Rons Rambles

Croatia

chstone — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 05:20:00 GMT

Our first point of call in Croatia was a place called Mostar. For those of you who watched Hamish and Andy European Adventures this is the place they jumped of the bridge in the river below a mere 20m drop. Mostar was an ancient settlement which was named after the bridge keepers over the Neretva River. A bridge at 27m high crossed the river, it is this bridge the locals jump off. Visitors could also par take for a small fee and 2 of the boys on the trip did. It was astoundig just how high they were and how long it took for them to safely hit the water. Before they were allowed to jump they had to do a couple of practice jumps off a 10m high rock. Looking back it would have been good to jump as well but maybe another day!

Dubrovnik -

AFter Mostar we arrived in Dubrovnik were we dropped our bags and had some spare time. We had a short tour that night after dinner before heading off for a few drinks at a place called 'Skybar'. Well apparently every other Australian riddled Contiki trip visited this place as well which took away from the experience of drinking in a foreign country.

On our free day we decieded to head back into the old town for a bit of shopping before catching a ferry over to a neighbouring island that had some great swimming spots. We pulled up on a rocky outcrop where i got the lovely red budgie smigglers on before diving into the crystal clear, very refreshing water. It was a best swim of the whole trip. All around the rock outcrop (some 100m in width) were pool ladder aiding people to get in and out of the deep water. One of the boys dived in an lost his sunglasses to the water. After about 5 minutes of scanning the water another of the boys spotted them and dived to get them. They were pretty deep and on his return he was pretty red in the face. We spent the rest of the day swimming, but of white whaling before circum navigating the island and looking out over the Croatian waters.

When we got back to the main land we decieded to walk the fortress walls around the city. It had great views of the city and really emphasised how great of a fortress this would have been back in the day. The mountain range surrounding the city was where the Serbian army camped out for a few years during the wars - constantly shelling the city and snipering anyone down below in the city. You could see which building had been shelled either by the shrapnel marks still imbedded into the walls or through the colouring of the terracotta rooves (bright red meant new tiles). After a big day we went back to the hotel but had been placed into different rooms from the previous night. The new room was in the adjacent building which could quite possible be the closest thing you could get to sleeping in a crack den.

Plitvice Lakes -

We arrived at the Plitvice lakes campsite in the afternoon. We were given keys to little chalet types establishments which slept 2 people per house. On our free day we headed to the lakes which we spent a good 6 hours walking around. This was a world heritaged national park and it was outstandingly beautiful fomr the colours of the lake, the waterfalls and the forest canopy we walked through. Some of the wooden board walks gave you the feeling you were walking on water thats how close you got to the water. Great walk for nature lovers

Bulgaria - Serbia - Bosnia

chstone — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 05:04:00 GMT

Sofia Bulgaria -

After leaving Turkey we caught a bus to Sofia where we got in around 5pm. We had a short guided tour of the city which i loved (the city not so much the tour). It was clean, relatively low populated and had a lot of attractive women....Alot! We visited a catholic cathedral that took over 20 years to construct with materials from all over the world. Its known as the world cathedral for this reason. Apparently the slopes during the winter are a cheaper alternative than the Alps.

Belgrade Serbia -

Learning about the Bulkan regions and the history surrounding each of the countries was an eye opening experience especially with how recent it all occurred (in the early to mid 90's). We also arived to Belgrade quite late but were able to walk through the fortress looking at the tanks and armourey that was used throughout the wars.

Sarajevo Bosnia -

One of the most confronting experience in my life visiting Seberinka. The second largest massacre in Europe behind that of WWII and only happened in 1995! More than 8000 innocent civilians were killed by the Serbian army with the UN doing nothing to stop them even though they had posted soldiers in the town it occurred in. 90% of the casualties were men and boys aged between 12-78. We were given a tour by someone who had experienced the pain first hand - a young women whos father was taken by the Serbian soldier before her eyes. It was a very emotional place heightened by the fact that it was a natioanl holiday in Bosnia which results in all the widows and woman visiting the graves of the ones they had lost. It is definitly a place i would recommend visiting and learning about. That night our driver dropped us into Sarajevo where you could still see schrapnel holes in the walls of building from the war. Bosnia was a very beautiful place, someone i would love to visit again but in much more depth!

Turkey

chstone — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 04:52:00 GMT

Turkey – Gallipoli

Well crossing the border from Greece to Turkey was an experience, we all filed off the bus and lined up to get our visa stamp put into our passports. A few us got through before a few men who obviously couldn’t be bothered waiting in line after us forced their way to the front of the line forcing their papers into the little office with the border officer inside. This didn’t impress our bus driver ‘Razor Ray’ who started putting his body in the way of the men trying to barge through. More locals came but as they now couldn’t get to the office window they started banging on the door of the office until the officer opened it and handed out stamps to them. So eventually we reached Turkey soil where we picked up our tour guide who was going to show us to Gallipoli and the surrounding memorials. We walked along Brighton Beach, which was where the diggers were supposed to land which was some 400m south of Anzac Cove. It was a surreal experience visiting such a historical place, which hold such importance in our growing of a nation. The terrain was so undulating, I couldn’t imagine jumping off a boat to be immediately being shot at while trying to find cover on such a small stretch of beach. Learning that 2000 men didn’t make it through the first night was horrifying – had they only landed where they were intended to so many lives may have possibly been saved. The water along the cove was spectacular, brilliantly sparkling some of the best I had seen of the trip. After visiting the cove we drove to the ‘Lone Pine’, which I had heard a bit about. A lot of Australian graves were situated over looking the coast in particular a wall with every soldiers name who did not make it back to Australia including a 14 year old boy who was injured during battle and died on a boat to Egypt where he was seeking medical attention.

That night we were staying at the “Crowded House” hostel in Ecealate (an Australian hostel). We played some Aussie classics including ‘True Blue’, and ‘Home among the gum trees’.

Istanbul:

We headed to Istanbul the following day were the staff at the hotel took our bags and brought them to our room, luckily for us because we were on the fourth floor. Spent the afternoon exploring the city eventually finding our way down to the riverbanks, which separate at the continents of Europe and Asia. A lot of the locals were fishing along the banks – no bait just throwing lines in with small hooks occasionally catching small fish. We had a look at the ‘Blue Mosque’ which was the largest in the world the only with 6 towers. We had a quick walk down the spice markets where I few one liners were thrown out such as ‘I have beautiful spices for your mother in law’ which was then promptly replied with ‘I also sell poison’. That night we had dinner at a restaurant that had over 4000 lanterns hanging from the room, which was quite spectacular but a lot were hanging very low resulting in a few heads butting into them.

Our first full day in Istanbul was spent doing a tour of one of the palaces followed by some shopping in the Grand Bazaar then on to the Blue Mosque the only one of its kind in the world with 6 towers. The Grand Bazaar was a whole new world, we walked through tunnels continuously getting lost while looking for men’s happy pants (those of which Aladdin donned in the Disney classic). After walking away mid batar with a few stores due to either ridiculous asking prices or lack of design we eventually settled with one lucky punter who’s starting price was 70 per pants – we got him down to 3 for 110 Turkish lira. The Blue Mosque was good to visit, I appreciated the scale, design and significance it holds but I still believe the churches and cathedrals throughout Europe were better.

That night we had a Topdeck extra which was a belly dancing show and traditional Turkish dinner for 70 euro (all you could drink). Wowee what a disappointment!!! The show itself was a joke as was the dinner and service. We ordered beers and after 20mins they still hadn’t made it to the table. One of the boys wasn’t happy and expressed it to a few of the waiters. They eventually got their act together until they ran out of spirits and had to send someone down to the shops for more which they only returned with 2 bottles of vodka for 30 odd people. By the end of the night we were behind the bar pouring our own drinks and find finger discounting a bottle of Raki and a wig off a mannequin for good measure. We kicked onto a local club (on a Tuesday night….) until it was time for me to go back to the hotel and wrap myself around the toilet bowl for a good 6 hours.

The next day – sickest day of my life, no point mentioning what I did because I barely left the hotel room.

Mykonos and Greece

chstone — Sat, 3 Aug 2013 02:00:00 GMT

SourceURL:file:///Cameron/Users/cameronstone/Desktop/Greece.doc

From Rome we caught an overnight ferry to Greece – well that was a sight to behold! After eventually getting on board the ferry we got to our small rooms to put our bags in. I unfolded my top bed bunk yep a four-dorm room the size of your average shoebox. Walking around the decks on the ferry we noticed other passengers setting up their bedrooms… in the hallways, passageways and in front of emergency exits. They were blowing up air mattresses, laying down towels and perching their heads on their backpacks all getting ready for the journey. It was only 5pm and some had already settled in for the night having dinner and sleeping under the light of the deck with people still walking around them to get to their destinations on the boat. Then a few of us reached the roof of the ferry. It was like occupy Wall Street. People had actually set up 2-3 man tents on the roof of the ferry for the night with their legs hanging out of the ends, others had fashioned deck chairs and were already in their sleeping bags trying their best to get some shut eye in the howling wind.

Just made it to the roof for the sunset over the water, which was great, meanwhile dogs that were onboard were taking leaks and laying their foundations. I didn’t realise we booked tickets for Noah’s Ark. The next morning we were docked in Greece where we had a short bus ride to our sailboats. There were 5 people per boat with a captain and first mate elected to sail the boats, 7 all together in the fleet for the next 3 days. We me ‘Boy George’ who loved to drop profanities left right and centre and seemed very stern explaining that if we lost a teaspoon on the boat it would cost us 6 euro. He talked so much about us losing possessions in the boat that he failed to mention where the life jackets were or how to turn on our fridges. Eventually we set sail, which was good. Due to a late departure we only spent an hour or 2 on the water before we made it our first port of call. After docking a few of us realised we needed to get some cash out for the night and the nearest atm was a half an hour walk away which didn’t interest a lot of us. Then a local, which we later found out was the dock, restaurant and bar owner told us he would drive us in to town. So we piled in the back of his Hilux and drove into town with the wind in our hair. Obviously this came as a benefit to him because the money we were taking out was coming straight back to him – some would call him an entrepreneur. That night we spent our hard earned, drank, danced before a midnight swim.

The next day we set sail to a water sports island. I conjured the money up for a bit of parasailing over the crystal blue water which was fantastic – looking over the boats and people using the jetski’s and banana lounges. That night we docked in the south of Corfu. After a quick swim a few of us went to discover the little fishing town we had stopped at. Found out the Hawkers had flogged Essendon, all good news. Witnessed a bit of local Zorba dancing and partook in a bit myself before calling it a night

The last day of sailing we dropped anchor just off the coast of an island and swam in some great water. After this we made it back to the mainland. I had the opportunity to dock the boat with a little bit of help from ‘Boy George’. Took some ripping photos of the sunset that night over the islands

Mykonos:

After a night in Athens checking out the Parthenon an Acropolis we caught a ferry to Mykonos. A few hands of presidents and assholes were played along the journey bringing about many a laugh. We arrived in the afternoon and sussed out our accommodation before heading for the beach and bar. The beach was like off a postcard, crystal clear water, differing shades of blue, lounges along the rocks with straw umbrellas and tunes pumping in the back ground and most importantly no wind. That night I think I can safely say that I had one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. Now the trick if you ever do come to the shores of Mykonos is to 1. Remember that Mykonos always takes but never gives in return (this will be explained later in the rambles) 2. Always get a girl to get your drinks for you because they are cheaper and finally 3. Remember rule no. 1.

That night we hiked it along a goats trail along the cliff face to Paradise Beach where all the clubs were. We arrived at the first club and decided to stay there for the night, bit of body paint, shots and a few different cocktails. Now there was trooper I will not forget anytime soon because he has potentially scared me for life. This one guy short around 35-40 with balding hair down to his shoulders decided it was a good time to get hick cock piece and dance on the podium. Yes I could just accept that in the state I was in then a few girls from another trip decided this was too much clothing for him and hence removed that loincloth from him. Well ill firstly give credit where it is due he only pulled off the sock because I had a massive shlong. Now the next morning a few of the girls had taken some photos of this trooper, which I had to apparently have a geese at. Unbeknown to me on the night this guy once all cloth was removed from his body had piecing’s lets say 6 through is crowned jewels. Now this was too much, sickening and I am very glad I had not witnessed this first hand.

The next day a few lads decided to hire some quad bikes to explore Mykonos on. Well…..what a decision!!! We picked up the hogs then a few girls who were interested in tagging along before hitting the open road. One of the girls needed to get some cash out so we stopped at an atm. She was gone for around 10minutes so I went looking for her. While looking I stubbed my big toes badly, big chunk out of it and bleeding everywhere. I eventually found her sitting down with the bank manager because her card had been chewed by the atm. After a bit of talking and realising we weren’t getting the card back we jumped back on the bikes and headed for the windmills we had first set out to see. Then we came to the round about of death. One of the boys ran up the ass of a rental car leaving a minor scratch but a whole lot of commotion. The guy called the police and then our bike hire company and after an hour still on the side of the road next to the busiest round about in Mykonos the hire dude came out. He told Matt to pay the guy 50 euro and it would be all over, so we did and then pissed off to the windmills. On the way to the windmills Matt ran out of petrol, not a great day for the young kid. So while he was stuck on the side of the road we headed off to find a petrol station and a jerry can to come back to him. We eventually found one and refuelled Matty boy then headed off. Now having wasted half the day. We eventually made it to the windmills, which were a relief, but it was now 4pm so we took the bikes back. When we got back the owner of the hire place said we didn’t need to pay anything to the scum bucket rental driver because everything was insured which we thought was the case. We explained that we were just following his employee’s decisions making. We then got to witness a family feud with the owner having a crack at the employee then the father in his 60’s having a crack – anyway Matty boy never got his 50 back. (Mykonos always taking but not giving).

That night our last in Mykonos we decided to hit a new club back at Paradise Beach. This club was power trip central, bouncers looking for fights, shirtless wogs looking for fights and being the sleaziest guys going around. We drank anyway then decided to hit the hay. On the way back I decided it was a great idea to steal a large beach flag that was on the beach. After getting a good grip a hit top pace as I knew id be pursued. I ran past a few of the boys at turned a blind corner before lobbing the flag up along the rocks. I quickly did a U turn and walked calmly down the track I had just come from, about 5 seconds later 4 security guards/bouncers came running past me not paying me any attention. They found the flag but they were also searching for me wit their lights not knowing that I simply had walked calmly past them. Later on Dave and Tim the two guys I ran past told me that had got into a jog after the bouncers ran after me thinking there may have been an altercation and they couldn’t believe I simply walked past them without them noticing. Good times but Mykonos still won.

Tuscany - Florence - Rome

chstone — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 01:59:00 GMT

Firenze:

We caught another fast train to Florence from Milan and arrived in time for Andrew and Tara and a few others to head up to San Baronto in Lamporecchio. We arrived to have a few drinks and nibbles before we went and met Andrews sisters in-laws where El and I were staying for the following 3 nights. Mario and Paula were awesome! Even if there was a slight language barrier. Mario was a vet and had a few animals such as Jeffrey the horse and a Punto a little dog. Mum and dad were late to arrive having been in Sicily in the morning but it was good to see them.

The next day Andrew has hired a 52-seater bus for 25 people and a local driver to take us around for the next 2 days. Florence was very busy and due to only being there for a few hours I didn’t get the chance to go and see David. We walked around the Duomo and the famous Jewellery bridge (so famous iv forgotten the name of it) before we jumped back on the bus bound for a fashion shopping outlet strip in the middle of the Italian countryside. The shopping was alright would have been good to spend some more time in Florence. We had dinner in Porciano (where el and I were staying with Mario and Paula) that night which is located on the side of a mountain overlooking vineyards, farms and Tuscan villas. It’s in the region of Lamporecchio in between Pisa and Florence. Everyone came from San Baronto because it was the second weekend of the harvest festival they have yearly. Because there were around 30 of us they set up a table for us overlooking the Tuscan countryside with a live band. Stacey made it out that afternoon to spend a couple of night with us. It was a great night eating until we couldn’t stomach anymore, listening to live music and watching the old locals have some serious dance offs. They were very good dances from tangos, rumba etc. Andrew had told me he had heard of a few stories of affairs starting and ending on the dance floor over the years and that even though it was professional dancing everyone on the floor dressed for the occasion and were trying to out do each other. A spectacle to watch!

Lucca and Pisa:

We hoped on the bus to Lucca a small fortress town and hour from Pisa. It was excellent to walk the streets looking at the old stores, towers and fortress walls. Stacey and I climbed one of the watchtowers to look over the city, which was spectacular. We walked along the ramparts and had a look at the botanical gardens situated within the walls which had a pond filled with snapping turtles! Yeow Yeow Yeow

We arrived in Pisa after Lucca on a stinking hot afternoon to be greeted by immigrants trying to flog what ever they could to anyone who looked them in the eye. Even selling “Genuine Rolex” apparently? We made our way to the Cathedral and the Leaning Tower of Pisa where we did the usual tourist pictures. Then the heavens decided to open up for us once again on this Asia/European adventure! So we took cover in the cathedral. The leaning tower of Pisa was great to see and to learn about but apart from that it didn’t offer much else and felt Lucca was a much better town to visit.

That night was our last as big group, as Stacey and I were heading to Rome the next day. We headed to a lovely restaurant Mario and Paula included. We ate and drank (including some homemade blackberry snaps) before we headed home. The next morning I said goodbye to mum, dad and El my travel buddy for the past 4-week and headed to Roma.

Rome:

Stacey and I arrived in Rome in the afternoon after an adventurous train trip where we couldn’t find out boarding passes when the ticket inspector came around. After scrambling around for 5minutes I jumped onto my emails on my phone, which had 2% battery and showed him the confirmation email with our seat numbers. Hail Technology!

Our hotel room was close to the central station in Rome so we decided to hike it, shower and then go and explore Rome. Now Stacey said she had the Rome sight seeing down pat because she was there last year so I kind of went with her and allowed her to direct us until she got us lost….. haha. Before this however we did manage to navigate our way to the Colosseum, which was as good as I had always imagined it to be. To think of the things those walls had witnessed and the atmosphere they would have contained over the centuries of use was astounding. Some little pezzie tried to sell us roses but we soon shoed him off. We had a brief look at the ruins but our next stop was the Trevi fountain. This is were Stacey got us lost haha but we soon found our way as did a couple a hundred other people. We had gotten there around 9pm so it was all lit up and people crowding the waters edge to get photos. The mystique is that if you throw a coin into the Trevi fountain it guarantees your return to Rome. Looks like i am going back.

The Vatican:

Tuesday was our last day together so we decided to go and visit the Vatican…..with everyone else in Rome. Getting to the Vatican at 10.30 wasn’t ideal as the line was now over a 2 hour wait in the searing sun just to enter. After shoeing away a few tour guided saying they would get us in skipping the line we eventually decided it was worth it. SO we paid a guide 46 euro each, which in hindsight was a great decision. I learnt a lot more information that I would have not known about or would have blindly walked past. Like the storey behind the Sistine Chapel paintings both the ceiling and the end walls by Michelangelo. We spent 3 hours walking through the Vatican with the finally visiting the Cathedral. Afterwards we had a brief look at the Spanish steps before heading home to grab our bags. I dropped Stacey off at her backpackers where El was also staying that night and from all accounts they had a big night on the turps. After that I headed back to the station and decided to get a cab because I couldn’t be bothered catching a train then a few local buses to the campgrounds where I was meeting my topdeck tour. The cab driver was nuts and I thought that I mighten even make it to the camp grounds they way he was driving through the streets. At the station prior to leaving he quoted 70 euro and because I was so hot and sweaty and tired I just agreed. When we got to the campground the meter read 46 euro (he got me good). Although I tried to justify my decision later in the night after hearing another couple were pick pocketed on the local bus to the camp ground and it was a hell of a trip from Rome central station. My driver also dropped some killer beats sooooo………

After a quick meet and greet the day was over. We headed to the port the next morning to catch an overnight ferry to Greece

Verdon Gorge, Milan

chstone — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 01:40:00 GMT

Verdon Gorge After the tour we headed to the Verdon Gorge the largest gorge in the whole of Europe. The roads were very narrow, dropping off a couple of hundred meter on one side without and protective barriers preventing you from going over the edge. We camped for our final night in a small town at the bottom of the valley called Castellane The next morning we were up early so we could walked the Sentier Blanc Martel hiking trail which is a 14km hike through the Verdon Gorge. We parked the car at the finishing point and caught a local bus for 30min to our starting point. The hike was very hard, always going up and down the side of the Gorge in the direct sunlight for most of the time. Got some great images of the turquoise blue water that was cold and fresh as we later found out because we didn’t get violently ill from drinking it. We walked through some massive tunnels that were dug as short cuts for what was going to be a hydro system being put in. After 10 years they ended up canning the decision of completing the system. One of the tunnels was 1km (absolutely pitch black). The hike started to wind up after around 3-4 hours walking but that’s when all the drama started!. About 10min form the end of the hike the heavens opened. The raindrops were massive and we were stuck in the middle of the gorge. Then the thunder and lighting show started, echoing of the walls for kms. Once the lightening started we knew we had to take refuge, so we found a cave overhang with a Dutch family and camped it out for about half an hour with the rain, thunder and lightening showing little sign of dissipating. We had a bolt of lightening crack above our heads couldn’t have been any further than 20m away because the area around us lit up scaring the shit out of everyone. El and I decided we had waited long enough and decided to make a run for the car about 1km away. We left the safety of the overhang and made a break for it uphill along a narrow steep track. Well this narrow steep track had now transformed into a gushing river of water which was actually quite scary because we couldn’t see where our footing as we ran up. Adrenalin kicked in a few more lighting bolts cracked so we just bolted through the water till we reached the road. The road had a film of water flowing across it with cars pulled over on the side of the road with their hazards on. We eventually made it to the car soaked to the bone along with our backpacks. The drive out of the gorge was just as fun, dodging rocks and boulders the size of motorbikes that had fallen off the cliff race onto the roads during the storm. We eventually made it to Nice where we dropped the car off. Milano: From Nice we caught a train to Milan for the night. We hopped on a train what we thought was just a metro train which would take us to the border of France and Italy but when we hopped off at our station to catch the fast train we were already in Italy, which was a bit of a shame because I wanted a stamp in the passport! We boarded the high-speed train, which got up to around 250-260km.h and before we knew it we were in Milan. We stayed in one of the best hostels in the world called Ostello Bello, which has won many awards and had only been ope for 2 years. On arrival around 6pm they took our bags and gave us each a free drink telling us to help ourselves to the buffet of pastas, salads, dips etc. This was the first European city where there wasn’t a lot of Aussies and even the locals came to the hostels for after work drinks because they got the buffet as well if they bought a drink. We made some friends with a few Irish girls from Cork then called it a night as we were training it to Florence the next day.

Le Tour de France

chstone — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 17:50:00 GMT

Driving on the opposite side of the road, on the opposite side of the car and changing gears with you non dominant hand was at first something you had to constantly think about but as time went on it was second nature. It did take a bit of time getting used to, just ask the gutter of the shopping centre we got stuck in due to GPS misdirection but after that it was a breeze. Drove to a town called Violes south of Lyon at the foot of Mont Ventoux maxing out at a nice 125km in a new car that had the guts of a slug although it was fun to drive. El and I had decieded to put a message on our back window letting people know where we were from and that we wanted (a campsite) with our number on the bottom of it. We got a few hoots and waves but no campsite. We eventually found one in a vineyard that also happened to have a jazz band playing that night. We met 3 old Pomme blokes who were also following the tour. They told us we had no chance of camping on the mountain on Saturday night because it was already full, well we proved them wrong.

We found a spot 8km from the summit of Ventoux and set up camp literally in a gully on the side of the road. We hiked to the summit Saturday afteroon which was a 5 hour round trip. The summit was breath taking with camper vans perched precariously on the edge all propped up so they were level. Apparently one had backed a bit far and had started to tip over the edge and they had to winch it back onto the road.

The morning of the tour saw thousands of riders ride past us on the way to the summit or close to it. We found out the mountain was expecting 500,000 people on that Sunday for the race. I had donned the hawks Guernsey and received a few cheers and boo’s from fellow ozzies but it was all in good spirit.

2 hours before the race comes through a carnival passes by. It was pretty cool with different brands having a variety of floats where they would throw a variety of items out at people lining the streets. I was able to nab a king of the mountain top and cap as well as a few other things (which when you look back on them are obviously just cheap crap haha). The orica green edge car spotted me out and pulled over giving me a blow up guitar. A couple of hours later the break away riders came through My positioning was good because the peleton had scattered by the time they got to me. Saw Cadel Evans and ran along the Orica Green Edge boys. Then as fast as it had come it was all over. Froome ended up obliterating the rest of the field which was possibly sub-human…… The vibe around the mountain was great throughout the day with everyone being there for the race. Saw and met plenty of Australians walking to the Chateau which was about 4km from the summit. It was mind blowing watching the avalanche of people come down the mountain on their bikes. Tyres were humming on the tarmac and there was the occasional screech of the brakes. We had decieded to get off the Mountain that night and found a caravan park where I had a quick swim dinner and a few drinks.

Vasion La Romaine

After a days rest we drove to Vasison la Romaine which was the start of the Gap stage for the tour. We walked around the town for a couple of hours before the festivities started taking place. We found a spot for the carnival (trying to collect the same crap we ditched only 2 days prior) but the excitement was still the same. Afterwards all the team buses and support cars pulled up in front of us. The riders all rode past us so they could do their warm up before the race. I got some amazing photos with Gerrans, O’Grady and Clarke from the Green Edge Team. Cadel rode past a couple of times but didn’t stop which was understandable. But then on his way to the start line he pulled in beside me for a photo then handed me his BMC cap (warm up sweat and all) telling me quote ‘I’ll give it to you even if you are wearing a Hawks Guernsey”. (Must be a Geelong supporter the turd) Day/Trip made right then and there!

Paris

chstone — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 01:33:00 GMT

Sunday night we flew back to Beijing from Shanghai and what a debarkle that was!!!. Our flight was delayed an hour already then we took off and landed in Beijing. We sat on the tarmac in Beijing for 2 hours before they let us off the plane due to torrential rain. It had caused a lot of flights to be cancelled so there was no terminal for us to dock.

Paris:

Beijing to Paris flight was delayed by 3 hours due to air traffic congestion. This made every flight in and around China delayed at some point during our trip. (No wonder there were no Chinese at check in when they opened it).

We landed in Paris late Monday night and caught the train to our hostel. Descent 4 dorm hostel on a terrace in Monmarte the northern part of Paris. Tuesday morning we got up early and did the tourist attractions such as the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysee and the Arc de Tiumph. Only a 30min wait in line to get up the Eiffel Tower which has great views over the rest of Paris but there was a bit of haze lingering around. First meal in France was escargots (snails) The rest of the day was spent shopping until we went back for an afternoon nap. After getting the call from dad when I woke we headed up to the Sacre Couer Basilica. It was a spectacular building and the highest point overlooking Paris as well. I lit a candle for Pa so he could also enjoy the views. We walked the streets of Montmart looking for a restaurant, listening to accordions being played and watched a variety of sketchers and painters doing portraits of people. Later in the evening we headed back to the Eiffel tower viewing point with a few lads from the hostel to watch it being lit up on the hour.

Tuesday morning we headed to the Louvre, which was great but something you need to do over a couple of days due to the scale of the place. We got lost a few times but still managed to see the Mona Lisa and any other famous sculptures and paintings. After the Louvre we headed to the famous Notre Dame Cathedral where im sure I saw the hunchback swinging from the rafters in the roof. The architecture of the building was phenomenal with the gargoyles along its perimeter looking out. In the afternoon we headed to the Luxembourg Gardens, which were very relaxing. The Chateau was very grand and there were a lot of little kids sailing toy boats in the big fountain in the gardens.

Chateau Versailles:

This Chateau could possibly be the best part of my trip to date. El, myself and another girl from the hostel headed out there for the day. We got there in the morning and it was freezing, having only decided to wear singlet and shorts due to the previous days being very hot. The wind was up and the sun behind the clouds so we couldn’t wait to get into the Chateau to warm up.. We walked through the amazing rooms of the Chateaux which was organised in a one direction self guided tour which took the stress out of it all. Napoleans rooms and just the overall size of the place was nothing id every seen before. The best room was without a doubt the hall of mirrors and the gardens which were acres in size. By the time we got outside the weather had turned and it had started warming up again. There was a massive man made lake in the centre of the gardens so we did what you do when the weather is spectacular and you have water…. We hired a row boat for an hour. It was funny watching some people row because they had no concept of how to move the boat in a straight line. Don’t be surprised if you see me in a new Goulbourn Valley add soon after my technique improved out of side within the hour. The day was possibly so enjoyable because there was no rush, we took our time to see and do everything we wanted. The past week and a half had been so rushed you have to remind yourself you are in fact supposed to be on holidays. Friday we caught a train to Lyon to pick up Purdy the Peugeot 208.

Shanghai

chstone — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 02:50:00 GMT

3 hours late compliments of the China aviation system! What really pissed us off was not the fact we were delayed but they boarded us then told us we would be delayed unlike all the other airlines who didn’t board their passengers until they were ready to take off. So we sat on the tarmac for 2 hours – you know you going to be delayed a while when the food trolley comes rolling down the isle while your wheels are still on terra firma.

Anyway Tegan met us at the airport where either the Brazilian soccer team of just Kaka was headed into town. I still think the warm reception was for the 6 fingered red headed kid from south Croydon….. Due to be already late we had to skip a few things and head back to Tegans place where we did the usual washing, drinking and eating. 30^th floor had a great view the home was great tegan made us feel more than welcome. It was good to wind down for a couple of hours. That night was pretty low key went out for dinner and out to a bar called Dr. Wine for a few drinks before calling it quits.

Next morning Shanghai called its true name the ‘Shanghai Shits’ for obvious reasons. I trooped on as Tegan took us to a water town about 40min out of Shanghai. They are pretty much towns surrounded by canals and waterways etc hence the name. A lot of markets, foul smelling foods and people trying to get your attention. Some of them very half heartedly while they text on their phone rarely looking at you – when they did this I would walk in to their shop and seem interested and get their attention only to walk out. Rebel. The town was great but the weather and my bowels were getting the better of me. Life is put into perspective when your body doesn’t know what end its fluids want to escape from, all in a squat toilet – living the dream! I had to call it quits because of the shits, so we headed home so I could be left alone while the girls went out and did their thing.

After a kip for a couple of hours we headed out for dinner at Bar Barossa. It was Moroccan and it was good. Dinner was great but I was still wary of how much and what I ate. Walked upstairs for a few cocktails and a hookah a.k.a Shisha that was a first for me. Called it a night one the dragon stopped puffing.

Had a much needed sleep in on Saturday before we got our day started. We went to the Shei gardens, which were spectacular. Got to put the new camera in use which I had bought the day prior. We walked through old Shanghai where I lot of people felt the need to sleep in public. Unfortunately for Tegan I had passed my bug on, but as they say sharing is caring and family should always stick together. Funny event – went to buy a bottle of fanta and they lady would only let me drink it if I stayed their finished it and gave her back the glass bottle. SO here I am sculling a fanta so some poor little Asian lady could get her 10c back for the glass bottle. We walked along the bung, which was like walking alone south bank but on a grander scale.

We made the mistake of going to the Oriental Pearl Tower on a Saturday so it was an hour and a half later before we got up the tower. It was a pretty good view of the city but pollution here was also a problem, which limited visibility. The building also had a 360 degree Perspex flood that you could walk around.

That afternoon we headed back to the house to get ready for the Peking Duck dinner, where we met some of Steve and tegans expat friends who were great. Henry and Laura had just moved from England while Gio (who worked for Gucci) and his wife Katia had been I shanghai a similar amount of time as tegan. After dinner which was exceptional we headed to a bar overlooking the Bung which had lit up for the night. Had a few drinks their but this was only the warm up before we headed to a club.

Bar Rouge (a regular for Gio) was the ultimate club over looking the Bung in Shanghai. It was the first club I had been to where to get booths there was a minimum spent to sit down. We nearly got a table between the 8 of us which was around 1k for the night but some opted out which sucked. This club had great views, good mix of tunes and had a variety of ages due to the expat lifestyle in China. The deck overlooking the Bung was where we spent most of the night. Gio told me dancers would come out later in the night and boy they didn’t disappoint. First a tall blonde Russian and a Vietnamese girl got up on a catwalk like runway and danced wearing the bare minimum of course. Then later in the night two Philippine girls did a bit of pole dancing on the outside bar (photo on blog).

Henry the British bloke and I got on really well. We ended up having a look around to meet some new people (he wanted to get away from his wife). There were a lot of model looking girls in the club, who had paid for a few of the booths earlier talked about. Henry and I got talking to two of these girls who were from Ukraine who had been modelling in china for a couple of months. Well when I say we got taking to them it was mainly Henry and I talking. It was like talking to a brick wall. Anyway after our awkward conversation we realised yes these girls were models but they were ‘Sweat Shops Models’. Meaning an agency offered the 3k to come to China for a couple of months to model all around the country, 15 of them getting around in an 8 seater bus. So we ended up feeling sorry for them but only for a little while because they were stilling drinking in the Moet booths. Night kicked on till only around 3 before el and I called it quits long after steve and tegan had gone home ;). Wang their driving was waiting out the front of the club for us where he then took us home.

Sunday morning we had another sleep in before we had brunch at the Waldorf Astoria which I had never heard of before. It was very posh and proper. Could quite possibly be one of the best dining experiences I have ever had in my life. Perrie Jouer Champagne and freshly shucked oysters before our eyes. High tea with cooked delicacies, prawns, salmon etc. I thought this was great but this wasn’t all. After an hour or so of high tea with the champagne constantly being topped up we moved to another room where lunch was awaiting for us. A 4 piece percussion band played on the second level while we ate both from the buffet and food we had ordered from menus. Lobster, prawn cocktails, cheeses, fresh bread, ham and lamb carved off the bone in front of you – you name it they probably had it. Then came the piece de resistance! Dessert! It was the most exciting selection of treats I think ill ever see. White and milk chocolate fountains flowed, fresh fruit, double chocolate brownies, cakes, crème Broulee, macaroons, meringues, biscuits, mouse. Normie would have had a heart palpitation just looking at it – so I took a panorama photo for him haha. Although all that was missing was a big jar of lollies. Tegan and Steve paid for this experience and ill never forget it and really appreciated it. That afternoon we said our farewells and headed back to Beijing for the night before we headed to Paris

Xi'an - Terracotta Warriors

chstone — Sun, 7 Jul 2013 11:51:00 GMT

My preconcieved thought of how China would be were finally confirmed in Xi'an. It was a hussle bustle town which old school chinese architecture and shops which Beijing didnt really offer being a newer city. I had always thought of Xi'an as a small little town with the warriors just outside of the city but you would now compare it to somewhere like Perth of Adelaide smaller than the main cities but still very popular. The city however was like a fortress with an outer wall enclosing the city with only a handful of entry and exit points along the walls. These wall were 20-30m high and very thick obviously for protection in the earlier times.

We got off the train and waited for our hostel driver to come and pick us up, we waited and waited some more before we realised they wernt coming. We ended up waking to Maccas and tried to get some Wifi because my so called world traveler friend had not only forgotten where the hostel is but what its name was, so we couldnt even attempt to pronounce it to a taxi driver. We hailed a taxi hopped in and just told him to take us to any hostel he knew of and we would go from there. This small bit of information was difficult for him so he pulled out his mobile and called someone, then passed the phone to el. It ended up being his son who could speak broken english and we eventually found the hostel.

Once we got to the hostel we questioned them about the lack of transport from the train station, which we got an apology and the offer of 2 free coffies as a piece keeping. The coffees sucked by the way. MId morning we decieded to catch the bus out to the Terracotta Warriors, we had to catch the bus from the south wall where we were staying to the north, this was an eye opening experience as the busses ont really stop to let people on and off they contunially roll. We have joked a fair bit about the OH&S that is non existant in the China.

The warriors were about 40min out of Xi'an and rivalled the Summer palace as the best site seeing destination so far. We walked around the complex unconsciously seeing all the crap ones before we saw the hanger with the thousands of warriors. It was simply mind blowing. Seeing thousands of human sized terracotta casts all facing in the one direction excepts for the flank rows. Each warrior was different so it wasnt like looking at the same one that has been copied. Not only were their humans but also life size horse casts and chariots. It was ridiculous the scale of the whole exhibition. We were told and later saw that they are still uncovering all the warriors, they were found in 1974 buy a farmer digging a well in a paddock, that farmer was their signing books for the hoarding chinese population. So its already been nearly 40 years of uncovering the warriors and they still havnt finished, so this is definately a place you could re-visit in 20 years because it would have all changed again. I couldnt resist myself and bought a miniture archer warrior, it had to be done.

That night we went back to the hostel and made friends with what we think is african royalty because all these group of friends were filthy rich and studying electrical engineering in chinese. We had few drinks in the bar, bit of foose ball and beer pong.

The next day we flew to Shanghai

Summer Palace and Lama Temple

chstone — Sun, 7 Jul 2013 11:17:00 GMT

On Tuesday El and i visited the renowend Summer Palace and Lama Temple in Beijing. After the nght previous escapades (torrential rain and lack of mandarin skills to order a cab) we were happy to be greeted by blue skies with not a cloud to be seen. We thought however tis was a trick by the Chinese Govt because we actually didnt believe the sun existed in China having not seen it for the past 3 days. We soon realised that Beijing under fog was hot and humid, but clear skies Beijing was really hot and humid with the temperature hovering around 40 for the day. Wang came to pick us up where we apologised for calling him so late the night before. With a smile on his face to brushed off the apologies saying 'No worres, but ill drive you anywhere you dont need to take a taxi'. We felt like we offended him by telling him we had wanted to try and catch a taxi and the train network. So that day we waited in the car for us while we did our sight seeing always ready to come and get us at the drop of a text message.

We arrived at the summer palace with the hoards of other travellers (all asian). El and i are both in agreement that it was the best place visitied so far on the trip. The place was huge but it wasnt just building like the Forbidden City it also has a massive park land and lake, with little estuaries running through the town. I think thats why we both enjoyed it more because it was colourful and a bit of everything to offer (the sunshine would have also helped its worth). We spent 2 hours in the palace taking photos and trying some local sweet delicasies before we got Wang to pick us up and take us to a famous dumpling house for lunch.

Easily the best dumplings iv ever had (sorry Dodgies), which i guess youd want them to be seeing tough we were in the heart of China. We had a feast and as a thankyou invited Wang to eat with us, which he was cautious about at the start but warmed to the idea when the plates started coming out. After the massive meal which only cost us around $20 a head for El and i we ventured to the Lama Temple.

I didnt realise the massive Buddhaism following in China, and this temple had a huge following. We walked throughout the temple looking at the range of colours and architecture used to build the little temples. Throughout all of these little temples we large carving of a variety of Buddhas which the locals were praying to with their incense sticks before they put them in the fires to be burnt. We came to the last temple and walked in to see the largest Buddha i have ever seen in my life. The Buddha was carved out of one piece of Sandlewood spanning a massive 18m tall. They apparently carved out the Buddha then built the temple around it, as their would have been no other possible way for it to have gotten in the temple. It was huge!

That night after dinner, Wang dropped us off at the train station (which looked like an airport) so we could catch the over night train to Xi'an where the terracotta warriors are. We got on the platform walked all the way down to carriage 16 passing carriage with 1 bed per room, then bunk beds per room until we got to our carriage which had triple bed bunks side by side....... Thanks for booking that one el! Luckily we had the two bottom beds until one of the passengers (who ended up being a professor at a Xi'an university) asked if i could sleep in the nose bleed section because his 60 year old father inlaw couldnt get up that high. I cold really say no so i donned the hike boots and clambered to the top of the triple bunk bed. Anyone who wants to come and teach english in China hit this guy up.

The Great Wall of China

chstone — Sat, 6 Jul 2013 11:17:00 GMT

Early monday morning Wang picked us up and dropped us off at the same hutong we had spent the previous evening in. We decieded to hike (not walk) a part of the wall around 2 hours out of Beijing from Jingshaling to Simatie. We met up with our tour group from a hostel were we met 2 other westerner boys, from australia, from victoria, from belgrave...... Haha it was pretty funny then one of the boys thought he recognised me and we had eneded up doing the same undergrad course at Melb Uni. Small world. They were in china for uni break and were just travelling around. On the bus their the hike guide told us there were three parts to the wall. The start was the hard part followed by the middle part which was a harder part, followed by the last third which was the hardest part. She wasnt wrong either!

We arrived at the wall and unfortunately the pollution hadnt lifted, which was disappointing because again the photos havnt captured the true scale and awe the wall exhibits. We didnt have a guide for the trip instead they dropped us off at the start and would meet us at the end of the wall 2-3 hours later, therefore we could walk at our own pace. We walked with the lads from Melbourne, which was good fun bouncing jokes of each other and taking some humorous images. We witnessed 22 watch towers along the wall and the further along we got the heavier the fog got. We eventaully could only see 40-50m a head of us, resulting in walking and at the last minute seeing a stair case raise almost vertically into the abyss of the fog (a.k.a the stairway to heaven). The wall goes for roughly 5000km, we walked 6-7km which nearly killed us all with it ebing a lot more strenuous than we all had thought. As mentioned earlier the fog was disappointing but looking on the bright side of things it added a mystic feeling to the whole walk which was enjoyable and halfway along the walk the heavens opened. This was a good thing because it disguised the sweat that we had shed throughout the walk. The lads and i had a beer at one of the last watch towers, bought of an old fella pushing 65 who after taking out money, climbed off the wall into the bushes to gert to his hidden sash before clambering but onto the wall. One thing that did take away from the cultural experience was the continuous pestering of the locals along the wall trying to sell drinks and merchandise. Credit to them for getting themself and their shit to some of the locations but they were annoying.

Beijing

chstone — Sat, 6 Jul 2013 01:35:00 GMT

Firstly a shout out to my mate Glenn, here you go pal sorry for the delay.

My stereotypical thought of China especially Beijing was that everything would have a Chinese influence, the food, the building at just the general atmosphere of the city. How wrong i could be. We arrived in Beijing early sunday morning around 1am. By the time we got to the housing compound we were wrecked.

Our first sight fo Beijing during the day light was surprising. In the car heading into the city there was a lot of trees lining the highway and the streets were very clean. However the polution and traffic did live up to my expectations. Visibility was only a couple of hudred meters and the traffic was literally nuts. The chinese get full use of their car, horn and highbeams especially. They had no fear when it came to driving across lanes and cut in when ever they please of speeding through the emergency lane to beat the traffic.

Wang pronounced (rung) unfortunately, dropped us at Tienamen square mid morning. It is apparently the largest public square in the world and was obviously famous for the incidents that occurred in the 80's i think with the tanks drivers and the chinese man and his teddy. It was a huge place we walked around for about an hour or two where we were asked to be in photos due to our white skin, freckles and my red hair. It was fun at the start then it just got down right ridiculous and we feared to stand in the one spot for too long because we knew a child wold be throuwn in our direction for a snap. The guards here dont like photos taken of them but we got a few sneaky shots in (gropping pictures to come). It was really interesting the lack of western visitors throughout the whole Beijing trip, we rarely saw anyone who did not look chinese, korean or japanese.

On our walk to the Forbiden City El and i saw the funiest thing so far on the trip. WHile walking around Tienamen square we noticed all the kids had slits in there pants or onsies and we didnt know why until we walked under ground to the Forbidden City. A family tried to get their child to have a pic with el but the baby kicked and screemed. We continued walking to only look back the the mother holding the child spread legged over an open rubbish bin to do its thing in broad daylight. Classic chinese people

The Forbidden City, closed to the chinese public for over 500 years while the emporers were in power, home to inuendo and the overpowering of family members. Words will struggle to describe what we saw that as will the pictures due to the pollution unfrtunately. The scale of the city was breath taking, we decided to hire an audio guide after telling all the other human guides we were not interested in them following us the whole afternoon listening to their broken English. This gave us a better understanding of where to go and what we were seeing, it explained all the inticratsies and whatoccured behind the walls for all those years. We spent around 3 ours exploring and discovering new things about the city such as the couldrens in front of every building which they used to burn incense and wood so that the smoke would create a mystic feeling throughout the city. Again their were a lot of asian tourists and very little westerners spotted throughout the city. We continued walking north to a man made mountai over looking the city Jinshang Park. We scaled the steps and looked out over the city but visibiliy was still poor so the pictures and sightseeing wasnt greeat.

Hutongs:

These are little alley ways that had shops, bars and markets packed within its small confines. We decied to check out one called Nanluogu Xiang. It was fantastic, very busy with people selling food, jewellery, books and importantly alcohol. We had earned out first drink for the trip and moved around the bars for the night. When we were finished Wang was only a text message away to pick us up and take us back to the house (living the dream).

Olympic Stadiums:

The night after finishing the great wall walk we decieded to meet up with friends and go to the olympic stadiums which were lit up for the night. We saw the Birds Nest and the Water Cube stadiums which were home to the 2008 olympics. I didnt realize the sheer size of them until we stood under them. The design of both of them were great and lit up the night sky which had just started to spit with rain. We caught the local railway network to another hutong, which put Melbourne's Myki system to shame, it cost 30cents to catch a train anywhere in the city one way. After travelling for 10 minutes we got off at a station climbed the stairs to the road to witness the heaviest rain i had seen in my life. The streets were running rivers, with little tuk tuk riders struggling to ride up stream. The hutong was up the road and had no way of getting their without being drenched so we bout ponchos of a wryly little shit who saw us coming and wouldnt sell the ponchos for less that 10yuan per poncho ($4). We donned the ponchos and stepped out into the deluge. It was one of the most exillerating experiences dodging buses, cars and tuk tuk driver while we leaped rivers and lakes on the road. After 10min of walking we could find the hutong and had to put our pride i our back pockets and walk back to the station.

We spent the night back at the orginial hutong, where we finished up around 12.30. El and i had told Wang not to worry to pick us up instead we would catch a taxi. This was a mistake. We walked out onto a main road in torrential rain and tried to wave down a taxi. 3 stopped and we tried to explain where we wanted to go but they blatantly shook their head closed the window and drove off. Eventaully one was willing to wait until i called Wang on his mobile, which i them passed to the driver so he could explain the adress. We arrived home 1.30am, an hour later than we should have, but we were home!

The Journey

chstone — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 08:40:00 GMT

An interesting start to the day yesterday, having arrived at te airport in the morning with suffiecient time to acquire the customary McDonlds breakfast we made our way through customs to the gate where Elysa and i waited to board the plane. As i stood up to join the line my nose decieded it had plans of its own (which doesnt surprise me because it has had for the past 10 years). I had such a bad blood nose the flight had fully boarded, they were all waiting for me but i wasnt going anywhere fast. Finally Elysa was told to go buy me a bottle of coke by a doctor to place at the back of my neck to cool me down. Eventually the bledding ceased and we boarded with out any dramas until later in the flight it all happened again!

The flight to Beijing was pretty comfortable with tv screens in the back of our chairs which we wernt going to get according to travel guru Daniel Salzmann, we didnt get the usual choice of movies like Jumungi and Twister like Con and Tracey did back in the day. We found it amusing the language barrier we faced (still on the tarmac at Melbourne airport), however this amusment soon faded when we were told we would be landing in Shanghai to clear customs them take a domestic flight to Beijing after a 2 hour delay. We eventually got to Beijing at 1.30 in the morning after leaving Melbourne at 10.30am. We had it better than the family we sat across from though, who after all of this were hopping on a flight to Gatwick airport (another 12 hour flight).

Our driver Wang picked us up at the airport, where we were was king hit the the smell and presence of the renound 'FOG'. The moon is red funnarily enough like my hair, and flood lights illuminate the roads. We arrived at Rob and Lisa's house where Wang said he'd be back in the morning to take us into Beijing where we plan on seeing Tienamen Square and the Forbidden City. The house is ridiculous and neighbours Jackie Chans house in the housing compound. Iv already dcieded to stake out his front door for a photo. Hopefully the weather is good for the rest of the week as we plan on walking the Great Wall tomorrow with a hostel group. Photo will be put up asap

Itinerary

chstone — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:59:00 GMT

Cam’s travel Itinerary:

China:

June 29^th – Bejing

July 3^rd – Xi’an

July 4^th – Shanghai catch up with Tegan

July 7^th – Beijing

France:

July 8^th – Paris

July 12^th – Lyon

July 12 – 17^th following the tour de France

July 18^th – Nice to Lamporecchio (Tuscany)

Italy:

July 18^th – 22^nd Tuscany

July 22^nd –23^rd Rome

Topdeck Tour:

Day 1: Rome

Day 2: Rome to Greece

Day 3-5: Sailing Greek Islands

Day 6: Plantaria to Athens

Day 7-8: Athens to Mykonos

Day 9: Mykonos to Athens

Day 10: Athens to Meteora

Day 11: Meteora to Kavalla

Day 12: Kavalla to Gallipoli

Day 13: Gallipoli to Istanbul

Day 14-15: Istanbul

Day 16: Instanbul to Sofia, Bulgaria

Day 17: Sofia to Belgrade, Serbia

Day 18: Belgrade to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzgovina

Days 19-20: Sarajevo to Dubrovnik, Crotia

Day 21: Dubrovnik to Plitvice lakes

Day 22: Plitvice Lakes

Days 23-24: Plitvice lakes to Budapest, Hungary

Days 25-26: Budapest to Vienna, Austria via Bratislava, Slovakia

Days 27-28: Vienna to Krakow, Poland

Days 29-30: Krakow to Praque, Czech Republic

Days 31: Praque to Berlin, Germany

Day 32: Berlin

Days 33-34: Berlin to Amsterdam, Netherlands

Day 35: London

Photos: Asia

chstone — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:42:00 GMT