Off to the Baltics

I am still planning on filling in the gaps that I left in my Balkan trip posts, but this may not happen for awhile.
In the meantime, hopefully I can be more timely with my updates from the trip that I am embarking on tomorrow.  With my friend from home, Jordan, I will be traveling to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.  We plan on going to the capitol cities in the first three countries (Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius) and then Krackow, with a possible stop in Warsaw.  We fly tomorrow to Tallinn, and will be joined for the first few days by Jordan’s freshman roommate, Dave.  I will try and update throughout the trip when I have the chance.

Back in London…

I am sad to say that my trip has ended.  I am back in London, safe and in one piece.  While it is certainly less stressful knowing where I will be sleeping tonight, speaking the language, and being able to read signs, I do wish I could have traveled longer.  That said, I had an amazing trip and I have zero complaints.  I wouldn’t change a thing about my trip.

There will be much more to come about my trip.  I still haven’t written about the first few days in Croatia, as well as the rest of my time in Bulgaria.  I’ll also be adding some reactions/conclusions, some of which I wrote while on my journey.  In the meantime, please enjoy the pictures from my trip:

http://picasaweb.google.com/phouston06

Smolian, Part 1

My visit to Smolian was truly a mind-opening experience.  The Peace Corps has decided to place a volunteer in the village for a reason.  While the villagers seemed to be quite happy and friendly, there is certainly a great deal of poverty in the small village whose declining population is something like 1200 people.  Some Smolians (sp?) earn wages working in one of the small number of stores or restaurants in Smolian, or as teachers in the school.  Other than that, most villagers grow their own food during in the summer, and survive on that stock for the rest of the year.  Further, there seem to be some divisions in the village, as there is a large Muslim majority, an Orthodox minority, and a section of town that houses Roma (apparently the more PC term for what are usually called Gypsis) population.  In addition, the entire regtion was more isolated than most under Communist rule.  Because the area is so close to the border with Greece, and the topography creates a border control nightmare, the government kept people from leaving through the region by prohibiting non-residents from even entering the region.  Despite all of this, the village has survived.  Recently, it even earned strict branding rights for its famous “Smolianski bap” (a special bean from Smolian).  Much like sparkling wine can’t be called Champagne unless it is from that region of France, beans that aren’t from Smolian can’t be called Smolianski.

On our first day we were lucky enough to procure a bike from Alex’s neighbor, Sasha.  The bike was free except for the hour we had to spend with Sasha’s mom as she chatted with Alex and pushed chocolates, pastries, and cookies on both of us.  In Bulgaria, a household is run by the “Baba,” or grandmother.  This eldest women of the household is likely to open her home to visitors, and if so will almost certainly do her best to give you more food than you could ever eat.  This was one of the most amazing things about Smolian.  Visiting the homes of Bulgarians who aren’t earning much more than they need to live, I was the recipient of the most generous giving I have ever experienced.

After procuring a bike, Alex and I made our way to Uhlovitsa Cave, something like 10 km up the road from Smolian.  The cave has an extensive system of stairs that allow tourists to explore the impressive cave system.  The ceilings are quite high, and there were amazing stilagmite and stilacite formations.  Luckily Alex was along to translate the tour for me.  On our way back from the cave, on of Alex’s friends stopped on their way to the local restaurant, and invited us for a drink.  I was thirsty at this point, and a bit hungry, so a beer and a salad sounded great.  However, I didn’t realize at the time that this would be the begining of my afternoon and evening of eating.

At the restaurant, plates to share continued to come long after I had had my fill, but I graciously accepted the offers for more.  After this late and large lunch, I needed a nap.  My long nap did not properly prepared me for an evening of eating.  Alex spends much of his time working in the local school, and has thus become friends with many of the school teachers.  One, named Marie, invited us to her house for an Easter dinner.  I soon found out that Bulgarian dinners can easily last 4 hours, and I consumed more food than I thought possible.  After an impressive two courses, which could have easily been stretched to 5 if they had been served separately, I found a delicious piece of spongy cake in front of me.  I knew Marie would be disappointed if I didn’t finish it, so I had no problem disregarding how much my body didn’t need more food (much less cake), and I dug into what was a rich and savory end to a truly impressive meal.  After dinner, Marie insisted that Alex and I take most of the leftovers.  Despite our attempts not to accept the offer, we went home not only packing copious amounts of food in our stomachs, but also in the bags we carried.  This turned out to be very convenient, as the food provided lunch and dinner for the day after.

First visit to Plovdiv

I arrived in the evening to Bulgaria’s second largest city, Plovdiv.  The hostel was only about a 25 minute walk, but the rain and my lack of a   for my backpack made it a long 25 minutes.  Luckily I didn’t get lost, and it was quite a relief to find the hostel.  I stayed at a place called “Hiker’s Hostel.”  Yet again, I was extremely happy with my accommodation.  The hostel was quite small, just one dorm room, a small loft with two beds, and a loft above the common room for overflow.  There was a great covered patio with couches that, like the patio in Veliko Tarnovo, was extremely inviting for breakfast in the morning, reading in the evening, and just hanging out at night.

It didn’t take long for me to meet Vanessa, an Aussi, and Jules, from Britain.  We talked on the patio for quite awhile, and then decided to get dinner.  As it was the Saturday before Easter Sunday, I was afraid we might not find anything that was open, as had been the case in Zagreb during Catholic Easter.  It turns out, the problem in Plovdiv on the night before Easter is getting to a restaurant early enough to get a table without a reservation.  We were able to find a place to eat, and found ourselves in a very bizarrely decorated restaurant/bar.  The strait-backed Victorian style chairs didn’t match anything, and the loud club music seemed quite out of place in any establishment that served more than Vodka and beer.  Nonetheless, the food was good, and despite the loud music we managed an enjoyable conversation.

After dinner, we followed all the other Bulgarians, first buying candles from people on the street, and then making our way to the main church in the old town.  I never quite figured out if the church was open at all, but there was a stage outside where a service was being conducted, and the place was packed.  We stayed for a bit with our candles, and Vanessa, a good Catholic, translated a fair bit of the service.  At one point, while I don’t believe the service had quite ended, most of the church-goers made their way down the stairs and, I believe, to bars.  It was an amazing scene, as everyone who walked down the stairs in front of the lit church was carrying a candle.  We weren’t quite sure where to go from their, so we decided that the hostel patio would suit our desire to sit and chat quite well.

The next morning I took my time eating and getting ready, and then made my way to meet my friend Alex (not the Aussi) in Plovdiv.  Alex is currently volunteering the Peace Corps, in a small village called Smolian, only a couple of miles from the Greek border in the Rodopi Mountain region of Southern Bulgaria.  As the trip to Alex’s village takes close to 5 hours, we had only a short time to explore the city before we were on our way.  First we took a bus through the mountains to Smolyan, and then caught a bus that Alex has appropriately named the “Green Monster” which took us all the way to Smolian.

Veliko Tarnovo

The bus ride to Veliko Tarnovo was quite pleasant, especially compared to what I had experienced in Croatia and what I would experience in Bulgaria.  I arrived in the afternoon on an absolutely gorgeous day.  It wasn’t too hot, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  After struggling with the pay phone for a few tries, a fellow backpacker who was staying at the same hostel found me.  We resorted to an expensive cell phone call, but eventually got a hold of the hostel.

After a short (and free) pickup from the bus station, Alex (the Aussi who was at the bus stop) and I found ourselves in paradise.  In my eyes, this hostel was absolutely perfect.  First, the price was extremely cheap and included dinner and breakfast that was served, “from 9 until…whenever.”  The hostel was just the right size, with a few rooms and a nice cozy common room.  Accordingly, everyone got to know each other.  The best part was the awesome patio, on which we spent most of our time in Veliko Tarnovo.  The combination of a patio with a spectacular view, amazing weather, and super cheap beer that was available from the fridge on an honor system meant that leaving this mini-paradise was going to be a chore.  In fact, despite not intending on visiting the city at all, I ended up staying an extra day.

As I was originally planning on staying only one night, I visited the Tsarevets Fortress soon after arriving.  This is an ancient fortress that held the crown of Bulgaria for nearly 1000 years.  The entire complex is surrounded by very thick walls that are built on shear cliffs.  Today there is a combination of ruins, partial ruins, and a fully standing church.  It was a joy to walk freely around the fortress.  I think that in many countries visitors would have been restricted, but visitors to this site are free to walk around, over, or under whatever they wish.

My favorite part of the fortress was “executioner’s rock.”  At one end of the complex there is a rock outcrop that stands high above the river.  It was here that those whom were sentenced to death met their fate.  Maybe it is a bit sadistic, but I thought this was much more creative that the traditional methods of execution used throughout the world.

After a great evening sitting on the patio and having dinner, Alex and I ventured out to explore the nightlife of Veliko Tarnovo.  After the one bar that we knew about closed, we decided to find a kebab.  Unfortunately, no one had told us that basically everything in the city closes at midnight.  Thus, our 3 hour trek around the city resulted in a stop at the grocery store, where we purchased “kebapche” (Bulgarian meat, kind of like sausage), some sort of hash browns, and bread.  When we returned to the hostel we made quite a feast.  While it wasn’t the Kebab we both desired, I think it did the trick.

The next day, after a late breakfast and a complete lack of desire to checkout, Alex and I explored the hills and streets of the city.  This was very interesting, as all the small houses are basically built into the hills and the other houses around them.  The streets were steep and the sun was hot, so we didn’t last too long.  After a pit-stop at a cafe that overlooked the most beautiful part of the city, we returned home to our hostel.

At dinner we met the new guests at the hostel.  It is always exciting meeting new people everyday and learning new life stories all the time.  The Canadian rocket scientist who was staying at the hostel joined Alex and I for another attempt at finding nightlife.  We visited the same bar, as we were told this was our best shot.  On the first try, the bar was packed but we arrived late; this time the bar was empty but we arrived rather early.  The bar never filled but we enjoyed each other’s company and cheap Bulgarian beer.

The next morning I took my time with breakfast, and then went for a run and explored a bit more of the city.  The weather was spectacular once again, and if I didn’t have to be in Plovdiv the next day, I am sure I could have missed another checkout (there wasn’t a checkout time, by the way).

On the bus to Plovdiv I got my first real experience of what taking a bus in Bulgaria can be.  First, it wasn’t really a bus, but more of a big van.  There was no AC, and the temperature outside was quite hot.  The worst, however, was when we crossed the Balkan Mountains.  The roads are filled with potholes that Michigan drivers would be deathly afraid of, and the switch backs are so quick that semi trucks can barely make the turns.  Furthermore, Bulgarian drivers don’t seem to value their own lives.  The blind-corner passing that takes place about every minute was frightening enough for me, and I wasn’t in a car.  The bus bounced up and down like a toddler in a moon-room while the driver seemed to reverse lock his steering about every 4 seconds.  This continued for about 2 hours, and although I’ve never been car sick in my life, I was proud not to throw up.

It was quite a relief to get off the mountain pass as we made our way to Plovdiv.  I met a very nice Bulgarian girl when the bus took a mid-way break, and we chatted the rest of the way.  It was nice to have something to break up the ride, as the total time was more than 5.5 hours.

End of Sofia

My night in Sofia was quite interesting; it was certainly unlike any other night out I have ever had.  During the day I met a French guy who was staying in my hostel, and at night I met up with him and the two French girls with whom he was traveling.  We started a fairly normal kind of lounge bar.  Afterwords we decided to go to a place called “The Apartment” that was suggested by the women at the hostel.  This name is a very accurate description of the place, as it is literally an apartment that someone lives in.  Every night the woman who lives there and one of her friends open the place up and serve homemade cakes, juices, teas and a small selection of alchoholic drinks.  Interestingly, this was the first time that I have been carded since I came to the Balkans.

The high ceilinged apartment was gorgeously decorated and had many different rooms with a plethora of couches, tables, and chairs organized for small groups of people to sit and chat.  There was music playing on a low volume and everyone kept their voices to a low/medium level.  My new French aquantinces and I played cards for a few hours.  It was certainly one of the most bizare experiences of my life, playing cards with some French strangers in a beautiful apartment in Sofia.

I had originally planned to go to Plovdiv strait from Sofia.  However, in keeping with my tradition of canceling and re-booking a hostel in every city I have visit, I accidentally made my booking for Plovdiv with a day lapse.  The hostel I was going to in Plovdiv was full that night, so I couldn’t arrive early.  Luckily, the ever-helpful Nini at the hostel in Sofia suggested that I visit Veliko Tarnovo.  So in the morning I caught a bus to Veliko Tarnovo, a spectacular ancient city in Northern Bulgaria.

Beograd and Sofia

I am currently in my hostel in Sofia, Bulgaria, enjoying my free beer and pasta that the hostel provides.  I took an overnight train from Belgrade last night, and arrived this morning around 7.  The 11 hours on the train passed by quickly as I slept most of the time.  This time I was woken up by “Controla” around 5 am.  Instead of three different inspectors, last night there were 4.  I slept between the time that each came, which may have been only a few minutes, I don’t really know.

I spent the day exploring Sofia.  Luckily today I had a tourguide.  I met and Austrian named Marcos when I was in Zagreb, and he was also here today.  He found an Austrian expat living here via couchsurfing.com, whose name is Stephan.  Stephan gave us a great tour of the city, most of which can easily be walked in a matter of a few hours.

My favorite place was the “Lady Market.”  One side of the market is food, both ingredients and street food.  The woman at my hostel told me this is a good place to buy homemade Rakia, which is the traditional liquor of Bulgaria.  It is a brandy that can be made from plums, grapes, or other fruits.  While we didn’t see any on display, Stephan was nice enough to ask one of the fruit vendors.  After giving us a prolonged look so as to determine whether or not we were police officers, I was offered a coke bottle full of a clear liquid.  After a taste test from the bottle cap, I was sold.  However, I made the mistake of shaking my head up and down, not remembering that in Bulgaria this means no.  The misunderstanding was soon cleared up and I was on my way with a bottle of Rakia that cost me just over one US Dollar. I also enjoyed the salted sardines that we got.  I don’t remember what they are called, but they are eaten whole (head, eyes, tail and all).

I started my visit to Bulgaria by taking a bit of a walking tour of the city with my friend Sam, from UCL (and Georgetown) whom I was able to meet up with and stay at the same hostel.  We checked out the old walled fortress, but unfortunately couldn’t visit any museums as it was Monday and they were all closed.  When it started to rain we decided to duck into a small cafe for an espresso and a pivo (beer).  While I was much less impressed with the Serbian beers than I had been with the Croatian beers (I will dearly miss drinking Karlovacko), it was nonetheless an enjoyable place to chat.

In the evening we went out with some people from our hostel, which included: an Irishman, two German men, one German girl, and a Serbian girl.  The Serbian girl knew her was around Belgrade and lead us to a great little bar that had an awesome cover band playing.  It was tons of fun, and I would certainly like to spend some more time in Belgrade, as I think it has much more to offer than I could ever experience in a few days.

The next day I woke up for the 10 am check out, and as I stumbled out of my room still half sleeping, Vojkan, the hostel owner told me just to go back to bed.  They didn’t have anyone checking in and he clearly figured out that I could use a few more hours of sleep.  I spent the first hour of my day looking for the Nikola Tesla museum, which I later discovered was mis-marked on my Lonely Planet map.  So far Lonely Planet has managed to be very wrong about many rather important things.

After the search I went to the Military Museum.  Like the rest of my time in Serbia, this gave me an interesting prospective on how Serbians feel about, among other things, the 1999 NATO bombings.  Most of the museum is captured equipment/vehicles/weapons, proudly displayed. This included a piece of the US F-117 bomber that was shot down during the bombings, as well as the pilot’s jumpsuit.  However, what moved me the most was the uniform of a captured American soldier.  The “CARPENTER” name tag made the display seem very personal to me.

My time in Croatia and Serbia certainly gave me an interesting prospective on two rather recent wars.  In Croatia there is a strong anti-Serbian feeling, as a result of the 1990’s invasion of Croatia.  Understandably, there is an even stronger anti-American attitude in Serbia, due to the 1999 bombings.  Regardless of whether the bombings were warranted (they were approved by NATO), the Serbian people remember that bombs were dropped on their city, and that people died.  There are still buildings that are completely gutted and still in disrepair from bomb damage.

I did not realize that my trip would take me through countries that have had very different recent histories.  It has been tremendously interesting to get different prospectives on some of the same conflicts in different countries.  In Croatia my discussions with people were two-sided and I felt that I could express my opinions.  In Serbia, however, I chose mostly to listen as doing otherwise would have been rather inadvisable.  I am grateful to have had the opportunity to get a short education on these issues that I knew little about.

Tomorrow I am leaving for Veliko Tarnovo.  This town was not on my original itinerary, but a hostel booking mistake made me realize that I really do have time to see what is supposed to be an absolute gem of a city.

Pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/phouston06

I have uploaded all the pictures that I have taken so far to the link above. I am working on captions and deleting duplicates so it is a work in progress. Please enjoy.

Plitvice Lakes National Park + Zagreb + Belgrade

After my stay in Zadar, I took a bus to Plitvice Lakes National Park.  The park is about 2 hours bye bus from Zadar, and I visited only for the day.  The park is a series of lakes and waterfalls, and is truly spectacular.  I can’t wait to post my pictures from the park; I think it would be too difficult to try and describe the scenery with words.

After my visit to the park I caught an afternoon bus to Zagreb.  One thing I have learned so far during my travels is that it is always good to get to buses/ferries at least 10-15 minutes before the scheduled departure time.  Luckily I did so for my bus, as it arrived about 8 minutes early, picked me up, and promptly left.  Between the dilapidated state of the bus, the speed at which the driver drove, and the twisty road, the bus trip was certainly an experience.

I arrived in Zagreb in the evening, and found that the tourist office was closed for Easter weekend.  As I didn’t have any accommodation reserved, it was slightly nerve racking walking through the city looking for a hostel.  I eventually found a hostel, and was quite happy with the end result.

It turns out that going to the capital of a devoutly Catholic country on a Sunday isn’t the best idea.  However, although everything save cafes was closed, I had a great time roaming the streets and parks of the city.  I was very impressed with the architecture and layout of the city, and being Croatia, there were plenty of great cafes.

Last night I took a night train from Zagreb to Belgrade.  The train left at midnight, and arrived at about 6:30.  I was able to get a couchette (sleeper car) all to myself.  While it certainly wasn’t anything close to luxurious, having a bed was great.  I slept quite well, except for the 3 am inspections from ”controla!!”  First customs came, and promptly moved on after I said I had nothing to declare.  I stood in the doorway of my room for about 5 minutes, not sure if I was allowed to go back to sleep.  After I went to sleep for maybe 15 minutes, I was woken up yet again, this time by the Serbian Police/Border Patrol.  The guy seemed quite serious, but left me with a smile and a stamp.  I slept until about 6, and then watched the sun rise over the outskirts of Belgrade.  This was quite a site, especially due to the state of the houses which we passed.

I arrived at my hostel around 7:30, and was greeted very warmly and offered a traditional Serbian plum brandy, as is customary at this particular hostel.  While it was a bit early for a drink, I gladly accepted and then fell asleep on the couch.  After a short nap and a cup of Turkish coffee, I am now ready to see the city.

Zadar

* A quick update, will add more later when I am not on a hostel computer about to go to dinner*

I started my April trip on Wednesday.  I flew into Zadar, Croatia on Wednesday evening.  I spent Thursday in Zadar.

Zadar: http://www.ifuw.org/croatia/slike/zadar.JPG

Today I took a ferry to an island called Dugi Otok.  I hiked around here:

http://www.dober-dan.si/fckimages/Dugi%20otok/Dugi%20otok.jpg

Absolutely amazing.  Lots of fun, and quite an adventure.  I will fill in the details about my moped rental/ride and hiking.  Tomorrow I am headed to Plitvice Lakes national park:

http://www.elite.hr/elite_travel_dubrovnik/croatia_tour_split/plitvice_v.jpg