December 2009

Fri 4^th Dec

Rising at 5am for a 5.30 taxi to the airport I realise I have been eaten alive; why do I stay in the crummy Iraklio hostel? At the airport I find that my laptop has a broken WIFI. Not a good start to a two week trip!

The flight to Athens is 20 minutes late and I start to get nervous as I only have 50 minutes to get on the Munich flight. I made it OK but did my bag? At least it did not have to take a 5 minute cigarette break! All is good though.

Oh boy, Munich is cold; it’s trying to snow. I get to a busy Wombats Hostel (350 beds and full in early December) and meet up with Klaus the guru of the Wombats group of hostels. Josh is already here and it is good to see a hostel regular again. Josh is the unorganiser of the Unconference of Hostel Managers this weekend.

The three of us head off to a Bavarian Beer Hall for lunch; a jug of beer, roast pork knuckle and a big dumpling – fare to keep the cold out! Then it’s a long drive up into the Austrian Alps. We are running late and get lost a few times before arriving at the Treehouse Hostel that seems to be in the middle of nowhere but surrounded by . . . surprise . . . trees! Most of the others have already arrived, managers from Poland, Germany, USA, Romania, Turkey and Russia to mention just a few countries.

We are greeted with beer and another filling hot meal. Introductions are made and conversation soon moves on to, well, hostels! More beer and I eventually check-in and find a room at midnight – a long 20 hour day.

Sat 5^th Dec

Except for Josh, who is suffering from jet lag after flying in from California, I am the first up; it would appear the party went on until 4am. Nicky from Holland arrives from an over night train and we decide to go for a hike whilst the others are waking up. It is beautiful around here, but cold! The ski season should have started today but there is very little snow as it has been too warm – that’s news to me!

A lot more talk, all good stuff, and then a lot of beer and talk. There is a weird pagan festival in the town in the evening, guys in sheepskin and masks, maidens being tied to the stake, fire and noise. A lot of them join us at the hostel bar later. A crazy night!

Sun 6^th Dec

A lazy breakfast, a bracing walk and then a few of the folk have to leave having long car journeys ahead; the girls from Romania had driven 1000km to attend and face the same journey back. Some head off to see a nearby lake and the remainder keep talking business.

In the evening the serious drinking started, vodka from Russia, some strange herbal hooch from Hungary, vodka from Poland, Neutje from Holland and of course Cretan raki. You do not have to be an alcoholic to be a hostel manager, but it does help!

Mon 7^th Dec

There are quite a few of us heading to Vienna for flights or sightseeing. We jam into 2 cars at lunchtime and head off for the 3 hour ride. Ten of meet up at Wombat’s Hostel and go for a late lunch at a Turkish restaurant, how Viennese! Some of us get the underground to the city centre to enjoy the Christmas markets and of course the gluwine (hot red wine with spices). It’s then back to the hostel bar before some serious Perudo playing until 2am at Klaus’ apartment over the hostel.

Wombat’s is a BIG hostel – 350 beds over 8 floors, many staff, well run and a good atmosphere.

Tues 8^th Dec

After saying our farewells to Josh, who is flying back to California, Nicky & I decide to do the tourist sightseeing thing. First out of town to the Schoenbrunn Palace with its vast Baroque gardens and then to the other side of the city to see the fantastic architecture of Hundertwasser. A late lunch of local fare at the Christmas Market in the pouring rain and then back to the hostel via C & A for a hat and gloves that I forgot to pack.

Four of us walk for nearly an hour in the pouring rain to a traditional schnitzel restaurant – it all comes served in a wheelbarrow, really – see the photo! Finally back to the hostel again for the continuation of the manager’s Perudo challenge. Greece was victorious!!

Wed 9^th Dec

Nicky & I planned to leave for Budapest on the 9.50am train. He crawls down for breakfast at 10! We eventually leave the hostel at 11 – no sign of Klaus – lightweight! An uneventful and pretty boring 3 hour train journey. Our friend Csaba (pronounced Chaba) takes us to his Aboriginal Hostel. Thirty beds spread over 3 apartments in an old city centre housing complex. A little compact and claustrophobic for me but good fun and very friendly.

Csaba cooks up a local sausage, potato and paprika speciality for everyone. Good food and only one beer after last night’s over consumption. An early night for me!

Thur 10^th Dec

Four of us decide to join one of the organised 3 hour walking tours of the city. It was good, a real insight into the history and culture of the city; the scars of the communist era are still all around and within the people. The guide shows a good place to eat, no signs, no tourists, just a few office workers, big plates of traditional food for €4; you can’t argue with that.

The evening was more food, more drink and more Perudo into the early hours.

Fri 11^th Dec

A lazy morning, a few more goodbyes and off to the train station for the ride to Belgrade. Big queues at the ticket office but fortunately Csaba knows a small travel agent around the corner. I join a couple of Serbian hostel guests who are doing most of the journey and I feel much more relaxed as a result; I had brought a big chain and padlock to secure my bags to the seat as I had heard horror stories about stolen luggage. Oh boy, what a tedious journey, the train stops at every small village and then there were half hour stops on either side of the border for passport checks. Over 8 hours to get to Belgrade and there was nothing to see but cabbages!

It is cold here, even colder than further north. A half hour trek through the city centre brings me to the warmth Chillton2 Hostel. A cosy place occupying the top 2 floors of what would have been a beautiful building in its heyday. Newly opened and well designed with bright furnishings.

I call up my friend Nikola (who worked in Plakias in 2003); he and his girlfriend, Elena, arrive within 5 minutes. I need fast food and then we head off to a quiet bar for hot wine and catching up on news, another late night.

Sat 12^th Dec

A good morning. I get my camera repaired. Find that the exchange places are not interested in my surplus Hungarian Florint but find a guy in the hostel who is headed north and happy to do a deal.

Nikola phones and we meet up at the train station at 1pm; he is not an early riser! It would appear that I am catching the first train for over 17 years to run direct from Belgrade to Sarajevo on the morrow but that I cannot buy a ticket just yet!!! I am told to be at the station again at 7.30am on Sunday – this sounds like a recipe for disaster!

Time for some more sight seeing. It is still cold so after an hour we call into a café to warm up. A few coffees and quince brandies later it is almost dark when we emerge (sorry about the lack of photos folks!). It starts to snow so after another hour it is café and hot chocolate time.

We all meet up again at 8pm and take a taxi a few kilometres out from the centre to a wonderful traditional restaurant, lively, friendly, great food; I am the only foreigner. A slightly earlier night.

Sun 13^th Dec

A bizarre morning. Leaving the hostel at 0645 I take the lift. The doors close and then nothing. I am trapped in the lift! The alarm bell does not even work! I telephone the hostel reception and they come to my rescue but it does take 25 minutes to get me out!

A fast walk through the city to the train station. Find the international ticket office and I am surrounded by reporters and cameramen. It would appear that I am the first person to buy a Belgrade to Sarajevo ticket in over 17 years; the line re-opens today. Out on the platform it is even worse; more press folk than passengers. I am interviewed a number of times, even by the BBC. “What is it like to be a part of making travel history?” – what! There is an air of celebration – well, the train staff are pissed by lunchtime! Good value and entertainment, just 16.80 Euro for 9 hours!

Amazing, the train arrives on time and I dash to the ticket office to see if I can get another train this evening to Mostar. A night in Sarajevo would leave things a bit tight for getting to Tirana by Friday evening. I am in luck, sort of. There is a train leaving in half an hour but when it arrives here is a mad scramble for seats and many of us have to stand for the 2 hour journey. The ride is said to be spectacular running alongside a river with mountains all around and 64 tunnels – but it is dark all the way!

A short walk from the station brings me to Hotel Magdelena; warm and friendly but in need of a little tender loving care and a kettle! “Reception” is Magdelena’s lounge. I am almost immediately asked if I would like a cup of tea – now that is a welcome. When I explain that I have had nothing but sandwiches for the past 14 hours Magdelena cooks me up some very tasty crepes – on the house. A sound sleep after a long journey.

Mon 14^th Dec

Up with the lark and meet a young American, Robert, in the kitchen. We decide to shop and make egg sarnies for breakfast, grand. It is raining, it is cold, but we set off anyway to explore the town. If you know nothing about Mostar it is well worth looking it up on Wikipedia. Spectacularly beautiful with a fast flowing river and an ancient Turkish bridge in the centre. The place was ravaged more than most during the Balkan troubles, much of it reduced to rubble. The reconstruction is proceeding but will take many years yet.

After exploring the old town and having a traditional Bosnia lunch and a beer (€6.70 for the 2 of us – the cheapest meal yet) we venture to what was the ‘front line’ in the war. The photos will give you an idea just how terrible it must have been to live here at the time. I have only selected a few but there was street after street of bombed out and bullet riddled buildings.

In the evening we hook up with a Japanese guy who is doing a long European beer tour, his subject for his degree! Magdelena suggests that we go a little way out of town if we want to eat where the locals eat. It is still pouring with rain but we set off. Eventually we find the place which is a mall with a few take-away places, some flashy bars and obviously expensive restaurants – not our scene! So we continue getting soaked back to the same place we had lunch.

Tues 15^th Dec

A lazy morning trying to dry wet clothes then I take a lunchtime bus to Dubrovnik. The Croatian coast is beautiful but the beaches are small and stony – give me Crete anytime!

When I arrive it is still pouring and the guesthouse (no hostels here!) is a couple of miles away. I manage to scrounge a lift to the end of the street, it should not be far now. Nearly an hour later and I am still searching. Silly me looking for a sign that says “Anna Guesthouse”, there is no sign just a number for a house – I have walked past the place 3 times! Reception is empty so I have to call the guy up. A warm welcome, a cup of tea, a long chat and I am shown to a cosy but basic room with en-suite and small kitchen.

I need local currency and I am told a bank should be open in the local shopping centre. No, not tonight, maybe it is during the summer. I find a supermarket that takes Visa and decide to eat in as I have eaten out with friends for the past 11 days. Just as I get back to the room there is a blackout and the electricity to the town stays off for the next 27 hours! Oh, well a cold snack, a bottle of wine and an early night.

Wed 16^th Dec

The problems of no electricity:

I am without Kuna, all the banks and exchange offices stay closed for the day, the ATMs are not working.

It is cold and I only have electric heating.

No tea or coffee – electric kettle and I doubt a café would accept Visa.

No hot shower.

No lighting or computer so utter boredom after 4.30pm.

No traffic lights or street lights – it is dangerous being a pedestrian at night.

The rain has eased off a bit so I decide to explore the Old Town. It is spectacular, well worth a visit, especially on a warm and dry day! The walk around the fortifications is nearly 2 kilometres.

In the evening I find a supermarket with a generator and a working ATM, bliss. Around the corner is a Mexican restaurant, the day is getting better! It is busy – obviously a lot of people have electric cookers! I ask for a big coffee whilst I salivate over the menu – no coffee even though it is on the menu and only pizza! Another early night.

Thu 17^th Dec

The electricity returned just after 10pm and I immediately had my first cup of tea for nearly 30 hours – aaaargh, but it was good.

Another lazy morning trying to dry out; the clothes that is!

I get a lift to the bus station as it is still pouring with rain. A mid afternoon and only bus to Podgorica, Montenegro. I am hoping to see some of the countryside as I have heard it is beautiful but it is dark by the time I get to the border. There are no hostels here (a good opening for someone!) and so have to pay €55 for a hotel room. However, the city is very cheap; just €5.10 for a massive local burger type thing, a bottle of ice tea and a big 1 litre bottle of local wine.

Fri 18^th Dec

I am a little nervous about today, friendly Albanians and the guide books warned about the dangers of travelling in Albania.

It starts well with a big hotel breakfast and then a €25, 40 minute taxi ride to the border; the only way there! I walk across the border in the pouring rain and on the Albanian side I am accosted by 2 middle aged guys with no English and a battered old Mercedes who say they are going to the next town and offer me a lift for €10. As I do not see any of the promised mini-buses and as the border guard indicated that they are OK and as it has started to snow heavily I get in the back seat. Foolhardy? Definitely yes. But it all worked out alright as they dropped me off at one of the Tirana bound mini-buses an hour later, and after buying me a coffee half way there.

The roads in Albania have to be the worst in Europe and then some. The traffic in Tirana has to be seen to be believed. But I am just grateful to have made it safely to Freddy’s Hostel and that the rain and snow have stopped for a while. Freddy is a great guy, and so are the rest of the family. The hostel is again a series of apartments with 3 or 4 beds in each room; there is no socialising area or kitchen.

Sat 19^th Dec

An early start, Freddy’s brother drives me to the airport at a price cheaper than the taxi. I am on my way home.

15 days.

8 countries.

7 languages.

6 currencies.

Many new friends.

OK, I am a bit of a wimp; but it would a whole lot more fun if it had been warmer! Regarding the hostels I visited I have a few new ideas but not that many. Most city hostels provide a cheap bed and not a lot more. I am glad to be returning to Youth Hostel Plakias.