Note of caution: avoid taking the overnight bus from Belgrade to Pristina, unless you actually plan to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere at 4:00 in the morning with all your luggage but without a clue as to where the hell you are. Trying to find your hostel hours before sunrise with an overly simplistic hand-drawn map on an hour of sleep is nothing to sneeze at, mind you. Fortunately though, a line of taxi drivers were already circling outside the deserted bus stop in Pristina, Kosovo, and readily pounced on the only idiot who chose to arrive at such an ungodly hour. I was immediately whisked away by the driver who spoke the best English, and within the quarter hour, I was dropped off at the doorstep of the Guesthouse Velania. My room. ... read more

My hiking backpack landed with a weighty thud on the bench I attempted to sit on (attempted, because the damn thing was so big, there was no room left on the seat for me to sit on!). I still had another hour to go before my train was due to arrive, the one that would take me straight to Belgrade. So tired. Somehow I managed to forget, after a whole month in Montenegro, how difficult it is to get around without knowing more than a few words and broken phrases of the local language. Silly me. The clerk at the train station knew no English, but fortunately, I prepared a brief, but comical oral presentation, titled "attempt to order a train ticket in accented Serbski." Haha, it's pretty funny to think about it now, how grim ... read more

This morning, my boss strolled into my room and told me this: "Good morning...how are you doing? *beat* Well, I was thinking a little bit about going to Albania today..." I think you already know how this story ends. But God, you wouldn't believe what happened in-between! Although the Albanian border was only a good 30 km away, there was something that stood in our way... It was Tuzi, this tiny-ass, podunk little town only a few kilometers from the border -- land of the forgotten boasting a cow and goat population that was twice as large as the people who actually lived there. Nonetheless, we were surprised to find not only a functional ATM, but a supermarket and a post office to boot! Words cannot express how humbled we were, :P. Main street was still ... read more

At the crack of dawn (8 AM in lazy-ass-student speak), Steve pokes his head into my room and announces that we're going to Budva today. Budva. My head still busy extricating itself from the realm of sleep, I could've sworn he told me that we're going to see the all mighty Buddha today. I don't care how many millions of Asians worship him -- I need my eight hours at all costs. Kaput. I squinted at him, hoping my serious case of bedhead would be sufficient enough to scare him away. It didn't. Man, what I wouldn't give for a few more minutes of la-la land. Turns out Budva's a seaside town situated on the west coast of Montenegro, meaning we were taking a little field trip today. Apparently he wanted me to meet some of ... read more

I knew there was a reason why I hated long flights. Cramped seats, nonexistent leg room, disrupted circadian rhythms...oohhh yeah. But at least I was able to blow through a new airport: the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris (yay!). Unfortunately for this little ignorant American, Charles de Gaulle fully intended to unnecessarily complicate the entire flying process. After spending a full hour running around like a headless chicken on speed, I finally managed to crawl my way to my gate. Who the hell puts check-in counters next to the gates?? Hm. On second thought, that makes the world of sense. Needless to say, as the French would say, I was...le'tired. When I finally arrived in Belgrade, I met up with Steve, who picked me up from the airport, which turned out to be this one-story ... read more