All the way to Istanbul

After leaving Hvar we had a day of travelling down to Dubrovnik, first by ferry and then by bus. Eight hours later we were met at the bus station and taken to our accommodation by the owner, who then proceeded to give us juice and biscuits and explained where to go and what to see in Dubrovnik.

 

The next morning we set out to see the city, starting with the old city walls. We had a leisurely walk around, trying to spot areas from Game of Thrones with an Aussie guy, Angus.  Once we’d done our loop of the city we were all ready for a bite so picked up some sandwiches and headed for the sea front where we dangled our legs in the clear blue sea and watched the fish swim by.  Angus left us at this point and Mike and I decided take the cable car up to the fort on top of the hill where there is a museum about the Homeland War. Unfortunately the cable car was a complete rip off and although informative, the museum had too much information to properly digest. Nonetheless we had fantastic views of the city and to the surrounding islands.

We had another early start the next morning, this time to catch a bus to Mostar in Bosnia. With a few kuna left I rushed around the supermarket attempting to do mental arithmetic in my head while also having no idea how much time I had left before our bus left. Thankfully my maths and time keeping were spot on and we left Croatia with only 2 kuna (£0.20/$0.40).

We arrived in Mostar before midday and spent the afternoon exploring the town. It was nice to be somewhere that did not resemble the old walled cities that by this stage we’re a bit over. Instead we saw the real effects of a city that had been torn apart by war only 19 years ago. Bullet marks are still evident in the sides of buildings and on the foot path and there and plenty of buildings still in their bombed state. The real draw card of Mostar however is a curved bridge which spans the river. Destroyed in 1993 it has been rebuilt and locals dive the 25m into the freezing river below. We followed tourism lane down to the bridge and checked out a photography exhibition by a New Zealander who was in Mostar in 1993, pretty amazing photos that show the real effect of war. After this we waited until guys from the diving club had collected enough money from the swarms of Germans to jump. 

The following day was another filled with travelling. This time we headed back to Croatia and followed the coast down into Montenegro. This was a spectacular bus trip as the cliffs dropped straight into the sea as we headed up the fjord to Kotor. Once in Kotor we dropped our packs and climbed the steep old walls, which blended remarkably into the mountains side. We were rewarded with fantastic views and plenty or precipices for Mike to stand on the edge of.  

That evening we debated our next move. Originally our plan had been to continue down into Albania, however crossing the border appeared to be a logistical nightmare so instead we decided to get to Turkey a bit faster and catch an overnight train from the Montenegrin coast up to Belgrade in Serbia.

The following evening, set with our picnic dinner, we climbed aboard the train in Bar and discovered that we had a two bed berth complete with a sink! Ah the little luxuries. Mike had fun packing the bunks away and organising our chairs before we enjoyed our picnic and watched a film. Unfortunately the whole romanticised notion of falling asleep in a rocking train and waking up refreshed in your destination didn’t quite happen. Sleep took awhile to come and then we were woken twice in the small hours to go through passport control. Entering Serbia looked for a minute like it might be a problem as from our berth we could hear the passport controllers talking about New Zealand and visas. Visas we knew we didn’t need. Thankfully after a few minutes our passports were returned to us and stamped and we could continue on to Belgrade.

Although tired we were determined to see the city and decided to join a free walking tour in order to gain a bit more information on the buildings we were walking amongst. Two hours later, feeling even worse for wear we had seen a fair chuck of the central city and returned to our hostel for a bit of a rest and to wait for Pip, who I worked with during the festival, to arrive. Pip arrived and we were given a free bottle of wine from the hostel owners which we enjoyed over yet another thrown together pasta meal. That evening Serbia was playing Belgium in a World Cup qualifying match which Mike and Pip watched. I however was too tired and was in bed by 8.30pm!

We woke up to a wet morning and said our farewells to Pip before checking out the largest Orthodox Church in the world and attempting to avoid the rain. Unfortunately it was a Saturday and most art galleries and museums had closed up for the day so we found a small eatery and settled in with Bananagrams, killing time until our 9.50pm train to Sofia in Bulgaria.

We didn’t have quite such luxury in this next train, six beds in a space smaller than the last two bed berth; however I remarkably slept a lot better. Determined to get to Turkey and not to be crossing the border in the middle of the night, we were keen to get straight on a bus and keep moving. Unfortunately due to the time differences we’d just missed one and had 3 hours to wait. Figuring we’d make the most of this we dropped our bags in luggage storage and went to check out Sofia. Being a sleeping, drizzly Sunday morning there wasn’t too much happening however we found a bakery and had some breakfast before picking up some provisions and wandering back to the bus station. Waiting for us was a rather luxurious bus with plenty of leg room and personal television screen. 

9 hours later we arrived in Istanbul, a city that hits you smack in the face. The noises, smells and visual simulation are full on, especially after travelling for 23 hours without a great amount of sleep. But wow it’s amazing. We navigated the metro and tram system and walked past the magnificently lit up Blue mosque on our way to our hostel. Once showered, something I’d been dreaming of for most of the trip, we went in search of a bite to eat and then fell asleep dreaming of exploring this amazing city.

Croatia and the Dalmatian Coast.

So our day on Monday started very early; catching the tram in the darkness to the international train station. We found our train easily enough and shared a compartment with two American businessmen, one of which lived in Zagreb where we were headed. 

Our journey was uneventful until we got to the border, where we had to get our passports checked and stamped and jump on a bus to take us to the Croatian side’s train station for the final leg of the journey into Zagreb. The sun was shining and it was quite warm still, which kept us in great spirits.

Zagreb itself is quite nice, though a little bit bland as a destination. There is a small touristy part of town in the centre, with a few sights and lots of bars and cafes lining the streets. Ilona and I dumped our bags at our hostel and set off for our customary wander about town, taking in the layout and the vibe. We quickly saw that we wouldn’t need two nights here, as we finished seeing most things by late afternoon. After this, we found a wee bar/cafe to sit down at and have a beer, watching the world go by. Both of us began to notice that we felt a lot shorter here, with many women being as tall as me, and quite a few men at least 6 foot 5 and over. Ilona also commented on the above average aesthetic quality of the Croatians, something I had noticed quite quickly myself, but had decided not to share.

Some local talent in Zagreb

We finished the evening with a meal out at a brewpub, recommended by our hostel. The beer was quite nice, though not remarkable. Our meals, however, were complete meat-fests. Ilona had a basic sausage and beans meal, which may sound bland, but was actually quite good. I opted for the full works; bratwurst, sausage balls, chicken fillet, beans and potato. Not a single green vegetable passed out lips. I felt so macho.

The next day, we attempted to catch the city tram to the bus station. This was at rush hour and we had our big bags on our backs, so Ilona managed to jump on a completely full tram while I got stranded outside. We told each other we would catch each other at the station, so I trotted down the road to catch another tram. I managed to get to the bus station without drama, though Ilona of course had managed to get a tram that broke down, but with the help of a friendly local, was directed onto another tram and to the bus station in time for us to catch our scheduled bus to the Plitvice Lakes.

Plitvice Lakes in the mist

 The Plitvice Lakes are a national park, where you can walk around a series of terraced freshwater lakes connected by waterfalls, with water so clear, you can see the bottom and every detail of the rocks underneath. It was a bit of a cloudy, murky day, but this just added to the beauty of it. We were on a time limit, so we tried to see as much as we could and get back to the bus stop in time to hail the bus as it passed.

The lakes are very touristy unfortunately, and there are several large hotels right on site, so we had to deal with huge tour groups and elderly people blocking the path and walking very slowly, all the while trying to keep up a good pace. The path was very slippery in parts, and Ilona managed to have a bit of a trip, badly cutting up her knee on a rock and twisting her ankle. In a fair amount of pain, Ilona strode on, with me going ahead to pick up our bags from the hotel we left them with. At this point we were very unsure of whether or not we would catch the bus, as we still had about a kilometre of road to walk up to the bus stop. The bus actually passed us, but I managed to wave it down and sprint the last 300m or so with my pack on, reminding me of a similar (though more stressful) effort I made last year in Bolivia.

Our bus driver saw Ilona’s badly bleeding knee (just like every other tourist we passed, who would point it out) and took pity on her, cutting off 50 Kuna (about 5 pounds) from our bus fare and giving us the front seats on the bus. Nice guy he was!

As we headed towards the coast, the weather started to get a lot better, the scenery became a lot more rocky and barren, and the Adriatic Sea came into sight. We made it into the small town of Zadar by about 4pm, to brilliant sunshine and a very relaxed atmosphere. Our hostel had a great chilled out vibe, and we felt very tired and forlorn, so we promptly rewarded ourselves with a $3 bottle of wine. That evening, we went into the old walled city to see the Sea Organ and Sun Salutation, by the architect Nikola Basic. The Sea Organ is a series of pipes built into the harbour wall which use the waves to push air through then and play very tuneful and harmonic notes. It was very soothing, making us want to go to sleep to it! The Sun Salutation is a series of LED panels built into the ground next to the Sea Organ, powered by solar panels that light up according to the notes that are played with the Sea Organ. Neither of us had seen anything like it, and were very impressed.

Salute to the Sun

Split was calling us the next day, but first we took in the old town by daylight, and then had a swim off the harbour. The water was amazingly clear and warm, the appeal of which made me forget to remove my wallet from my pocket before I dove in! I only realised after about ten minutes that it was still in my pocket, though thankfully none of my cards were damaged, and all of the banknotes were plastic ones. We ended up laying them out on the steps to dry in the sun. 

We then jumped on another bus and traveled to Split, which is a beautiful little city with a big Roman palace right on the waterfront. The sun rarely goes away there, and we weren’t disappointed, spending our next two nights and a day there walking around. We explored the basements of the palace, climbed the steep, skinny steps up to the top of the bell tower for some amazing views, watched some Dalmatian tenors perform in a Roman rotunda (their voices reverberated around the walls, which sounded amazing) and sat outside a cafe again with beers, watching the world go by.

That night, Ilona and I got really desperate for some good seafood, so we did a bit of research and found a well-reviewed place for dinner. We really splashed out in the end, though were able to justify it as it turned out to be our 3 and a half years anniversary! We ordered a huge plate of mussels in garlic and white wine as a starter between us, with my main being a prawn and asparagus risotto (huge prawns!) and Ilona going for a Croatian dish, with tuna steak in a rich plum and red wine sauce.  Feeling very full and slightly drunk on my part, we headed back to our room to pack for the next day.

I woke up early and walked to the port to pick up our ferry tickets to Hvar, one of the islands in the Adriatic Sea off Split. We had until 2pm to catch the ferry, so we walked around the harbour to the other side and had another swim in beautifully clear water. 2pm came and we jumped on the ferry for a short sailing to Hvar, which is kind of like a non rich man’s Monaco.

Arriving there, we were accosted by numerous people asking us if we needed accommodation. Being used to this after South America, we put our heads down and strode past them all, then found our way to our hostel. Another swim was on the cards so we headed back down to the waterfront, but didn’t feel like going too far, so settled on what was a slightly disappointing little bay sheltered by some yachts. We cooked our own dinner that night, then went down to the harbour area, where there was an old playhouse showing an opera with a projected live feed being shown outside. This was too perfect to miss, so we settled at a bar, bought a glass of wine each and watched a bit of the show.

Hvar town is quite small, and infested with tourists, so the following day, we decided to hire a car and explore the island. This was my first time driving on the right hand side of the road, which proved to be quite sobering, as I realised I was not quite as good a driver as I thought I was. It was very strange having to judge gaps and the width of your car the opposite way around to what you are used to. We had a lot of fun, nonetheless, as our car was a little Fiat Punto convertible and we drove everywhere with the top down, exploring the other towns, the grapevine, olive tree and lavender field landscape and the sweeping views from the mountains across the bay to the other islands. 

We ended up finding a little road down to a place where we could park under some trees and then walk down to the sea where we had lunch and swam off the rocks there. We had purchased a cheap divers mask previously, so took turns having a bit of a gander down under the surface. I have to say, it was one of the best swimming experiences I had ever had.

We spent the better part of two hours there, and then hopped back into the car to do some more exploring. Outside Hvar, the rest of the island is basically deserted, with only a few locals walking about the small towns. We considered buying a bottle of wine from a vineyard, but figured we had probably spent enough that day already. Being on the coast, we just called it our holiday portion of the trip, rather than the backpacking portion, so just gave in to a little more spending than usual. We’ll start tightening the purse strings soon though!

Exploring Budapest

We arrived in Budapest late on Friday night after a fairly uneventful flight. Unfortunately our plane got in 10min after the last train into the centre of the city, so we had to spend a little more money and jump in a cab. We arrived at our hostel after 1am and fell straight to sleep in beds that Mike was a big fan of as they actually fit him!

The next morning we got up early and started the day with a pastry and horrible coffee by the banks of the river Danube, though thankfully in the sun! 

We then followed the river along taking in the amazing architecture that surrounded us until we found the great market hall. Here we purchased some “real” salami and got ripped off buying plums. 

Just across the river is one of the few hills in Budapest. As the day’s temperature increased we made it to the top to some very grand communist statues and to hundreds of tourists, most having come up on buses. Nonetheless the view was fantastic and gave us a good perspective of the layout of the city. By this stage our stomachs were starting to rumble and Mike was keen to dig in to the salami so we wandered down the other side of the hill towards the castle and had our picnic lunch. 

Once refreshed we wandered up to the castle and came across a festival nestled in the courts of the buildings with lots of different local foods. At this point we regretted already eating however managed to fit in a Kürtőskalács which is a baked cylinder of dough covered with crushed hazelnuts. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering the old town, having a beer in the sun and attempting to find a supermarket.  And the evening having some drinks with others in the hostel and planning the next stage of our journey.

With one day left in Budapest we had a slow start to the morning and then went on another wander to find one of the ruin bars where a farmers market was based.  The ruin bars are amazing places which are pretty much old ruined buildings which have been filled with different art installations and bars. Pretty awesome! We got some yummy spiced pumpkin seeds and then continued on our wander, this time up to the train station to book our tickets on to Zargreb in Croatia. Tickets booked we continued on to one of the large parks where we came across another festival and found yet more local food. 

Tired and with sore feet we headed back to the hostel and got ourselves sorted for our 6.15am train in the morning. With bacon sandwiches made we were ready for the following day.