Turkey to Serbia

---

We spent more time in Turkey than expected, and with our flight back to London looming it was time to get a move on and see some of the Balkans. We had originally intended to take a ferry to Greece and then see some of Italy before the summer season began, however, with time running out, we decided to pay a fleeting visit to Bulgaria and Serbia.

During the last 5 or so days in Turkey, we finally got around to seeing some of the places on the tourist trail - Selcuk and Istanbul. Selcuk, a Roman city, was interesting because archaeologists are in the middle of putting back together a 120,000 piece 3D jigsaw puzzle - namely the marble walls of the Consul's fancy house. All the pieces are laid out on numerous tables and we watched them moving the pieces around, trying to find ones that fit together. They have also excavated a number of noblemen's houses which still have beautiful mosaics, marble floors, private bathhouses, and frescoes.

Istanbul would have been a nice introduction to Turkey. It is a very cosmopolitan city and the central part of town could have been anywhere in Europe. We amused ourselves by catching some of the must sees - Aya Sophia, Blue Mosque and the cisterns. We also did a cruise up the Bosphoros - almost to where it meets the Black Sea.

Bulgaria proved to be quite a contrast to Turkey. We went from modern tram systems to big orange clunky trams left over from the soviet era. In Sophia, there was a liquor store, sex shop or casino on every corner and it was a bit of a shock to see really short shorts and skirts having been in Islamic countries for the past 2 months. Sophia itself was nice enough to wander around. There are some interesting buildings and churches, but we mainly used our brief time there to catch up on sleep lost due to dawn calls to prayer and make the most of beer costing around 25p a litre.

Ben discovered the downside to 25p a litre beer on the hot train the next day. He looked greener than the lovely green countryside we passed through.

Our introduction to Serbia was relatively dramatic. Having checked into our hostel and found somewhere for dinner, we were making our way back when we saw a minor traffic accident spiral into a violent road rage incident. After a mild nose to tail between a motor bike and a car, the next thing we knew there were 8 Serbians having a brawl on the street. Just when things looked to be settling down, the driver of the car ran to the boot and pulled out a hatchet and proceeded to chase one of the biker guys down the street. He was a big lad, but boy could he run. Lucky too, for I didn't fancy seeing someone get chopped to pieces on my first night in a new country.

We had a really interesting chat with a young Serbian guy. His memories of recent conflict were still vivid and he distinctly remembers sitting on his apartment roof during the NATO bombardment of Belgrade. He described seeing a Tomahawk wizz about 50m over his head and then being knocked off his seat as it found its target. He told us that we might find some of the people "a bit tense" and advised us not to pick a fight with anyone in a bar. We quietly agreed with him.

This guy had also lived across the road from wanted war criminal Radovan Karadzic. He couldn't believe that he used the same local store as this guy for so many years. He desperately wanted the other war criminals to be found so Serbia could get into the EU and he could holiday without having to spend 6 months getting a visa.

Strangely, no bank or exchange office in Serbia would change the rest of our Bulgarian currency. We were simply met with a scowl and a "you will not find anyone who will change THAT currency here". So we took our Bulgarian and headed on to Slovenia.

---

Photos

Uncovered houses
(under cover)