Day 9 til whatever day it is now,,,

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Hey All! First of all excuse the dodgy punctuation and spelling am on a Turkish keyboard and its all slightly confusing! Also have lost all track of the days so this may be a bit vague...

Day 9

Left Budapest in the a.m and arrived in Belgrade Serbia similar looks to Budapest quite run down and there are still buildings left destroyed after the bombings years ago but a really nice little hostel with a really sweet dad style owner who provided us with a saw. Dont ask! This time we were separated from the boys in our own place. We had Serbian liquor =gross and snacks on arrival which was nice though! Left the hostel and went for a wander round town getting quite lost on the way but having fun. Went for a Serbian meal in the bohemian quarter complete with Hungarian band bit of an interesting meal for me consisting of a plate of cheese and a separate one of potatoes but nice all the same!

Day 10

Just one night in Serbia so left again at 8.30ish for Bulgaria a long drive. First night was in the capital Sofia. We stayed in a hotel this time in the unrennovated rooms distinguished by the scabby doors that refused to unlock or lock depending on its mood and the carpet outside the door...random! However it had helpful mats in the lifts which told us what day it was this is the only reason I now know it is a Saturday! Just went for a quiet meal at an Italian not very local but the others were sick of meat and potatoes and I was sick of bread of cheese!

Day 11

Bit of a different day today went on an organised tour of Sofia in the morning and it is such a pretty town in the centre lots of churches though! Some of the decorations on the inside were stunning but it was forbidden to take pictures so sadly no evidence of this! The walk lasted about 2 hours but made to feel longer by the rain and cold! Enjoyed it anyway! Made our way back to the hotel in time to get some lunch from the supermarket and get back on the bus for our midday departure to Plovdiv. About 2 Hours later we arrived after a precarious climb up the hill on bizarre cobbles which they seem to think is a road and let me tell you for a clumsy person like me wet slabs of marble like stone on a steep hill is not a suitable road surface! Another tour of Plovdiv in the p.m but after about 10 mins the youngens as we have been nicknamed slightly lost interest however we persevered and after an hour and a half in the freezing cold I rewarded myself with a baileys hot chocolate! Went for dinner and actually ate healthily and well for the first time all washed down with Prosecco and beer and then even more beer later on!

Day 12

Left Bulgaria at 8 and started our drive to Turkey! Got to the border about 11ish and a mere 6 hours later managed to leave Bulgaria and actually get in to the country! A long story but the basics are all got our visas no problem then the computers crashed so they left us hanging for a few hours before making us take everything off the bus so it could be xrayed. This led them discovering some tyres that the driver had bought for another bus back in Latvia these were confiscated something to do with tax and reselling anyways finally after a lot of paperwork we were allowed to leave! arrived in Istanbul a few hours later but took forever to get to the hostel because of the traffic however we eventually arrived after only 12 hours of sitting on a bus. Dinner was really nice though and much needed as was starving! Quietish night then bed!

Day 13

Really like Istanbul everyone is really friendly and it finally feels like we are travelling as the culture is so different however I do NOT like the monsoon style torrential downpours got absolutely soaked to the skin about 2 minutes after leaving the hostel but we ventured up to the grand bazaar which is absolutely amazing! Heaving with people selling all kinds of things quite touristy but i loved it! Quiet afternoon and a late lunch was followed by the strangest experience of my life! We walked to the turkish bath through jam packed traffic and I did wonder whether I would survive it! The Turks are manic drivers! Anyway arrived and was escorted through to the female section where we changed into swimming stuff and went through to the baths. The bikini however it turned out was not needed as after sitting round with bowls of warm water to wash with thinking isnt this all nice and relaxing we were basically stripped by big scary Turkish mamas and scrubbed to death on a marble slab in the middle of the room then we were made to wash again before going into the sauna again all relaxing and nice they then soap you up and massage you which would all be very nice apart from the fact I was walking around naked with people I have only known 13 days, I now know some of my fellow lady travel companions VERY well! Back to the hotel after another life risking walk got changed and went for a kebab! A vegetarian kebab it turns out consists of cheese, salad and chips rolled up all very nice though! It was going to be a quiet night but finally made it to bed about 3am after several beers and some tequila!

Day 14

Went to the blue mosque this morning absolutely stunning on the inside but was surprised that not everyone had a headscarf on bit disrespectful i thought but nobody seemed to mind much! Back to bazaar for a wander a lot quieter today because its actually dry and the sun has just come out!

Well im starving so lunchtime I think, will update soon!

XXX

PS it has been pointed out by my mother that all i seem to do is drink beer but occasionally it is wine and I am doing cultural things too!

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