Jai Essex - Jamie Forsyth

I'm a 26-year-old journalist from Essex, England on a three-month trip around Eastern Europe with my best mate Si. It's our first time travelling due to our insistence on spending our pay packets on booze and football instead of saving for a trip which has been planned for some four years.

Whilst buzzing between some 19 countries (purely by train and bus, no planes allowed) we are attempting to visit as many football grounds and matches as possible. As supporters of English League One (3rd Division) outfit Southend, we're hoping we might see someone of a lower standard, but we don't hold out much hope.

The trip begins August 14th, 2008 with a 9am ferry from Harwich in Essex to the Hook of Holland. From Holland we will travel through Germany into Poland, and from there work our way through Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia and finally the Czech Republic in early November from where we will return to England and go back to work :(

Next Destination: Bratislava, Slovakia

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Joined on: July 17th 2008
Last Login: October 20th 2009

Blog Entries: 26
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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Jai Essex, order by Date newest first.

By Jai Essex
November 11th 2008

Part 25: Budapest (Days 73, 74, 75, 76, 77) Europe » Hungary » Central Hungary » Budapest

Ferencvaros graffiti
Ferencvaros Ultras have made their mark on the back of their stand.

After a few weeks in relatively small places, the familiar sounds of a big city railway station greeted us as we staggered irritably off the train from Ljubljana. Namely shady-looking characters in jeans and leather jacket combinations whispering "taxi" and "change money" to anyone with a rucksack. With not a wink of sleep between us on the overnight ride from Slovenia, and knowing that humouring these individuals would leave us considerably light on forints, we made sure they knew exactly what they could do with their services. There was even a man with a chessboard challenging people for mon [View Full Entry]

By Jai Essex
October 30th 2008

Part 24: Ljubljana (Days 69, 70, 71, 72) Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana

The sound of the metal bars closing behind me echoed down the bare corridor. The small cell was empty except for two beds. I could make out my cellmate on the bottom bunk, his reddish beard glistening in the chink of light shining through the tiny barred window. I didn't know how long I would be in here, but it would be at least three days. Six hours earlier, I had been in a four-star hotel. Now I was banged up. And the worst thing about it was I was paying for the privilege. You might expect the above paragraph to [View Full Entry]

By Jai Essex
October 25th 2008

Part 23: Zagreb and Split (Days 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69) Europe » Croatia

No-one from either city will thank me for saying it, but Zagreb is a bit like Belgrade. No eyes are going to pop out of their sockets at the array of architecture, which here is largely grey and plastered in graffiti. Historic sights are few, but Zagreb is home to some great cafes, clubs and bars which more than made up for it. The train journey from Mostar was a draining 13 hours long. Fortunately we had paid extra to go first class, and had a compartment to ourselves for more or less the entire journey. We were tired and hungry [View Full Entry]

By Jai Essex
October 25th 2008

Part 22: Mostar (Days 60, 61) Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » South » Mostar

Stari Most
The famous rebuilt Stari Most bridge

"Look at the silly tourists wandering around confused with their big backpacks, let's go and scam the fuck out of them" was what went through a taxi driver's mind as he pulled up next to us as we contemplated the long walk from Mostar train station to the Hostel Nina. After we agreed a five euro ride, he first asked if we were Swedish (must be my flowing blonde locks), before dropping us at a place with Pansion Pulzic emblazed on an illuminated sign above. "This, Hostel Nina", he triumphantly assured us despite the evidence to the contrary, and shouted up [View Full Entry]

By Jai Essex
October 23rd 2008

Part 21: Sarajevo (Days 56, 57, 58, 59, 60) Europe » Bosnia & Herzegovina » East » Sarajevo

The most famous Holiday Inn in the world
Home to journalists during the war, the stretch of road in front was known as sniper alley.

As well as being the catalyst for this entire journey, Sarajevo is the most incredible city I have ever seen or am likely to see in my lifetime. And I can go anywhere I want. But between April 1992 and late 1995, the only way in or out of this city was by sprinting across an airport runway or by queuing for hours to go through an underground tunnel, hoping not to be hit by bullets. The longest siege in human history saw over 10,000 killed and about 50,000 wounded as the Yugoslav People's Army and Bosnian Serb forces occupied the [View Full Entry]

By Jai Essex
October 20th 2008

Part 20: Belgrade (Days 52, 53, 54, 55, 56) Europe » Serbia » West » Belgrade

Bomb damage
Building damaged by Nato bombs in 1999.

We had altered our itinerary to be in Belgrade a little earlier to see the stand out fixture in the Serbian football calendar. Red Star Belgrade v Partizan Belgrade, due to take place on Sunday. We rolled into town at roughly 7.30am the day before having spent the night train journey sharing a compartment with Bane, a 20-year-old Red Star fan from Podgorica who was returning to the Serbian capital to study. He spoke excellent English and had even mastered the very British humour of sarcasm. After two months without being able to crack a joke without seeing a puzzled look, [View Full Entry]

By Jai Essex
October 12th 2008

Part 19: Montenegro (Days 49, 50, 51) Europe » Montenegro

Ulcinj beach
View from the cliffs of the beach at Ulcinj

Morrissey may well have written "Everyday is like Sunday" about the British seaside town, but he really should come to Montenegro in the off season. Nobody else does. Ulcinj, our first arrival point on managing to get out of Albania, is heaving with tourists from June until August, but in early October the only people about were the 10,000 townsfolk. Many shops, bars and cafes had closed for the winter. For the first time on the trip, we had nothing booked in advance, neither our transport from Albania or a bed for the night. But we were conspicuous with our backpacs [View Full Entry]

By Jai Essex
October 10th 2008

Part 18: Tirana (Days 47, 48, 49) Europe » Albania » West » Tirana

Skanderbeg Square
The equestrian statue at Skanderbeg Square

It's fair to say that Albania suffers from an image problem. Communist for so long and isolated because of its refusal to become part of Yugoslavia in 1948, plus the breaking up of relations with Russia and China, it suffered more than anyone when the old regime collapsed in 1991. The country's economy collapsed, the capital Tirana was swamped with migrants now free to travel there, and infrastructure was found totally wanting. Five years ago we would probably have shyed away from this poverty-stricken nation, but things have changed. Money has been invested from abroad and the capital city [View Full Entry]

By Jai Essex
October 10th 2008

Part 17: Skopje (Days 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46) Europe » Macedonia » Skopje

Skopje from the Kale
Cityscape of the Macedonian capital.

The only possible reason there is no direct train from Sofia to Skopje can be to see who is man enough to take the bus. This was the most unrelaxing six-hour trip ever. Our coach wound its way high up the mountainside in the pouring rain along narrow, unlit roads. Of course, as it was through a border point there were plenty of trucks coming the other way, causing our driver to lean ever closer to the precipice above a drop of around 1,000 metres. At some points I really wished he would get off the phone and concentrate. Arriving in [View Full Entry]

By Jai Essex
October 5th 2008

Part 16: Sofia (Days 39, 40, 41, 42) Europe » Bulgaria » West » Sofia

1300th Anniversary Monument
Falling apart...

It took me a while to figure out why I was so fond of Bulgaria's capital. The architecture is fairly typical of the region, and the sights and history don't compare to some other cities we have visited, even with it being some 7,000 years old. But Sofia has to be one of the highlights of the tour so far. Discovering that the fine local Zagorka beer was priced at 60p definitely went in its favour, but it is Sofia's diverse street scene that holds its key. Makeshift stalls selling everything from pizza to flowers to jewellery dot the pavements while [View Full Entry]

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Jai Essex - Jamie Forsyth

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