Eastern Europe Escapade [E^3]

Itinerary [27-05-08]

2008-06-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

[M] 02 June : London - Copenhagen (Denmark)
[T] 03 June: Copenhagen
[W] 04 June: Copenhagen - Prague (Czechoslovakia)
[T] 05 June: Prague
[F] 06 June: Prague
[S] 07 June: Olomouc - Krakow (Poland)
[S] 08 June: Krakow
[M] 09 June: Krakow - Zakopane
[T] 10 June: Zakopane - Budapest (Hungary)
[W] 11 June: Budapest
[T] 12 June: Budapest - Plitvice (Croatia)
[F] 13 June: Plitvice - Split
[S] 14 June: Split - Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
[S] 15 June: Mostar
[M] 16 June: Mostar - Sarajevo
[T] 17 June: Sarajevo
[W] 18 June: Sarajevo - Sutjeska National Park - Kotor (Montenegro)
[T] 19 June: Sveti Stefan - Budva - Kotor
[F] 20 June: Kotor - Dubrovnik (Croatia)
[S] 21 June: Dubrovnik - Split
[S] 22 June: Split - Zagreb
[M] 23 June: Zagreb - London
[T] 24 June: London
[W] 25 June: London - Singapore
[T] 26 June: Arrival Changi Airport 1755

Update [01-06-08]

2008-06-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm such world-class procrastinator. Leaving tomorrow and i still have not started packing. I still have not changed my British pounds to the other 7 different kinds of currencies i'm gonna need. I still have not etc etc etc. Sigh...

My first solo backpacking trip and i'm still kind of in a mess right now. Not really sure what is in store for me in the next 3 weeks to come...

Anyway, i think i can only update this blog when i return to S'pore. Till then -> 26th June onwards =)

London (Stansted) - Copenhagen [02-06-08]

2008-06-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

It was officially the first day of my tour. With both of my rucksacks ready, i made my way down to Victoria Coach Station to catch the easybus to Stansted airport. Along the way, i caught sight of a few young indian girls and boys risking their lives amidst the rushhour traffic trying to wipe the windows of passing vehicles to earn a living. I was stunned at this sight for i thought this could only happen in poor countries and definitely not in London. This might just be an indication of the increasing polarisation within the London society.

My flight to Copenhagen was severely delayed. Probably the word 'severe' is a bit too exaggerated but it was still an hour of delay. I arrived at Copenhagen airport at 1800 and i did have trouble trying to find the hostel. I tried to call the hostel to confirm my booking (as they will cancel reservation if i arrive after 1800 without prior notification) but my sim card was not working. When i tried to use the public phones at the airport, all of them for no apparent reason started to have weird problems. i gave up and decided to get out of the arrival hall. When i left the luggage check, i was totally lost and had not the slightest idea how to get to the city centre. All i did was to join a long queue at the ticket counter, bought a train ticket and hopped on the train not having any assurance that i was taking the right one as all the signs were in Martian language. I was thinking to myself: this is only Denmark and i'm having so much problems, can you imagine what it will be like in Eastern Europe?

After a few train stops, i got off at the Central Station and followed the signs pointing to the tourist information. I walked the whole compound twice and did not see any tourist information kiosk at all. Just then i saw 2 Chinese girls at the ticketing booth holding a map and i got a tourist map from the booth. However, even with the map, i could not make out where was my exact location. With a prior vague knowledge that the hostel's a long H.C. Anderson Road, i took a risk and walked in the direction where my intuition pointed. Thank God i reached the hostel and it was an expensive 65 euros for 2 nights stay.

I was by then too hungry to venture further away from the hostel. I seek dinner solace at a nearby BK and had a meal which cost 18 sing dollars. Talking about pricey. And did i mention how 'cui' the hostel is? Gosh, it's definitely not worth the money and it's just plain bad. Nice exterior with a rotting core.

Copenhagen [03-06-08]

2008-06-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

I did not sleep well last night. Apparently this guy woke up in the middle of the night to smoke n the toilet and the cigarette smell filled up the whole room. I almost died choking in the smog. I left the hostel at around 7 and tried to find a decent place for breakfast. Since i ain't exactly a big fan of pastries and bread, i skipped breakfast hoping to save some money for a decent lunch which on hind sight did not come to fruition.

I chanced upon an area of nice architecture during a walk. It was somewhere at burgorgade, with houses in old Danish architecture and colours worthy of ICI Dulux advertisement. I continued my walk to the bay to find the little mermaid. After snapping some shots of that bronze statue, i took a breather on a bench by the coast. As i closed my eyes and relaxed myself, i felt so free and relieved of everything. At that time i resolved to take my time and relax for this trip knowing there's no point rushing all about cos that's not my definition of a holiday.

A visit to the Denmark Lutheran Church 'Marble' left me in awe. It was a dome-shaped building with a really exquisite and unique interior. There were 12 apostles painted on the ceiling with the symbol of trinity at the very top.

Watched the military band doing their rehearsal at the Rosenbog. They were really solid and their steps were all in line and neat. This kind of reminded me of the super terok change of guards at Windsor Castle. =P Anyway i followed the guards to the palace for the change of guards and an unfortunate catastrophe struck. Apparently during the change of guards, someone pickpocketed my camera... my Canon PowerShot A570. I guess i could blame no one but myself for being too careless and i had no choice but to continue the trip with my camera phone. Feeling really upset, i bought McDonald's for lunch and ate the meal by the bay while writing postcards to my family and friends. This event totally killed my mood to tour but i persisted to capture some important photos (shown below) with my phone.

The walking street was really crowded with people. It was interesting to find people opening up a chess set in front of them waiting for someone to come challenge him/her. Some were playing poker cards and others were peddling goods. I bought a pretty oily but cheap Chinese takeaway for dinner. One thing i observed, Copenhagen was filled with vandalism and no one seemed to want to clear them at all.

Sad sad day
At Kastelliat
Little Mermaid
Nyhaun
Marble

Copenhagen - Prague [04-06-08]

2008-06-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

A pretty 'old' Taiwanese couple checked into the room last night and i had a conversation with them. It's pretty weird to see 40 plus 50 years old couple staying overnight at youth hostels. I guess that's the cheapest accomodation option around.

It's a clear blue sky morning with no clouds in sight. Come to think of it, i have not seen any clouds for the past 2 days in Copenhagen. Well, my sun-burnt exposed areas were testament to that. Checked out of my hotel and left for terminal 2 for my flight to Prague. Had my breakfast at the terminal - sandwich and a 1 litre milk. I was shocked to see that the prices of mineral water (500ml - 15knn to 20 knn) were much higher than that of milk (1 litre - 8knn). Why didn't i realise this earlier? Gosh, i would most happily drink milk like water.

During check-in, the guy serving me asked me for my visa. When i explained to him that there was no need of visa to enter into Prague, he replied with "visa like those in China". At that point of time i was pretty offended with him equating Singaporean with mainland Chinese. To me, that's like calling a Scottish and English. I really felt like telling him in the face that Singapore is not part of China and NEVER was.

Met a fellow Singaporean who's on the way to Prague too. Apparently he's going to Prague to meet up with his friends for tour in Europe. He's also on exchange but in Denmark and i really admire him for his ability to survive in such an expensive country.

Reached Prague and took a bus to the main rail station where i could get a tram to Plus Prague hostel. During the bus ride, i felt like i was in Malaysia. I mean the landscape really resembled those in Malaysia. The sky was overcasted with dark clouds and it began to rain quite heavily. At least it's a rest day for my sun-burnt skin. The tourist info centre at the train station was very attentive and helpful, directing me to walk to Plus Prague instead of wasting 14 czk on the tram.

Plus Prague hostel seemed to be more like a hotel than a hostel. I would say it has the cost of a hostel but facilities like a hotel. It's 677 czk for 2 nights which is about 12 sterling pounds per night. The hostel has facilities like a beach volleyball court, table-tennis table, a pub/club, internet, swimming pool, sauna rooms, kitchens, lobby lounge etc. I went swimming for the 2 nights i was there and it was great workout. Look forward to the next day for my tour in the old town.

Prague [05-06-08]

2008-06-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

I spent the morning at the Old Town absorbing the atmosphere around me. I was deciding to go for one of the guided walking tours of the castle at 1100. The compound in front of the Town Hall was crowded with people and i really loved the atmosphere. In fact, i loved the whole city of Prague for its just so full of beauty and charm. The whole place oozes with culture: the Renaissance architecture, cobbledstone pavement, jazz and classical musicians etc. It's really funny how it's normal to see posters advertising for some dance party or pop concerts in london. However in Prague, all the posters you see pasted around the town are concerts of Vivaldi or Mozart or Bach. It's pretty amazing actually.

The Town Hall with the astronomical clock.

Passing a garden with some hawks on the way to the castle

the interior of an old cathedral in the castle compound

After the castle tour, i went for a shopping spree downtown. Bought 2 bottoms and 1 T-shirt. Then it's off to explore the old town again. It's a normal sight to see people painting by the river, in fact, i see people painting everywhere in the town. Charles Bridge was pretty crowded when i was crossing it. I couldn't help but stop track to listen to this jazz band playing on the bridge. Music, art, culture - they're everywhere in Prague. It's pure impossibility to shun from them. One more thing which i've observed was that the city is very clean... almost to the point of spotless.

A view of Prague city from the hill of the castle

Some museum
This is the philharmonic orchestra concert hall
And of cos the ever so crowded Charles Bridge
However, from the local guide, 75% of the population in Czech Republic are atheists. This is partly due to the Communist regime as well as the disillusionment of religion due to 300 plus years of conflict between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. I felt a sense of sadness seeing most if not all of the cathedrals being turned into music halls and museums. I wonder if there's any evangelistic outreach in this country at all.

Went back to my hostel for dinner. I totally forgot that risotto is rice and in the end i ordered something which was like seafood mui fun. It's not that bad considering i needed to digest the food fast for a night swim.

In the middle of the night, this bunch of NZlanders came in making lots of noise. I couldn't sleep the whole night because of the din - all because of this stupid party that was going on the whole night at the club. Apparently the room consisted of some guys and girls and this guy came in in the middle of the night without his underwear and walked around half-naked... with girls in the room. And from another bed came this guy challenging this girl for a quickie with lots of dirty talk and at that time i was just frozen stiff in my bed cos the atmosphere outside the room was no better. The whole atmosphere became so intense that it almost turned out to be a massive orgy. But thank God He answered my prayers that it did not happen. Gosh...i better get myself a ear plug soon.

Prague - Kutna Hora - Olomouc [06-06-08]

2008-06-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

After breakfast, it was off to Kutna Hora. The guide Maardy was really humourous, and some girls think he's really cute too. But i guess i won't be saying much just in case people might get the wrong idea. Got to know a few people in the Classic Rhapsody Trek like Damien, who happened to be my seat partner throughout the trip. He's from Australia, 30+ and currently working in a printing firm. The tour consisted of a pretty matured bunch and so it was not so 'wild' as i thought it would be.

We finally arrived at Kutna Hora, the church of bones. At first when i heard 'the church of bones', i really thought it's literally made of bones. It turned out to be a church that was filled with human bones of 44,000 people. It's pretty morbid and i seriously had no idea why people would do this kind of thing. My best guess would be that it's a way to honour these people of some noble origin. It's incredible how they could use the bones to make a chandelier. Gosh.
Heaps of bones

After lunch (some sandwich) at Kutna Hora, we continued on to the town of Olomouc. On the way, the guide told us that it's interesting to note that for a meat loving country like Czech Republic, you don't really see much cattle along the way. And it was true. All i saw were pastures, trees and fields, no cattle in sight.

Frankly speaking, i was surprised to see a hotel in this middle-of-nowhere town. At first i perceived Olomouc to be like a ghost town (probably not as ghostly as Mae Sai), but after an orientation walk around the town, it was not as 'ulu-ated' as it seemed. We went to the 2nd astronomical clock in Czech Rep (1st was in Prague, 2nd was in Olomouc, and there were only the 2 of them), cathedrals after cathedrals, old roman wall, statue of Julius Caesar (the easternmost reign of Rome) etc.

Mozart composed some music at this place

After dinner at this Moravian-styled restaurant, I walked back to the hotel to catch an early wink. When i was halfway up the concourse, i heard a familiar accent --> "you all better sit down huh!". I froze stiff at the spot. Gosh, apparently there were multitudes of Singaporean kids ambushing at the concourse, and has swamped the whole hotel. It was unbelievable... in an ulu town in Czech Rep seeing a bunch of Singaporean kids. After asking a parent, i got to know that there's an international choir competition being held in Olomouc. So that's the reason.

The kids were really noisy bunch. I really felt like screaming out of my room window for them to shut up and stop disgracing themselves in foreign land (for obviously they were not the only occupants of the hotel) and i even had the thought of threatening them with a complaint letter to MOE.

Was looking forward to the Jewish concentration camp the next day.

You know, sometimes i still could not believe i was in Czech Rep. It's so cool!

Something to add on: there were various flags hanging at the entrance of the hotel. I was shocked to see a Singapore flag considering most of the flags out of the 10 were countries of the EU.

Olomouc - Auschwitz - Krakow [07-06-08]

2008-06-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

It was a super comfortable night all the way till morning. I would say that the hotel has been the best lodging i had so far. The morning was spent battling with the Singaporean kids at the breakfast buffet table. Then it was followed by crossing the border into Poland and onward to Auschwitz.

I've always wanted to go to Auschwitz concentration camp after learning so much about the Holocaust during World War 2. At that moment, i just couldn't believe that i was standing and treading on the actual site of such atrocities and brutality witnessed in the historical photographs. The atmosphere of the place was just so surreal, accompanied with the video of the testimonies of the live witnesses who has been through the Holocaust in Imperial War Museum (London), it was thought-provoking. Walking through the empty barracks, the hanging gallows, the execution compound, the gas chambers and crematoriums, I could vividly imagine what has actually taken place here during then. It was a truly unforgettable experience.

"Work brings Freedom"
The shooting compound
Gas chamber
Barracks
Birkenau
The familiar train stop where the Jews were gathered and selected to either to go to work or to the gas chambers

After the camps, it was on to Krakow. We arrived at the hostel and the bus had to park illegally to let us off for there was no space on the road for us to alight with our luggages. I bunked in with Damien, Sunny and Carlos. The room had a tall ceiling with really high double decker beds that would require a skilled gymnast to ascend to the second level and familiar army-style lockers. the towels were too small and the bedsheets would not fit the mattress. But all in all, it's pretty not bad actually.

We walked to the town to have our dinner at a local pub. It was amazing to see old-style horse carriages at the town square but i have not the slightest idea why they kept looping in circles. Oh well. Anyway, i ordered pork chop and a light beer at the pub. Not a good choice to order the beer for i felt really bloated after the main course. It was a good thing our table ordered early and we had the meals delivered to us fast because some of the other tables waited nearly 2 hours for their food to arrive. That's insane man. Rachel, Kat, some other lady and me decided to retire early for the night. It was drizzling and we passed by this concert playing some really strange music.

I did something really stupid that night. Thinking there was no heater, i took a freezing cold shower. It's not until later on that i realised i have turned the knob the wrong way. Great...

Krakow [08-06-08]

2008-06-23T06:10:00.000-07:00

Woke up early to find the breakfast ready on the common kitchen table. Maardy probably was right, it must have been the work of the leprechaums. I didn't even hear anyone entering the kitchen - or maybe i slept too soundly the night before.

The whole group went for a bike tour in the morning. I would suppose its a BAD idea to have a bike tour consisting of 30 plus people. It was pretty ASTONISHING that a group of us could lose the other half of the group halfway. We waited at this place with lots of chairs facing in one direction 5 metres apart from each other and encountered this shabbily dressed old man demanding money from us. He kept loitering around us touching our things and we were really uncomfortable with his presence. After much waiting, Maarty took us to some places in the Jewish quarters. I have to say that cycling on cobble-stone road was a pretty INTERESTING experience. Well, my butt did suffer.

Where John Paul II meets the Krakowians when he visits Krakow

Castle
The factory of this guy whom helped hide the Jews during the Holocaust

I had McDonald's... YES MCDONALDS for lunch. Ok, i heard it... i should be tasting their local fares instead of eating some junk from a globalised capitalist organisation. But at that time i just want something to eat and it was just there. Call it impulse if you want, and it's interesting to see how McDonald's differs from location to location. I mean its really a good place to see 'glocalisation' at work isn't it?

After lunch, i set off to explore the Jewish Quarters, especially the Jewish cemetery. Ok, i admit i do have a pretty morbid taste but i adore going to cemeteries. I find tombstones really interesting to study and am always intrigued by their architecture and stories behind every nitty details. The Jewish Cemetery was unique, with simple graves with the star of david or the torch at the top of every tombstones.

After the cemetery, its back to civilisation again. In a short note, i visited John Paul II exhibition, Church of St Mary etc etc.

A brass band performance
A streetdancing performance

A banjo performance
Church of St Mary
I really adore Krakow a lot. It's so bustling with activities like musical performances and street dances etc. On hind sight, i really love Central Europe (especially that of Czech Rep and Poland) for they are culturally and musically charged. I think it's really hard for Singapore to arrive at that kind of 'standard' for these things need to evolve naturally and spontaneously. You can't just do artificial planting of such performances on the streets and expect people to appreciate it.

Slept really early due to a careless dose of too much vodka.

Krakow - Zakopane [09-06-08]

2008-06-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Zakopane is a beautiful town situated at an altitude beside the Tatrys mountain range. The view of the place was simply awesome.

Just a shot of the countryside

A place for competitive skiing
As i did not bring any hiking gears with me, i did not consider scaling the highest peak in the national park. Damien and I considered doing mountain biking at the area but when we took the vernicular up to Gubalowkai, we could not find a single bike rental despite having a bike trail in the area. They have all sorts of things up there - treetop climb, rockclimbing, gokarts, horse riding, sourvenir shops and even a black sheep on display which i have forgotten to take a photo of it to show aik. We hanged around for a bit before getting back to town and had coffee at Costa. We bought some groceries (for lunch the next day) along the way.

The Tatry's

Dinner was great at this Polish restaurant with this traditional Polish band and waitress in polish traditional costumes. The grilled pork cutlet was really tender and good. However, the air became chilly at night and i was shivering in my Tees.

Hotel Defoe was totally awesome. Our room's balcony faced a stream and the beds were really comfortable. I did a really cool thing of cooking hard-boiled eggs using the electric kettle for lunch the next day. Talking about improvisation...

Zakopane - Donovally - Budapest [10-06-08]

2008-06-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

The view from the balcony of our hotel room
After a sumptuous hotel buffet breakfast, it was time for a long bus journey to Budapest. The day was hot and sunny, i was just totally bright red like a lobster. Along the way, i observed that most of the architecture of the Polish houses have a really big triangular roof. We crossed the border easily into Slovakia. There weren't much of a border control around the area. Slovakia is a predominant Christian country country. There were many churches and all of them have a very distinct features like that of a mosque (the dome-like roof). When i mean churches, i mean the Eastern Orthodox churches, not the Protestant churches. This could be seen from the practice of worshipping patron saints. In many of the altars of the church, instead of seeing a crucified Christ, what you get is the icon of the patron saint of the area. In a way, i find no difference between the pagan worship in Taiwan where someone famous in the area dies and immediately a graven image of that person will be revered and worshiped.

We stopped at the Donovally area of Slovakia (close to the Carpathians) to have a lunch picnic.

That's our bus

Then its a long journey down to the borders of Hungary and Slovakia. It was amazing because there werent much immigration control at the borders once again. We entered Budapest and i was surprised to see a couple of Chinese restaurants around. As far as i've remembered, i did not see a single asian at Zakopane. Everything in Budapest seemed old: old roads, old run-down buildings... it looked war-torn. As the bus stopped itself at this carpark beside a completely wasted building and the ground was filled with lots of potholes filled with murky water, i was like "OH MY GOSH". But thankfully the hostel was not as bad as i thought it would be. However, all the signs and warnings of all the frauds that we could encounter in Budapest really got me worried over the personal security issue.

After some rest at the hostel, we embarked on a walking orientation of the city where Marrdy led us to the ATMs and money changers. Just outside the money changer, he has to tickle me from behind and that gave me a shock--> that's really wrong... DON'T DO THAT WHEN YOU KNOW THAT PERSON JUST CHANGED A STASH OF CASH. We went for dinner next - goulash, beef paste and pancakes with lemonade.

This was followed by a night walk and cruise which i kind of regretted going. But i think its really cool to see the 1st McDonald's after the Eastern Bloc. It's really amazing to see how Budapest has transformed itself after WWII and the communism regime.

The castle
The first McDonald's after the eastern bloc
Parliament house
An interesting fact from the guide. The term 'hello' is actually hungarian and it means 'i can hear you'. Back then, when they are over the phone, they use the term 'hello' to mean they can hear the party from the other side. Interesting isn't it?

Budapest [11-06-08]

2008-06-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

Left the hostel early for the bike tour thinking that it will start at 0900. But it turned out that there was some kind of miscommunication and the tour was supposed to start at 1100 instead. So having no choice, we took a metro the the local market and gosh was the metro expensive. Everytime you change a metro you have to buy a new ticket, that's utterly ridiculous. The market was a huge indoor compound with the first floor selling meat and vegetables, and the second floor selling lots of souvenirs. I bought a chess set as well as some postcards before leaving the market to go for the bike tour.

The market
The bike tour was pleasant. Budapest is a very cyclist-friendly city with the broad cyclist lanes and pretty considerate traffic users. The guide for the bike tour was pretty lively and 'bouncey'. We went to the various attractions learning about the Hungarian history.

At the opera house --> that's our guide
Heroes Square
Anonymous... apparently rubbing his pencil will make you smart and lucky. I was the only person in the tour that didn't rub that pencil. When the guide asked me "why don't you want to be lucky?" I replied "I don't believe in luck." Come to think of it, its a pretty blunt reply.
One of the baths in Budapest
This is the place where the Russian secret police used to interrogate people cruelly. See the word 'terror' on the roof?

Some political statement.. zoom to read the message
The hardest part of the bike tour would be the cycling up of Castle Hill. I was pretty exhausted after cycling up the long ascending slope to the top.

I love this place, its lovely to be able to have a cup of tea here and admire the surroundings

Clouds looming mercilessly above us
And of cos, as expected, it rained. All of us zoomed down the long and winding descending slope all the way to the foot of the hill. It was an exhilarating albeit pretty dangerous experience but who cares... it's pretty fun. We were really soaking wet after the bike tour.

For one of the rarest moments of my life, i actually ordered a vegetarian meal which consisted of brinjals, cucumber, muschrooms and tomatoes for lunch. The grilled veg tasted really good at first, but subsequent eating made it a chore to even put them in my moutn. i was pretty sick of them. No more vegetarian meal for me ever.
After lunch, i went to find a post office to buy stamps and post my postcards. I asked a traffic policemen (who apparently couldn't understand English and i have to use my charade skills) and he directed me to this really old and run-down building which turned out to be a busy post office. Gosh, really crouching tiger hidden dragon man.

Met up with Damien and walked to fashion street to buy some pants (in a Brit sense).
Along the way we passed by some Jewish synagogues
And also bumped into this girl (i forgot her name again... as usual). She was contemplating a hike up the hill to see the 'bottle-opener' statue. Being a hiking enthusiast, i decided to follow her to the top of the hill.

So both of us embarked on a small hike up to the statue of liberation aka bottle opener. Halfway up the hill, it started to pour again. Both of us had to seek shelter under the canopy of the trees under a small umbrella. Being adventurous and bo-chap in our spirit, we braved the elements and continued upwards to the top. It was very fun being drenched and all.
a church in a cave halfway up the hill

The statue of liberation

a bird's eye view of the city
that's ME!
Another shot of the city
Some weapons
We had dinner at this Italian restaurant near our hostel. it was pretty expensive. It was goodbye to many people on this tour like steve etc... but at the same time i was burgeoning with excitement over the new additions to the group the next day.

Budapest - Plitvice [12-06-08]

2008-06-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

The whole bus was delayed in the morning because of waiting for a new member Natasha who apparently waited at the wrong hostel. It's not really her fault and the fault was with her travel agent who did not update her on the change of waiting venue. I did not mingle much with the newcomers for i am shy by nature. Most of the newcomers were "Aussies and unemployed". Not trying to be judgmental here but such introductions of oneself does leave lots of room for wild speculations, and that they seemed to be just blokes and blondes... you get what i mean. It was a long trip to cross the border of Hungary into Croatia. Halfway we stopped at Lake Balaton. At first we were supposed to swim in it. But the weather was too cold and freezing to do such silly thing. So we ended up stopping for a break and some quick pictures before moving on again.

At Lake Balaton

Crossing the border at the border control was serious affair. The officer came up the bus, took our passports to stamp and then returned them to us. The no-brainer 'stamper' obviously couldn't read English and just have to stamp on my last page right next to my personal information page and ended up smuging my photo. It was the same case at the Croatia border....what's wrong with these people? I do have to mention that the custom control at Croatia seemed more 'high-tech' than the one in Hungary.

It was pouring all the way throughout the journey. After the luncstop where we changed for some kunas, we continued on to this Balkan Memorial site. It was pretty cool to see bullet-ted houses, old soviet planes, tanks and guns.

The Balkan War Memorial

Next we went through this village which really resembled Rivendale in LOTR. It was just houses alongside cascades of small waterfalls... gorgeous. But a pity i couldn't take a more beautiful shot of that place...so this poor pic shall suffice for now

We finally arrived at the campsite within the compounds of Plitvice National Park. It's beautiful but the toilets were just too far. That night we went to the local bar to watch the match between Croatia and Germany for Euros 2008. Wanted to bathe but it was so cold and wet outside, i couldn't be bothered to walk all the way to the toilet and back.

Plitvice - Split [13-06-08]

2008-06-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

I woke up being surrounded by an orchestra of birds playing their melodious songs. It was indeed so cool to be able to stay in a lodge right in Plitvice National Park. Probably the only downside to the location was that the toilets were a tad too far away and to attempt to go to the toilets in the chilly morning proved too lethal for my delicate body. Breakfast was next, consisting of simple fare like bread, jam, ham and juice. A hungry cat strolled into our breakfast compound and started to look at us with its forlorn eyes. Argh… these sly kitty buggers. Out of my compassion for the little kitty, I tried to feed it some ham. To my astonishment and utmost annoyance, it scratched me and snatched the ham out of my hand. Boy, I should’ve known that kind of thing will happen. Bad Kitty.. bad bad kitty!
Plitvice National Park - A UNESCO site
Plitvice National Park was magnificent beyond words can describe. I do have to apologise beforehand for the lack of adjectives (due to my limited vocabulary) to describe this enchanted place. The park is basically layers and layers of lakes joined together to form a series of cascades. I was totally mesmerized by the crystal clear water filled with lots of freshwater trouts. They looked really delicious to me and I couldn’t help seeing them grilled and served on a plate on my dinner table.

I was impressed by the good management of the park with its well-built wooden paths (to prevent tramping), enforced prohibitions, as well as non-pollutive transport such as ferries and trams. The roads were well-kept and free from rubbish.
The park was flooded with tourists, especially the Japanese. But still it did not spoil the gorgeous scenery of the place. A few of us tried to outrun the Japanese so that we wouldn’t be caught in the crowd.

In an attempt to reach ST4 to take the tram to the final meeting point, a few of us took a long loop and realized we would be late for the departure time. I went for a run (in my flip flops) to see how long more the trail will continue on before we hit ST4. Although the distance was pretty long, we did managed to catch the tram at ST4 in the end, and arrived at ST2 to meet up with the rest of the group. I do have to apologise for the flood of photographs of waterfalls and waterfalls and waterfalls for I was totally enchanted by the beauty that I couldn’t help but keep clicking my camera button.

Freshwater trouts in the lake... yum yum

Nice to grill

A nice place to shoot MTV
quaint and serene

A pity the photo didn't do much justice to the real beauty of the area

By a dock

Shot from the ferry

Water is flowing everywhere

I love this shot of the dead trees in the lakes

Water flowing out from the stairs
And i did a SIA girls sort of pose. You know those SIA adverts where the Singapore Girls will play with the water sort of thing? It's really funny cos all my other travelmates started to do the same thing after i've done it.

Finally a photo shot of a flower instead of the waterfalls and lakes

After departing the park, it was all the way to the last destination of the Rhapsody Trek – Split. The scenery along the way was beautiful. It was just lakes and mountain ridges with small little villages littered here and there. To see the clouds looming above the ridges giving it a misty, shadowy feel was indeed a sight to behold. I was in awe of the magnificent coastal landscape.
Some war memorial halfway during the journey to split

Plitvice - Split (2) [13-06-08]

2008-06-23T05:00:00.001-07:00

We arrived at Split and made our way to the private apartments where we will be staying. From the outside, the apartments looked really old and desolated but it was another world on the inside.

The temperature here in Split was sure warm. Did an orientation tour around the Old Town Diocletian Palace and it sure was flooded with tourists. However, I totally adore the lively atmosphere of this seaside town… it’s simply so relaxing.

I couldn't resist taking a shot of the cumulonimbus cloud

Part of the Diocletian Palace

Damien and I.
A few of us had pizza for dinner by the bay when an unfortunate event happened. Apparently, Damien lost his traveller’s cheque card. We searched the internet café where we were before, the streets and even the bins but to no avail. Halfway, we saw 2 uniformed policemen and Damien reported the incident to them (who do not speak nor understand English… how nice). So in the end, they drove us in their police car to the nearest police station. I felt like a criminal in the car. Gosh, I couldn’t bear noticing the look of the passers-by when we drove past them. They must be thinking “illegal immigrant” or something. What an awkward experience! Damien had his statement written down by a lady inspector who understood English. The lady said that by the Croatian law, he had to purchase a 40 kunas worth of stamps from the newspaper kiosk downstairs across the road to pay for the report cos its not by theft that he lost his card. I think the law is totally RIDICULOUS! Even if I am supposed to pay for the report, I ought to pay it at the station, not at some obscure newspaper kiosk in the middle of the road! Both of us just could not understand such warped logic of the local authorities. In fact, we suspected it might be bribery or something like that. Anyway, not wanting to waste anymore precious time, Damien paid for the report and we walked down to the Red Room to have some drinks with the rest of the group. Had an early night for an early departure the next day.

Split - Mostar [14-06-08]

2008-06-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

I’m currently sitting by a stream at the Crooked Bridge writing this journal entry. It’s really nice for the cold breeze is caressing my face, the sun is setting in the greyish, pale yellowish sky, the stream rushing to its resting point and there’s no one in sight. [right after I finished writing this paragraph, a big group of tourists emerged out of nowhere and surrounded me… bummer]

A random pic of a fish market at Split in the morning of my departure.

Today marks the end of my 9-day Rhapsody Classic Trek and I will definitely miss the many people that I’ve met on the trip. After a brief farewell to Damien outside the pastry shop, Tammy and I walked to Split Hostel to meet our new Balkan Trek group and guide. Our guide is a Bosnian and his name is Mustafa. Its really interesting to know that he is a Muslim but he kind of drink and smoke. A liberal Muslim I supposed. There are 6 members in our new group, 4 girls and 2 guys excluding the guide. Tiffany and Jeremy (the loving couple), Tammy, Sallie, Esther and me. I do kind of like a small group for its more close-knitted and the administration will definitely be faster and easier than a 30-man group.

Mustafa drove us in a van crossing the Croatian coasts towards Mostar, our first destination. The view along the way was indeed majestic and a sight to behold.
On my left were mountain ridges and on my right was the sea. There was no flat land between the ridge and the sea, the steep slope runs directly into the sea. The sea was crystal clear blue sparkling and dancing under the morning sun. Stunning geographical features.

We passed by Biokovo Nature Reserve which happened to be another stunning place. From prior secondary research, Biokovo Nature Reserve is a haven for hiking enthusiast due to its mountainous terrain. Ridges after ridges of scrubland and interesting wildlife, it’s indeed a sight to behold. The road started to get really winding and we were really hanging on to anything we can find.

Travelling towards Bosnia and Hercegovina (pretty near to the border)
A sneak shot of the border control
After crossing the border into Bosnia and Hercegovina, we alighted at this place (which I forgot the name) to look at a waterfall. Along the way before arriving at this scenic spot, it seemed that Hercegovina is pretty different from the rest of the Europe that I’ve seen so far. It’s really kampong-ish, a far cry from the ‘civility-façade’ that most European countries have.

We finally arrived at Mostar, and checked into a really nice hotel. Probably I should give a rough background of Mostar. Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Hercegovina. It is named after its Old Bridge (Stari Most). Between 1992 and 1993, after Bosnia and Hercegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia, the town was subjected to an 18 month siege. The Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) first bombed Mostar on April 3, 1992 and subsequently the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina and the Croatian Defence Council fought back and forced the JNA out of Mostar. However, the JNA responded with shelling at that time.

After the Serbs forces were driven out from Mostar, the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) attacked the Bosniaks to capture the whole city for themselves. The Croats took over the west side of the city and expelled thousands of Bosniaks from the west side into the east side of the city while at the same time reducing much of the east side of Mostar to rubble. The HVO forces engaged in a mass execution, ethnic cleansing and rape on the Bosniak people of the West Mostar resulting in thousands of people injured and killed. The Stari Most bridge was also destroyed during that period.

The Mostar in front of me was simply beautiful with emerald green water criss-crossing the town with many beautiful bridges. The surrounding was quiet with only the rushing sound of water, the locals were extremely friendly and approachable. I adore the place tremendous despite knowing the bloody and sad past that the place once held.

Listening to Mustafa explaining to us the history of the area

A walk in the old town

Emerald green river

Sitting on Stari Most
Stari Most

We saw a guy (diver) jump off the Stari Most into the water. Apparently it's a tourist gimmick to collect 50 convertible mark before one of the divers will jump off the bridge. My female travelmates couldn't stop oogling at that topless guy.
Apparently Rose lied... she didn't jump with him
I had mixed grill for lunch which was so so delicious. I think the photo speaks louder than words.
A mosque compound

Notice the big cross on the hill?
Scenes of bullet-holed, grenade-ripped buildings were common sight in the town. There were still lots of them to serve as reminder of the war close to a decade ago.

We visited a Muslim cemetery that housed secondary mass graves of the victims and Bosniak soldiers during the war. Why did i use the term 'secondary'? Apparently, the mass graves were dug out and redug out as part of the enemy's ploy to hide evidences. Therefore, the remains had been moved a couple of times.
A poster of the brave Bosniak soldiers who gave up their lives during the war
The 'mass graves'
A beautiful shot of Mostar - yet its history has put so much solemn thoughts in my mind

The eventide
In the night, we headed down to a tavern to chill out and have some snacks.
Jeremy and I

Tamy and Mustafa (he's always so funny)
And in the night, we went to chill out at this really cool looking cave bar. And i mean it's really a cave. The ambience was just fantastic. But i left early for i was pretty tired... and caught a glimpse of a really funny match between Turkey and Czech.

Mostar [15-06-08]

2008-06-23T04:45:00.000-07:00

*i'm currently sitting outside my room suntanning myself while writing this entry in my travel logbook*

After a sumptuous breakfast, the few of us set off to visit a famous monastery nearby. The monastery was constructed by a cave where springwater flows out from underground. The site belongs to a 'mystical' branch of Islam where (according to Mustafa) they often think about the meaning of life. And that's the reason why they chose to build the monastery by the spring because the spring represents the beginning of life of the river. It's the first time i heard of a Islamic monastery. I mean the images that we often conjured up in our minds with the term 'monastery' are often of Christian connotations. An Islamic monastery is indeed an eye-opener for me.

The monastery by the cave

Its so cool to sit by the river and chill. But i guess you would have to take off your shoes first. The tables and chairs are half-submerged in the spring water.
One of the prayer room
THis is the ceiling of the toilet... what great ambience
This chart shows the different kind of tombstone designs for different people. I kind of forgot whether its by rank or by ancestry.
For the ladies, a shawl is required to enter the monastery.
Two tombs inside the monastery. it's really weird to see tombs in a praying place for according to Mustafa, they don't normally put tombs in mosques. So i presume they must be of some special status.
Not only is it of historical interest, the site is of geographical interest too.
Drank the springwater and gosh it was so sweet and refreshing. Although i was pretty dubious of the birds flying around (what if i get bird flu from the droppings shed in the water), i gave it a try anyway and didn't regret thereafter.
Then we had elderflower juice which was a tad too sweet for my pleasure. One more thing... i find it really amusing that guides love to tickle me from behind. Both Maardy (in the last tour) and Mustafa did the same thing. Gosh, it seems like i have this sign painted on my back "Please tickle me" or something like that.

After that we went to visit a 16th century house. Have to apologise that the photos for this segment is from the interior of the house to the exterior of the house.

Jeremy seemed to be in a Marianas Trench of a thought
Exquisite designs on the wooden panel

I actually have the thought of designing my house to be like that next time... Wishful thinking on my part

And did i mention it is a UNESCO site?
The path leading up to the house

Next, we went to the mosque to climb up the minevat to catch a glimpse of the town from above. The passage up to the minevat was really narrow but the view was great. I was a bit apprehensive when i was up there for the 'loud-hailer' was just right beside me. I mean can you imagine during the prayer time when the 'loud-hailer' starts to play... i will be deaf lohz.
A view of the old bridge --> it seems like photos of the bridge kept coming up.. hahaha

Finally someone familiar in the photo
The interior of the mosque. Unlike churches where there usually are lots of iconic figures of saints and angels, a mosque is usually just patterns. From Mustafa, Islamic mosques do not have 'human' kind of drawings for that's tantamount to idolatry.
We had ice-cream and it was so so good. Next was lunch where i had this meal called "pola pola" (Half-half) with a mixed salad. I really had to say the cuisine over here is really meatish. And i spent the whole afternoon sunbathing at the balcony with Sallie.

Three of us (Jeremy, Sallie and I) hiked up a hill through the Serbian Orthodox Christian cemetery. I was actually pretty afraid, not that I was in flip-flops, but that i was afraid of landmines. But thankfully we did not step on any and i do have to admit (on hindsight) that it was a reckless thing to do. But hey... what's an adventure without a risk..=P Sallie had an encounter with a snake on the way down.

Interesting geographical features... looks like sedimentary rock

Going down... gosh...i really ought to have worn my hiking boots

Just a random pic along the way... the Diver's club. Remember that topless hunk in the previous post?
THere were lots of this "don't forget" sign in the town... a remembrance of the war
Dinnertime! We had dinner at a local restaurant and i had this local stew called Muscaask (i hope i didn't misspell it). It was so nice considering i was getting pretty sick of meat. Had a nice conversation with Mustafa and Jeremy over politics and history of Bosnia and Hercegovina.
This might sound out of point. But it was a totally awesome experience to hear the 'wailing' of the mosques throughout the whole day.

Mostar - Sarajevo [16-06-08]

2008-06-23T04:30:00.000-07:00

A blur photo of the hotel room jeremy and i stayed in Mostar. I kept hitting my head on the ceiling even though i'm much more shorter than Jeremy. Grrr...
Let's turn our attention on the sign. I mean its pretty obvious its a sign on no loud noises but apparently the kiwi of our group didn't realise that. So she engaged in a pretty amusing conversation with our ever so humourous guide Mustafa.

Esther: What is that sign Mustafa?
Mustafa: It means you can't play the trombone here.
Esther: That's cool.
The rest of us: ... ...
We spent the morning visiting a political museum in Mostar. From Mustafa, he always looks back to the Yugoslavia days and hope that Bosnia and Hercegovina could regain its past prosperity. Yugoslavia under Tito's rule was the best period of Bosnian history. The lives of the Bosnians were so good that 70 percent of the locals could afford to travel to the coast for holidays. Right now, less than 20 percent of the locals could afford that. Mustafa told us that even though during the Communism rule, they can't speak freely, they can sleep freely. But right now they can speak freely, they can't sleep freely. Even in present time, it is dangerous to call him by his Muslim name in Serbia or Croatia but this has never happened in Tito's Yugoslavia.
And its in regards to the famous prime minister during Tito's rule of Yugoslavia. Sadly, he died in a plane crash.
In the museum, we watched a video on the history of Mostar. It was indeed heart wrenching to see the old bridge being blown into pieces and collapsed into the river. It was like seeing centuries of identity crashed into the river in just few seconds. But yet at the same time i admire the resilience of the people in rebuilding the bridge to its former glory.

Next we continued on to this place called Jablanica. There is a broken bridge at the spot where we had a short break of coffee and tea. To give a brief history of the place...

Jablanica was where the strongest resistance against the Nazis in WWII occurred. The battle is called "Battle of the Wounded People" and literally the Partisans who were rescuing the wounded soldiers were completely surrounded by the Nazis at that time. It was a fight to get the wounded people out of the place. It was one of the 7 biggest resistance war that has happened in Bosnia. At that time, the marshall Tito (who became president of Yugoslavia later) saved the lives of 4000 wounded people. He ordered destruction of the bridge as a decoy to make the Nazis think that they did not cross the river but fled elsewhere. However, they built a small bridge and cross over to the other bank barracks and ambushed the Chetneys. In the end, the wounded were saved and travelled to the free territory of Montenegro.

We visited a WWII museum on the war. I was totally intrigued by the history of the resistance war and I had this inner urge to find out more about the history of Yugoslavia. But i guess that will come a bit later.

Medical stretcher used during that period. Seriously, to carry that stretcher during wartime is madness lah. And i'm still complaining that our SAF stretcher is heavy... this one can't even be folded.
A Motar like thing

Photographs of the Partisans who has participated in the heroic feat
Some personal belonging left behind... looking at these things really got me deep in thought
Next, we embarked on a winding trip to a lake to swim. Although the sky was gloomy, it did not dampen our desire to take a plunge into the lake. C;mon... it's not like we always have opportunities to swim in lakes right? On the way, the road was blocked by a herd of sheep.
Can you spot the lake?
There were no toilets or changing rooms around so we had to go to secluded spots to change. I walked to this deserted building to change. Frankly, i would believe we were the only people around.

Sallie, Jeremy and I then plunged into the lake and boy was it freezing cold. However, the deeper part of the lake was warm. It was nice to have the little fishies sucking your toes in the water, eating up the dead skin cells. Sallie was so funny when she exclaimed "Oh the fishies kissed me!" --> that sounded pretty bimbotic haha.

THen it was all the way onward to Sarajevo. Sarajevo was nothing like what i have imagined it to be. We passed by a few high-rise flats and they have such uncanny resemblance to the HDB estates in Singapore. See for yourselves in the photo below... except for the holes made by shellings, it has little difference with a HDB flat here.
A plane carrying a message...
Our hotel (or should i say residence) was up on a hill which overlooked the whole of Sarajevo's Old Town. I had a whole room to myself that night..

Dinner was this 'pita' filled with sausages and sour cream. It was so so so so so good. You can trust me on that. We met Mustafa's best pal, Dragan. It's really amazing (and weird) to see how close Mustafa (a Bosniak Muslim) being so close to his best friend Dragan (a Serbian Orthodox Christian). That just shows that the enmity is not against all Serbs but only those extremists. Anyway, Dragan was a cool guy who couldn't stop talking to me about Singapore.

Then we had beer at this brewery nearby. The night walk up the hill to our residence was gorgeous. The orange lights from the city reflects the starry night. Sorry for my incoherence. =P

Sarajevo [17-06-08]

2008-06-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

A bright and cloudless morning =)
After some french toasts and rice pudding for breakfast, we were brought around the Old Town to explore some of the historical buildings which dated back to the medieval period. It was a really sad and sombre scene to see some horrific damages on the really magnificent buildings such as the City Hall which has since been deserted and left in ruins (as shown below). The City Hall was converted into the national library just before the 1993 war and during the war, most of the books and historical documents (dating back to medieval times) were destroyed in the fire. It's indeed a great pity to have all these precious artefacts being destroyed forever...

A plague of remembrance to the culprits who tore the l ibrary down
Next we headed down to a local Serbian Orthodox Church. Along the way, we saw some red patches on the ground. Upon enquiry, the red paint is actually a memorial for sites in Sarajevo where more than 8 people were killed by the grenade. And there were many of such sites in the Old Town.
The old orthodox church contained many ancient paintings and iconography of Christ. To be honest, it looked more like a Chinese temple only Christian style, with all the incense, candles and altars and coins on sacred objects.

I even saw an old laday crawling to and fro underneath this monolith of some sort. I sure hope it's because she dropped her earring or something.

A shot of the Serbian Orthodox Church across the street
We visited another mosque, a Jewish Synagogue (shown below) as well as a Roman Catholic Church next.

The Roman Catholic Church
The presence of these religious buildings is evidence to refute the fact that the Ottomans forcibly converted people to Islam during their reign. In fact, it was during that time when religion tolerance and freedom was practised.

We walked down the main street towards the new part of town and once again saw more of the red paint and memorial of people killed in grenade blasting. At the spot outside the marketplace stood a white stone tablet recording the names of the innocents who were killed by a grenade thrown into a bustling marketplace. Among the names were Serbian Orthodox Christians as well as Muslims. Interestingly enough, Mustafa was telling me how some of the Bosnian National heroes were actually Orth Christian Serbs themselves fighting against the Serb enemy forces.
We then came to this monument with a flame at the front called "eternal flame" to commemorate the Partisans who had sacrificed their lives in the war. Apparently, the flame never extinguishes.
THe newer part of town
Locals playing gigantic chess in the park

Then we came to the spot which sparked off World War 1 where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. It's really cool and awesome to be able to stand at the site in which the apex of war hisotry was situated.
Mustafa telling us the events that took place
The assassin
The bridge Franz Ferdinand was about to cross before he got killed
This was followed by a drive to the tunnel museum in which was a very enriching experience for me. A brief background history of this tunnel museum-->

At that time, Bosnia was completely surrounded by the Serbian forces. Sarajevo was pretty much cut off from the Bosnian Free Territory (as seen from map below) in the highlands except for the airport which was controlled by the United Nations to send in relief aids. As the UN was not supposed to help the Bosniaks in any way (a treaty with the Serbs to gain access to the airport), a 800 metres tunnel was dug in 4 months under the airport to permit supplies to come in from the free territory in the highlands as food was in extreme short supply in the city. The tunnel had been under continuous siege by the Serbian forces and 100 Bosnian soldiers sacrificed themselves to secure the tunnel.

Photos of the destruction during the 1993 war
The map that shows the situation Sarajevo was in at that time
Part of the tunnel

We watched a video of the war and i was totally intrigued by one scene. it was the owner's grandmother in face of all the chaos and shootings, stood at the exit of the tunnel giving water to the Bosnian soldiers who passed by. It was amazing how she in her old age and being a woman could contribute so much to the war for her country and her people. It was also unimaginable that Mustafa (15 years old at that time) has been through the tunnel and stood in the tunnel with his mother for 9 hours straight to allow the Bosnian troops to pass through.

After that, we returned to the Old Town to eat and to shop. I have to tell you this (i forgot the name) is so good. It's like pastry filled with either potato, spinach or meat topped up with sour cream. I do not suggest that innocent looking glass of yoghurt though.
After the glorious food, it was a full-day shopping spree ini the old town of Sarajevo. Got lots of copper souvenirs and bought postcards and stamps. I walked around the area to find a nice park to write my postcards. I walked through the new town and found this Muslim cemetery/park which i thought would make a potential restplace for my postcards writing. Howeve, i was perturbed by the fact that every bench seemed to have a couple making out... and THAT IN A MUSLIM CEMETERY!?!?! Of all places choose the most inappropriate one. Anyway, after getting lots of weird stares from the people in the park (i was the only Chinese for the last few days it seems), i decided to turn back and go to the park with the public large chessboard.

Alas, i found a place. I sat down on the concrete bench and started to write my postcards amidst the irritation of the pigeons flying here and there. I was writing halfway when this man came up to me real close and started touching my bag wanting money from me. I was very irritated as i had spent the whole afternoon just to find this nice spot to write my postcard and i was definite not going to spend another hour or so to find another place. So he was just standing there in front of me for the whole 5 minutes or so before he finally gave up and walked away. It was a disturbing experience for me though. I felt that being in eastern europe really made me so conscious of my skin colour. I remembered vividly the last time i had that kind of feeling was stepping out of the car in a local fish market in Tanzania.
I met up with the rest of the guys to buy some groceries and food from the supermarket and grill shop before heading back to the apartment. We spent the night drinking (me a bottle of mineral water) and playing cards. Well, one unexpected surprise for the night was that a big male cat tried to rape a small female kitten and we were all very eager to save the damsel in distress.

Sarajevo - Surestja National Park - Kotor [18-06-08]

2008-06-23T03:30:00.000-07:00

During breakfast, the lady from the tourism agency came down and asked if i could pass her my passpport as her colleague has printed the wrong page of my visa. When i looked at the paper in her hand, i was mildly amused that her colleague actually photocopied my used taiwan visa instead of the Bosnian one. I mean Taiwan (with all its traditional chinese characters) visa and Bosnian visa are pretty NOT the same right? We settled that out in the end.

We continued our journey through the hilly and mountainous region before stopping at Surestja National Park for a coffee break, and to visit the monument where the 6th major battle took place.

part of the ridge of the highest mountain in Bosnia n Hercegovina
The monument was 'littered' with flowers as it has been the memorial day for the 3301 partisans soldiers who gave up their lives in their fight with the Nazis a few days ago. This battle was the only battle that the partisans had victory over the Nazis.
There were 2 huge monoliths, some sort of a modern art, to represent the two great powers clashing together at the site (shown in pictures below).

Then it was all the way to the border of Bosnia n Hercegovina and Montenegro

We spent quite some time at the border for the guard thought it unusual for people to take the unofficial border pass to Montenegro. I am always afraid of being at the customs for it will be terrible to be barred from entering the country. The custom officer at Montenegro was scary. He had that death stare which will send chills down the spine. Our van also had to pay this 'eco-tax' to the 'green-uniformed' guy who smoked cigarettes and litter them on the floor. Talking about saving the environment with the taxes *sweat drop*.

a sneak shot of the Montenegro flag at the custom

The road after that was totally treacherous though the view was great. Along the way, some parts of the green grassland and rocky terrain really resembled those in New Zealand. Also, there were some one-way lanes in which we had a couple of close shaves with oncoming vehicles. I was so scared because any mishaps would mean a free drop off the cliff without railings. But anyhow, we did arrived safely at Kotor.

Taking a breather
Left is a monastery and right is a mosque

Kotor was one of the nicest coastal town I've seen so far. The hotel we stayed in was just by the coast and my room has a balcony view that looks across the coast.
In the night, we bought some drinks and chilled out at the beach in front of our hotel. It was beautiful to see the stars and the moon behind the ridge, as well as the castle wall's golden reflection in the water (like a ring).

Kotor - Budva [19-06-08]

2008-06-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

Breakfast for the day was omelette with ham. And then it was off to Budva for a beach outing. Budva was extremely touristy and was packed with lots of people. The sky was clear, water was so tempting, and the six of us changed into our beachwear and darted off to find a nice spot to lie in the sun. Jeremy and I decided to cross over to the other side of the jetty to plunge into the Adriatic sea. Both of us plunged in and it was really salty albeit refreshing. We tried to get up to the jetty from the water but it was a bit too high. So we tried to get up a boat to get onto the jetty. We got up and lay on the jetty for some tan. After a while, i felt something sticky on my legs and i realised i had cuts all over them. The blood was flowing everywhere... gosh. Anyway, the rest of the girls came to join us at the jetty and it was only until a super irritating cruise came and destroyed our fun. Oh well...
The sun's so good

After a quick shower, we drove to the old town of Kotor, had lunch and explored the town a bit.

We decided to climb up the fortification. The fortification was like a miniature version of Great Wall of China. After an hour of toil under the relentless hot sun, we made it to the top and the view was simply fantastic.
climbing up *pant*

an abandoned building
Beautiful Montenegro coast
the fortification
Montenegro flag

Getting down from the top

We got down, bought drinks from the supermarket, and took a cab back to the hotel. The girls were pretty mad to want to plunge into the sea right outside our hotel. Oh well, so i took some really candid shots of them doing stupid things like what's shown below. We slept early for the night to prepare for our journey tomorrow into Dubrovnik.

Kotor - Dubrovnik [20-06-08]

2008-06-23T02:30:00.000-07:00

It was a bright and shiny morning. But what happened later on did not actually match the nice weather. We took a journey down to Dubrovnik and got stuck at the strict Croatian custom. The dilemna was that we were into Croatia but we couldn't leave the custom and yet we also couldn't head back to Montenegro. I do not understand why i always have a hard time at the Croatian border. I presume it must've been that we had the Bosnian stamp in our passports that kind of make us suspicious?? probably we are some drug traffickers or something. Anyway, we spent 5 hours [YES A WHOLE 5 HOURS] at the border pass because of some really stupid reason. Let me try to explain it as clear as possible.

The travel company got known from the Croatia officials that they have to pay a heavy tax to travel from one city to another city in Croatia. The officials suggest to the company that they could do a round about in other cities outside of Croatia before heading back to a city in Croatia to avoid paying the tax. However, at the custom, the general inspector insisted on the tax [a whole whooping 5000 kunas] to be paid and he printed Mustafa's name on the invoice. Despite Mustafa's attempt to tell the inspector to change the name on the invoice to the company's name 'Green Visions', the inspector refused to change it and yelled at Mustafa in an unfriendly manner to pay up. I mean Mustafa obviously did not have that much money and it was supposed to be the company that pays for it and yet if the inspector do not change the name on the invoice, the company could not pay for the tax at all. Anyway, he also threatened to have all of us being taken away to the local police station.

There's this lady at the custom who was pretty nice in that she offered us some muesli bars and cold drinks during the wait. It's really funny how during the first hour, all of us were afraid to get out of the car. But after that, we just laze around the compound reading, playing cards and waving to tour buses. We couldn't really care less, it's not as if its our fault that we were trapped in their border isn't it? Although the lady offered us a ride to a nearby village to get lunch, we decided to stay with Mustafa. Then the Dad and Daughter combination {the owners of the accomodation we will be staying in Dubrovnik} came to fetch us. The photo below was the last time we saw Mustafa. Really wish him all the best and from his last email, the issue was settled. He came to Dubrovnik to look for us but we were not at the accomodation then. That's a pity. He has been a great guide and we have sort of build up a camaradie with him over the past few days. He's always so humourous and optimistic and never failed to brighten our days in the worst form of circumstances. I'm definitely gonna miss him dearly.

Indeed, i realised that travelling is not really about going to destinations and snapping "memories" but its about being impacted by the people you meet along the way. This is the fascinating experience of backpacking alone and i'm definitely enjoying it although it could get a bit too emotionally overwhelming sometimes.

This photo was taken after a 5 hour wait at the customs.

We were driven to the apartments. Jeremy and I got a double-bed bedroom. The old ladies were really warm and friendly, a stark contrast to the kind of treatment we got at the customs. All of us felt so touched by their warmth. And when i say 'touched' i meant it literally. One of the cute old ladies couldn't stop having her hands all over us.

We took a bus to the old town next and it was beautiful albeit touristy. There were many Japanese tourists in that area. We had dinner at this Pizza place and ventured off to explore the city, at the same time finding a sports bar to watch the Euros match.

The Dubrovnik Old Town

The sky was flooded with sparrows

After that, we headed towards a local pub and the atmosphere was totally crazy. It was Croatia vs Turkey that night. You should've seen how the Croats celebrate when Croatia got the first goal during extra time. However, Croatia lost in the end due to an equalizer from Turkey and poor penalty kick performance from the Croat players. Because of some stupid bet i made with Esther, i had to drink this Jeger Bomb but it was nice. I couldn't believe that in a few more days i would be heading back to S'pore.

Sallie, Esther, Jeremy, Tiffany and I at the local pub

Havianas!! [mine were Ipanema though hee hee]
Fireworks

The happy crowd...but the happiness was shortlived
The first goal!
And it's during this cheering that Turkey scored the equalizer...

Well, i know Mustafa would be cheering on the other side for the victory of Turkey over Croatia.

And that's Esther and me drinking the Jeger bomb.

Sigh... its the last night with these peeps... =(

Dubrovnik - Lokrum - Split [21-06-08]

2008-06-23T02:00:00.000-07:00

It was a nice sleep till it became pretty noisy in the morning. Both Jeremy and I woke up earlier than expected time due to the din. After a simple fare of breakfast, we went to the nearby internet shop to find accomodation for the 5 of them. After that, the 5 of them proceeded on to their new apartments while i made my way down to the main bus station to buy a 1900 bus ticket to Split, and some groceries from Komvum. We met up later on at the fountain in the old town and took a ferry to Lokrum, and island off the coast of Dubrovnik.

Jeremy and I on the ferry
Onward to Lokrum
On arrival
I have to keep explaining to people that i'm NOT taking that woman...i'm taking shot of the peacock.
We found ourselves an area by the sea to sunbathe and swim. The water was crystal clear and i could see fishes in them.

Crystal clear water...but beware of urchins
After sunbathing, we went for a walk and discovered a beautiful lagoon (as shown in photo below). So we jumped in and swam again. Haha.

Interesting rock formation by the coast

You jump i jump

Jeremy checking out the height

The lagoon i was talking about
There was a rope tied to a tree on top for people to swing and plunge into the lagoon. Sallie trevassed across the rock surface to take the plunge. I on the other hand climbed the rope to the top. Everyone in the vicinity was 'oohing' and 'aahing' in wonder at the feat. Gosh... so paiseh. Didn't expect myself to get that much attention. But i did cut my fingers because of the slippery rope. After showering and a short chat with Jeremy, we took the boat back to Dubrovnik.

We had pasta at a local restaurant for lunch and it was time for me to leave really soon. We sat down at an internet pub/cafe to use the internet. At around 1740, after hugs and kisses and handshakes and pats, i left the Balkan family, headed back to the apartment, grabbed my barang barang, and walked to the bus station to take my bus to Split.

Evening view of Dubrovnik

It was a 5 hour journey and the scenery along the way was just stunning. Especially the part passing by Mljet National Park, i just dropped jaw at what was presented in front of me. To see mountain ridges emerging out of the center of the ocean. To see the shadowy sillouette of the mountains with orange dusk sunset sky and the sun casting its glittering reflections on the water. The different shades of orange that painted the scenery. It's gorgeous beyond words can describe.
I reached Split at around 12 midnight. Got off the bus and immediately i was swarmed by many locals offering accomodations. I had to keep on rejecting them and sometimes it could turned out to be pretty intimidating. But i did felt kind of sad that most of these people were elderly people who needed money for their pension funds. I bought a 30 kuna phonecard from the kiosk and tried to call my guesthouse from the public phone. The phone just didn't put through and suddenly there was this group of dodgy guys who walked past me and one of them threw chips at me. Thankfully they just passed me by and I do have to say that thrower was kind of poor in his accuracy anyway. In the end, I decided to wak to Palmina from the bus station relying on a map.

It was Saturday night which might be the reason to the amount of people sitting by the bay of the moonlit town. I passed by these guys and they shouted to me "Japanese?" I picked up my pace knowing that nothing good can come out of conversation with dodgy characters at 12 midnight. The lanes leading to the guesthouse was dodgy beyond description. Dead town atmosphere with part of Palmina lane in complete darkness devoid of street lights. But i did arrived at the guesthouse and was greeted by this cute little terrier "Sonny" at the main door. The room was great, with a double-bed and a balcony that has a sea view. One annoying thing was that there was a night club nearby and it was pretty noisy. But i did have a good sleep that night.

My room

The night view out of my room

I came to a realisation that backpacking travelling is not about going to various exotic places and taking snapshots of the place. To me, the best part of the trip is to get to internet and travel with fellow backpacking travellers and it's amazing how each and every one of them could make such great difference to the experience of the tour. My best part of this 3-week stint would definitely be the Balkan trek and I really enjoyed the times the 7 (inc Mustafa) of us had together. Even as travellers with a tight budget, we shared out stuff, looked out for each other, and had so much fun. When i left the Balkan family, i suffered an emotional turmoil of missing them so badly on the bus already. It's definitely more than remembering the scenery of the beautiful places, but the times we spent and things we did at these places. To go through the bad times and the good times really helped bond us in a way that's unimaginable. I think this is the thing about backpacking --> to embrace the good and the bad experiences with an open attitude and savour every experience and people that comes your way. I wonder if i'll ever get a chance to do it again. A big muchas gracias to Mustafa, Tamy, Esther, Sallie, Tiffany and Jeremy. =)

Split - Zagreb [22-06-08]

2008-06-23T01:30:00.000-07:00

I packed up in the morning, checked out of the guesthouse and walked to the nearby bakery to get my breakfast. I then got on this private coach to Split airport and had my breakfast on board. I was surprised to know that there was free internet service at the airport. So i waited for my flight at Gate 2. THe plane took off and landed on Pula before taking off again to land in Zagreb.

It was scary when i was at the conveyor belt waiting for my luggage to arrive. The plane landed at 1405 and i still could not see my luggage at 1500. It will be totally disastrous if my lugge was misplaced somewhere in Pula or at the transfer corner. The rest who were waiting were also in distress. The belt finally moved and i heaved a sigh of relief. But as for some of the passengers, they seemed infuriated by the event and went to the information counter to vent their frustrations and lodged their complaints.

I took the airport shuttle to the city centre. I was supposed to take tram#8, 4 stops to reach my hostel. I tried to find a kiosk to buy the tram tickets but all the kiosks were closed. Not knowing what to do, i took the tram without buying tickets.

Split in the morning
Buzz backpacker hostel was really hard to find. I almost missed it on this street. I checked in and realised the receptionist was a Japanese guy. He was impressed at the number of pages in my Singapore passport (other passport only have a few pages...ours are really thick). So i changed up and decided to explore the area at the same time to look for lunch.

It was a dead town. Every shops were closed and i had no choice but to eat McDonalds. 30 kunas for a value meal was alright. But seriously, i didn't see lots of people at all.
The main square.... dead
The popular vernicular.... dead
only a couple in sight

From a hill... so quiet

I found this lane which plays great music and with tree shades great for a chill-out.

You have to find this building when you're in Zagreb...one of the popular landmarks

an altar... orthodox

nobody

old old cathedral

Botanic Garden...it was closed when i was there

A local park

Zagreb's a nice city but i really have no mood to explore. It pales in comparison with Split and Dubrovnik. Frankly speaking, if ever you're planning to go to Croatia, it's definitely OKAY to give this place a miss. I mean it.

Zagreb - London [23-06-08]

2008-06-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

Woke up feeling pretty hot and realised the sun was casting its rays on me. What a great splendid spot i chose for my bed. Spent the morning washing up and using the free internet until i don't want to use anymore. Last night i tried to strike a conversation with this Japanese backpacker in the same room as me. He was totally plugged into his playstation the whole time, oblivious to my presence. And when he finally unplugged that earphone off his ears, he looked at me as if i was speaking Martian. Apparently his English was not good at all and oh well, our conversation ended there and then. I wonder how he could survive travelling alone in eastern Europe without a command of English or slavic languages, not to mention that even if you know English, it doesn't guarantee you a value meal over the Mcdonald's counter.

I went out for a walk and it was definitely more crowded than the day before. THe open market was very interesting, selling flowers, fruits, vegetables and handicrafts.
I went past this 'Mary' shrine (as shown in previous day entry) once more and found many people praying there. It's interesting to see some passers-by doing a 'knight bow' thingy when they passed by the shrine. I even saw an old lady grabbing hold of the gate of the shrine and kneeling down before it. Others were lighting orange candles. Frankly speaking, i did not know if i was in a church or a temple. The difference was a bit too small to be seen.

A Jesuit church

And i got mistaken to be a Japanese again for the nth time. It's really funny to see all the local kids 'konichiwa' me every time i walked past them. One more 'konichiwa' and i will scold them with a string of Mandarin.
It's very interesting to see this 'China Shop' emerging everywhere in eastern Europe. I saw it in Budapest, in Bosnia, and now in Croatia as well. I remembered telling Jeremy the other day how there will be a Chinese shop or restaurant everywhere in the world. He then said that the same goes to Irish pubs for they are everywhere in the world too. And it's really funny how the both of us will switch on our radar to spot any Irish pubs or Chinese shops everywhere we go.
Ate Mcdonald's for brunch, went to Konzum for some snacks purchase and back to the hostel to rest. Took a tram at 1245 to the main bus station and it was a really hot day. Took the plane Wizzair to Luton airport. On the way, i was worried about the custom. I remembered i was stalled at that time when i was entering Heathrow from Singapore. As it turned out, it weren't that bad after all. I just told the custom officer i'll be in London for a few days before flying back to Singapore and she just let me through immediately without further questions. I guess having a massive queue behind me did help a little.

Oh well, this spells the end of my eastern europe escapade and thank you guys for having that patience to read my blog entries. Do drop me a comment or 2 if you wanna enquire more. =) i wonder where will be my next destination... *ponder*