Qatar

Qatar

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Qatar occupies a peninsula of land (100km wide and 200 km long) that juts into the Arabian Gulf. Since its independence from Britain in 1971, Qatar has emerged as one of the world’s most important producers of oil and gas.

It shares a southern land border with Saudi Arabia and maritime borders with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Iran. Qatar includes several islands the largest of which are, Halul, Shraouh and Al-Asshat.

Before we get into the Doha post a special mention has to go out to the Flynas Airline. This is a Saudi budget airline that actually have their seats set at reasonable distances apart. Jill and I got on the plane and actually had legroom (something that Qantas had done away with decades ago). This was only a short flight (about an hour) but that little bit of extra space made it very comfortable and pleasant.

We were not in business and did not pay extra, they just had their seats set at reasonable intervals. So much so that I had about 3-4 inches of space between my knees and the seat in front. It even meant that when that person reclined, there were no issues. And all of this from a budget airline. Take note Qantas, one or two less rows of seats in a plane greatly increases comfort and customer satisfaction.

Doha

We had transited here once before on our way to Greece, but never made it out of the airport (but we did enjoy the platinum lounge) and got to take some happy snaps around the airport. This time we got off and got to experience the friendliest and most helpful airport (possibly) on the planet. Granted it is not as efficient as places like Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, but it is much more friendly and welcoming.

We were approached (which is all too commonplace at foreign airports) as soon as we had cleared customs and hit the outer terminal. But this time it was not by a tout, a taxi driver or a sim card seller. It was by a paid information officer. He wanted nothing, other than to help us with the smooth transition towards what we wanted. In our case, this was to find the metro and buy tickets to take us to our hotel. He was one of many, was super friendly and super helpful.

The metro was stunning, clean, air-conditioned, cheap, easy to decipher and a pleasure to ride on. I immediately loved Doha. Hopping off the Metro we were still a way from our hotel so we then hopped an Uber to take us the rest of the way. This too was clean, cheap and efficient. Doha was such a refreshing change after Saudi Arabia.

It was hot, seriously hot. We had lost 5 degrees in actual heat (from 44 to 39) but had picked up 60% more humidity. This has the effect of increasing the (feels like) component of the weather.

Souq Waqif ( سوق واقف) is the old marketplace in Doha – dating back to the late 19th to early 20th centuries. It is the Middle Eastern experience that we had been hoping for from the beginning. It is a traditional market selling garments, spices, handicrafts, and souvenirs. It is also full of (overpriced) cafes, restaurants and shisha lounges.

We came early in the afternoon – before it had really opened – so got to experience it before the true bedlam set in (typically around 5 pm). Stunning buildings with narrow alleys and the sights and smells of spices were all amazing. We of course were spotted as tourists and drew the throng of touts offering sightseeing trips.

Fanar Mosque towers above the area of the Souq Waqif and the Corniche. It is unique due to its spiral design. Until 2009 it was the largest mosque in the country but still remains the tallest.

It performs as a mosque and also as the Qatar Islamic Culture Center.

The Corniche is one of Doha’s most iconic attractions. It is basically a seven kilometer stretch of waterfront promenade. It has a crescent shaped walkway around Doha Bay and offers the best views of the skyline (if you can see through the smog). We walked along the Corniche for a while but the almost 40 degree, high humidity day precluded doing the full stretch (obviously).

Dhow Harbour is the area that offers the best views of the city (smog permitting). The thing that we weren’t expecting was the abundance of Dhows. Dhows are the traditional Arabian wooden boats that have been used in the region for centuries. Originally they were used in the fishing and pearl diving industries, but today they are almost solely used for nighttime dinner cruises for tourists.

Our research identified an amazing space ship looking building that ended up being the National Museum of Qatar. So the metro once again got a run for our happy snaps and then an Uber home as it was getting seriously hot by now.

The next thing that I wanted to see was the Pearl. It is one of the largest real-estate developments in the Middle East that sits on 4 square kilometers of reclaimed land. Once fully completed it was expected to create over 32 kilometers of new coastline and increase housing for up to 45,000 residents.  We got off the free transfer bus from the metro in the qanat quarter which is a Venice-like community complete with an extensive canal system, pedestrian friendly squares. piazzas and beachfront townhouses.

While we looked at the Qanat quarter we did get to drive past the numerous high-end residential towers and malls that make up the rest of the Pearl Island development. To get a real idea I had to grab one of their promo aerial shots from the tourist website.

Museum of Islamic Art is at one end of the Corniche and obviously holds a collection of historical Islamic Art.

Katara Towers is a seriously bizarre circular style building looking a bit like pincers. It was allegedly inspired by the national emblem of Qatar, which features traditional scimitar swords. I grabbed the first photo from the tourist website just to show the difference that the smog makes in real life.

The Torch is a hotel that stands 300 meters tall beside the Khalifa International Stadium. It was built for the Asian Games in 2006.

Zig Zag Towers is an apartment building in the West Bay Lagoon area. They are the highest and largest residential zig-zag twin towers in the world.

It is also connected to the Lagoona shopping mall. The idea of major shopping malls has been huge throughout the middle east so far. As two people who hate shopping malls our only real entries have been to hide from the extreme heat at times.

Qatar was lovely. We were here at the worst time of year for weather purposes, but if we had picked our timing better, I am certain that we would love this place. The food was great, the people welcoming. The only detraction was the air quality.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula and is most famous for its oil and the fact that 85+% of the population worship the ultraconservative form of Sunni Islam.

Because of this there are some fairly strict rules in place, particularly when it comes to dress standards. Local laws require both men and women to dress modestly covering shoulders and knees in public. They should also avoid tight-fitting clothing or clothes with rude language or images.

Most men still tend to wear the traditional Saudi Arabian dress (Thobe) on a daily basis.

This is a long flowing (mainly white) robe and a ghutra (a white or red and white checked headdress, held in place by a double black cord known as an iqal. 

For me it meant in extreme heat I had to wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt the whole time.

Since 2019, it is no longer mandatory for female travellers to wear the traditional robe or abaya (a loose-fitting, long robe that covers the entire body save for the face, hands, and feet) and veil. This eased the pressure on Jill to fully cover up (although she had already bought the scarf just in case).

Saudi Arabia is bordered by the Red Sea (west), Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait (north), the Persian Gulf, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (east), Yemen (south), and Oman (southeast). It has the third most valuable natural resource reserves in the world (petroleum and natural gas) making it one of the top twenty economies in the world.

The country is home to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad. Mecca is 70 km inland from the Red Sea, in a narrow valley 277 with a population of around 1.5 million.

The first thing that strikes you about the place is (obviously) the heat. We got off our plane in Riyadh at 3 am to be greeted by 31 degrees. Jill had arranged with the hotel for a driver to pick us up which took away any potential airport drama (specifically the money exchange and taxis) in the middle of the night.

The second thing to hit you is that at that time of the morning the place is busy. Not just the airport, but the whole place. I guess as a symptom of debilitating heat during the day the work pattern has shifted and the evening and early morning hours are where stuff gets done.

Given our early arrival off the flight and 3:45 arrival at the hotel it took another 45 minutes to wind down before we could sleep. We set an alarm for a few hours later so we could get up for breakfast, and then went back to sleep. Avoiding the heat of the day at all costs (in reality everything is quiet during the heat) we hid in our room until after dark before heading out for dinner.

Stepping out of our hotel at 7:15 pm we were punched in the face with a 38 degree hot wind. Clearly, our decision to avoid the afternoon heat had been a good one. A check of temperatures later on when we got home showed that 46 was on the cards but the wind (breeze) kept it down to 44.

Riyadh

Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia and is the main financial hub. It sits on a desert plateau in the centre of the country and is home to almost 7.7 million people. The physical layout was designed and structured to be uniform with 2km x 2km city blocks running along a north/south and east/west axis. Within this grid are more than 4,000 mosques and numerous busy (air-conditioned) shopping centres.

The next thing that hits you is the sheer size of everything. All the roads from the airport to town were a minimum of 3 lanes and up to 8 in parts. Add to this the buildings that you drive past that are all very large and imposing.

Our hotel choice was almost perfect. It was the little cheapie (comparatively) on Olaya Street, directly across the road from the Kingdom Centre (RHS of this picture).

The Kingdom Center is one of the city’s major tourist icons.

It is a 99-storey skyscraper that was built in 2002 making it the tallest building in the country. As you would expect, it has been surpassed several times since then. The building features a 300 meter high sky bridge that connects the 2 towers. And of course, of an evening the lights cycle through a range of colours changing the appearance every 20 seconds or so.

Once you have paid your entrance fee there are two lifts needed to get to the bridge. The first will take you to the 77th floor, and then another to the 99th. Arriving at the 99th floor you immediately come out onto the skybridge with amazing views north and south. And if you are super keen you can lean over and get a photo looking down.

Dinner at the Kingdom Centre was a failure (something that became commonplace in our time in Saudi Arabia) and ended up being an overpriced, bland meal from a shopping centre food court. In fact all of the meals that we had in Saudi Arabia were fails, with the exception of the hotel breakfasts.

We had high hopes for the food but each attempt failed. It was virtually impossible to find a restaurant (other than chain store junk food). Maybe home cooking is the go, maybe we were just in the wrong spot. But our culinary exposure in Saudi Arabia was less than stellar.

The next day we once again hid from the heat of the day, not venturing out until 5 pm. As we walked out of the air-conditioned hotel we were once again hit with 41 degrees while we waited for our Uber to take us to the historical Deira district. The aim of the journey was to visit the Masmak Fort and its museum.

The fort was built in 1865 and is made almost entirely out of wood, straw and mud. The fort is made up of six distinct parts: the gate, the mosque, the majlis (sitting room), the well, the towers and the courtyard.

Just like the building opposite us, after dark they light up the fort in a rotating set of colours too.

Along the way, you do pass some fairly interesting buildings and architecture. Some of these include the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, the National museum, the Al Murabba Palace Museum, and the Al Rajhi Grand mosque. But these tend to all look and feel the same. They are all 2-5 storey, yellowish, sandstone blocks (which seem to be pretty much everywhere in town.

Who would have thought that in the middle of a desert, there would be sand, sandstone and yellow-coloured buildings? The broad, flat, low profile of the buildings probably relates mainly on the base (sand) that they are built upon. This is all very logical and sensible, but in terms of visual appeal, it is all very much the same.

The amazing thing to us was the traffic. With 3-8 lanes of traffic available everywhere, it was almost always in gridlock.

It took us about 40 minutes to travel the 12 km to the fort and about the same to get back. The next day (while hiding from the heat and looking out the window) it was considerably worse (and this was Sunday afternoon).

The car is king here, there is virtually no such thing as public transport (but there is a plan). The “King Abdulaziz Project for Riyadh Public Transport” is underway to develop and deliver a public transport network (metro and buses) that will eventually move 3.6 million passengers daily. The finished product is supposed to have: 6 metro lines (with 84 stations), 180 bus routes (with 2860 stops and 842 buses).

But, today there are no metro lines and only 24 of the proposed 180 bus routes are in operation. There is no cycling (that we have seen) and in the heat, the pedestrian traffic is virtually non-existent. So you drive, take an Uber or taxi or stay put. An all of this in a city of over 7 and a half million people.

Needless to say, this level of automobile use comes with a pollution issue. The place is shrouded in a constant haze. This was a real surprise to me, as I expected clear desert skies and not a constant smog film. This obviously wreaks havoc on our photographs.

At the other end of our little strip of road you will find the Faisaliyah Tower. This and the Kingdom Centre kind of bookend this strip of Riyadh. I have seen them described as the bottle opener (Kingdom Centre) and the Pointy one.

Faisaliyah Tower (also called the star dome) is at the other end of the strip and was the first high-rise built in Saudi Arabia.

The round bit at the top is a three storey, fine dining, restaurant called “The Globe” that offers 360 degree views of the city.

As you would expect, the Globe is one of the most sought-after restaurants in Riyadh, with a price tag to match. The website dictates a minimum consumption of SAR 288 (about $120 aussie) per person. This doesn’t seem ridiculously steep, but when you look at the menu, finding something that cheap may be a challenge. The cheapest tasting menu starts at $170 and the 7 course kicks in at $320, each.

For what is on offer the numbers are not crazy, but sadly they were outside of our budget (photos from their Facebook page).

The edge of the world is the name of the 1,131 m height cliff that lies about 100 km from Riyadh. It sits at the end of the 800 km Tuwaik Mountain range. Given its distance from town, the expense of tours, the warnings about remoteness and the major hike required to get here we did not even entertain going.

The one thing that absolutely disgusted me was the attitude of the Saudis (predominately the men). There was an overwhelming sense of arrogance and entitlement that the rules did not apply to them. We were treated fantastically at every interaction. But we witnessed some of the most atrocious behaviour and treatment of others that we had ever seen.

Example 1: While leaving the country we were waiting in the airport line to check in and get our boarding passes when a 13 (ish) year old Saudi boy was verbally abusing, talking down to and berating a porter (non-Saudi adult). This immediately rubbed me up the wrong way and if he had tried talking to me that way the would have received quite the attitude adjustment.

Example 2: On the plane, we were seated in row 2 directly behind business class. One person was in row 1 (who had clearly paid extra) but the Saudi man (about 50) opposite us berated and was rude to the flight attendants because he was not allowed to sit there. When she explained that the other guy had paid for the privilege this was not a good enough answer and pointed to his outfit and claimed that this should override the lack of paying for the business class seat.

Example 3: On the next flight we were further back the plane when a Saudi Male (about 25) reclined his seat while still at the gate. The flight attendant asked him to put his seat back up and he objected. She pushed the button and sat him upright. As soon as she turned he reclined. She saw this and sat him upright again. This pattern recurred a further 12+ times until she finally just gave up.

Example 4: On every one of these flights, after the don’t use your phones announcement Saudis (both male and female) kept talking on their phones right through the takeoff and landings.

Saudi Arabia itself was okay, but for the most part, we were unable (or unwilling) to get out and about to see the sights due to the heat and poor transportation system. So this meant that much of our time here was spent waiting around the hotel room for a time that was suitable to go out and explore.

In reality, this is probably our failure in not resetting our travel patterns appropriately. The people were lovely to us, but had an overwhelming demeanor that the rules just did not apply to them. While we can now say that we have been and spent some time here, I probably would not put this on the comeback list.

Albania

Albania

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Albania is a nation that shares land borders with Montenegro (northwest), Kosovo (northeast), North Macedonia (east) and Greece (south). There is evidence of habitation in the area since the Neolithic era (around 7000 BCE).

The Albania of today provides universal health care and free education (primary and secondary) to its citizens.

Tirana

Well, this one surprised us. We looked online at the local tourist attractions and the list looked pretty lean. Our time was short but given the list of things to see it had a fair bit of downtime in there too. Once we arrived and started looking we saw much more than we had bargained for.

Add to this that it was listed as a developing country, our experience was very different. It had many of the baselines for a developed nation (footpaths and lighting etc) that we had been missing in many of the last six countries we had been in. Granted, the traffic was a nightmare and the sewerage at times questionable but for the most part this place is extremely civilised and pleasant.

So the main thing on the tourist schedule for Tirana is Skanderbeg Square. This is the main central square in the heart of town. At one end is the National Historical Museum and at the opposite side is the statue of Gjergj Skanderbeg.

This is the third time we had run into Skanderbeg having also seen his statues in Skopje and Pristina.

According to the history books, Skanderbeg’s led a 10,000 strong army that waged war in Ottoman territory. For 25 years, (between 1443 and 1468) they kept winning against consistently larger and better-supplied Ottoman forces.

A war memorial dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo War is present in Skanderbeg Square along with a series of photographs depicting those missing from the conflict.

There is much construction still going on in the city and the thing that is enthusing me is that they are not building boring concrete and glass cubes. The Architects have been to work and are putting together something that may end up being an interesting cityscape.

While there was not huge amounts to see and do, we liked Tirana and would happily come back. Getting around was easy and cheap and the people were mainly friendly. Albania would make for a nice base to launch longer European forays (daytips etc) while not killing the budget.

Tirana represented the end of this phase of our European adventure. We now start heading back to Australia (briefly) but we are doing it the slow way with several stops in the Middle East, Sri Lanka (again) and then into Brisbane via Kuala Lumpur and Sydney.

Montenegro

Montenegro

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Montenegro is a small country of a bit over 600,000. It is bordered by Bosnia and Herzegovina (northwest), Serbia (northeast), Kosovo (east), Albania (southeast), and Croatia and the Adriatic Sea (about 300km) to the southwest.

Podgorica (Подгорица)

Podgorica is the country’s capital and its largest city with about a third (200,000) of the nations population. It is at the crossroads of several historically important routes, near six different rivers (Zeta, Morača, Cijevna, Ribnica, Sitnica and Mareza) close to the Adriatic Sea and on fertile lowlands with a favourable climate. With all of this going for it, as you can imagine, every man and his dog fought over control of the place over the centuries.

Our introduction was brief and a tad onerous. Firstly we came in at a bit after midnight to be greeted by 31 degrees after a 7 hour bus ride that was less than fun. Thankfully our hotel was only 250 meters away and had both cold beer and air conditioning. Also of benefit was that the list of things to see and do in Podgorica was pretty short. There was the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, the Millennium Bridge and Independence square. And that was pretty much it.

So the next day it was 37 degrees and we were off again on what was to be a snappy 2 hour bus ride to the coastal town of Kotor. Sadly this too was an adventure.

After having a 100% full bus (so full in fact that the spotty-faced bus organiser had to stand), we then stopped along the way and picked up a further 8 local people.

They had to pay less than a quarter of what we had paid but being full they also had to stand. In the aisles thereby reducing airflow and adding more bodies, heat and odour to an already uncomfortable bus.

From here we then stopped a few times to pick up and drop off random parcels along the route. This included being parked on the side of the road for 10 minutes waiting for the recipient of one of the parcels to turn up because he was not where he should be. This period was accentuated by sardines for people sweating and dripping in the aisles and on the seats. So after about 50 minutes into our planned 2 hour ride we had travelled around 20 kilometres, in 37 degree heat, and then (go figure) the bus broke down.

At this point, all of the local interlopers who got on the bus and were standing went into rants at the bus driver (as if it was his fault) pushing him and yelling at him. In the meantime the spotty faced organiser (who was the only one who could speak English) ran and hid (imparting absolutely no knowledge of what was going on to the rest of us). After several phone calls by the bus driver we were all offloaded onto the side of the road.

I eventually managed to get furry head (can you tell I am a fan) in a headlock who advised that more busses were on the way to pick us up.

Many of our fellow passengers got the shits and hailed down cars and negotiated lifts.

After about 40 minutes a half-full bus arrived and all of the interlopers (who didn’t have luggage) rushed to the bus taking all the available seats. Some people tried to jam their luggage underneath and then board but by then all the seats were taken by the interlopers and they had to climb under the bus and retrieve their bags. And the rest of us waited.

At least with the ones that scarpered and the interlopers gone, there may be room for us when the bus finally gets here. So after another 40 minutes and almost an hour and a half in the heat, with us sitting by the side of the road, with no shade, our replacement bus arrived and the rest ran swimmingly.

Kotor

After the drama above we found our accommodation (a unit on the 4th floor with no lift) stripped off our sweaty gear, did a load of washing and had well needed and welcome showers. Once the air conditioning did its thing we were ready to head out grab some dinner and see the town.

Kotor is a medieval fortified town that sits on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast with an incredibly pleasant looking harbour. The medieval Old Town of Kotor sits mostly at sea level, on a triangle of land bordered by the sea, a river, and a steep mountain on the third side. In many respects, it is similar to, but much smaller than, Dubrovnik. Something that I haven’t mentioned is that throughout much of this fires had been raging in Greece and the air was getting increasingly smoky and hazy. As Kotor is in a bit of a bowl between valleys the smoke got in but struggled to get out, as did the heat.

And this place is as touristy as all get out.

The main feature of Kotor is the fortified old town with three main entrance gates. The north gate or the River Gate (representing the symbol of beating back the Turkish fleet in the 16th century) was our first entry. As you head through the gates you find yourself in the main square of town facing directly at the Kotor Cathedral or the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon was built on the site of a previous church that was originally put in place in 809, however the current version dates to 1166. A series of earthquakes in the region have variously damaged it over the years.

It was late(ish), hot and we were of ill humour after the day that was, so we found a restaurant on the main square, ordered a cold beer and examined the menu. The prices in Touristville have certainly gone up on what we had been paying the last few weeks. But the food was good and sitting with the cool beer eased the tensions of the day.

On the evening walk home we took some night shots and crashed ready for the heat that was to follow tomorrow.

The next morning saw us entering the Old Town through the south or Gurdic gate. It was built in the 10th century and importantly, was the closest one to where we were staying. Heavily fortified with a wooden drawbridge and a moat (of sorts), it was a pretty cool way to enter the Old Town. The moat was actually the Gurdic Spring. The gate and bastion protect this vital connection to the rest of the world.

The bastion protects a wooden drawbridge with a heavily fortified passage. It was constructed in 1470 and was an essential part of the city’s defensive structure.

From here a set of stairs took you up onto the ramparts and gave you access to wandering along the ancient city walls. Which we took great pleasure in doing. When we climbed the stairs to the ramparts there was an Instagrammer getting photos on one of the outcrops. Having looked at everything and taken our photos they were still perched in the same spot, taking more shots. So Jill walked to the top of the outcrop (right next to her) and took her photos, this action created some very snooty faces.

While wandering the ramparts we hit the western Sea Gate, originating from 1555 (during the Venetian reign). From here we could see the masses of tour groups that were loading up ready to enter the Old Town area.

Having reached the end of the walls we descended the stairs and entered Old Town proper. It really is quite small and is probably only about 3-4 blocks deep before you hit the cliff face and the hike up to the fortress (more about that later). Once in you are greeted by the usual mix of shops cafe’s restaurants and old churches.

The unusual thing in Kotor is an unexplainable attraction to cats. There are hundreds of stray cats all over the place. They are very well looked after by locals and visitors, but they are everywhere. Add to this the abundance of cat stores celebrating their existence through merchandise and of course a cat museum. 

The third gate is the quietest of the town’s gates is on the north side, along the Skurda River. A narrow stone bridge connects the gate with the other side of the river. It was built in 1540 in the Renaissance style leaving the main defence on that side as the moat-like river.

One of the biggest symbols of Kotor is the San Giovanni Fortress. It is situated high above the city walls of Kotor’s Old Town and has been perched up there since around the 6th century. During the peak season, you have to pay €8 per person to gain entry to the path.

This has at times been described as the “great wall of Kotor”. It is long (about 4.5 kilometres) and includes a climb of around 1400 stairs (each way) from the old town.  Sitting 260 meters above sea level the fortress got its name from the old church that was on the top of the fortress. The wall thickness ranges from 2-12 meters.

On the way to the fortress, the first stop is the church Our Lady of Health. The cult of Our Lady of Health relates to the plague epidemic that killed many people in the Middle Ages.

Cruise ship traffic has been steadily increasing with Kotor listed among the five most visited ports in the western Mediterranean last year.

The other ports included Dubrovnik, Rhodes, Mykonos and Venice.

Thankfully only mid-sized ships or smaller seem to be able to get in.

Budva

Budva was next, it is a small town of just under 20,000 on the Adriatic Sea. Set on the Budva Riviera it is the center of Montenegrin tourism and is known for its well-preserved medieval walled city, beaches and nightlife. The town itself is 2,500 years old, making it one of the oldest settlements on the Adriatic coast.

Located in the most prominent part of the Old Town, the Citadel was built in the 15th century. The old town includes the remains of St. Mary’s Church, terraced gates, several squares, and a building of the former army barracks.

The Greeks were the first to colonise the area in the 4th century BC when an Emporium was established on the site of Budva. In the 2nd century BC, the Romans took over. Then in the 6th century, it became part of the Byzantine Empire then the Slavs and Avars (850ish) had a crack. And then the Venetians had it for about 400 years.

The Old Town is tiny compared to those we have been to and anything that was once genuine has been replaced by tourist shops or boutique clothing stores. That said, the old buildings are ok and the people watching is very entertaining.

Once again Jill had fun with an Instagrammer. The blonde in the photo on the right had been standing on the stairs taking photos for at least 5 minutes while others patiently waited.

So Jill decided that she had had enough and went and stood behind her (for way longer than normal) ruining her shot. The woman glared and Jill cared not one bit.

As you can probably tell, by now we have had enough of Instagrammers. Our issue is not with Instagrammers per se, it is the attitude that the rest of the world should change their actions to accommodate them. We are respectful and stay back allowing them to get their photographs. But if you are still standing and monopolising the same spot for an extended period, then you will get one or other of us standing in your way ruining your shot.

Anyway, back to Budva, the place is pretty small and it is virtually 100% set up for the tourist trade. It is trying hard to cash in on the tourism dollar and its proximity to Dubrovnik means that it is getting its fair share of day trippers.

The beaches are the type that Aussies hate, the ones where you have to pay to go on it. This inherently offends my sensibilities. The fact that you can be excluded from a public space just does not sit well with me. The prices for hiring a sunbed were exorbitant. And if you did pay the huge price, you could not bring your own food or drink onto the beach and were basically a captive to the big resorts. Oh, and there was very little sand, just the pebbles and rocks. And of course there were the Instagrammers.

The waterfront area was lovely, but again, it had been developed in a manner that was solely for the tourists. It was full of boats offering day trips, cafes and restaurants. Interestingly here, while the prices were higher than elsewhere they were not silly (unlike the beaches). You could still get a meal, in a lovely environment, without breaking the bank.

Budvar was nice, in a very touristy kind of way. It was more expensive than where we had been lately, but not so ridiculous that it was unreasonable. We were glad that we came towards the back end of the tourist season as in mid-season I could imagine it would be like Dubrovnik.

Kosovo

Kossovo

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Kosovo lies landlocked in the centre of the Balkans, With a population under 2 million. It is bordered by Serbia (north and east), North Macedonia (southeast), Albania (southwest), and Montenegro to the west.

Its capital and largest city is Pristina.

In about 1950 the Serbian/Albanian population mix in Kosovo was about 50/50, today it is 5/95. Kosovo is the newest country, having declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. The day of that declaration it unveiled the newborn monument. At the unveiling the monument was signed by the President and Prime Minister of Kosovo, followed by 150,000 citizens celebrating their independence.

By the time we had arrived the shine and gloss may have worn off the idea of being a sovereign nation for some. Somebody had come in late at night and moved the letters around so that it now read No New BR with the words broken republic printed an the letters.

The earliest historians can trace back evidence of settlement in Kosovo to the stone age. There are indications that cave dwellings might have existed, such as Radivojce Cave (Drin River), Grnčar Cave (near Viti) municipality and the Dema and Karamakaz Caves near Peja.

The strategic position of the nation coupled with the abundant natural resources has made the area favorable for the development of human settlements throughout history. There are hundreds of archaeological sites identified throughout Kosovo.

Pristina

Pristina is the capital and it is a safe and easy place to travel in and around. There are not a lot of attractions and activities to see and enjoy but the ones they have are ok. The public transportation is frequent, cheap and reliable with majority of buses air conditioned.

As we came in fairly late in the afternoon and there was not too much to see and do in town we decided to cool off in our hotel before heading out to dinner. We picked a local Italian joint nearby. This was our first introduction to just how cheap this place was. I ordered a pasta and a small (22cm) pepperoni pizza while Jill just had a Margarita pizza. And these were washed down by two beers each. Total bill was 13.80 euros which is $23.17 aussie. $23 for two pizzas, 4 beers and a pasta. That is just crazy.

The next morning we were up, breakfasted and on the bus to town to see the sights. The bus fare was 50 cents for a one way or 80 cents for a 24 hour ticket for as many trips as you wanted. We rode the bus getting off on Bill Clinton Boulevard near the statue of Bill Clinton. This was done to thank former U.S. President for his help during their struggle with the government of Yugoslavia.

From here we wandered up the hill towards the Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa. It was opened in 2010 on the anniversary of her death. This is about the 4th country in a row that is claiming a great affinity to Mother Teresa. She was born in Skopje (hence their claim) of Kosovar/Albanian descent (that’s them covered) but she took off at 18 and was never seen again in this part of the world. So the attempts to claim her throughout the Balkans seems a bit of mystery.

From here, the road was blocked off for a festival leading its way down to the park and the incredibly odd and controversial National Library of Pristina. The current building began in 1982 and consists of a total 99 domes of different sizes and is entirely covered in a metal fishing net. It has been described by many as the ugliest building in the world.

After this you find yourself at a long pedestrian mall, full of the usual shops, businesses, statues, restaurants and cafes. Nothing really to see and tourism hasn’t really kicked in yet. But it is neat and attractive and a pleasant place to stroll.

Following the end of the Kosovo conflict in 1999 and no longer under Serbian rule, Kosovo Albanians in 2001 erected a monument within the centre of Pristina to Skanderbeg. He was a medieval Albanian who fought against Ottoman forces in the 1400’s.

HEROINAT is a statue opposite the Newborn statue that depicts the face of a typical Albanian woman using 20,000 pins.

Each pin represents a woman raped during the Kosovo War from 1998 to 1999. The pins are at different heights, creating a portrait in relief.

That pretty much did it for Pristina. There were a few mosques around the traps, the odd statue and a church. We did find one local beer and managed to sample another couple of new ones but they were from elsewhere.

North Macedonia

North Macedonia

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North Macedonia is a landlocked country of a little under 2 million in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Kosovo (northwest), Serbia (north), Bulgaria (east), Greece (south) and Albania to the west.

The thing I could not wrap my head around was why North Macedonia when there was no south, east or west Macedonia. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that the ancient civilisation of Macedonia occupied an area that include areas of Macedonia and northern Greece and Bulgaria. While Bulgaria could deal with this, Greece took another 15 years to finally come to the party.

Skopje

Skopje (pronounced Scorpia) is the capital and largest city that houses a quarter of the country’s population. It only became the capital of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991 when the nation declared independence after spending centuries under the rule of the Roman, Byzantine, Serbian, and Ottoman Empires and Yugoslavia.

By way of background, the city of Skopje was pretty much levelled by an earthquake in 1963 which took out about 80% of the city and killed over a thousand people.

This included most of the neoclassical buildings in the central part of Skopje. When they rebuilt they did so quickly and with ugly modern buildings. After independence the former Macedonian government implemented a program of redevelopment (Skopje 2014) aimed to make the city more attractive to tourists. The program has been the most controversial issue in recent Macedonian politics and the most divisive question among the citizens of Skopje.

The plan involved the construction of around 20 buildings (colleges, museums and government buildings) and the erection of over 40 monuments and countless statues. By the end over 100 sculptures, 34 monuments, 27 buildings, 6 garages, 5 squares, and 1 triumphal gate, were built. Add to this numerous other things like fountains, small squares, and candelabra, while at the same time12 parks and green corners had been ruined (the local’s view).

It was originally costed and claimed to be worth 80 million euro but ended up reaching nearly 640 million.

Overlooking the entire city is the Millennium Cross. It is a 66-meter tall cross, built on top Vodno Mountain. It can be seen from almost everywhere in town.

It was built in 2002 to commemorate 2,000 years of Christianity in Macedonia.

It is not very attractive and is basically just a massive scaffold with lights stuck on it perched on top of the hill.

Skopje Statues

So as part of the redevelopment, there was a push to build statues (and rewrite a bit of Macedonian history along the way). When it comes to how many statues there are in Skopje, nobody really knows, it’s thought they built 136 in a 5 year period.  If there’s one thing that is certain is that they are everywhere. They are on every street corner and in every square and at times it seems like there are more statues than people.

The decision to spend so much money on statues infuriated a lot of the local residents as they felt the money would have been better spent on infrastructure, say building a metro or tram system. But the Macedonian government wanted to make a statement. They wanted to announce themselves on the world stage.

Not only did the project reduce green space by over half, it reinterpreted history based and glorified some dubious personalities from the history, while perpetuating a false history or mythology, and neglecting or twisting facts proven through scientific methods.

Background set, we arrived mid afternoon on the bus from Bulgaria and were met by our accommodation dude. Our accommodation was a (40 euro a night) two-bedroom apartment, a short walk to the heart of town and close to all of the attractions.

It had everything that you would need and importantly for us, it had a washing machine. So our first order of business was to attend to the domestic basics. This was simple in Asia as washing services were about a dollar a kilo and the shops were everywhere. In America and Canada, laundromats were pretty common, but in Europe, we had been paying big money for really poor washing services (with the exception of Germany when we stole my cousin’s machine). Honestly, apart from an awesome washing experience in Greece (Paros), mostly our clothes have been coming back to us unclean and in worse states than we submitted them.

Once that was done, we had to arrange our bus ticket out of here a few days later. As we have kept going east, we have long since left behind the luxury of trains. So too have we left behind much of the efficiency of online booking and often even the use of card payment. So we physically walked (back) to the bus station and went to the window to buy our ticket (in cash). On the up side, as we have moved easterly the prices have been steadily dropping. So our trip to Pristina (Kosovo) was only going to cost both of us $30.

With all of that dealt with it was time to go exploring. Oh my god, I am in love with this place already. Our first introduction was to find our way to the water and take in the bridges.

From where we were the first bridge we came across was the Mother Theresa Bridge. A vehicle bridge near the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, with some very cool lanterns and lights.

It was built in 1963 after the earthquake but was revamped in 2011 with the addition of new railings (painted in gold) with decorative candelabras. 

Next in line was the Bridge of Art which is a pedestrian bridge that features statues of noted Macedonian artists and musicians. 

The bridge includes 29 sculptures, with 14 at each side and one in the centre.

Next was the Bridge of Civilisations (formerly the Eye Bridge), this one has more statue representations of historic figures whose life’s work has left a mark on this region.

As you do the walk along the river there are a couple of fixed buildings shaped to look like boats. One was derelict while the other seemed to be operating as a cafe or restaurant.

The stone bridge (also known as the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II Bridge – as it was built under his patronage) is an old (built between 1451 and 1469) pedestrian bridge built on 10 arches that span across the Vardar river connecting Square Macedonia and the Old Bazaar area. It dates back to the the Ottoman period and is considered a symbol of Skopje and is the main element of the coat of arms of the city.

The Lion Bridge (Goce Delchev) is the last of the bridges in the main part of town. It is another vehicle bridge. Unsurprisingly, it has very large lion statues on it.

The lion sculptures stand five metres in tall and weigh five tons each. 

Macedonia Square is the centrepiece of the new city. It is the biggest in North Macedonia taking up almost two hectares right in the heart of town. While the grand plan was to pull more tourists to town, the square and waterfront is a perfect conduit to achieve this. Apart from the sculptures there are places to shop, restaurants to eat and cafes to have a drink in the square. Sadly they have also included multiple casinos and gambling establishments.

The centrepiece of the of the square is a a giant statue titled ‘The Great Warrior’ which is so very overtly a statue of Alexander the Great but the name was changed to avoid conflict with Greece over history. Standing at 22 metres, or eight storeys high, the statue dwarfs its surroundings.

Porta Macedonia is a memorial arch leading to the main square that was built in 2012.

The arch is 21 meters tall and is dedicated to 20 years of Macedonian independence. Its outer surface is covered in 193 m2 of marble carvings that depict scenes from the history of Macedonia.

We broke one of our major rules and had dinner in the heart of the tourist area. In fact, we did it on the main square, overlooking the Alexander the Great statue. Usually, this rule is in force due to extortionate prices and poor quality. We have been smashed before by extortionate pricing, (notably in places like Milan, Paris and Rome) hence the rule. The rule typically extends to include airports, bus and train stations too.

But in this case, we were astounded. The food was amazing and the cost was very manageable, in fact, cheap even.

The next morning we were up early to do the rest of the tourist hop (as the projected temperature was again in the high 30s). On the first day we did not cross the river but merely wandered along it and checked out the square. This is when we got most of the statue photos and where we got to take in the buildings along the riverfront.

So the first major stop was at the Opera and Ballet house with an absolutely bizarre set of statues and Greek columns outside of a chunky Russian styled block, with an angular chunk behind it, next to a round lump that is the opera house. The whole thing was totally out there and a little difficult to understand.

The Archeology Museum sits at the end of the Art Bridge. Inside you can see about 7,000 historical artifacts from the Ancient, Medieval and Ottoman Periods.

On the opposite side of the stone bridge, you find another huge statue. In fact, at 28.5 meters tall it is bigger than the Alexander the Great Statue in the main square. This one is of Philip of Macedon (who was Alexander the Great’s father), however, it is officially the Founder of Heraclea Statue (name change to avoid conflict with Greece). It is a 3 tier number with Philip at the top.

Carsija is the Old Skopje Bazaar dates back to the twelfth century and is over the Stone Bridge on the left side of Vardar. This is the old part of the city where the original narrow cobblestone streets take you past inns, baths, mosques and tombs from the Ottoman era. Sadly, much like the new bit this too is being corrupted and much of the old world charm is being lost to commercial uniformity.

Kale Fortress sits on the highest point in the (old) city overlooking the river. The first fortress was built in the 6th century AD and is believed to have been further developed during the 10th and 11th centuries. Interestingly, it is totally free. As was everything else we had seen through the two days of exploring.

Add to the Old Town area the buildings, the mosque, the carvings, and the fountains. There really is a ton to see here. Very little of it is real or authentic, but there is a lot of it.

On the way out of Old Town we came across something that I thought had died out decades ago. A dude running the 3 card scam.

Jill tried to get a photo but he got really pissed. Thankfully her super zoom on the phone allowed her to get far enough away to catch a couple of shots, but he was very keen not to be photographed doing his thing.

Mother Teresa House was built in her memory, there are many photographs and belongings about her childhood and life that started in Skopje in 1910.

The Church of St. Constantine and Helena is a 30-metre tall church covered in white travertine limestone. It was meant to have been built on the main square but in the name of religious equity, it had to be moved to off square so as not to offend the country’s large Albanian Muslim minority.

This post has been huge and has been hard work. This place has so much to see and do that it really needed all of this space and I am certain that I have undercooked the writeup entirely. Yes, it is mostly all new and yes it is largely manufactured and at least a little fake, but long story short, I loved this place. It had a great feel about it, was cheap as chips and is somewhere you could easily spend a relaxing month just pottering about or day-tripping to nearby places.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria

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Bulgaria is a southern Balkan country bordered by Romania (north), Serbia and North Macedonia (west), Greece and Turkey to the south.

Bulgaria is renowned for its diverse terrain that includes the Black Sea coastline, a mountainous interior and rivers, including the Danube. Based near the European crossroads it has long been a cultural melting pot with Greek, Slavic, Ottoman, and Persian influences.

Before I get into the exploring, I need to talk about first impressions. This place is fantastic. We got off the plane and onto the Metro for a run into town for our hotel. A slight mishap with the ticket scanning saw me through the barrier and Jill stuck on the other side. Seeing the dilemma some random woman came up and swiped her card, letting Jill through and just wearing the cost.

We then got to our hotel and were met by the friendliest and most helpful dude that we have come across thus far (and that bar has been set pretty high). This friendliness was genuine and extended the entire time through our stay. So much so that on the morning that we were due to leave he even offered to wait around for us (after his overnight shift) and drive us to the bus station, so that we didn’t have to lug our heavy bags.

Our room had a fridge so we popped out to the shop on the corner and bought 4 large beers (2x500ml and 2×1 litre) and a soft drink each and got change from $12 Aussie for the lot.

I’m really gonna like this place.

Sofia

Sofia is the capital of the Balkan nation of Bulgaria. It’s in the west of the country, below Vitosha Mountain. The city’s landmarks reflect more than 2,000 years of history, including Greek, Roman, Ottoman and Soviet occupation. When doing our early research it looked a bit light on, but on arrival we were happy to see that there was much more on offer than the tourist blurbs suggest.

Hopping off the Metro we landed right on top of one of the listed landmarks, the Lions Bridge.

Well that was easy.

It is a bridge over the Vladaya River that was built 1889–1891 and connects the Central Railway Station with the city centre.

It has 4 very large lion statues on it.

Just around the corner from our hotel, we randomly happened upon the Church of St Paraskeva which is the third largest church in Sofia.

It is a Bulgarian Orthodox church dedicated to Saint Paraskeva,

We were aiming for something else but sure enough this popped up and was pretty cool.

St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was what we were actually aiming for. It is one of the 50 largest Christian churches in the world taking up an area of 3,170 square metres and being able to hold 5,000 people inside. Construction started in 1882 but most of it was built between 1904 and 1912. The cathedral was created in honour of the Russian soldiers who died during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 when Bulgaria was liberated from Ottoman rule.

Virtually across the road, you find the Saint Sofia Church which is the oldest church in Sofia. The floor of the church is covered with Early Christian flora and fauna-themed mosaics. 

Just down the hill a bit and you come across Saint Nikolas Russian Church (Tsurkva Sveta Nikolai).

It was built in 1882 on the site of the Saray Mosque, which was destroyed during the Russian liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire.

Having ticked those boxes we hunted for dinner but were rejected from the first place (Armenian) as I was dressed like a grotty backpacker. They claimed that they were full but really they didn’t want the likes of us in there. So we went somewhere else, got online and made a reservation for the next night, where we dressed similarly. Having done all of that, their snootiness did not translate into good enough food to justify the price (it was OK) and as a protest, they made sure that their service sucked.

A later check of reviews from other people found many similar experiences.

On our walk back from dinner (the first night) we stumbled upon the Opera House that we had walked right past and completely missed on the way up the hill (it was tucked around a corner).

Also on the walk home, we came across roving packs of teens and 20 somethings in the park looking for things to do. Some were drinking, but for the most part, they were just hanging out and discussing the issues of the day. Not protests as such, just exchanges of ideas.

National Museum of History is Bulgaria’s largest museum and was founded in 1973. Set at the end of a very nice park with some lovely fountains it was worth the short journey to get here.

St. Nedelya Church is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral dating back to the 10th century. It has been destroyed and reconstructed many times through the ages. 

The Rotunda Church of Saint George is buried in a courtyard behind other buildings. It dates back to the late 3rd and early 4th centuries.

It was originally built as Roman baths. It is the oldest surviving building in Sofia.

The Regional History Museum is another landmark in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It was built in the early 20th century near the former Turkish bath and was used as the city’s public baths until 1986.

Almost across the road you will find the Banya Bashi Mosque. This was built in 1566, during Ottoman control of the city. It was built over natural thermal spas and at times you can see the steam rising from vents in the ground near the mosque walls.

The mosque has a 15m diameter large dome and prominent minaret.

The Sofia Synagogue opened in 1909 in the presence of King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria.  Buried away in a backstreet it is tough to get a good camera angle for better photos, sorry.

And just down the road and around the corner you will find the Gypsy Markets. The description that we got from our hotel dude was it was a bunch of gypsies selling the things they had stolen or found in the trash that day. He also suggested not eating there as the meat was likely to be cat or dog.

We were here on a Saturday and Sunday and for the most part, the place was closed. Shops and restaurants worked normal hours, none of this I must be open the whole time. It was an interesting throwback to when people had lives.

A little inconvenient at times but hey.

The only places that were always open were the alcohol and tobacco shops.

As with everywhere, the place had a bunch of statues dotted all over the place. But these ones seemed funkier and edgier than the usual ones that typically haunt big cities.

This is the Eastern Europe that we had been hoping for all along. The place is fantastic, cheap and friendly. The food is good and the sights are worth seeing without being mind-blowing. But mostly it is about the atmosphere. The place feels right. You could happily settle in and spend a month here just soaking up the culture and getting a sense of the place, and importantly you can do so without destroying the budget.

Moldova

Moldova

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Moldova, is an Eastern European country of about 2.5 million and former Soviet republic. It has a history of winemaking dating back to at least 3,000 BC.

Moldova is bordered by Romania (west) and Ukraine (north, east, and south). Due to the conflict with Russia, we could only get to the capital.

Getting here

Our journey to get to Moldova in the first place was quite the adventure. Jill had us booked on a 14 hour overnight sleeper train (the Prietenia- means friendship) from Bucharest to Chisinau. We had not done an overnight rail journey since Myanmar and India, neither of which were very stellar. Our cabin was thankfully just a 2 person sleeper which was a blessing as we did not have to contend with bunks and other people.

An incredibly gruff man (the attendant) asks to check your passport on arrival and then delivers you your (very interesting) linen in a plastic bag. The ride involved a 2am wakeup at the border (the town of Ungheni on the river Prut) for an exiting passport control leaving Romania, closely followed by an incoming border control entering Moldova. This was also combined with a 1-2 hour bogey change.

The reason for the bogey change is that countries of the former Soviet Union use a wider gauge railway track so that any invading army could not use their railway system to get troops into Russia. And because the Russian tanks were so big they needed a wider gauge. Each wagon is jacked up individually, the bogey is changed and then the train does a series of tests to make sure it all works. And then you are on your way again for the remaining two and a half hours.

All in all it was one of the more entertaining railway journeys, and despite the bizarre goings-on it was reasonably comfortable and hassle free. Probably not recommended for the light sleepers among you but all things considered, pretty good.

Transnistria

Transnistria is a disputed territory (since 1989) that is officially part of Moldova and has many of the touristy things worth seeing.

It is a narrow strip of land between the Dniester river and the Moldovan–Ukrainian border.

For obvious reasons we did not make it here.

Chisinau

Chișinău is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. It is the main industrial and commercial centre and lies on the river Bîc. It has a population of a bit over half a million at last count. The city’s buildings were badly damaged during WWII but have largely been put back in order.

Our hotel was a bit more of a homestay, with a nice air conditioned apartment upstairs, so we dropped off our gear and cooled down a bit before starting our amblings. But our arrival happened in mid-summer, meaning that the usually temperate climate had turned steamy. So we set off to do our wanderings in 37+ degree temperatures.

In the grand scheme of things there really is not very much to see and do in Chisinau but we did hit the things that were there. The first port of call was to Cathedral park with the Nativity of Christ Metropolitan Cathedral (Catedrala Nașterea Domnului) which was constructed in 1836 for Orthodox Christians. Then up to the Triumphal arch.

A quick diagonal across the road to Stephen the Great Central Park. This is the oldest park in Moldova and covers about 7 hectares. And according to online images, gets pretty cold in winter (I had to put this in to contrast our 37+ degrees).

Having walked to the park in the heat I took the opportunity to sit in the breeze on a park bench and watch the world go by, this was very pleasant indeed. Until Jill decided it was time to move again. So we embarked on a very long, very hot journey (through the embassy district) so that we could see Dendrarium Park. I had been happily sitting in the shade, on a bench, in a park and did not need to hike 4 km just to do the same at a different park. But I did.

So our journey continued on to Valea Morilor park and the lake. It was established in 1950 at the initiative of Leonid Brezhnev and covers 114 hectares. It is on the shore of Valea Morilor Lake, which covers another 34 hectares.

Having done all of this parking, we found a local bus that would take our sweaty selves back in the direction of our accommodation for a well-deserved (and needed) shower. As we had walked through the parks, we actually missed the sights that were on the roads. So rather than heading straight home we got some happy snaps of the buildings that we had missed.

These included the Chisinau City Hall building, Organ Hall, Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and the Presidential Palace.

The buses are something that needs mentioning. They are packed 100% of the time. Packed to the point of not being able to fit another person on, let alone Jill and I trying to get our bags back to the train station on the last day. Did I mention the 37+ degree day. That many sweaty stinky bodies (including our own) jammed onto buses, did not make for a pleasant experience. Add to this the random ticket collector lady who wanders among the crowd, a bit like a sheepdog in a flock, getting money for those entering and exiting.

The Victory Memorial and eternal flame. It is dedicated to Soviet soldiers who died in WWII.

The memorial is a pyramid of five 25-meter-tall stone rifles. A 5-pointed star with an eternal flame in the centre of the monument. 

Cricova Winery is a real underground wine city with wide streets, warehouses, and tasting rooms. The total length of this winery is 120 km.

In terms of time, we totally overdid this one. There really was not too much to see and without the extreme heat, you could easily have gotten around to see everything in a day. The train ride in was great (kind of) and in reality, you could have caught the overnight train in, arriving at 8 am, seen everything and caught the return train back, departing at 5 pm the same day.

I could only find the one local Moldovan beer that was very pleasant and along the Czech lines, but I was however able to sample some Ukrainian numbers. I must admit, they were pretty good. The best bit was that if you bought them at the local bottle shop you could get a 500ml bottle for between $1.50-1.80.

That sort of pricing goes a small way to offsetting our tanking Aussie dollar. The state of the Aussie dollar is seriously impacting our budget and without some improvement on the economic front, we may need to come home and be adults and get jobs again. Now that truly would be disappointing.

While there was not a ton to see and do here in Chisinau, everyone we met was absolutely lovely and friendly. On our last day we were due to check out at noon but not to catch our train until 5 pm. The lady running our place (who spoke zero English and probably didn’t get too many guests like us) let us stay in the (air-conditioned) room until we were ready to leave at no extra cost. When leaving she could not help herself but to hug Jill on the way out and pray that everything was OK.

Romania

Romania

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Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria (south), Ukraine (north), Hungary (west), Serbia (southwest), Moldova (east), and the Black Sea (southeast).

Romania is particularly known for the forested region of Transylvania, long associated with the Dracula legend. It is ringed by the Carpathian Mountains and has many well preserved medieval towns and fortified churches and castles.

Human remains found in Romania have been dated back to 40,000 years ago, making them the oldest known homo sapiens in Europe.

Castle Dracula

We did not get near this one, but I thought that I should at least mention it and provide a few stolen tourist brochure shots. More rightly known as Bran Castle it was built in 1377 and attracts over 700,000 visitors a year.

Bram Stoker’s character, Dracula, is a Transylvanian Count with a castle located high above a valley perched on a rock with a flowing river below in the Principality of Transylvania.

Bran Castle is the only castle in all of Transylvania that fits Bram Stoker’s description.

The Bram castle website offers the opportunity to get in touch with the creatures of the night through an exhibition entitled ‘A history of dreads in Transylvania’. This provides a history of local myths and fears (their symbols and significance) and the way they were reflected in the historiography of the 15th century. And how they were then discovered and used by Bram Stoker in the 19th century for the creation of Count Dracula.

Bucharest

My relationship with Bucharest is a mixed one. I have both loved and hated it at the same time. My first introduction was magnificent, we hopped off the plane and straight onto a local transfer bus that delivered us (close enough) to our hotel – seamless. Our hotel was one of the best we had seen thus far and was clean and efficient. The room was luxurious with a fully functioning air conditioning unit (it was about 37 degrees) which pleased me nicely.

Bucharest is a big capital city (2.2 million), and it doesn’t really have much to make it stand out apart from the main two or three tourist attractions. While certain aspects of the place are stunning and photogenic, the majority are in a terrible state of disrepair. Billions have been spent on the presidential palace and constitution square etc. but the rest of the place is being left to crumble down upon itself.

Having relaxed and cooled off, we had to find our way to the Bucharest Nord train station to pick up our physical tickets (to Moldova) for the next evening. On the map, it seemed like a simple enough task but this is where the wheels started to fall off.

There are two stations at the Nord, one is for the longer trains while another is for the local trains. We landed at the local one one first of all and it was a dump. Having been redirected to the main one (about 800m away) we walked along the urine soaked, rusting, vandalised and generally dilapidated path that at one time connected the two stations together. Travellators had been smashed and destroyed and at some point had became shelter to the homeless population leaving a very overt stench of urine. These have now been barred off to keep the homeless out.

We eventually got to the main station and after some consternation was able to locate and find our tickets (mainly due to the magnificent website the man in seat 61).

This is actually worth mentioning (www.seat61.com) is a privately run website by a guy called Mark Smith who started it as a hobby.

If you are ever looking to get on a train you need to check this website out. It gives you answers virtually any question that you may have almost everywhere in the world.

Having gotten our tickets (and sweltered in the heat) we (at considerable urging from me) opted to catch the Metro to Old Town. Disappointment number two. Old town Bucharest is almost entirely dilapidated or under repair. The buildings are falling down or are covered in scaffolding (at least they are trying to bring it back to its former glory). Those that are open are nightclubs, strip clubs, brothels, rub-and-tugs and really loud (overpriced) lager-lout bars.

Stavropoleos Monastery is a monastery for nuns and was about the only thing in Old Town still worth looking at.

The building which dates back nearly 300 years has been heavily affected by earthquakes. Only the church still stands from its original state. 

Feeling very disillusioned, we caught the bus back to our hotel and had a nice meal in pleasant surroundings… tomorrow would be another day.

Its main draw is the Palace of Parliament is the heaviest building in the world coming in at just over 4 billion kilograms. This place is huge it is 84m tall with a floor area of 365,000 sqm. It was ordered by Nicolae Ceausescu the president of communist Romania and took 13 years to build. Uranus Hill was levelled, and the Uranus-Izvor neighbourhood was destroyed so the building could be erected. It was finished in 1997.

We came at it from the side (through the park) and were impressed by what we saw, but once you make your way around to the front things go up another level. The palace houses the two branches of the Parliament of Romania, three museums (contemporary art, communist totalitarianism and palace) and an international conference centre. The building has eight underground levels, the deepest housing a nuclear bunker, linked to main state institutions by 20 km (12.4 mi) of tunnels. From the palace, you look out onto Constitution Square.

Bulevardul Unirii (Union Boulevard) the Palace and Constitution Square were designed at the same time as an architectural unit.

It connects the Palace with  Alba Iulia Square (Piața Alba Iulia), running through Union Square.

The Romanian Athenaeum is the main concert hall in town and has been since it opened back in 1888. As we arrived almost the entire symphony orchestra was chain smoking at the side door in full tuxedos, not sure what was playing that day, but they were clearly on a break.

Kretzulescu Church is an Eastern Orthodox Church located in one of the corners of Revolution Square. 

Arcul de Triumf is a triumphal arch located in the northern part of Bucharest, Romania, on the Kiseleff Road. It was originally hurriedly built of wood in 1878 so that the victorious troops could march under it after Romania gained its independence. The current version was built in 1921–22, renovated in 1935–36, and renovated again starting in 2014. And of course, it is now the home to Instagrammers (who apparently now bring their own chairs with them for their photoshoots).

Having done the long tourist hike, we found ourselves back in the Old Town area again and thought we would give it one more try. Sadly, the CEC Palace, George Enescu Museum, peoples Salvation Cathedral, Coral Jewish Temple and many of the things we came to see were covered in scaffolding and were unable to be seen. The central part still sucked, but if you hunt hard on the fringes you can get glimpses of what it may once have looked like and hopefully what it may once again be.

There isn’t a lot of nature in Bucharest outside a few parks. It is a major city, and like most major cities it doesn’t have tons and tons of green space. However, Romania more broadly is known for its incredible scenery and nature. It is a bit of a shame that you don’t get a taste of that in Bucharest.

Other things that we missed but would like to come back and see include the Transfagarasan Highway this 80+ kilometer highway runs from Wallachia to Transylvania.

Also, the Statue of King Decebalus which is carved into the rock as you sail through the Iron Gates on the Danube River.

This 141-foot-high face of Decebalus honors this last king, who fought for the country’s independence against the Roman emperors Domitian and Trajan.

And beyond Brand Castle there are another 309 castles dotted throughout Romania that would be nice to see. They were mostly created between the 14th and 18th centuries and have served as fortresses for armies to defend the country against its many intruders.

Leaving Bucharest we once again headed to the Bucharest Nord train station for our overnight train to Moldova. Having learned our lesson we went straight to the main entrance and managed to avoid the urine soaked mess that we were met with on the first day.

A few days later, we found ourselves back in Romania on our way back from Moldova. Nothing really to report other than the highway robbery that was taking place at the train station and airport. Coffee usually ran to $2 but at the railway station it was $7 and at the airport, it was just over $10. We were going to get some food but even the Hungry Jacks at Bucharest airport was charging $25 Aussie for a small whopper meal. We chose to go without.

As I said up front, my relationship with Bucharest is a mixed one. The bad here is very bad and the normal is only barely passable. But the good is exceptional. On the whole, it was ok and eventually, it probably won me over. I would however like to come back to Romania to see some of the sights that exist a little further outside the capital.

Serbia

Serbia

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Serbia is a landlocked country in the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungary (north), Romania (northeast), Bulgaria (southeast), North Macedonia (south), Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (west), and Montenegro (southwest), and Kosovo.

Serbia has about 6.6 million people.

Having loved our (240 km and 8 hour) bus ride into Bosnia and Herzegovina we decided to fly out for a 40 minute puddle jump into Serbia, more specifically Belgrade.

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the junction of the Sava and Danube rivers with a population of around 1.6 million. Belgrade is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world with the first dated records of habitation going back to the the 3rd century BC.

Our accommodation saw us perched between the old and new town directly opposite the old main railway station and associated park.

The park is amazing with an incredibly impressive monument to Stefan Nemanja (over 20m high).

He was a medieval Serbian nobleman who together with his son Sava (who the big church is named after) are considered the fathers of the Serbian Orthodox Church).

As it was early enough we dropped off our gear and headed out on a walk to see the sights. We chose to hit the ones that were away from old town, where we would be spending most of our time the following day. So we turned the corner from our hotel and started our way up the hill aiming towards St Sava Temple.

But within two blocks we had already landed upon the railway museum, which was incredibly impressive in its own right.

Half a block up and across the street we came upon the Government of the Republic of Serbia building.

This was built in the 1920s and was the first public building built in Belgrade for the purposes of the public administration of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

Next came the Department of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Belgrade city museum, public health department. And they were all housed in amazing soviet era architecturally designed buildings that were incredibly impressive.

Anyway, we did eventually make it to St Sava Temple which again, blew our socks off. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava (son of the dude with the big statue opposite our hotel), the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and an important figure in medieval Serbia. It was built on the location of St. Sava’s grave.

The next morning we were up and off to the 160 acre Belgrade Fortress. For many centuries the entire town existed within the walls of the fortress. It sits at the meeting of the Sava and Danube rivers.

As with all of Europe, the warring tribes saw this piece of land change hands many times over the millennia. The romans had their turn and according to wiki “in the period between 378 AD and 441 the Roman camp was repeatedly destroyed in the invasions by the Goths and the Huns. Legend says that Attila’s grave lies at the confluence of the Sava and the Danube (under the fortress)”. In the following centuries the fortress suffered continuous destruction under the Avar sieges. 

The name Belgrade was first mentioned in AD 878 by Bulgarians. The fortress kept changing its master as Bulgaria had it then the Byzantines and then Bulgaria again, in the 11th century it was given to the new Serbian state as a wedding gift. In the 15th century it was conquered by the Turks (with short periods of Austrian and Serbian occupation), but it remained under Ottoman Empire rule until 1867, when the Turks withdrew from Belgrade and Serbia. 

From the fortress you got a fair view of the Gardoš Tower or Millennium Tower.

It was built and opened in 1896 to celebrate a thousand years of Hungarian settlement in the region.

Within the walls is St Petka’s Chapel which was built in 1417 and was allegedly erected over a sacred spring. At one time it held the holy relics of St Petka. With all of the destruction of the fortress over the years, the exact location of this chapel is not known so a replacement was built on the grounds in the 1930s.

The amazing thing for us was that to visit and walk through the fortress and associated grounds was 100% free.

There was one odd children’s playground area with dinosaurs in it that had a small fee.

But as we did not want to play on the playground, we avoided that cost.

From the fortress, you spill out into the remainder of old town and the main tourist and shopping district of Belgrade. This part of town is full of funky old buildings with tons of character.

As you wander through you come upon the Cathedral Church of St. Michael the Archangel or simply St Michael’s Cathedral. This is a Serbian Orthodox church in the centre of the old part of Belgrade. It was built around 1840, on the site of an older church dedicated to Archangel Michael.

The Historical Museum of Serbia is currently in this building but it has been granted the building opposite our hotel (the old main railway station) as its permanent home and will be moving soon.

The Stari Dvor or old palace was the royal residence of the Obrenović dynasty (1800’s).

Today it houses the City Assembly of Belgrade. 

Novi Dvor or new palace was was a royal residence of the Karađorđević dynasty (late 1700 & 1800’s)

Today it is the seat of the President of Serbia. 

House of the National Assembly was built in 1936 and has served as the seat of parliament for the Parliaments of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro and since 2006, Serbia.

For the most part, Serbia has been great. The food is good (if not exactly heart smart), the prices are reasonable, the beer is well-priced, and there is plenty to see and do (mostly without charge). I would certainly not hesitate in coming back.

The Golubac Fortress is somewhere that looked amazing but sadly (at about 120km from Belgrade) we could not get to. It was a medieval (fortified) town on the Danube 4 km downstream from the current town of Golubac. The fortress was built during the 14th century and has ten towers. Most of these started square but evolved to get many-sided reinforcements to accommodate modern firearms.

Travelling the world in a pre and post COVID state