Our train from Istanbul to Plovdiv was a rather interesting experience. The train was very small- 1 carriage was going to Romania and the other was splitting off and going to Sofia. Our sleeper cart was pretty squashed. At first there was 6 of us cramped together without a fan or A/C. Later 2 Turkish guys moved to another berth and we shared our carriage with 2 French guys. One was very friendly and the other just kept listing things that he hated! He also was quite an impressive snorer! We tried to get a little bit of sleep but roughly every hour we were woken by someone shouting at us to either check our tickets or passports! At 3;30am we had to get off the train for passport control. We'd been scheduled to arrive in Plovdiv at around 8am although when the clock struck 8 we pulled into Starozagora which was the most communist looking station ever and completely empty! The conductor informed us, with no explanation, that we would be staying here for 2 hours! We eventually reached Plovdiv at 12pm! Thanks to Ed's fantastic navigational skills we found our hostel easily. We changed out of our train clothes and went out exploring.
In the new town area of Plovdiv there was a large open square which had quite a Soviet feel to it. Then as you walked through the town it became more lively with lots of ice cream parlours and cafes. Surprising to us, smack in the middle of one of the streets was some remains of an ancient Roman stadium! The seating on one side was still in tact and you could see where the gladiators would have entered the arena. We walked into the old town which had beautiful cobbled streets and old buildings. Plovdiv's most famous site is the Ancient Roman theatre which overlooks part of the city. Obviously quite a lot of it had been renovated but there were still original pillars and seating.
Dinner was a delicious platter of roasted vegetables and pork casserole!
From Plovdiv, we took the bus to Sofia. We'd booked a really cool hostel called 'Hostel Mostel'. Our room was in a cute little apartment over the road from the main hostel building. We only had a day to look around Sofia so we got straight on with our sight seeing tour. We walked through the main pedestrian area and found a recommended restaurant to get some lunch. We tried some Bulgarian beer called Kamenitza. Unfortunately we didn't have enough money to tip so we had to make a swift exit without daring to look back!
The city was small enough so that we could walk to most of the sights. We saw some beautiful churches and all the government buildings were very grand. The most spectacular sight was the Alexander Nevsky cathedral which had an aqua/gold dome and was decorated with lots of old paintings.
The following day, we hopped on yet another bus, heading over to Skopye, Macedonia which took about five and a half hours. The trip wasn't too bad as we both read ALOT of Game of Thrones. We arrived at Skopye bus station at 1:45m and somehow managed to book and overnight bus to Budva in 2 days time, buy tickets to Ohrid and get onto a bus before 2pm! We felt very proud of our efficiency!
We'd booked a homestay 5 minutes from the bus station which was very useful with our big rucksacks! When we arrived we were greeted by our hosts Nickola and Valentin who made us feel very welcome and informed us of all the good sights in Ohrid.
Late afternoon we strolled down the lake. The town centre was heaving with tourists- all mainly Russian. The shopping street reminded me of a rather cheesy sea side town but once you got down to the lake it was very beautiful. It's surrounded by tall hazy looking mountains and we found a little spot to have dinner right on the lake. I tried a glass of Macedonian wine which came in a classy screw cap bottle!
The following day we had a full day in Ohrid which meant no bus!! Hooray! Our plan for the day was to go on a walk around the lake. It was a very hot and sunny day so we slowly strolled along the lakeside path making shady stops when the sun got too much. There were lots of people sunbathing and swimming in the lake. We never quite got used to seeing the large numbers of men fashioning speedos! - especially t-shirts and speedos as there was always a moment when you thought they might be pant-less!! We stopped at a nice bar with a great view over the lake to have a chat and a people watch. At this point I was really starting to realise that not putting on suncream had been a TERRIBLE decision! My nose and chest were starting to go very pink so we had to make a quick dash back to our homestay so I could douse myself in aftersun.
For dinner we explored the old town, not before stumbling upon a Folk Dancing festival! Lots of dance groups from Eastern European countries were dressed in traditional clothing and showcasing their native dances. The old town in Ohrid was lovely, far less crowded and made up of small cobbled winding paths. There was a beautiful church in the centre with someone practising piano inside, creating a nice ambiance. We found a board walk on the lake leading to several small restaurants made of decking floating right on the lake. The view made for a lovely last evening in Ohrid.
In the morning we checked out of our room and took the bus back to Skopye. Our overnight bus wasn't until 7pm so we were able to leave our bags in lockers and have a wander around Skopye. The city centre was dotted with large grand statues of famous Macedonian men. Ofcourse, Alexander the Great had the biggest and best statue which also doubled up as a fountain! We visited the Mother Theresa museum as she was born in Skopye. It was interesting to see all the photos and letters she had sent to her family and convent particularly as we've visited Kolkata.
We made sure we had a good supply of snacks before embarking on our next night bus. At around 1am I threw a real wobbly when they put on a film at full blast so there was no chance of getting any sleep! We reached Budva at around 8am.
We'd decided that from Budva we'd get the bus straight to Kotor, Montenegro and skip out Budva altogher. We'd heard that it was very built up and touristy. Judging from the terrible pop music they were playing on full blast in the bus terminal, I think we definitely made the right decision! Reaching Kotor at 9am, our first port of call was finding accommodation. We hoped that the Tourist Information might be able to recommend something. We walked to the city centre along the water front. Even though it's the sea, due to the shape of the cove the water looks like a lake surrounded by craggy mountains. The Tourist Information was pretty useless and said that there was nothing available. The gentleman at the desk pointed us in the direction of a travel agency who offered us accommodation for 20 Euros each. When we said we were looking for more like 20 Euros altogether, she gave us a look and said she didn't have anything for THAT sort of price! We walked back to the square realising we weren't going to be able to afford anything in the centre. We'd heard that the neighboring town of Dobrota might have some cheaper options. We approached a taxi driver and asked him to take us to some cheap accommodation in Dobrota! He drove us to Kotor Youth Hostel which was pretty run down but it our situation we couldn't be very fussy!!
In the evening we walked to Kotor old town which is stunning. It's full of old buildings within thin winding streets every now and again opening up to reveal a church or square or boutique restaurant. We soaked up the atmosphere for a while then found a lovely restaurant called 'Rendez-Vous' and munched on two large pizzas. We felt like we'd earned them! :)
On our second day in Kotor we decided to climb up the fort wall along the mountain. It was quite a steep climb but it gave a beautiful view of the old town and lake (although unfortunately it was full of rather large cruise ships!). The fort on the top was right up in the craggy mountains and we stopped there for a drink and some nectarines.
For dinner Ed kindly offered to take me out for the evening. We went to a nice local restaurant. Ed ordered the lamb and I went for the grill which I assumed would be a portion for one... WRONG! My meat platter included 3 sausages, 1 pork kebab, 1 pork steak, 1 burger, 1 slice of gammon AND some liver!! I powered through most of it with the help of an equally large plate of vegetables to help break it up!
On our third day in Kotor we took a small bus trip to visit a nearby town called Perast. It didn't have a bus station so we were just dropped off on the side of the road. It was quite high up so we could look down onto the town. It was really picturesque- old clock towers poked up above terracotta slated roofs with the sea in the background. We found a nice cafe right on the water. We sat there for quite a while soaking up the scenery. A little later we walked along the boulevard and had a look in the Perast Museum. It told us how the town had been a key trading post along the Adriatic coast particularly during the seventeenth century. There were lots of maritime antiques, uniforms and pictures.
Our final day in Montenegro was spent in a small coastal town named Herceg Novi, right on the border with Croatia. Travelling non- stop for 7 months we stayed in many many different types of places, but on the penultimate day of our trip, we found the most bizarre homestay of our entire adventure! We hadn't booked anywhere to stay so once we got off our bus we were swamped by touts asking us to stay in their accommodation. We had a strict budget which instantly limited our choices. There was a middle aged woman with a slightly gammy leg who didn't really speak English yet we somehow managed to decipher that her room was in our budget and that it was close by. We agreed to try her room although it was impossible to know what it was going to be like! She proceeded to put us in a taxi although to our surprise did not get in herself. Not entirely sure of what was going on, the taxi drove for quite a while then dropped us off on the side of a quiet and slightly run down area. For a few minutes we just stood on the side of the road completely confused! Five minutes later a large woman still in her pyjamas popped up on the roadside. She didn't speak any English and didn't smile either. Judging from her face she looked like the daughter of the middle aged woman. She halfheartedly motioned for us to come this way, not reciprocating our 'hello' or smiles. Following her, we walked through a small path winding through locals' houses. We got quite a few stares! We finally reached our home for the night. It was a very small bungalow which clearly only just about accommodated the mother and daughter! We were shown to our room which was made of two tiny bunk beds with enough floor space for our rucksacks. Overlooking the top bunk was a very scary photo of what we can only assume was a deceased family member! I quickly opted for the bottom bunk!
We spent the day exploring the town which had a lot of lovely churches and looked out onto the Adriatic Sea.
When we returned from dinner to our homestay we squeezed into our room and read our books until we started to hear foreign voices outside. We peaked around the door to find 4 other foreigners sitting on the porch with the middle aged woman from the bus station. We went and joined them and it turned out that they were going to stay in the other room- although this wasn't exactly a bedroom just a large mattress on the floor! Their bathroom was a bucket outside! The bus station lady brought out an unnamed bottle of spirits which I think she had brewed herself! She insisted we all had shots of it! It tasted absolutely foul but we still smiled not wanting to be rude to her hospitality. As the evening continued more and more people turned up to stay in this bungalow. In the end there were people sleeping in all 3 rooms- on the floor, on the sofas, basically anywhere with space for a body! As if the day was not bizarre enough, one of the people staying the night was a photographer. For a project she was doing she asked if I would pose with a local boy whilst wearing a full Richard Nixon mask on my head. We still don't really know how we got into such a crazy situation!
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The final day of our incredible trip!!! We finished in style spending the day and last evening in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The bus route from Herceg Novi to Dubrovnik winded around the hills parallel to the Sea. We came into Dubrovnik looking down onto the old town which was absolutely beautiful. Our home stay was on the hill just above the old town. The family who owned the house were very friendly and our room was lovely and clean- a nice place for our final evening. We wanted to make the most of the day so we walked straight down to the old town. It did not disappoint as our final destination! The town was surrounded by an old wall and the streets and houses were made from gorgeous white/cream stone. We wandered around soaking up the atmosphere and found some lunch in a small alley. Luckily for us, we stumbled across a water polo match just outside of the old wall. Croatians clearly are passionate about this sport! Fans were crowded on boats all around the pool. Walking around and seeing as much as we could, we unfortunately didn't have enough money for dinner but had just about enough for an ice cream- we made damn sure it was a good one!
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On Monday 19th August 2014, we flew back to the UK and were greeted by our family. We had the most incredible 7 months sharing it with different people along the way. Although it's unlikely we'll be able to travel for that length of time for quite a while this is most definitely just the beginning of our globetrotting adventures!!
In the new town area of Plovdiv there was a large open square which had quite a Soviet feel to it. Then as you walked through the town it became more lively with lots of ice cream parlours and cafes. Surprising to us, smack in the middle of one of the streets was some remains of an ancient Roman stadium! The seating on one side was still in tact and you could see where the gladiators would have entered the arena. We walked into the old town which had beautiful cobbled streets and old buildings. Plovdiv's most famous site is the Ancient Roman theatre which overlooks part of the city. Obviously quite a lot of it had been renovated but there were still original pillars and seating.
Dinner was a delicious platter of roasted vegetables and pork casserole!
From Plovdiv, we took the bus to Sofia. We'd booked a really cool hostel called 'Hostel Mostel'. Our room was in a cute little apartment over the road from the main hostel building. We only had a day to look around Sofia so we got straight on with our sight seeing tour. We walked through the main pedestrian area and found a recommended restaurant to get some lunch. We tried some Bulgarian beer called Kamenitza. Unfortunately we didn't have enough money to tip so we had to make a swift exit without daring to look back!
The city was small enough so that we could walk to most of the sights. We saw some beautiful churches and all the government buildings were very grand. The most spectacular sight was the Alexander Nevsky cathedral which had an aqua/gold dome and was decorated with lots of old paintings.
The following day, we hopped on yet another bus, heading over to Skopye, Macedonia which took about five and a half hours. The trip wasn't too bad as we both read ALOT of Game of Thrones. We arrived at Skopye bus station at 1:45m and somehow managed to book and overnight bus to Budva in 2 days time, buy tickets to Ohrid and get onto a bus before 2pm! We felt very proud of our efficiency!
We'd booked a homestay 5 minutes from the bus station which was very useful with our big rucksacks! When we arrived we were greeted by our hosts Nickola and Valentin who made us feel very welcome and informed us of all the good sights in Ohrid.
Late afternoon we strolled down the lake. The town centre was heaving with tourists- all mainly Russian. The shopping street reminded me of a rather cheesy sea side town but once you got down to the lake it was very beautiful. It's surrounded by tall hazy looking mountains and we found a little spot to have dinner right on the lake. I tried a glass of Macedonian wine which came in a classy screw cap bottle!
The following day we had a full day in Ohrid which meant no bus!! Hooray! Our plan for the day was to go on a walk around the lake. It was a very hot and sunny day so we slowly strolled along the lakeside path making shady stops when the sun got too much. There were lots of people sunbathing and swimming in the lake. We never quite got used to seeing the large numbers of men fashioning speedos! - especially t-shirts and speedos as there was always a moment when you thought they might be pant-less!! We stopped at a nice bar with a great view over the lake to have a chat and a people watch. At this point I was really starting to realise that not putting on suncream had been a TERRIBLE decision! My nose and chest were starting to go very pink so we had to make a quick dash back to our homestay so I could douse myself in aftersun.
For dinner we explored the old town, not before stumbling upon a Folk Dancing festival! Lots of dance groups from Eastern European countries were dressed in traditional clothing and showcasing their native dances. The old town in Ohrid was lovely, far less crowded and made up of small cobbled winding paths. There was a beautiful church in the centre with someone practising piano inside, creating a nice ambiance. We found a board walk on the lake leading to several small restaurants made of decking floating right on the lake. The view made for a lovely last evening in Ohrid.
In the morning we checked out of our room and took the bus back to Skopye. Our overnight bus wasn't until 7pm so we were able to leave our bags in lockers and have a wander around Skopye. The city centre was dotted with large grand statues of famous Macedonian men. Ofcourse, Alexander the Great had the biggest and best statue which also doubled up as a fountain! We visited the Mother Theresa museum as she was born in Skopye. It was interesting to see all the photos and letters she had sent to her family and convent particularly as we've visited Kolkata.
We made sure we had a good supply of snacks before embarking on our next night bus. At around 1am I threw a real wobbly when they put on a film at full blast so there was no chance of getting any sleep! We reached Budva at around 8am.
We'd decided that from Budva we'd get the bus straight to Kotor, Montenegro and skip out Budva altogher. We'd heard that it was very built up and touristy. Judging from the terrible pop music they were playing on full blast in the bus terminal, I think we definitely made the right decision! Reaching Kotor at 9am, our first port of call was finding accommodation. We hoped that the Tourist Information might be able to recommend something. We walked to the city centre along the water front. Even though it's the sea, due to the shape of the cove the water looks like a lake surrounded by craggy mountains. The Tourist Information was pretty useless and said that there was nothing available. The gentleman at the desk pointed us in the direction of a travel agency who offered us accommodation for 20 Euros each. When we said we were looking for more like 20 Euros altogether, she gave us a look and said she didn't have anything for THAT sort of price! We walked back to the square realising we weren't going to be able to afford anything in the centre. We'd heard that the neighboring town of Dobrota might have some cheaper options. We approached a taxi driver and asked him to take us to some cheap accommodation in Dobrota! He drove us to Kotor Youth Hostel which was pretty run down but it our situation we couldn't be very fussy!!
In the evening we walked to Kotor old town which is stunning. It's full of old buildings within thin winding streets every now and again opening up to reveal a church or square or boutique restaurant. We soaked up the atmosphere for a while then found a lovely restaurant called 'Rendez-Vous' and munched on two large pizzas. We felt like we'd earned them! :)
On our second day in Kotor we decided to climb up the fort wall along the mountain. It was quite a steep climb but it gave a beautiful view of the old town and lake (although unfortunately it was full of rather large cruise ships!). The fort on the top was right up in the craggy mountains and we stopped there for a drink and some nectarines.
For dinner Ed kindly offered to take me out for the evening. We went to a nice local restaurant. Ed ordered the lamb and I went for the grill which I assumed would be a portion for one... WRONG! My meat platter included 3 sausages, 1 pork kebab, 1 pork steak, 1 burger, 1 slice of gammon AND some liver!! I powered through most of it with the help of an equally large plate of vegetables to help break it up!
 |
| The view from our hostel room |
On our third day in Kotor we took a small bus trip to visit a nearby town called Perast. It didn't have a bus station so we were just dropped off on the side of the road. It was quite high up so we could look down onto the town. It was really picturesque- old clock towers poked up above terracotta slated roofs with the sea in the background. We found a nice cafe right on the water. We sat there for quite a while soaking up the scenery. A little later we walked along the boulevard and had a look in the Perast Museum. It told us how the town had been a key trading post along the Adriatic coast particularly during the seventeenth century. There were lots of maritime antiques, uniforms and pictures.
Our final day in Montenegro was spent in a small coastal town named Herceg Novi, right on the border with Croatia. Travelling non- stop for 7 months we stayed in many many different types of places, but on the penultimate day of our trip, we found the most bizarre homestay of our entire adventure! We hadn't booked anywhere to stay so once we got off our bus we were swamped by touts asking us to stay in their accommodation. We had a strict budget which instantly limited our choices. There was a middle aged woman with a slightly gammy leg who didn't really speak English yet we somehow managed to decipher that her room was in our budget and that it was close by. We agreed to try her room although it was impossible to know what it was going to be like! She proceeded to put us in a taxi although to our surprise did not get in herself. Not entirely sure of what was going on, the taxi drove for quite a while then dropped us off on the side of a quiet and slightly run down area. For a few minutes we just stood on the side of the road completely confused! Five minutes later a large woman still in her pyjamas popped up on the roadside. She didn't speak any English and didn't smile either. Judging from her face she looked like the daughter of the middle aged woman. She halfheartedly motioned for us to come this way, not reciprocating our 'hello' or smiles. Following her, we walked through a small path winding through locals' houses. We got quite a few stares! We finally reached our home for the night. It was a very small bungalow which clearly only just about accommodated the mother and daughter! We were shown to our room which was made of two tiny bunk beds with enough floor space for our rucksacks. Overlooking the top bunk was a very scary photo of what we can only assume was a deceased family member! I quickly opted for the bottom bunk!
We spent the day exploring the town which had a lot of lovely churches and looked out onto the Adriatic Sea.
When we returned from dinner to our homestay we squeezed into our room and read our books until we started to hear foreign voices outside. We peaked around the door to find 4 other foreigners sitting on the porch with the middle aged woman from the bus station. We went and joined them and it turned out that they were going to stay in the other room- although this wasn't exactly a bedroom just a large mattress on the floor! Their bathroom was a bucket outside! The bus station lady brought out an unnamed bottle of spirits which I think she had brewed herself! She insisted we all had shots of it! It tasted absolutely foul but we still smiled not wanting to be rude to her hospitality. As the evening continued more and more people turned up to stay in this bungalow. In the end there were people sleeping in all 3 rooms- on the floor, on the sofas, basically anywhere with space for a body! As if the day was not bizarre enough, one of the people staying the night was a photographer. For a project she was doing she asked if I would pose with a local boy whilst wearing a full Richard Nixon mask on my head. We still don't really know how we got into such a crazy situation!
The final day of our incredible trip!!! We finished in style spending the day and last evening in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The bus route from Herceg Novi to Dubrovnik winded around the hills parallel to the Sea. We came into Dubrovnik looking down onto the old town which was absolutely beautiful. Our home stay was on the hill just above the old town. The family who owned the house were very friendly and our room was lovely and clean- a nice place for our final evening. We wanted to make the most of the day so we walked straight down to the old town. It did not disappoint as our final destination! The town was surrounded by an old wall and the streets and houses were made from gorgeous white/cream stone. We wandered around soaking up the atmosphere and found some lunch in a small alley. Luckily for us, we stumbled across a water polo match just outside of the old wall. Croatians clearly are passionate about this sport! Fans were crowded on boats all around the pool. Walking around and seeing as much as we could, we unfortunately didn't have enough money for dinner but had just about enough for an ice cream- we made damn sure it was a good one!
On Monday 19th August 2014, we flew back to the UK and were greeted by our family. We had the most incredible 7 months sharing it with different people along the way. Although it's unlikely we'll be able to travel for that length of time for quite a while this is most definitely just the beginning of our globetrotting adventures!!
