park which is supposed to be fairly unmissable and it had better be for me to actually go ahead with an organised tour as I do my best to avoid them at all costs normally. In this case the buses between Zagreb, the lakes and Zadar are just too complicated to figure out. After that I have Split, Trogir and Dubrovnik so there are some big hitters to come and hopefully more opportunities to meet people. In terms of Croatia itself, I love it so far! its a beautiful country and the poeple are very friendly. I much prefer the hostels to the ones in Italy, the staff just seem far more genuine and happier to help you which is what everyone wants arriving in a place they do not know. The food here is also great, the bread is better than the stuff I had in Italy and its filling and cheap. I had best wrap this up as my fingers are going numb from typing. Hello to one and all. Chris