Cheapy Cheap!

I think Chelsea and I both agree that our time in Budapest was less about wandering around the city, discovering cool, exciting things to snap photos of and marvel over but about chilling out and preparing ourselves for our two weeks in India!

We thought we had a CouchSurfer lined up for the entire length of our stay but when we failed to connect the first day we were no longer sure. Lucky for us he lived in the same building as a cheap hostel, where we would bed down for the next two nights.

The first morning we woke up with a purpose, attain our Indian visas. Now, we had been putting this task off for the entire six months in Europe, praying that our research was right and we could apply for the visa at our port of exit to India. The processing takes three days and the embassy only excepts applications between the hours of 10am-12pm, Monday – Thursday. It was Wednesday and if we didn’t get there this day, we were screwed! Needless to say we woke up stressed to find the embassy and get it done.

Chain Bridge

Three quarters of the way through our cups of coffee and halfway out the door, our CouchSurfer, Gyuri comes wobbling in to our hostel. He is a good looking guy and well spoken so I guess I would say he has charisma! You could talk to him about anything from US monetary system to Scientology, and we did. BUT, not on this morning.

Once we had the Indian Visa situation taken care of (and realized there was no way for a Russian transit one) we felt like we could relax and take in Budapest. Our host Gyuri was a really interesting guy, probably one of the most unique individuals we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. He had heaps of advice about traveling in India and Southeast Asia and we swapped stories about touring Europe and America. Like I mentioned earlier, he is a guy that could talk about anything so conversation flowed super easy laying the groundwork for a quickly formed friendship.

Playmate party!

He taught us about the national sport of Hungary… sneaking in to places (or getting in for free). Of course Chels and I were all about the price of free but when it came to hopping fences to get into a mineral bath we took a pass. Riding the tram and bus without tickets, dodging the conductors was enough of a thrill for us and as much risk as we were willing to take. A highlight of our “sneaking in” experiences with Gyuri was when we somehow scored VIP to the Playboy Playmate of the Year Party at this uber cool night club. The place was packed with people, especially for the strip-tease show at the end.

Strip tease!

This girl apparently was a famous Hungarian porn star (The OTHER National sport of Hungary), and an amazing stripper, opening her own place, and teaching girls ha! She’s pretty old now in the face, but rocked a great bod….and put on a fabulous show!

The next day we finally caught up with Courtney, ready for this…Brad’s mom’s co-workers daughter! haha! It was cool to have a mutual soon-to-be-friend to meet up with in another country! We met at St.Stephens Basilica, which is MASSIVE and beautifully placed in a big square with lots to do and see around it….it’s the center of attention!

Gorgeous!

Underground!

After eating at a yummy Italian restaurant where it was soooo nice to have a delicious Caesar Salad…. Courtney and her friend took us to this “underground pub” called Szimpla. This place reminded us of the festival put on by the squatting community in Amsterdam… lots of Art and what might be considered junk…turned into something funky and fun. Apparently there are a few places like this in Budapest; they are called ROMKOCSMA or “ruin pubs” because the buildings had no use any longer. Anyway, we loved it..super cool AND they brewed their own beer!

The next few days Brad and I spent relaxing, wandering the city, picking up our visa (yay!), having a picnic in the park which Brad completely organized Gyuri also took us to the flea markets one morning which turned out to be great timing, because there was a massive marathon happening in the same area. I’ve never been to one, so it was cool to see the hundreds and hundreds of people preparing, and all the commotion and excitement going on!

Before we knew it, it was almost time to leave Budapest. But not before meeting Courtney’s Dad! It just so happened he was coming into town while we were there, so it was great to meet Jeanne’s coworker and get some juicy stories on her It all turned out to be good of course! He treated us to a meal and the conversation flowed. Thanks again Richard

Next stop: India!!

Pretty Prague

We woke up bright and early to get a good days start seeing the sights! We didn’t get very far before the aroma of delicious food leered us in! Chicken on a stick and sausages, complete with sugary pretzels for dessert! YUM! So now with full bellies, we made our way across the famous Charles bridge before exploring a pretty park which gave us a beautiful view of the whole city! And after some trials and tribulations in the woods, we finally made it to the castle!

YUM!

After walking up a moderately sized hill and proud of our accomplishment, we decided to reward ourselves with a few beers. We ended up stopping at this medieval times type place which was absolutely pitch black inside, aside from a few flickering candles. The tables and chairs were made of heavy wood and the place was decorated like a dungeon.

Medieval bar

We were lucky to arrive at the castle just in time for the change of the guards….so serious! Checked out the cathedral and castle…always a magnificent site, and snapped some fun pics from the outside.

Castle!

As soon as the sun went down, we got ourselves ready for Prague’s nightlife! There are tons of clubs, bars, and restaurants open late, and we first got lured into an empty one with go go dancers on crack before managed to find “Eastern Europes biggest club” ha who knows if that is true! Nevertheless, it was a blast. The dance floor was lit up in all different colors and constantly changing, and the 4 of us danced the night away! Brad and I called it a night, but Chris and Joe stayed out til all hours of the night Not really…they left shortly after us but got horribly lost and made a 3-hour walk home! Sorry boys! Makes for a good story though

Dancing the night away!

We left Prague with an appreciation for the cities beautiful mixture of architecture, its green parks overlooking the river, and of course its nightlife!

Serbia!

We were scheduled for 4:30 and arrived closer to 6:30am – still way too early to contact our hosts though! So we walked around the city but with most things still closed we settled down in a park and watched LOST haha! We eventually made our way through the pedestrian district to a massive 5 story bookstore and planned to be picked up by our hosts, Aka and Mihailo – both whom are teachers! We had a great chat on the way home and when we got to their place, they had this amazing Serbian style lunch prepared for us – stuffed peppers (with minced meat, rice and herbs) and a veggie soup! Oh and delicious hearty bread, which we have not had in so long! It was AMAZING! We felt totally spoiled! Then we enjoyed some Turkish coffee over more conversation (they both speak amazing English!) before resting a bit, taking showers and yay – washing our clothes! (Brad had some smelly ones from the botched laundry job the last lady did!) They also had 2 cats, a white one with a Hungarian name, and a black one with a Spanish name, but both were just referred to as the white cat and the black cat Haha. But the black cat was all over us and it was nice to be able to snuggle with a cat since it wasn’t a stray like all the other ones we’ve met!

A bombed building :(

We were debating whether to go out on the town, but ended up drinking local beer and listening to different Serbian musicians all night with Aka and Mihailo. Mihailo cooked us this massive pasta dish with bacon, tomatoes and garlic. I had this mountain of food thinking there is NO way I can eat all this – but I did..whoops! It was too yummy and I think put all of us into a food coma afterwards. We were pretty knocked out, and by the end of the night Brad was struggling to keep his eyes open!

The next morning, we went with Aka to the supermarket and picked up some fresh rolls for breakfast. She gave us some Serbian cheese and this homemade pepper sauce to put on our rolls. I should clear up that when we first met our hosts, we told them our favorite part about traveling is the local food we try and the people we met! So they took it upon themselves to share all of their amazing Serbian food with us and it was all sooo good!! After breakfast and another Turkish coffee, we hit the town and got an amazing history lesson from them while we explored! Beograd is a great city!

Massive watermelon bench!

There are parks and greenspace everywhere, a lot of pretty government looking buildings, and of course 2 rivers running right through it, the Danube and the Sava! When we walked to the fortress and had an amazing view of the city, we unfortunately noticed a huge storm coming our way so decided we should head back home.

The 4 of us!

But not before picking up hamburgers for a late lunch/dinner. These hamburgers are anything but McDonalds burgers though, and apparently the hamburger is a very Serbian thing to eat! These things were MASSSIVE though!! Brad and I were thinking we wanted French fries, but luckily Aka convinced us we wouldn’t need them..and she was right! I struggled to eat my whole burger! Before we knew it, it was time to catch our train, and Aka handed us a bag filled with goodies – a notepad and pen that said Beograd (perfect for leaving thank you notes to our future couch surfers!) and muesli bars for the train ride!  We were so spoiled – hey were the absolute most generous hosts to us AND we had really great conversations together! It will be hard to top that experience in couchsurfing I think!

Our super spiffy train cabin!

When we got to our train, we were ecstatic to see our cabin! This time we had our own private sleeper, with a goodie bag and all! We were like little kids opening all the drawers and cabinets, exploring our little cabin! (We usually get the crappiest of crappy cabins, but there was a special deal for this day that was the same price for both!) We still couldn’t wipe the smiles off our face when we heard a knock at our door and were asked for our passports. We did as we were told, but it was a bit strange since we were not at the border yet. Then again, our passports were taken at the beginning of our bus ride to Bulgaria, so we went with it – this man had on a uniform and a gun, so we weren’t arguing! After looking at our passports for longer than usual, he asks us why we in Belgrade – “to visit friends just for a day, we are on our way to Vienna though”. Do you have your white papers  “no, we have never heard of these actually, what are they?… ” When you get to Belgrade, you need to go to the police station and register who you are within 24 hours – “oh, no we have never been told to do this.” Well then you have to come with us and get off at the next stop to see the judge.  “WHAT?! Sir we were just passing through. When we got here, the lady at the border asked what we were doing and how long we were here for and told us NOTHING about this. Please, we are trying to leave now.” You must do this in every city, so now you must come with us. “Sir please we did not know, we have crossed so many borders and NEVER been told this, please we will do it from now on, now that you have told us. We cannot get off this train – we payed so much money and cannot lose this ticket!… ” Well this is not my fault. You must come .. “Please where will be go, we have no idea where we are, where will we sleep? What can we do, we will pay a fine, can we pay you (even though we have not a lick of cash on us!).. ” No you must come see the judge

So this conversation goes on and on for 45 minutes – us PLEADING not to get off the train, because seriously we would be screwed! We were scared shitless BUT Brad and I admitted later that both of us were a little skeptical of this guy from the start. He was uniformed but it was different than all the other cops walking up and down the halls. We even tried to talk to his “superior” who didn’t speak any English and it was no help. EVENTUALLY after he could probably tell we were going to do everything in our power to NOT get off the train, he says Ok the ONLY thing I can do is talk to my boss, tell his you “lost” your papers and you can pay a smaller fine to me now. “OK Ok OK we will do that! We will get off in Budapest and run to the ATM and get you 100 euros”.  NO not Budapest, you must pay HERE in Serbiaâ. “Ok um we have no cash on us …can you take credit card.. ” NO credit card! Brad and I both open our wallets and have seriously not one coin or bill inside. Then we go on and on for a little longer about having to get off and see the judge and FINALLY he says Ok, fine I will tell the border control about this and you will get a stamp. “OK thank you sir! We will pay a fine” Ok, everything is ok –  and then he leaves!! WHAT?!?!?! Relief!! But holy shit! Excuse my swearing, but this is how we felt! What just happened?! He is a sketchball! He probably had a deal with the cops that he could do that, and would give them a share of what he get. AhhhHHHH relief!! Completely killed our high of having this amazing 1^st class cabin! He saw we were Americans and was on top of us! Then he realized we were broke backpacking “students” as we told him, and gave up on us! PHEW!!

When we got to the border, the man looked at our passport for a total of 2 seconds, stamped it and left! OMG!

Bulgaria!

I suppose the only real reason we decided to go a little bit out of our original planned path was to swim in the Black Sea. We arrived at sunrise and fumbled around trying to find the hostel; this included a stop off at McDonalds for use of their free WIFI to get better directions. Eventually we found the place, despite being told the wrong bus stop to get off at by the grumpy bus attendant * (with horrible fire red hair!) and at this point, Brad was hating Bulgaria, but luckily we found the hostel was a really cool place with really cool people – and a really cute kitty!

Kitty!

X hostel is a short climb up the hill from the bus stop. A gated area with a nice garden lining the walkway into the living space. Since we were there so early we woke the receptionist, a nice Polish guy who spoke with a German accent. We settled in nicely and grabbed some of the complementary (basic) breakfast. After about 4 cups of coffee and a few slices of bread we figured it might be a good idea to see what we came for and check out the beach.

I will have to check my facts, but I am not sure how the Black Sea got its name, surely not from the water. Instead, a turquoise blue greeted us as we walked towards the golden sands. It was nice to walk on fine sand again after being in Perissa and Olympos where it is more pebbles than grains.

Black Sea

However, the beach itself was not that impressive. There was maybe 50 feet from the water to the cement wall the marked the end of the beach and most of it was overrun with umbrellas and beach chairs from the hotels. The water was definitely not as clear as the Mediterranean or Aegean but it didn’t ruin our fun.

We played paddle ball keeping track of the number of successful returns we could get, only 33, and once we were hot enough went for a swim. We had to clear out a short while after due to a massive storm that I Thought was rolling in .. sorry chels.

Paddle Ball fun!

Once we got back and sat down the long sleepless bus ride from Istanbul started catching up to us. I passed out on the floor of the common area and not to long after Chels was asleep on the couch. We were in and out of sleep for a few hours but eventually woke up when other travelers started coming in. One of the employees suggested that we should check out the hot springs and was trying to organize an excursion. We were all about it, especially since it was about 5 euros for the two of us. A big group of us started heading down to the hot spring around sun set and as we walked we got to know each other a little bit. There was a few guys from England travelling in their first summer of Uni; A Canadian and an American traveling together en-route to Istanbul; and a couple of the hostel employees including the half Italian, half Irish owner whose English also sounded German. The hot springs were not exactly what we expected.

Group of us from the hostel!

We thought they would be located somewhere in the sea, but instead there was this massive swimming pool with three fountains pouring water From the hot springs. At first we thought, maybe they call massive hot tubs “hot springs” in Bulgaria, but once we smelled the sulfur, we figured they were legit. We messed around in there for a while, drinking our oversized 2.5 liter beer and chatting about travels.

Biggest beer I’ve ever had!

Once we were nice and pruned up we headed back for a quick drink and some games (Kings YAY my favorite) then passed out in our tent. Tent because it was significantly cheaper than a dorm room.

Long train rides

We took off early the next morning and the next 20 hours or so were spent on trains. First from Varna to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, then from Sofia to Belgrade, Serbia.

We arrived on a Thursday morning after a 12+ hour bus ride from Antalya that was anything but comfortable. From the bus station or “otogar”, we caught the bus to Taksim square, which has the same buzz and masses of people as Times Square minus the skyscrapers.

Taksim Square!

Leading out of the square is a paved road, closed for vehicles but that doesn’t mean it’s without traffic. The beginning of the street is elevated giving you a good vantage point to the thousands and thousands of people walking it. The street is lined with shops and restaurants, but not exactly the touristy kinds. And for those not up for a long walk, running down the center of the street is an old school trolley car.

Old trolley

Our hostel was at the very end of the street, nearly 2km in the blistering heat with backpacks on. We were in desperate need of sleep but decided to push through the day and not mess up our internal clocks. So, we figured since it was so hot and we were too exhausted to site see, we would see a movie. The only two movies playing in English were Robin Hood, which we had just seen, and Sex & the City 2.

And my amazing boyfriend that he is took me to see it!! It was interesting though because the movie had a lot of Muslim references in it, and being in a predominately Muslim country, i had to look around to see if any girls seemed upset…but…none around!

It was a good date movie, that killed a few hours and when we got out, the temperature had dropped a bit. We regrouped at the hostel for a few minutes and finished the day with a grilled fish sandwich from one of the famous boats on the other side of Gallata Bridge. It was damn yummy, but I was so tired I almost couldn’t enjoy it. As soon as we got back to the hostel I passed out fully clothed not to awake until breakfast the next morning.

Fish sandwich!

After breakfast we rode the trolley to Taksim Square to meet our VERY FIRST couchsurfing host Mine. It was our first time ever couchsurfing and we were not sure exactly how it would go, but it was so smooth, before we even could think about it we were hanging out in her house getting tips about seeing Istanbul. She had put together quite a nice afternoon for us informing us of the good places to go on a budget aka free places that were must sees.

The Spice Bazaar was first on the list. It was a treat for the senses providing amazing smells from the bakeries and mounds of spices; the sounds of the crowds and shop owners trying to bait you in and the spectacular colors of the lights, shops and foods as well as the heaps of people.

Spice Bazaar

Next we were off to the Grand Bazaar. This massive establishment took a lot longer to walk through than the grid formation avenues full of vendors. As lonely planet points out, you could spend a 3 hours or three days in here. Unfortunately or fortunately for us some of the shops were closing up. Otherwise we may have been tempted to buy things. There are shops as far as the eye can see, which can be placed into a few categories: souvenirs; clothes; hookah & accessories; Turkish delight and tea; mostly copycats of one another but still interesting to see and good if you are in the mood to shop around. There were fountains at the exits for washing hands and feet, we think it was for the Muslims to clean up before prayer but not sure.

After the bazaar, we made our way to the famous blue mosque, which really was very marvelous! Outside of every mosque are these tall minarets…some have only one or 2 of them, but the blue mosque has 5 of them, so it really stands out! Tourists walk in the back entrance, and everyone takes off their shoes and puts them into bags that are offered at the entrance. Women then also must cover their heads – I had my own scarf since I knew this going in, but just in case, they have scarves they lend unprepared tourists! I kind of thought it was just a respectful thing to do, but when we inside, we saw a uniformed man confronting women who were uncovered to cover up! Inside though, it was very beautiful – HUGE! The pictures really do not do it justice at all!

Inside the blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque

Right across from the blue mosque with a nice courtyard and fountain in between is the Hagia Sophia, which is also beautiful, but costs money to get in, so we opted for the external view! We continued walking around town for a bit and found a little place that serves huge bowls of pasta for 4 Lira! SO CHEAP and LOTS of food!

Hagia Sofia

And so we ate and drank some Raki that we brought with us in our purse and headed back to Taksim to meet Mine and her friend! When we got to Taksim, it was unreal! There were these little windy strips of bars and cafes FULL of people enjoying their night out! We went to one of Mines favorite spots to get some “nut” vodka shots, which taste just like hazelnut (YUM!) before we headed to Faces, which is supposed to play 80’s, but really was in a 90’s mood that night! It was a fun night and great to see the nightlife in Istanbul!

Out with Mine

The next day was festival day!! Yay! First we went out to a late breakfast with Mine,which was similar to the Turkish breakfast we had in Olympos, minus the omelet, but with some delicious Turkish sausages and of course, some Cay tea! Before we left, Mine let brad bring back his bartending days and mix us up some pre-game drinks! The festival was called Efes (The local beer) One Love and had a really colorful theme, which excited me! When we got there, we got away with getting student tickets YAY, got ourselves a beer, and made it just in time for  “Whitest Boy Alive” a funky German band of truly really white white guys!

One Love Festival

When they finished, Brad and I explored the grounds and found some fun free activities! One was a before and after dress up picture, but the next was a free carictature, and the guy drew Brad to a TEE! We didn’t even exchange words with him about traveling or anything, but the now hippie looking Brad must look like a true traveler now because the guy drew him with a backpack..bum roll and all! He did a pretty terrible job of me L but I was so ecstatic about brads I didn’t even care.

Our FREE Carictatures

The next band was FischerSpooner and they were so eccentric and entertaining! Basically it was this one guy singing, but he had 4 or so dancers in weird outfits that did really interesting dance moves and faces and such! I definitely enjoyed the show and really enjoyed some of the songs too!

Finally it was Groove Armada! and they were amazing!! It sounded like several bands in one – ¦they had a girl singing, and then would switch off to a reggae rap guy! The best part though was their laser show! A band I will look out for in the future at festivals! They were the headliner, and next were the DJ sets, which excited brad and I, but unfortunately the police showed up and made them stop because the music was too loud for the city!

Groove Armada

After the festival, we took a supposedly free shuttle to Taksim, but the driver decided he was going to TRY to charge people, and all the students were furious so they started just jumping off the bus in traffic (including us) and actually the whole shuttle emptied except for 2 people by the time we arrived! Then on the way to the bars, stopped at this place called Patata! It is a shop that only serves fresh French fries topped with any topping you want to get! YUMMMM! We got this cheddar sauce and it was so delicious we got it the next day too!

Patata!

Our final day in Istanbul was spent relaxing around the city before we left to take our bus to Bulgaria!

When we left the Greek Island we had almost no idea of what to expect of Turkey. I can not remember any significant history, no cultural practice that stands out or recall some pop culture that country has offered up. We went in with a clean slate and left with a full plate. We both equally loved Turkey and were sad to say goodbye, but it will definitely not be our last time passing through this culturally explosive country!

Gobble Gobble

Kadir’s Treehouse!

Lonely planet describes Olympos Turkey as a one time hippie hotspot, or something like that, so naturally we wanted to check the place out. We caught the midnight bus from Marmaris to the nearest major city, Antalya, and were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the bus service. Free coffee and tea throughout the 7 hour trip as well as a snack time! Olympos is nicely located in a deep valley that meets with the Mediterranean making it tough to get to as well as subject to landslides. Two years ago they had a massive one that wiped out the entire town, so we prayed for sunshine. The first bus from Antalya to Olympos drops you off at the roadside restaurant and you catch the mini bus down to the town from there. We had expected this arrangement but did not anticipate the level of accuracy and punctuality of the buses. Before we knew it, we were cruising the town for accommodation. The first place we stopped at was at the recommendation of a nice Aussie girl we met in Marmaris. It was located close to the beach and provided breakfast and lunch (free!) However, it was going to cost us a few more Lira than we intended to spend. We had a quick look at the guide book and made the hike to Kadirâ.

Vegemite House!

The town of Olympos has enough hostels to accommodate a ton of people; in fact the entire town’s commerce is tourism. What makes this place unique is the style of accommodation, Treehouses!  Kadirâ’s happened to be the first to do this and we felt it was fitting, after all the copycats, that we picked the original.

Plus it was super hippie with paintings all over the tree houses that the people have done!

Apparently a year or 2 ago, half of the tree houses were wiped out and all these Aussies and Kiwis came to help rebuild and decorate everything…so there is Aussie stuff EVERYWHERE and i was really excited when i saw the vegemite house!! There were cushions everywhere to lay around on and a volleyball court, chickens running around everywhere… and just tons of cool stuff~!

Eventually we tore ourselves away from the tree houses and made our way to the beach, where you actually have to pay to get into – 3 lira for a day pass, or 5 for a week! We went for the week of course, but I’m always upset when you have to pay for beach entry. The reason why though, is that there are tons of ruins along the way, which turned out to be really really cool. They were deep in the forest and really fun to explore.

Ruins in the jungle!

Awesome ancient trees

When we finally got to the water, it was such a beautiful sight, with mountains surrounding us, and crystal clear blue water right in front of us! The water felt soooo nice too, especially because it was pretty deathly hot in Olympos, being on the southern coast! So every day Brad and I would wake, eat our traditionally Turkish breakfast, which seems to be Tomatoes, Cucumbers and this white cheese, olives (which Brad and I opted out of) and bread, with Jam and honey! And then we would get fresh omelets made by this guy who has perfected the art of flipping and making fast omelets! He also took a liking to Brad because on the first day, Brad said hello to him, and that his omelets are delicious, and from then on, Brad got a double sized omelet!! Then we would head to the beach and just swim in the water for a couple hours. We wouldn’t even sunbathe because it was too hot AND we didn’t want to dirty our freshly washed bath towels!

Beautiful backdrop1

Ice cream in a melon!

Then we would just hang out with the staff in the outdoor cafe/bar upstairs and watch the world cup! The dinner was this massive buffet, and we would walk down the line while these ladies put spoonfuls of food onto our plate, and by the time we reached the end, there was a mountain of food – half of it unknown to me as to what I was eating, but ALL of it delicious!!

Our Vegetarian dinner!

It was such a relaxing time, and it really was sad to leave! There are paintings all over the place that say “We came, we saw, we stayed, and stayed and stayed and stayed” and it’s true. It is hard to leave because it is super relaxed, you get fed an amazing amount of delicious food, and you have this beautiful beach with water so clear it looks like the bottom is only 5 feet under you, when really its 30 feet! (Brad and I took turns trying to touch the bottom because it looked SO close, but we could NOT get it!!) Finally though, we did catch a night bus out of there to Istanbul, although admittedly only after considering staying just ONE more night! Lucky Brad was there to talk me out of it, or I probably would have ended up staying and working there all summer! (The staff gets fed lunch TOO, and gets free beers at night!)

These paintings are awesome

The never-ending boardwalk!

It reminded us a little bit of Perissa with the free sunbeds and straw umbrellas along the sands in front of the literally thousand or so restaurants and bars that lines the boardwalk. We made it about 2km or so the sun and heat started getting to us but with no end in sight we decided to turn back. The employees of the restaurants that line the beach are extremely proactive in their selling techniques but also surprisingly friendly and respectful. We stopped and talked with a few of them who were happy to talk with some Americans. According to them not to many Americans make it to Turkey. We spoke with one hotel/restaurant owner who after several minutes of casual conversation asked me if I was in the CIA ??  We shared a laugh about it after I said no way but I still think he suspected I was; maybe too much shisha or something.

We headed for the shade of a big beautiful palm tree and ended up falling asleep. Almost immediately after, we were asked to move by two security guards. We stumbled out of there half asleep but soon found ourselves engaged in more friendly conversation with locals.

One guy we met was the owner of the local hookah shop, the conversation flowed nicely and he invited us in for a smoke and some cay. After packing the hookah several times and two cups of cay each we finally figured out what we had been missing in our travels.

Shisha!

Then this brilliant idea seemed to strike us at the same time. Communicating basically telepathically we decided on a small hookah and bartered with him for it, plus all the necessities.

Eventually we tore ourselves away after nearly an hour of conversation, shisha and cay. We ate some lunch and did some more shopping since Chels was on the hunt for some cool island gear. We found something to accommodate her needs nicely and continued on with our day. We grabbed a local beer to relax some and caught some of the world cup. After the game we headed back to pick up our things and get out of town.

Local flavor

a “one-way” two-way bridge!

Our first bus ride was to the southern tip of Montenegro..to a town called Bar. The whole time we were traveling, Zlatan was talking about how horrible Albania was and how we have to try not to get ripped off, and how the roads and horrible, and so on….Brad and I were pretty interested at this point to see what Albania was going to be like. So our next bus ride was just to cross the border into Albania, and it definitely wasn’t the best place to be. We crossed this dodgy wooden bridge that people had to take turns crossing and it looked like the bus was going to make it collapse!! But…the bus driver did it no problem! There was lots of trash everywhere…and quite a bit of poverty. Luckily when the bus dropped us off…the other bus was waiting to take us to Tirana, Albania’s capital.

The main square in Tirana

Surprisingly, it was really nice!! We were a bit upset to learn that we had missed the last bus into Athens, and that we would have to wait until 4am, but decided to just check out the town and stay up until then! It apparently has one of the biggest squares in a city! And there were pretty paved roads, parks, and TONS of cute outdoor cafes! There was some political protest going on, which was exciting to see…but we did stay clear of it! Luckily, it was a Friday night and we found some cafes that were open really late. We tried this AMAZING fast food…it was basically the Albanian version of Souvlaki…a pita with meat and french fries in it..with this delicious sauce! It was at the recommendation of some Mormon girls from Utah (big surprise!) we met earlier!

Yummmm!

It was interesting, because these little kids came by and asked for our empty can, so we happily gave it…they said thank you and moved on. THEN…at about midnight these other little kids came by…both smoking cigarettes and couldn’t have been older than 8..and we thought they too wanted our empty can. We gave it to them and they threw it back at us..practically laughing in our faces and kept asking for money. Zlatan threw some change to them, but they would NOT leave us alone and kept lifting up his bag…we were SO frustrated. They were bothering us for about 10 minutes before they finally left…but they were little brats…laughing and smoking cigarettes in our faces. When it was eventually time to head towards the bus at 3am…we felt surprisingly VERY safe walking through the city…despite what we had heard about it being such an unruly country! At one point though, these 2 little kids came up to us and followed us the whole walk back..they did not say a word, but just walked beside us with their hand out. This time…we didn’t acknowledge them AT ALL, and even tried to duck into a restaurant to avoid them. Afterwards though…we felt a bit bad, because they really did loook bad off…the little girl cuddled in her brothers jacket on the side of the road as our bus took off…but those other kids completely ruined it for us.

Countryside!

Right before we hopped on the bus, we noticed someone hand our bus driver a really shady
looking package (drugs perhaps…probably!) but on we went….for our 15 hour bus ride to Athens. It was crazy too because NEVER before has anyone ever sat in their assigned seats on the busses we have been on. 3 hours after we had been sleeping in our own seats (although i dont know how, because the roads were AWFUL…just paved bumpy crossings), we hear this commotion, and these older Albanian men come and sit right next to me…in a practically empty bus…so of course Brad and i moved…but this kept happening until we realized we had assigned seats. But MAN…they gave us death looks when we were in their seat! So then the sketchy started…right before we got to border crossing..the bus driver pulled over on the side of the road…got off and put something in the luggage area…then hopped back on to precede to the border. I was soooo scared…thinking they tried to sneak it in our bag and we were going to be in crazy Albanian jail… ah! It took FOREVER to go through customs but thank god everything turned out alright. Then we pulled over at a gas station (didn’t get gas) and waited from some man to pull up on a motorcycle…the bus driver handed him the package..and off we went! SKETCHY!! But i guess interesting story since everything ended up alright!

Enjoying the view with Johnny!

From Dubrovnik…our plan was to make our way to Greece, but to stop at some cool places along the way! As we boarded the bus, we were both sad to leave Croatia, but excited to see a new country…especially one we hadn’t even planned to visit originally! It was only a couple hour bus ride to Kotor, Montenegro, and it went by super fast thanks to our new found friend, Johnny from San Diego. We all got off together unsure of what we wanted to do, but soon realized we wanted to hike up to the fortress on top of the mountain! First we stopped to enjoy some lunch and fresh strawberries from the market, and then went on to a surprisingly hard hike.

Cool bridge!

It was just what i like though…lots of little passageways you can choose to take, steep stairs to climb and scary bridges to cross! It had absolutely beautiful views! We stopped at every corner to take pictures, and it just kept getting better and better! We hung out and enjoyed ourselves at the top for a bit, but eventually made our way down to catch the bus to Budva…our original destination at Montenegro. According to Lonely Planet, it is the spot to be!

Climbing around the fort!

Amazing view!

When we arrived, still traveling with Johnny, we originally planned to camp or sleep on the beach again, but unfortunately the weather had other plans. Instead we found the Hippo Hostel which ended up being AWESOME! And it wasn’t even listed in Lonely Planet, which we were quite upset about! The guy running it was from Italy and really cool…it had a full kitchen, included breakfast, free internet…i could go on and on..all for a great price too! We met another guy there named Zlatan…he was born in Bosnia and could speak the language, but lived in Florida…(so could speak ours too!)

We all wanted to go out together, and started drinking local Montenegran wine…but it started storming like crazy and sadly we didn’t get to see the old town in Budva…big disappointment! Zlatan had told us his plans to get to Greece, which is really what we started out to do from Dubrovnik…and he seemed to know exactly how to get there! Yay…this was a relief since Brad and I definitely didn’t…it is really difficult from the coast..which we wanted to stick to! So we decided to leave the next morning with him! We left Johnny with a little goodbye note in the morning…telling him how awesome the club was that we went to in town, and how we met the owner and got hooked up with drinks haha! He was the one that was begging everyone to go out, but fell asleep before all of us…so who knows…maybe he fell for it! Bye Johnny and Bye Montenegro!

Copacabana!

The copacabana beach lacked the glamour of the NYC night club it was named after but it seemed to be a good spot to bed down for the night. Chels and I formed some grooves in the pebbles and ate some bread while we watched the sunset. The best part of the night came soon after the sun had fallen and half our bottle of wine had been drank. In the middle of our  conversation, we both happen to catch a shooting star!

Getting ready for our night on the beach!

We slept about as good as you can on a public rocky beach, and had the sound of the waves to lull us back to sleep after any interruption during the night. The rest of the day was spent doing absolutely nothing! We lounged on the beach from sunrise to sunset, taking a coffee break about mid day to write some postcards and a walk to the market around dinner time. Unfortunately this market had no Vegemite, which we would later run completely out of.

Our set up :)

We changed locations on the beach for the second night because we figured if security saw us they might think we were making a habit of this and ask us to leave. Our new spot was probably the rockiest spot on the beach which made it tough to find a groove. I was afraid that if I wiggled around to much it might not turn out to good for my backside. By the time we woke up the next morning we were ready for a night in a hostel.

No more Vegemite!!! NOOOO!!!

Brad writing some postcards!

Dubrovnik is not an easy town to walk around, it is spread out long ways and we refuse to pay for public transport; so we spent the morning walking around trying to find accommodation with free internet. The youth hostel was a ripp off (becoming a trend), so we ended up hitting up this villa that our new friend Long Hii (who we met on the beach and helped fix his sandal) had told us about. When we arrived the owner told us that he had accidentally overbooked the room but he could place a mattress on the floor for one of us. Instead of being mad, we were pumped to be in a position to negotiate, two for one. After some rest and a much needed shower, we took a long walk to Dubrovnik’s Old City.

The old town!

The walk was well worth it. The old city is in great condition, even after being bombed only 10 years ago! Restaurants and shops line the stone streets along with a church here and there. We decided to grab a drink at this bar called Buzo, perfectly located on the water. Finishing up our tour of the old city with a seat on a bench on the port, where we ran into Long Hii. We grabbed a bite to eat on the walk back and the night ended shortly after.

Drinks on the side of the cliff!