The bus from Dubrovnik to Split was in the pouring rain. The weather was up and down, but made for some amazingly beautiful and dramatic coastline with the grey and brooding sky interspersed with the odd shaft of sunlight as the clouds moved out to sea. Part of the coastline actually goes through Bosnia & Herzegovena so technically I managed to do another country in 20 mins. You pull up at the border crossing on the bus while they wander through have a look at the passport then drive for 20 mins and do it all again. My biggest complaint was [View Full Entry]

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Belgrade to Bar, Montengro was a long, lonely overnight train - lucky I was asleep most of the night except for another border crossing and the last wonderful early morning bit coming down through the mountains, glorious. I discovered that it is possible to grab passport, roll over hand, get back, roll back and resleep with minimal fuss. Just takes a few weeks on the road to redevelop the sleepability away from the comforts of my own bed. The overnight trains are wonderful if you book a sleeper car - the ultimate luxury of being able to climb into bed and [View Full Entry]

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Having decided to do a run for Montenegro from Veliko Tarnovo I knew it would be a big couple of days. I had made up my mind to skip Belgrade completely except for a couple of hours until the next train. That lasted as long as it took for me to get off the train and start talking to a French guy Igor and all of a sudden I'm spending 12 hours in Beograd, providing adequate justification for the purchase of the very important fridge magnet! Lonely Planet basically says that Belgrade is ugly, but interesting and now having visited I'm [View Full Entry]

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As I've got time and everyone raved about this place I decided to do a mini detour to Veliko Tarnovo in North Central Bulgaria so I joined Sarah from Sofia and we headed up on the afternoon train on Friday thinking 2 days would be enough. I'm currently up to my 4th night and have to tear myself away as this is a great little place which seems to trap you into the 'just one more day' syndrome. Veliko Tarnovo is spread out along a river and was once (another) capital of Bulgaria. The fortress was built at one end of [View Full Entry]

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Sofia has been my bed for a couple of days, but it wasn't until yesterday that I got to walk around and have a look at sights other than bars (a little tricky to find decent ones, but it's possible if you can find a local to show you the way!). Have been staying at a place called Mostel Hostel which I'd recommend as a friendly, social place to stay. My bed for the past 3 nights has been a mattress on the floor in the attic, a tad chilly but a couple of sleeping bags and a blanket have made [View Full Entry]

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OK day 1 Sofia wasn't really spent in Sofia, but instead about 120 kms south in the Rila Mountains at the 'Jerusalem' of Bulgaria, the Rila Monastery. 3 of us piled into a taxi for the 4 hour round trip on a grey morning, but as we drove out of Sofia and headed south the sun came out, well for a while before the mountain fog closed in. One minute you are enjoying the countryside in sunshine then you crest a hill and you can barely see the road. Luckily that didn't last and after an hour or so we could [View Full Entry]

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I had planned after Turkey to head East not West, but unfortunately the government of a certain 'Axis of Evil' country decided to ignore my visa application - 2 months no yes / no no! So visa limbo meant I had to turn my travels in another direction - west through Eastern Europe, first stop Bulgaria! As there are 3 weeks before I have to be back in London it's given me a lot of flexibility to make it up as I go along and so far my plans are changing on a daily basis dependent on what other people recommend [View Full Entry]

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Finally back on the road for some serious travelling and exploring the country that is the crossroads between Europe and Asia - Turkey. First stop on this lavish 5 week odyessy is the middle of the country in Capaddocia - land of caves, odd rock formations, quirky living arrangements and amazing scenery. Left London on Thursday flying the very lavish (not) Pegasus Air which is Turkey's version of the budget airline - nothing fancy, but quite cheap. For once the flight was at a respectable time so no need to rush, although this meant that after a couple of hour flight [View Full Entry]

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It's just you, some friends and about 500,000 other people packed into a few miles of London to see amazing costumes, hear (very loud) music, smell the illegal substances in the air and stuff yourself silly with wonderful Caribbean food - welcome to a true London experience - the Notting Hill Carnival! The Carnival started in the 60s as a way of overcoming racial tension by showcasing the diversity of the Caribbean lifestyle. OK it wasn't always successful, with a fair amount of violence and rioting in early years - it's much better now, they leave the little showdown to the [View Full Entry]

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In 10 months I've crossed the Thames by foot, tube, bus, I think even car, but somehow boats haven't made the list ... until now. A photography group trip to Greenwich including a cruise to the Thames Barrier helped tick that last box, well until I find another box that is! About 70 of us jumped on a boat to cruise up the Thames past the O2 arena to the mighty, shiny Thames Barrier. The Thames Barrier was constructed between 1974 and 1984 and is designed to slow down flood waters caused by high tides and tidal surges (bit of a [View Full Entry]

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