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.