After days of travelling around cities, both Hannah and I decided that we needed to get to the coast. We'd neglected the Black Sea Coast, so we picked a place recommended by the Rough Guide : Ayvalik: which was supposed to have preserved its original charm as a fishing village. We got the overnight bus from Otogar (45lira), and thanks to the wonders of modern medicine ( ie Dramamine) I slept the whole way! Don't think Hannah found it as easy tho. We got in around 10 am ( We'd been told the journey would take 8 hours..yeah right!) And trudged [View Full Entry]

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This was day 2. We decided to head early in the morning to the Topkapi Palace to try and beat the crowds. This was the Ottoman administrative centre until the building of the Dolmabahce Palace. It was a complex of 4 courtyards. When we got there at around 9 am, there was a HUGE group of people with rather dreadful orange tops....they were a Malaysian bank group! Got a little Malaysian chat on the way, before getting into the Palace The security was really tight. Bags were X-rayed, and then we were in. We rushed to the Harem, and bought tickets [View Full Entry]

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We were finally in Istanbul! After a crazy bus journey, we managed to master the transport system and found our way to the Antique Hostel. Directly next to the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya. Pretty good location! We arrived a little too early for the hostel tho, and had a bit of a wait before we could get a shower and check in. The first stop was Aya Sofya. We met Jeremy and John, ( their 3 star hotel was plush...lucky bastards!) The Church of St Sophia was built in 537AD ( a long long time ago), and for a period [View Full Entry]

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We arrived at the Bus Station in Veliko on good faith..having been told that there was going to be a bus to Istanbul. We got there, and had a bit of a wait, before buying tickets. We did get to see Wayne Rooney stamping on Carvalho's balls tho ( ouch!) Anyway...managed to buy some tickets. Pretty expensive! And then we waited for the bus. A little bit of confusion..as to where the bus was going to pull up too. We even got some fries from the Vending Machine! Check out John and the Fastchef! When the bus pulled up...it looked really [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we'd got the Balkan Express ( Bucharest-Istanbul), we got off midway at Veliko Tarnovo. And we thought, we'll just catch this train tomorrow. It'll all be fine. What we didn't realise..till too late, was that we had caught the LAST TRAIN to Istanbul for a Month! The lines needed repairs..so they'd just cancelled the trains! ARGGGGHHHH...major stressor, as we thought we'd have to go to Sofia, and get a train from there...thankfully, we managed to find a bus that would take us. More about THAT...later! So we had a day to explore Veliko. The big attraction was the Tsarevets Fortress. [View Full Entry]

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After a fun-filled day in Bucharesti with Liam, we decided to spend the morning looking around the Gardens in Northern Bucharest. It was welcome relief from the heat. We had a big of a chaotic journey trying to get to the train station : Mainly because we had large rucksacks, and Romanians got very angry with our large rucksacks.. and probably said a great many rude things to us in Romanian! Found our train...it didn't look very plush, and our "conductor" was a very large man in a snazzy uniform ( complete with gold stars) and a Big Cigar! ( You [View Full Entry]

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We'd arrived...in Bucuresti. We got off the train, amidst chaos....and thank god Liam found us! Anyway, found our way to the international departure lounge, and bought tickets to Bulgaria tomorrow ( got yelled at, because we hadn't specified that we wanted them for TOMORROW...not today!!) Then we tried to get on a bus. Yelled at by Romanian bus drivers. ( Do you see a trend..?) The we ran across the street....yelled at by policemen! Finally we found out hostel ( which was miles away, and full of Irishmen who seemed to just play on the Play Station all day. We left [View Full Entry]

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The next day, we thought we'd see Brasov. It didn't help that the drunkeness of the night before meant that we only got to bed at 3. Dave, one of the hostel guys..was very odd, and exceedingly drunk! But provided great entertainment...by inviting us to meet some furry animals...! I'm ashamed to say that we didn't actually see much of the "charming mediavel town". I think the time we'd spent in Sighisoara had rather spoiled us. We did walk past the Black Church, and up the cable car onto Mount Tampa. ( we like to tell people we climbed it...)But we [View Full Entry]

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We'd arrived in Brasov last night. Nice night in Kismet Dao, cooked some random food, and talked to lots of fun people. Best thing about this place..was the free laundry! Oh, clean clothes....! When we arrived , they tried to sell us a trip around 3 different castles, Bran Castle, Rasnov ( fortress) and Peleais " fabulous", a former royal palace. The downside of this trip, was that it cost 60RON ( excluding entry charges). We decided to be adventorous and do our own thing ( and we got Anthony as company! and token male!!) Early that morning, we got a [View Full Entry]

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We left Sighisoara around 4 pm. We had the option of paying 30 RON for the "fast IC" trains, or 9RON for the "slow, stops in every shed, dirty" Gypsy trains. Being the adventurers that we were (read : cheap), we decided to brave the gypsy train. Our ticket..was basically a piece of cardboard. We got to our platform in true Romanian style, ie avoiding the purpose built subway, instead running across three sets of train tracks. I guess not many tourists arrive in Sighisoara by train, because frankly..the station was a mess. We got the usual kids begging for money..and [View Full Entry]

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