Sarajevo and Mostar day 6-8 (July 3 - July 5) An amazing bus journey from Belgrade to Sarajevo through the ? Mountain range. Granite outcrops on top of high mountains, and gorgeous valleys. We took a local trolley bus upon arrival, once the electrics had been restored as there had been a problem down the line. As we drove through you could still see the scars of the recent war marking the building with bullet and mortar holes visible in many buildings, with others you can see the patches but the painting was yet to be completed. We were staying in a lovely Pension and we even had a lounge suite. Our room had ensuite while the others had to share. Our orientation tour took us through the modern area of Sarajevo, with Austrian architecture and ... read more

Novi Sad 2-3 (June 29-30) I met the rest of the group on the work to the train station. Our train trip was a warm but comfortable enough one on the way to Novi Sad, Serbia. The border crossing was pretty painless and we were soon there. We had lovely rooms in Novi Sad. The town had a very alive feeling and lots of cafes. Our orientation work took us past the local market and over the Danube to the local fortress. The interesting feature on the clock tower was that the hands were opposite to what you expected the long indication the hour and the short the minutes. Something to do with making it easier for boats on the river to tell the time. It was also interesting to learn that anyone with a view ... read more

Istanbul day 20-21 (June 26 -27) We arrived in Istanbul passing great views of the Bosphorous and the magnificent Mosques on the way. Our hotel was in the Sultanhamet area so really handy to all the usual tourist sites. A nice casual breakfast while we waited for our rooms to ready, before heading out on our orientation work and to get some Turkish Lira. We wandered around the streets and Blue Mosque area then grabbed some lunch, before heading to the Taksim Palace. It was quire an amazing area, especially the Harem. The following day I headed off to the largest Mall in Europe, after walking across the bridge. The mall was out of the old town area. The mall was certainly large, but not a lot of people in it. I needed some cooler clothes, ... read more

Sofia and Bansko day 15 -17 (June 21 - 23) The truck was still wedged in our street the next morning, so we headed up the stairs with our luggage to walk the long way around to the Bus station. The trip was on a fairly comfortable bus. We sat near a young girl who was a local Bulgarian singer who gave us some tips on Sofia and some insight into Bulgaria. When we got to Sofia our rooms were in a fairly central area but in a hotel that was fairly tired. I ended up having a day in as I‘d jarred my wrist and it was fairly painful. We had a farewell dinner that night for one of the group who was leaving a few days early. Next morning I walked in the rain ... read more

Bucharest day 12 (June 18) It was a short train journey to Bucharest the capital of Romania. Our hotel was actually 3 star and a nice surprise. I took the metro to the down town area with a friend who had volunteered to help me get an external hard drive. He shook his head at the idea of going to an electrical store and then proceeded to show me how things worked in Romania. Using a web site we found a couple of hard drives that looked promising and arranged a meeting with the seller of one. We took the metro a bit further out of town and met a guy on the street corner and after inspection and exchange of the cash I had my new external hard drive. It was new and light so ... read more