TravelStream™ news feed for member mothman on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/mothman en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:47:23 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/19/1223122260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/19/1223122260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/19/1223122260/tpod.html Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:47:23 -0400 Autumn holiday to South East Europe

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Sofia, Bulgaria

Cheers to Kim for taking us to the airport at silly o clock.Got talking to a Bulgarian girl on the plane over - she was lovely, but warned us of all the theives, bad water and general nastiness of Sofia - this did not impress Joss.. Took the bus to town, where we got talking to some Hungarian and French guys who just so happened to be going to the same hostel as us, and it turns out that we are on pretty much the same itineray and will be getting the same flight back in a week!Hostel was great - loads of place to chill out, and decent brekkie and spag bol for dinner - attracts a lot of long term stayers from Australia who are suffering from burn out. Good social place. Had to rtell Jo that not all hostels are this good - even the showers work!After dumping our bags we walked round town for a few hours - plenty of churches of different denominations, mosque, synagogue etc. Weather was fab, 26 degrees, a far cry from the near freezing temperatures back home. After the pasta meal we had a few beers in the hostel before setting off to student town (with the guys we met earlier plus some German people) and its abundance of bars and clubs - not really my cup of tea - but the prices were good and the Bulgarian music was entertaining.Joss made us leave at 2am.Next day I had a rancid hangover, but we attemped to go the the nearby mountain. Unfortunately the wather had turned and bus driver informed us (via a helpful translating passenger) that the road could not be accessed. This was disappointoing as would have been nice to get out of the city, as the rest of our holiday is gunna be city based.Plan B was the Museum, got there to be told it was shut. So we went to a half empty food market and bought some spices.Evening was cool - shaggy was playing in town, but we missed him as we went to an aprtment that sold beers from a fridge then a candle lit barn/pub down some alley and finally a place that is named after the chemist that used to be there.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/rtw-0607/1175986380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/rtw-0607/1175986380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/rtw-0607/1175986380/tpod.html Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:16:33 -0400 To boldly go where many have gone before.

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Cancun, Mexico

Said our goodbyes to peeps at the hostel, including Rat's wenchie who turned up for the tearfull farewell with her child.Then one hour minibus trip up the coast to party capital of Mexico, the little America that is Cancun.  Chacmool hostel was very different from last one, only a four person dorm - but clientel were mostly a load of loud people on a nine day bender, who enjoyed making noise outside our room til 3am.  But then what would you expect cominh here?!Spent Easter Sunday on the rather nice and shelly beach.  Rat didnt relax much, but did find a nice collection of shells.  I nearly dived on to a rock.And so to Spring Breaking....   Off to Zona Hotelera for a night of full on drinking action.  Most places offer an all you can drink special - we went to about 6 of the clubs ticket booths to see what deals we could get - in the end cheapness one over and we went for a 25 dollar deal at the Bulldog.  In total we spent 17 quid on all you can drink and club entry from 8pm-5am!  Rather good value for money, but also a recipe for disaster!First three hours the drinks were crammed in, beer after beer after beer, it was good.  Then off to club which was a bit quiet, but we did get talking to these two Norweigians.  We thought they were women, but apparently one (that I had a short dance with!) might have been a man!!!  Not great, and a good advert for not getting too pissed.I left fairly early, Rat came home at about 8am after going to an after party with some Americans.  However he came back barefoot as drinking made him go in the sea.Next day was spent shopping for shoes in a hungover fashion.  Rat is now moaning that his feet hurt.  The shoes are 2 sizes too small!!  You can see why all-you-can drink deals are not allowed in the UK!And so another chapter is over.  Latin America has been great, preferred South to Central, but its been nice here.  One step closer to home and a strange sinking feeling as we depart for the English speaking world....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213554060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213554060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213554060/tpod.html Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:08:31 -0400 Balkans

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Split, Split, Croatia

Jim and Gina left us to go to their 5 star hotel - Rat and I had a quick walk to our guesthouse, then we walked the mile or so to meet the celebrius ones. Gina wanted an afternoon on pampering, but we managed to get Jim to come out and see the town, which after all is yet another UNESCO WH place. He almost had second thought after our kapachi (or wwhatever they are called) Finding food was difficult - it was sunday and many fast food establishments and local shops were shut, thankfully the waterside cafes were all open, so we had a lovely final drink with Jim in glorius sunshine.The city tour was good, we got a bit lost inside the palace (which is basically the old town and roman). I thought split was rather nice, annd even though our hostel was by the fish market, it was still so close to everything - shame we didnt feel like experienceing splits nightlife, cos I've heard its good - but aftee a brilliant lamb supper, we went back to bed for our final night in the Balkans.Overall a decent enough holiday, with some memorable times - ruined somewhat by the Goulash in Montenegro and the crappy weather. Maybe the holiday focused to much on old walled towns by the coast and was a bit touristy, as nowhere had a real town feel. Maybe we should have gone to Sarejevo instead of Korcula. Weather in Basque country in March was better than here in June.Mostar, Budva, Kotor were all enjoyable though. I'm not in any hurry to go again, but would like to go to Sarajevo and pass by Dubrovnik, just to see it without feeling crappy. Next holiday I want to go to more proper towns with people going about daily life, Split was good because it had that vibe.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213381200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213381200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213381200/tpod.html Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:56:20 -0400 Balkans

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Hvar, Hvar Island, Croatia

Boat dropped us off at Hvar at about 7.30 am, but our guesthouse owners were still kind enough to come and pick us up. However after dropping our bags off and giving us a map we were kicked out until 1am. With 4 hours to waste we walked along the coast into town - the beaches were rubbish - just a few rocks with sunbeds placed wherever they may not wobble to much, and the sea was full of sea urchins. Out from the coast though were a few boats, swimming from these may have been good. We never got to try this though, as we were to tight to rent a boat, and not all of us were up for it. I say not all of us, because at about midday we were joined by Jim and Gina! They flew over that morning to Split and then got the boat to Hvar to see us - it was what we needed after a few days of feeling low.The wait to mid-day was spent in a cafe and looking at lobsters in a fish tank, weather was really good, which was typical because we couldnt make the most of it.Jim and Gina added an extra dynamic, but Rat and I aren't used to waiting around etc - it takes a lot longer for 4 people to get ready than two, but it wasn't to bad.In the evening we drank at a sports bar then had pizza - I still couldnt eat properly, but drinking was far more succesful. Jim and Gina went a bit crazy and drank 6 quid cocktails - rat and I stuck to the beer. We went to Carpe Diem, but it looked a bit poncey and was overpriced - so I found a more suitable establishment down a side street with uncomfortable stools and an interesting mix of music. Quite a few local types here and all was good - but Jim and Gina left early. Rat ended up chatting to a Scottish girl who was practically American (every other person here seems to be from the states), she had an oriental looking friend who I chatted to, but she copped off with a barman and I was left to join Rat and Scotyank in the club. Club was on a hill and should have been good, but didn't really appeal to me or Rat - although we did see the Ozzies from Monenegro. We left after one or two drinks and found a frog.Next day was supposed to be an enjoyable day in the sun - we walked up to the citadel, then it started to rain - we guessed when it would stop. Gina thought several hours, us more accustomed to the locale people thought an hour. We were correct, but the rain break did force us to make an easy lunch decision of chips. Jim had a few early beers. Views from the citadel were really good, and the hair raising static electricity from the thunderstorm all added to the enjoyment.Evening meaty meal at a nice restaurant followed by more drinking shennanigans - Gina left early, but Jim stayed for the duration.What we saw of Havr was very nice - the views from the hills were fine, bit of a lack of variety on the food front, but probably better than Korcula. Would have been nice to rent a boat - maybe if I ever return..
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213208340/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213208340/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213208340/tpod.html Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:56:32 -0400 Balkans

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Korcula Town, Korcula, Croatia

Ferry trip to Korcula was pleasent enough, the sun was out for once and made the trip on hard wooden benches rather nice. Met at port by our prebooked sobe woman - she led us to her room which was fine and had a balcony, and was in a great location. The photo of Korcula is from the calendar in our room - we stayed near the top of this.Korcula was another old walled town, had some nice turrets, one of which was a pub - but food was all a bit samey and a bit pricey - most tourists seemed quite old. The first day we were quite tired so didnt do much, and the Marco Polo tower was closed. In the evening we went to some bars near the bus station as they seemed a bit more atmospheric to watch the football, but we were still a bit ill so bed relatively early. It was starting to get us down, but we planned a coastal walk for the following day which we were both looking forward to... ... However this was not to be, we woke up bright and early, to find the weather was dull and rainy. We hoped it would be like normal and stop within the hour - but several hours and games of cards later it was still going strong. We ventured out to the museum in the treacherous conditions, this passed a bit of time, and seemed to have few other visitors. What do people do here in the rain?Come early evening the clouds had gone, and all was bright - too late for our walk though, but good for watching Croatia beat Germany. In fact I'm sure it could have been any weather and that match would have been enjoyable - the Croats were extreme!Another early night thouugh as catamaran next day left at stupid o'clock. Like Dubrovnik, a bit of a wasted destination.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213035480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213035480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213035480/tpod.html Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:11:36 -0400 Balkans

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Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Border crossing was quite extreme, Rat, me and about a third of the rest of the bus got halued off and had a pretty thorough bag examination - thankfully nothing to close though. They opened up my mobile, camera, tissues, toiletries etc etc. Ruined my tidy packing.Hostel had a nice garden and was accessed by a green gate, however there was no TV so we set off early evening to watch the footie - this was a longer walk than expected, and the anticipated half way drinking establishment did not seem to exist, so half hour later and rather thirsty we made it through the gateway to the rather fine town of Dubrovnik - yep another walled town, but this was was a little more extreme than the others. Lots of marble floors, but quite hilly inland. Found a pub, then Rat had to give up and we moved on to an Irish bar where Rat drank water and I mocked him. It seems he had fallen ill and was not up to a night out, sick and poos followed. Sadly he departed and I had to find someone else as drinking buddy.Headed back to first pub and sat with a Norweigian couple whom I'd had a brief conversation with earlier. They were really nice and the evening went well, especially with Holland winning 3-0. Then things went wrong as I had to visit the toilet for a chunder. Moments later I'm needing to go home, but I got on the wrong bus, thankfully bus driver was kind enough to drop me off nearish to the hostel. Then when I made it to the green door it was shut and rat boy had the key. Didnt want to disturb the locals and there were three bells to press, but I had little choice. Pressed 1st and waited a while, by now I was fairly sure I would poop myself, then number 2 and I was beginning to weep, then finally on press 3 I got a reply and the door opened.The next 8 hours or so were spent in 20 minute shifts between loo and bed. By now Rat was over the worst, but come the next morning we were not at all up for sight seeing. Also we had not eaten since the previous lunchtime and the Goalash of doom. Couldnt really face much, but managed to walk to the local market and but loads of juice, water and rehydrating drinks - also a banana and yoghurt. This would be our first meal in 24 hours. Later on I had some cherries grown in the hostel grounds, but little else.In the evening felt well enough to watch a bit of footie on the telly that we found in the hostel, but bed at 9ish.Didnt really get the most from Dubrovnik, and a bit irritated that we couldnt walk around the walls or visit the beach. Also weird that we went a year travelling with no incidents as bad as this, and why oh why is the weather in June so dodgy in this region. The web and all people would indicate that normally there is only a few cm of rain - not so this year!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213019880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213019880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1213019880/tpod.html Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:39:48 -0400 Balkans

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Herceg-Novi, Serbia and Montenegro

As we woke up early, rather than playing it simple and getting the direct bus to Dubrovnik at 2 pm or thereabouts, we decided to take the bus to Herceg-Novi near the Croatia border and get another from there. The bus man assured us that many buses would be available. So we got there to find out that there are two a day. Not a big problem as the next one left in a couple of hours which gave us a chance to check out the town and have a spot of lunch. This would turn out to be the turning point of our holiday.Hungarian Gouash tasted good, and the town and castle were nice enough, but quite hilly when you have your rucksack attached.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1210270500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1210270500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1210270500/tpod.html Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:44:13 -0400 Balkans

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Budva, Budva, Serbia and Montenegro

Big ol' bus journey to Montenegro, shared with numerous traveller types including a mad Japanese lady and some Austalian chicks that had been overcharged on their fare and were in a bit of financial strife.At each major bus stop along the way the travellers were greeted to hordes of people offering rooms, so we were confident that all would be well at our stop - however this was not to be. Not a single toothless woman to be seen, a few metres walking wondering what to do, and one did trot along - she spoke to English, but led us to a place where another woman came out to help, and then eventually a girl who sorted us out with a room, and a decent room it was too. Then we wondered into town, via the beach - the fast food collection was pretty extreme, the beach not so good. Old town was small, but enjoyable. European Championship started today and we were looking forward to the atmosphere over here - however few places seemed to have a screen, and even in the English pub the atmosphere wasnt good. Did speak to a decent American chap who suggested a bar for us later that evening, complete with bikini clad dancers. It was too early for us for this type of thing so we left him too it and er, went to another big bar with skimpily dressed dancers. Rat moaned about the noise so we went to a quiet place next door and drank far to many beers and the local rum, whilst I made a fool of myself talking to the staff. Come three o clock we went to Trocadero club, which had no dance floor and played a lot of turkish sounding music - was good, but not really my cup of tea.An enjoyable evening in an enjoyable town.Next day we caught a bus to Kotor, which again had a nice walled old town, but rathe than being set on the coast, this place is by the side of a big lake / fjord. The highlight was climbing a load of steps to a fortification on the top. Even the torrential downpour didnt ruin things as halfway down the mountain we took shelter in a church and played cards with the two ozzies that we met the day before.Back to Budva and a quiet night in watching the football.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1212775980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1212775980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/18/1212775980/tpod.html Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:16:27 -0400 Balkans

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Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Easyjet flight landed promptly enough, then nice taxi driver zoomed us to the port, just in time to book our bus to Mostar in Bosnia. Any fears we had of people being unable to speak English were prooved unfounded at this early stage - throughout the duration of this holiday we were highly impressed and pleased by how everyone spoke English (in supermarkets etc as well)Window gazing was very pleasant as we made our way along the coast literally inches from the edge of a cliff - I think we were the non local people on our Glob bus, but the journey went well, with stops and bus changes where anticipated - a friendly Bosnian/Australian helped us out with the bus change though, as we had no Bosnian currency needed for putting bags under the bus (the first bus let us take them on board).Anyway, after Rat left his house at 2am, by 4pm we were in Majda's car being taken to our hostel. Majda's place was in a soviet style block with a few bullet wounds on it, however these were nothing compared to some buildings in the rest of the town. This place suffered bad during the war.Mayda gave us cake and a nice intro to the town, would have been very interesting to go on their tour and learn more of the history etc, but we only made a flying visit.Short walk to old town and the restored bridge (blown up in the war), all very pleasant and touristy. Tried to get a drink at a non touristy looking bar, and all went well a local talked to us which was great, but then he started asking for money which just made us finish our drink quickly and head back to tourist land. And the beer was no cheaper than in old town centre.Very tired so early night before 7am bus the next day.Overall one of the most interesting destinations on our holiday.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/17/1207225920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/17/1207225920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mothman/17/1207225920/tpod.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:43:35 -0400 £5 flight to Ireland - I'm in!

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Dublin, Ireland

Joss was a bad influence on Chie and therfore they went shopping for ages in the airport, leaving me to look after their bags whilst I needed the loo.  This did not please me.Dublin was quite grey when we arrived and remained so for the duration of our visit.  We did not allow the rain to dampen our spirits though, and set off to see the sights shortly after dropping our bags in our rather good apartment.  As quick as we were though, it was still ten to five by the time we got to a museum, and it shut at 5, so we went to Spar and bought some snacks instead.Moonok and Seojong arrived shortly after, poor Beth and Dave had to wait ages for a bus, and then we later found that their hotel (not where we were) had double booked - not a great start.  So the five of us set out to see what the night would hold for us.  Mostly this would be beer.  Chie had Guiness from the off, but I stuck to the lager.  She says it does taste nicer in Ireland.A few bars later and spirits were high, finally met up with Beth and Dave, (who obviously weren't feeling on top of the world, but they (kind of) drunk through it.)Would have to point out at this point that Ireland is not cheap - with Euro as strong as it is, I would reckon it was on par with Stockholm.  However I would also say that the pubs were good, plentiful, had friendly bouncers and a grand selection of bevvies.  Some places were a bit on the packed size though, and Joss knocked one of my beers over.After toast the next day we trudged round town to see the sights.  I brought a brolly with me to Dublin, but stupidly left it in the room.  After a few bits of wall and cathedrals, we saw a castle of sorts and hid in the gift shop to hide from the rain.  This would be a theme throughout the day.  Chie loves gift shops.Met Beth and David in a foodcourt, and then carried on our wander - past a needle, a post office, over a bridge, past a college, some statues and then down Grafton Street.  Parked near a comedian were some rickshaw type affairs that offered free lifts around town.  The girls took advantage of this (after much deliberation as to whether it could really be free), whilst us blokes had to walk to the Archeology museum - Wasn't open yet, so waited a few minutes til the doors parted, before we could view the treasures within.  Free and decent.  Peat bogs preserve human remains rather spectacularly, and some log boats are quite big.After spending 30 minutes studying 2500+ years of history, we decided to spend 2 hours studying Guiness.  The Storehouse (or whatever its called) was a bit pricey and not all that good - don't go there expecting a tour or to see any real brewery type stuff.  Not a patch on the Castlemain tour in Brisbane, but it was OK.  Joss and Chie went on ahead, missing vital bits, whilst Moonok and Sojeong watched videos about how to make barrels.  Beth, David and I were somewhere in the middle.  At the end we 'enjoyed' a pint of Guiness.  This involved standing around, packed in like sardines with  Dave and I trying to look like we enjoyed it, whilst Sojeong just had a coke.  The rooftop bar had decent views.Then back to our apartment for a bit of hurling watching on TV, some cards, and then a curry (with an enjoyable trip to a pub in between)I also enjoyed something called Pudding, cheap and tasty stuff readily available from Spar.  And that was that - time for showers and bed, ready for a morning departure to blighty.  Yeah - it was alright.
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