Hotel Luna Neum

... across the lake to the sanctuary of an island within an island where the Croatians had built an old monastery. Well... it was new when they built it hundreds of years ago. It was beautiful, so peaceful & so remote. Back to the bay we went for a swim with the locals as they played water polo & snorkeled. The water (as I'm sure I've already mentioned is so clear that you dint even need goggles to see ...

... as PR against them, but the Serbs maintain that the bombing was on a small scale and the Croats burnt tyres and drums of oil to make it look ransacked so they could claim money to rebuild a lot of run-down buildings. Either way, massive UNESCO funding enabled the authentic restoration of the city, and today, apart from the look of newer tiles on some of the roofs, you'd never know. The ramparts and walls of the ...

(S) First a bit of how we arrived in Dubrovnik. Of course, being the travelers that we are, we do not have any sort of hotel reservations in Dubrovnik. We have the name of a campground that we think might have cabanas or some sort of cabins to rent or we could pitch our tent. Sadly, the clouds that followed us all over Western Europe last year are with us in full travel force and it looks like it might rain in Dubrovnik, too. We manage to ...

The bus ride to Dubrovnik also included pretty views of the coastline (half of it the same as the ride from Mostar), but unfortunately we were inland for the sunset. When we arrived in Dubrovnik, Russell and I had a rather difficult time finding our hostel. We figured there'd be a tourist office or internet cafe where we could look up the address and get directions once we got there, but no such luck. So we headed to the area of ...

... don't cut it. 3. You have to taste something from the country- preferably a local beer. Again, subject to Rules One and Two. Since Bosnia has a slight inlet to the sea, on our way South to Dubrovnik, our bus passed through Bosnia. However, in Bosnia our drivers decided to stop for lunch, which allowed us to 1. Get out of the bus, 2. Go to a café and order a beer, and 3. Drink the beer. Thus, Bosnia counts. Visit Klenske, Ink.

... and we joined the throngs of tourists sitting on the steps and drinking beer in anticipation. A couple of Australians behind us told us it was a "tribute to Bob Marley" as advertised across the city. After half an hour watching a TV crew set up cameras and the small orchestra tune their instruments, our expectations were high. After about 7 false starts with a number of different singers wearing jeans and t-shirts it was starting to look both ...

... them, and it meant in some places, whole familes were pictured together. The book I have been reading is based in Eastern Europe, and I think it made me want to go a bit further East. Star and another traveller I had met in Dubrovnik recommended Bosnia and Herzegovina to me, so last night, I decided to ditch my train to Sibenik and get the bus to Mostar instead. I took the ferry back to Split, said goodbye to Star, and booked my bus, which was leaving 50 minutes later ...

... gave me a big pat on the shoulder and said "Havla"!... thankyou.. first impressions... Anyway, i had already reserved a room over the web. First time ever. I got lazy to walk because it was hot. I called up the lady and she was there before i could even opened the bag of ****** tasting potato chips i just bought. We should be thankfull back home for Smiths, Cheezels and Shapes. No one wears seat belts, so u feel cool for not wearing one ...

... requisite money from the tourists. I put up a video of one of these dives. In the Old Town one of the cool things is the coppersmiths who you can watch making stuff by hand. I bought a souvenir which is pretty common there - an old shell from the war that a guy had inscribed a picture of the Old Bridge, etc. on. Another interesting thing I did was climb up the minaret in the mosque near the bridge which provided a great view.

... the accusation that my name doesn't appear enough in the blog. Mike refers to us as "we", and that's fine with me. Which brings us to that strange and unavoidable happening when you're travelling with a mate. You start having conversations that before you never would. You become each others Mothers, maids, alarm clocks and stylists, and, of course, closer friends for it. Back home in Mike's pub you wouldn't have found us saying "Mike, what's that in your hair?" whilst I remove ...