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Published: September 10th 2008
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It took three days of constant travel to make it from Johannesburg to Vienna. We spent the first night sleeping on the chairs in Abu Dhabi airport and making use of the free internet. The second night we spent sleeping in Delhi airport, trying to bribe the guards into letting us into the departure area sooner than the designated three hours before departure. On arrival in Vienna, we instantly hopped a bus headed to the train station and boarded a six hour train to Slovenia. What a journey!
Slovenia turned into a whirlwind tour. We headed to the only hostel in Bled with two girls we met on our train and were told that they only had three dorm beds left. Uh ho! The other options mentioned in our guidebook were even more exhorbitent than the 21 euros for the dorm bed so no-one was keen to move on. Luckily the owner agreed to Scott and I sharing the single dorm bed for half the price - yea! After spending the prior two nights on airport chairs, we were grateful for anything!
The next morning we saw the pretty lakeside town of Bled in a few hours before getting
the train to Lubjiana, the capital. We spent an afternoon here exploring the old town area along a lively river before boarding an overnight bus to Croatia, primarily to avoid even more exhorbitent accommodation coats - 20 euro for a bed in a 12'bed dorm, or 54 euros for a room with shared bathroom - it's rediculous, the States is way cheaper than this!
The accommodation in Croatia became a bit more reasonably priced as the norm is to stay in a room in someone's house. Basically, you arrive at a bus or train station and just wait for people to approach you - easy travel! Restaurants were still outrageously priced though so we have been mainly making our own food. They say you are what you eat. If thats the case then I am definitely a cheese and tomato sandwich, sitting on an old stone wall (with the odd croissant or gelato thrown in!)
We loved Croatia. Everywhere you went the towns were a maze of gorgeous old stone streets, well preserved and now used as restaurants, bars, guest houses etc. I would constantly become lost but luckily most of the old towns are pretty small so
if you wander around for long enough you generally make it back home! We started in the town of Split before getting a ferry to the island of Hvar with its impossibly clear water and stone fortress overlooking the harbour and old town. Another short ferry hop took us over to the island of Korcula where we stayed in a stone home right in the centre of old town and visited a bar up a ladder in one of the castle turrets (donćt wear a short skirt!) and went to a traditional sword dance reenactment in the castle courtyard. The final stop in Croatia was Dubrovnik back on the mainland, again a maze of gorgeous cobbled streets and stone buildings. The highlight was definitely the walk around the town walls, with great views over the rooftops.
From Croatia we next headed to the newest country in the world, Montenegro. We only went to two spots, first Budva with it's cute old town and local beach scene, and then to Kotor, another lovely old town set in a gorge with a fortress perched high above it.
We had been worried the weather would be a bit cold as it
is September, but it has been perfect so far - hot and sunny almost every day, not as crowded as July and August, and easier to find accommodation. We are hoping it lasts as we move inland to Bosnia and Hercegovina next!
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Mum
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Getting Closer
It's great to see that you are gradually getting closer to England.(I was going to say home but then remembered it's not any more, boo hoo!) Can't wait to see you both in a few weeks. I can't believe we passed through the same airport at Abbu Dhabi just a few hours apart, I'm sure we should have planned that one better!! Love mum