|
|
| Sunday, 18-Sep-2005 00:00 |
Email | Share |  | Bookmark |
|
Day 81 - Pecs, Hungary
|
|
Spent the day wandering around the little town of Pecs.
Beautiful town - very quaint. Great food!!
Had some sort of festival - think it wasan anniversary of the town's establishment.
Parade of vintage cars and motorbikes.
Late bus to Budapest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, 17-Sep-2005 00:00 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Day 80, Belgrade, Serbia to Szeged & Pecs, Hungary
|
|
Wandered around Belgrade in the early morning to shake of the drinks from last night.
Explored some of the parks and the castle overlooking the river.
Caught a bus north to Hungary.
Spent a couple of hours in Szeged waiting for a connection to Pecs - wandered about some and got some dinner.
Arrived in Pecs late in the evening to puring rain - absolutely bucketing down. Weather certainly changed for the worst since leaving Turkey.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Friday, 16-Sep-2005 00:00 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Day 79 - Niš & Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro
|
|
Serbia. All I basically knew about this place was that it was the scene of a shitload of trouble a few years back. I really hadn'y heard anything about it in the years since NATO bombed the shit out of Milosovich and Belgrade so I was interested to have a gander now that I was so near to it.
An uneventful bus ride through some spectacular country started the morning. The road wound its way along the bottom of a valley and through tunnels cut into the mountainside. All the while a river rushed on the valley floor just below. Gorgeous.
I found Serbia to a very green country...very much in contrast to what I had seen in Egypt, Syria and Jordan (and to a lesser extent Turkey. Can't really include Bulgaria in this because it was dark on the bus ride to Sofia and I was asleep until the border crossing that morning so I didn't get to see bugger all of the Bulgarian countryside).
Niš was my first stop for the day. I had been tempted to go straight to Belgrade but thought it wiser to break up the trip a give my poor arse a break from sitting. First impressions of Niš was that I was back in the Middle East. Upon leaving the bus station, I was confronted by a market teemng with people and spilling over onto the street which cars, bikes and carts were all trying to get through. Straight away I was hit up by the stall vendors and by guys wanting to change money.
Further along the street it opened up to the river and then into the main part of town. A huge difference. Here I found a bustling little town with a nice buzz to it. The main drag is lined with cafe's and the centre of the pedestrian mall contains nothing but chairs to sit and have a drink and watch the world go by.
I spent a couple of hours just wandering around the town enjoying my break from sitting on the bus and having a gander at the people and the place itself. Took bugger all photos though as I'd left my spare batteries in my main pack and the one in the camera was in its final death throes.
Back on the bus and it was off to Belgrade.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Thursday, 15-Sep-2005 00:00 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Day 78 - Sofia, Bulgaria
|
|
Oh no its raining again!
But over (a late) breakfast the rain clears and I'm off for a bit of a wander around town. Sofia is a cool little city - no real major attraction but it just has a nice feel to it. A great little cafe culture and the place is buzzing at night.
The hostel itself is a little bit of a wonder. Had a few second thoughts as I walked down the street and found myself outside a somewhat decrepit looking building but instead found a delightful little place with the friendliest of staff. A cosy hostel housing about 25-30 people at its maximum and a great atmosphere. Check out Hostel Mostel if you are looking for a place to stay in Sofia. Its the first hostel that I know of, and have been to, that provides you with both a free breakfast and a free dinner (with beer incuded no less!)
Somewhat tired from the bus ride and the late night out with some of my fellow travellers I set out down to the bus station to purchase my bus ticket for tomorrow's travels and then straight back again to the hostel as I'd forgotten my passport - Duh!! After retracing my steps yet again and with ticket in hand I set about exploring more of this city.
As I said before, there are no major attractions in Sofia, the delight is just to wander around and take in the feel. That said, there are a few spots of interest dotted about the place. The Alexander Nevski Church is an absolutely huge memorial to the 200,000 odd Russian soldiers who died fighting for Bulgaria's independence druing the war between Russia and Turkey. The St Nikolai Russian Church is also quite cool.
Monuments, statues and memorials are dotted throughout the city and its parks are quite nice as well. Its also quite a change walking through a market and not being hassled by the vendors...funny how the simple things can make life so much more enjoyable.
In the evening I just basically hung out with my fellow backpackers around the hostel...early rise tomorrow for the bus to Niš.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Wednesday, 14-Sep-2005 00:00 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Day 77 - Sofia, Bulgaria
|
|
An all nighter bus ride later and I am yet again in a new country...an interesting bus ride from Istanbul to Sofia to say the least. Along the way I met up with Mark and Anna who I had met briefly three nights previous on the last night of our tour (we had asked them to join us for the night after the waiter had asked them to move to a smaller table to accommodate us).
The border crossing between Turkey and Bulgaria required us to get off the bus, walk about 750 metres to the Turkish passport control where we queued alongside trucks, buses and cars to get our exit stamp. Then it was back on the bus for a wee drive down to the Bulgarian immigration control to receive our entry visas...once again getting off the bus and queuing alongside other vehicles. Got a stamp in the passport but no passport returned...told to go get back on the bus. Needless to say I (and about half the bus) was a bit hesitant to leave my passport behind but 40 minutes later it was back in my hands and we were all on our way.
The entire trip I had this Bulgarian guy sitting next to me very edgy like. At the border crossing he went into three different shops and bought massive amount of ciggies and alcohol...was about to go back into a fourth duty free but he was told to get back on the bus at which he got quite irate. Then he proceeded to hide all his goods about the bus until after we crossed into Bulgaria. Quite funny except he kept trying to put stuff in my bags and under my seat. To top it all off when he fell asleep he lost all control of personal space...and let me tell you he was a big guy!
Anywho, now I'm in Sofia...cute little city. A few of my fellow travellers here have told me its quite funky and has a descent nightlife...something to check out tonight. My intention was to get a bus tomorrow to Nis in Serbia and then onto Belgrade after spending the day here having a bit of a gander. But the first rain I had seen in about 60 days put paid to that idea. It absolutely bucketed down as Mark, Anna and I walked around the open air markets...all thoughts of exploring the city vanished and it was off to a pub.
Now its clearing but am comfortably ensconsced here and have a mass of emails to get through...plus a whole trip to enter into my pages here!
So tomorrow is the day of exploration before catching the bus the day after to Niš and Belgrade. Then its onto Vienna, Salzburg and finally to Lindie in Munich for Oktoberfest. Trips almost over but I don't think I could be more excited.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tuesday, 13-Sep-2005 00:00 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Day 76 - Istanbul, Turkey
|
|
Last day in Istanbul...taking an overnight bus to Sofia in Bulgaria.
Had a look at the Aya Sofia with Marÿke, Carina and Clara.
Spent an age sending my carpets back to Lindie's place - thankfully saying goodbye to 15kgs that I didn't want to be lugging about on my journey to Munich.
Went to the grand Bazaar with Sam, Marÿke and Carina for a few minor purchases.
Caught bus and endured the long drive north-west for some 10 hours.
Weird system of visa check at border between Bulgaria and Turkey - get off the bus and have to walk for about a km to the booths where the cars go through and line up. Then walk again and jump on the bus. Drive a little bit and then get off again and go through the same process.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Monday, 12-Sep-2005 00:00 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Day 75 - Istanbul, Turkey
|
|
Had to get up early for brekkie and to see Merren and Zoe off...body and head didn't want to but farewells must be done.
Spent the day checking out the Blue Mosque (with Sam, David, Marÿke, Hannah and Graeme) and the Cistern before heading back to recuperate fro last night's excesses.
Farewelled Graeme and Hannah in the afternoon.
Had a quiet night and had a look at the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia by night.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Sunday, 11-Sep-2005 00:00 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Day 35 (74) - Istanbul, Turkey
|
|
The final day of the tour!
Packed up our tents and jumped back on the truck for the final leg of the trip - Istanbul.
A few hours drive and we were on the outskirts of Istanbul, tidied up the truck some and headed by van into the midst of the city and our hotel - the Sultan.
Had a little wander about in the afternoon before we all cleaned up and headed out for our final dinner and a bit of a piss up. Ended up being quite a late one. Met up again with the Kamuka crew in the early hours of the morning.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Saturday, 10-Sep-2005 00:00 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Day 34 (73) - Gallipoli Tour, Turkey
|
|
Tour of the penninsula and the sites of the battles and cemeteries from teh ANZAC campaign with TJ - a renowned guide of the ANZAC campaign.
An excellent day - TJ a brilliant guide - very passionate about the subject and unbiased - detailed descriptions from both the Allied side and the Turkish side.
Much better taking in the peninsula in the warmth of summer and without the massive crowds that take part in the ANZAC Day tours like what i had done the previous year.
A queit night that night - a few drinks.
Hannah showed off her artistic talents in drawing each of us into the pub guestbook.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Friday, 9-Sep-2005 00:00 |
Email | Share | | Bookmark |
|
Day 33 (72) - Eceabat, Turkey
|
|
Another day of driving - truck still fucked.
Stop off at Troy on the way there - only three of four of the group go in to check it out...I had been told by many that its just not worth going into esp. if you had already been to Ephesus. The vast majority of these ruins still lay under the ground - there isn't a great deal to see...and all of the guide books rate this site very lowly.
Today is also the Turkish Day of Independence - when Attaturk led a counter-attack against the Greek invaders in the War of Independence 1920-1922.
Set up tents outside the Boomerang Bar and settle in for a night of drinking with anothe tour company (Kamuka (sp??)).
|
|
|
|
