It has been a very busy week and very little internet to speak of, so here is a run down of my week. I have been able to update my map, but will have to wait until I get home to upload the rest of my photos.

Tuesday

We went to Philae in the morning, this is also one of the temples move and was under water for quite a few years behind the low dam. It would have been a pretty cool dive site during that time, but was eventually moved to dry land.

We then went back to the hotel to pack and went to our Felucca which was going to take us north towards Luxor. We sailed for about two hours before parking for lunch (Xmas lunch). The wind was picking up so it was determined to windy to sail, so we were towed for an hour or so until the wind calmed down and then we sailed until sunset where we parked for dinner and slept the night.

Wednesday

In the morning we transfered from the Felluca to a bus for the rest of the trip to Luxor. On the way we stopped off at Kom Ombo Temple and Edfu Temple. The temples just start to keep on getting bigger and bigger. Once in Luxor we all did our own thing in the afternoon before meeting up to do a night tour of Luxor temple, this is a very popular temple to do at night rather than through the day.

Thursday

It was another early start this morning to do a balloon ride over the west bank of the city where all the tombs and temples are. We were picked up at 5am and driven to the launch site. It was a pretty amazing ride getting to see the sites from above. After about 45 minutes we landed and was driven to meet up with the rest of the group who did not do the ride.

We then got our donkeys which we were going to ride for about 45 minutes towards the valley of the kings. We were all expecting to be lead along, but were surprised when we were instructed how to make them go faster and stop, we were then off. The only rule we had is that we could not go past the lead donkey. It became a bit of a race and I slowly moved into second place, my donkey "white lightning" then made its final move over taking the last donkey (deciding to bite it on the way past) and I rode to glory.

We then took a ute the rest of the way to valley of the kings. Unlike all the other tombs we had seen so far, by this time the kings were working out the pyramids kept on getting robbed, so they started digging them into mountain so they weren't so obvious.

After a brief history lessson we went into three tombs - Ramsses III, Ramsses IV and Mernptah (entry ticket included access to three of the ten open tombs). There are 60 odd in total, but they cycle through them. We also paid the extra to go and see King Tutts tomb, though not spectacular it is the most famous and his mummy is on display in the tomb.

We then went to the Funerary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut which is very imposing on the landscape and then statues of Memnon, then headed to locals house for lunch. After lunch we took a boat up the river to the Temple of Karnak, the largest temple ever built in the world. It is actually a complex of temples and covers 60 acres in total.

In the evening I went out with some people I ran into at the Valley of the kings, they were staying in the same hostel I was before starting the tour.

Friday

Today our long trek to the desert began, the first leg of the trip was an 8 hour drive to the Dakhla Oasis. This was just really a place to stay the night as we could not get all the way to the White desert in one day. We did go for a walk to the old part of town which is slowly disappearing with redevelopment, but there is still a maze of old mud brick buildings existing.

Saturday

Today was our final step into the desert, though we did have a couple of stops on the way. The first stop was to visit an old Arabic village of El-Kasr, though pretty much empty now it is still pretty much intact and it was amazing wondering through the narrow streets and looking into some of the mud brick buildings.

We then stopped off for lunch at an Badr Museum in the Faratra Oasis, which is owned by a famous artist in Egypt. Here we transferred to 4WD for the rest of our journey. We stopped off looking at the amazing natural formations of the desert before stopping just before sunset to set up camp and prepare for a night in the desert. It gets quite cold during the night, but the camel wool blankets do the job to keep you warm.

Sunday

So yesterday we packed up camp and drove off to see more sites on our way to the Bahariya Oasis where we are going to spend two nights. We stopped of at the mushroom desert (where the formations look like mushrooms), crystal mountain where for some reason there is a massive crystal formation and the black desert.

We have now spent one night in the hotel and we are doing a tour today before going out for dinner for New year and probably have a few drinks on the roof of the hotel (the only place you can drink).

Yesterday was our first day at Aswan, the train was only an hour late - it still has not arrived today and it is 2:30pm. We went for a walk around town and went and saw the Coptic Church and the unfinished Obelisk which still remains in the original granite quarry due to crack that formed while they were trying to make it. If finished it was going to be the heavy single man made object ever.

Last night we caught a Felluca over to the Nubian village on the other side of the river to have dinner with the locals. It was a nice relaxing night.

This morning we had to get up at 2:30am to join the convoy to Abu Simbel, one of they temples they moved when the high dam was built. It is a huge temple and took 4 years to move.

Have a free afternoon to look around town and then dinner out tonight. We are going to Philae Temple early in the morning and then onto the Felluca for the night on the way to Luxor. Will be spending Xmas on the Felluca and won't have internet for a few days.

So today is the first of the trip and it was a big day, we spent the morning being shown around the Cairo Museum - obviously the key attraction is the King Tut display with all the glorious Gold coffins and artifacts buried with him. It was really interesting and our guide has great knowledge of the ancient history.

We then went and saw the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. We walked around the biggest and I went in an saw the Solar Boat. This boat was found in pieces buried next to the pyramid and was put back together and measures 43 metres. We then went to the paranamic lookout and did the usual corny photos of doing things to the pyramids.

We then went down to the second pyramid and went inside to have a look at the burial chamber, then down to the Sphinx for an hour before heading for a late lunch. Now we are on the night train on the way to Aswan were we will spend two nights.

Spent yesterday going around some sights that aren't in my tour. Got a driver to take me out Dhashur (the red pyramid) and went into my first burial chamber, I am sure there will be more to come.

I then went to Memphis to the open air museum of Egyptian Statues. It was then off to Sakara for about three hours of scrambling around the desert looking at tombs, walking where I should not be and opening doors to tombs that are not locked.

Thursday night is party night in Cairo as Friday is a holiday, so we started off at the El Horreya Cafe which is probably the most famous bar in Egypt and then after a few beers there we end up at the Jazz Bar (but does not play Jazz music) where it turns out a band call Wostel Balad were playing. They are the hottest band in Egypt and were really good.

I have now moved to my tour hotel and met up with everyone (except four have not turned up yet), they seem like a pretty good group of people. We start off at the museum in the morning and then to the pyramids in the afternoon.

After the night bus from Dahab to Cairo I am now resting up in the hostel before going out on a day of adventures.

I was warned that I would not get much sleep on the bus, but I proved everyone wrong and even had to get woken up by the army guarding the Suez border for our security check. We got the standard passport check (as some visas only cover the Sinai so they want to make sure you have the correct tourist visa) and then we had to get out of the bus and get our bags to they could be checked by the sniffer dogs (not sure if they were looking for bombs or drugs).

Then back on the bus and was in Cairo by 7am. Out of the nine hour trip I think I sleep for about eight hours.

Today I am off to the Khan el-Khalili (Bazaar), then walk through Al-Azhar Park and then down to the citadel. This should take me most of the day, but any time left over will have to end up in a coffee house some where.

I have had a great two days of diving, doing five dives in total I got to do a pick of the best dives around. Dahab is a very relaxing place and good to choice for me to use to recharge the batteries before the rest of the Egypt tour.

Today I have just relaxed and used the time to update my photo album which I have fallen behind in updating.

Catch the night bus to Cairo tonight and arrive about 7am in the morning. This gives me two days to explore the city before the tour starts.

After a late minute change of plans I decided to jump on the ferry to Egypt last night instead of spending another day in Aqaba. I Figured I would get more out of the day here than there as it is a lot cheaper here and there is meant to be really good diving.

Though the actual ferry trip only takes two and half hours I actually arrived at the Aqaba port at 10:00pm and finally got out of the port at Nuweiba at 8:30 the following morning.

For starters you have to be there two hours before boarding, hence the 10pm arrival for a 12am boarding. Then there are all these crazing lines that are formed, first to get through the gates, then to line up for the boat, then do Egyptian passport control on the boat.

Finally by about 1:30am this was all done, but we still did not go anywhere. It turns out the boat does not arrived in Nuweiba until 6:30am, so it just sit in port until 4am Egyptian time and then takes off at 5am Jordan time to arrive at the required time.

An absolutely crazy ferry trip, made worse by the problems I had at the Jordan immigration. There seem to be a problem with my passport and next thing I know I am being taken to the police at the port. After waiting for about 15 minutes they finally started asking me questions - if I had another passport, had I been to Jordan before, had I worked here.

It appears they were interested in someone with the same name, but after about 10 minutes of questioning the penny finally dropped that we both had the name "David John" but different surnames and I was promptly released the my passport returned. That would of been a funny one for the Australian consulate to work out for me.

Anyway, I am Dahab now and it all seem safe. There is an obvious Army presence on the road here, but everyone says it is completely safe and there are no problems around here. Dahab is just a tiny resort town with loads of dive centers and restaurants. I have found out I can catch a bus from here to Cairo, so don't need to go further south to get the bus (as I initially thought), though the bus does take to southern route.

I already have one dive in today and two more planned for tomorrow, one of which is a famous site called the blue hole. Next thing I need to do is catch up on uploading some photos from Jordan, I took so many it is hard to decide which ones to upload.

Met up with a group of people in Petra to go to Wadi Rum with. After a great 4WD tour through the desert we then finally made it to Bedouin Camp for the night. Firstly we walked into an open area a 1km or so away from the camp see the sunset. Then it was back to camp for a traditional dinner before go back out side to lay under the stars for a while.

It started getting cold so we headed inside for the camp fire and relaxing after a long day. We all got up early to watch the sun rise the next morning and then after breakfast and a broken down 4WD we finally headed to Aqaba.

I am now on my third day of laying around in the sun near the beach and preparing for an exciting trip into Egypt tomorrow night

The last two days I have been in Petra and it lives up to all expectations. Walking down the gorge and seeing the Treasury for the first time is amazing. I have spent the last two days just walking and walking getting great views. It appears all the really cool stuff is up hill and hours away from the start of the city. The Monastery takes about an hour and half to get too, but being the largest tomb in Petra it is a must to see.

I think I climbed up mountain I could around Petra and got great views of the city and amazing shots of The Treasury from high up. It really is an amazing place. Tonight is Petra by night where the gorge and Treasury are lit up by candles and I can't wait to see it.

Off to Wadi Rum tomorrow.

Saturday was even a bigger day than the day before, I used the same driver to take me down the King's Highway. First stop is Mount Nebo where Mose saw the promised land. Then to Madaba to see a church which has mosaic map of the known world and dates back to 560AD.

We then drove to Karak which is a huge crusader castle and once again for its age is in amazing condition. On the I got great views of what is described as the Grand Canyon of the Middle East.

After get more views of the Canyon and Dana a nature reserve which would deserves days on it own I ended up at Shobak another crusader castle. Though not in great condition it is famous for the fact the escape tunnel do the base of the mountain is still intact. So with head torch in hand I to the 15 minute trek down the tunnel which runs at about 45 degree angle. It must of taken years to dig.

On Friday I rented a taxi for the day, luckily I found someone else to share the cost and did what is called the castle loop. The loop takes your through five different sites which head out to the Iraq border. Azraq and Amra were the highlights of the trip - Azraq fort is where Lawrence of Arabia wrote the Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Amra is a old bath house and is on the UNESCO sites due to the amazing fresco's that cover all the walls.

It has been a busy few days in Jordan, I have seen a lot and traveled great distances. On Friday I used the local bus system to get to Ajlun and Jerash. Ajlun is a crusader castle and the lower level are still in excellent condition. Jerash is old Roman city and cover about 2km, it took about 3 hours to walk around.

Finally have some internet, so here are a few posts.

Today I went out with another guest to see Ajlun and Jaresh, there weren't enough people to hire a taxi so we just took public transport. Ajlun has an crusade fort, but this was an Arab fort to protect against the crusaders. It was amazingling intact with the ability to walk through multiple levels to the top.

We then went to Jaresh which is an old Roman city, though now surrounded by the modern city. We were both surprised by the size covering nearly 2kms with two theatres, a hippodroam and many temples. It took over 3 hours to walk around it. We left at 8:30 this morning and never got back until 5:30.

First day in Amman and pretty much saw all the sites I wanted to see, first thing I went up to the Citadel and saw the ancient fortress that looks overs city. Then down to the Roman Theatre and the Odeon which is a smaller theatre right next to the main theatre. Went for a nice walk around the city and had my first falafel for the trip and then went out and had some drinks with people from the hostel and ended up in the same bar I drank in 15 years ago.

I have now left Turkey and arrived in Jordon. I got an early afternoon flight, which meant I had to leave the hostel around 11am to get to the airport in time. It was quite a good flight and a movie on my laptop to keep me ammused for the time in the air. With the time change and delay in take-off I did not get to the hostel until 8pm.

Finally ticked off all the things I want to see in Istanbul, so I can take it easy in the morning before I catch the bus to the airport.

I went to the Bazaar again to by some cotton clothes for the middle east, I am going to choose to cover myself even though tourists can get away it wearing short t-shirts. I just think it is being more respectful and should be treated better by strangers.

I then went trough the Palace and paid the extra to look inside the Heron, which I am glad I did as it is the best part of the palace.

Going out for dinner with Adam and his girlfriend tonight, we are going to meet at 6:30 and go to the police station first to see if we can quickly get a police report for my stolen camera.

Had good day yesterday finishing off some of the more distant sites to visit. Walked out to the last remaining part of the old Roman aqueduct. Then went back to the spice bazaar and got a few photos to replace the ones I lost when my camera was stolen.

I then mistakenly tried to go via the palace cutting through the Grand Bazaar. It happens to be closed on Sunday and it took me ages to find my way around it. By the time I got to the palace it was a bit late to go in as some of the main things you want to see close earlier and I would not have made it in there in time. So my mission today is to go and I have ticked off all the things I want to see.

Last night I caught up with an old English friend who I met back home. It was really good to catch up with him. I am going out for dinner with him and his girlfriend tonight, since she is Turkish we are also going to try and get the police report done, but will only bother if they will do it straight away as I don't want them to have to wait around for ages.

I am onto my fourth day in Istanbul, having a great time seeing all the sites - there are some pretty amazing things see here. I have been back to the Grand Bazaar three times for differing reasons and just when I thought I was getting my bearings, I went there a different way today and through a different gate - it then took me about 15 minutes to work out where I was.

I have visited the two major mosques (one is now a museum). While I was in the Ayasofya Mosque I took a photo out of an open window on the first floor. When I was going through my old photos from 15 years ago I realised I had taken the exactly the same photo that time as well - very strange.

I finally got into the Blue Mosque today (there most famous). Kevin (the guy I first met in Slovenia) and I had tried to go three times so far, twice it was closed for prayer and other time the line was so long we new we would not make it before prayer. Today it is raining and went I went there the queue was really short so I finally got to get in.

The down side of Istanbul is that my camera got stolen yesterday while I was walking through a crowd in Taksim, someone took it out of my jacket pocket. I am still trying to get a police report down so I can get some money on insurance, but it is pretty hard to find an English speaking police officer to help me out. Initially the Tourist police went to the restaurant to look at video footage and they were really helpful, but I need to go to a local station to get a report written.

The positive side is that I copied all my photos to the laptop the night before, so have only lost a few photos I took at the spice market.

Yesterday we moved to a hostel over the river on the other side of town, there was another person we had met in Slovenia staying there, so we had a big night out for there last day of this part of their trip. I am also catching up with an old English friend tomorrow who now lives in Istanbul and it is easier for him to get here.

Takism, the area we are staying now is a crazy place. It is where all the bars and live music is located, if you wondered around last night you could have been in any big city in the world, it was very surprising.

Yesterday was the hell bus ride, it was just so long. Left Sofia at 11pm on Tuesday and arrived in Istanbul at 7:30. After dropping my bags off at the hostel I went for a walk and checked the Grand Bazaar.

I then caught up with Kevin a guy I met in Slovenia earlier in the trip, we went to a coffee shop and played backgammon. We then went for a walk along the water ending up at the fish markets near the main bridge. There we had Fish Kebabs and then went back to the hostel for a few quiet drinks at the hostel bar.

Interesting things about Sofia - They took twenty years to finish their underground rail system because they kept on hitting ancient ruins and had to keep change the direction of the line to preserve them. When you go into the underground it is like a museum because the ruin are integrated into their subway.

Interesting fact about Bulgaria - Though aligned with Nazis no Bulgarian Jews were sent to concentration camps because the people protested and stopped it. The government just kept on telling the Germans they would do it soon until the war was finally over. Also they probably would not have even fought in the war if it was not for Pearl Harbor. So it looked they were actually doing something they declared war on America thinking they would not get involved, but after the bombing the US took them up on their offer.

Had some really good walks around this town and went to some pretty cool bars last night. One is in an old stables connected to a house.

Had an interesting time on the night train to Sofia last night. I had heard a lot of stories of people having bags stolen and also a lot of smugglers being on the train (bringing in Cigarettes from Serbia where they are a lot cheaper).

I was lucky that I found a cabin with a business men and a young couple who seemed harmless enough. I had my pacsafe should bag with all valuables under my jacket and fell asleep holding on tightly to my day bag (the day bag is the main target for he thieves as they are small and relatively easy to grab.

I woke up about 2am when the young couple got off and then the two of us had three seats to stretch out and get some good sleep (with my using my day bag as a pillow). By about 4am the train was getting very cold, the heating was not working so it slowly got colder and colder, so I had to pull my thermals out and put them on.

About an hour out of Sofia I went to stretch my legs when I saw a normal looking lady with a screwdriver removing panels off the train corridor, initially I thought she was trying to steal the aluminum from the train, but then she started unscrewing the roof as well. Next thing you know all these cigarette cartons are falling to the ground.

Sofia seems very nice, but it has been very cold today. I went on a walking tour around the city and did some of my own wondering. I am heading to Istanbul tomorrow night, so I will check out a few more things tomorrow before I get on the night bus (which is a lot safer than a train).

It has been very foggy and chilly today in Belgrade, but still nice enough to walk around. I have got my ticket to Sofia in Bulgaria and taken a risk not to get a sleeper. The trains have not been very full lately, so I am hoping just to sleep in the normal seats - we will see how that pays off for me.

Had a good night last night with a group of French travelers, we went out for dinner at a Kafana, which is restaurant with traditional Serbian music. It was the first real restaurant meal I have had for a while and even though fairly up market it was still only $20 each for two courses and a couple of bottles of wine.

One of the people have some Serbian friends so they came and met us and took us to a bar. In the bucket list of things to do in Belgrade given to me during the free tour was to dance in a club like no one is watching - we definitely did that last night.

Today I went back to the fortress and walked around town. Tomorrow night I think I will be catching the night train to Sofia in Bulgaria, I will stay a night and then catch a bus to Istanbul

Yesterday was my first day of exploring Belgrade, I did a great free walking tour around the city taking you to the different areas of the city. He had some great stories about the city, especially about the recent war when the city was bombed by NATO.

Belgrade has become famous for their clubs which started soon after the end of the war, but during the bombings the people worried the bridges that connect the city over Danu would be destroyed. So rather than go to bomb shelters they would go and stand on the bridges so they would not be bombed. Thousands of people would go there every night, then bands started turning up and people would bring drinks, they say they were the best parties that the city have ever had.

I could not imagine the site of thousands of people on the bridge dancing and drinking while bombs fell over the city.

I am heading back up to the fortress today to really explore it, we passed through during the walk, but it is so big I need to go back today to see it all.

Yesterday I had good walk around Sarajevo wondering the heavily Otterman influenced old town. Went to the spot that trigger world war I when the Austrian duke was murdered trigger a flow on affect that create the war.

In the afternoon I went on the tunnel of life tour that was a tunnel from outside the city to in which kept the town alive through the serbian blockade of the city. The history of the 90's war is so complicated where at different point different groups were fighting.

Spent the day today on a train to Belgrade, left at 11:49 and did not get in until 8:00pm. It is the only train for the day so there was no other option. I have now settled in for the night and just relaxing at the hostel for the night. Getting a load of washing done and preparing for another history lesson from the other side (though I know these guys were the aggressors of the war).

Caught the morning train to Sarajevo yesterday morning, the scenery was amazing - but you will just have to take my word for that because my SD card in my camera started getting write errors and I could no longer see a third of the photos.

Luckily I have been quite pedantic about backing up the photos so only lost the ones I took on the train trip.

I have carried out my standard walk around at night time to check out the city and am impressed. I really do think you can judge a city by how they display it at night. So today I am doing a walk around town and then in the afternoon I am going on a tour to see the "Tunnel of Life" an 800m tunnel that was used to get supplies into the city during the war and the only thing that saved the inhabitants.

Had a really interesting tour today being shown around the city of Mostar through the eyes of a man who fought in the war defending his city. To be shown around the streets describing the street battle that went on, from one side the Croatians and the other the Serbs. Then there were 60,000 stuck in the middle trying to defend a city both sides wanted.

There are still destroyed buildings next to newly renovated buildings as they wait for funding to get each one completed. It was a very strange and humbling experience especially walking through a cemetery that still exist in the middle of the town with their war dead (at one point the government wanted to move it after the war, but the people objected) as he talks about his friend buried there and where they died.

Had really got tour of the country side yesterday, first we started at Blagaj an old Otterman Monastery inhabited by the Dervishes (The twirling kind) set on the side of cliff where a river comes out of cave.

On our way Pocitelj an old fortress town with a long history of defending the country against invasion we stop off at Radimlja to look at some ancient burial tombs.

We then went to look at the Kravice Waterfalls (which in the summer is popular swimming location) and then to Medugorje where in the late 80's a group of child sited the Virgin Mary and is now a huge religious site for Christians.

This morning I am off to do a war tour around Mostar with the owners husband who fought in the war to get first hand knowledge of what happened to this town and the destruction that occurred. The bridge and the old town are actually only about 30 years old, but have been reconstructed exactly the same as they were before their destruction.

The Birthday drinks for Maria went really well on Thursday night. There ended being around a dozen people turn up (all but one Maria had only met the day before or on the actual night). It actually made her day telling it was the nicest thing any traveler had done for her all season.

On Friday I took the cable car to the top of the mountain over looking Dubrovnik, it gives a great view of the city and has a museum about the city from the war in the 90's. There was a great western media news coverage video playing, showing assault on the city.

This morning I just took another walk around the city and then got ready for my bus trip to Bosnia, the bus was an hour late so I got into town pretty late but still managed to find the hostel and settle into the place before going to find some dinner.

I am doing a day trip with the owners husband tomorrow which takes you to some of the other towns and historical sites in the area.

I have been in Dubrovnik now for two nights, the internet has been very erratic and I have not had much of a chance to upload photos.

I got here Wednesday afternoon and got here just in time to get settle in and then go see the sunset. When I first arrived the hostel manager was not here so had to wait an hour for her to arrive, I am staying in the old city and am very close to the cliff bars. I went down and had a beer while I waited and was very shocked on how expensive the drinks were (nearly $5, so I just put in my head I was paying for the fantastic view).

Once I checked in the manager told me about the other cliff bar which is currently closed but accessible, so with another couple of Aussie guys we went to the bottle shop and sat down there to watch the sunset (much cheaper at $1.40)

The manager then took us on a bit of a tour of town to eat, go to a wine bar and then to a pub. This town is a lot more expensive than other parts of Croatia, but still not too bad.

We found out it was the managers birthday yesterday, since it is getting towards the end of the season most of her friends have already let for the winter, so we organised drinks down at the rock bar (the free one) for last night. We got most of the people staying at the hostel to come down and turned out to be a nice day for her and she was very happy we put in the effort for her.

Earlier in the day I walk around the wall that surrounds the old town and then walk around the small streets. I was planning to go up the top of the mountain today, but it is currently raining, hopefully it does not last all day and I get a chance to go up there later.

Well after a day of wondering around in Split in the daylight I have come to the decision that it is nicer at dusk and evening. Don't get me wrong it is a great city, it is just better in the evening.

So tomorrow morning I want to get up the tower in the palace (I missed it today because it inexplicably closes at 12:00pm) and then do a bit of a walk in the other old part of town before heading to Dubronvik.

Finally loaded up the additional photos from the the Skocjan Caves if anyone wants to have a look.

Had a great first day in Split. Last night I just walked around the palace at night - It has to be the strangest ancient ruin I have ever seen as it is completely inhabited by the locals. You walk around taking photos of this place and you have to realise people live in the place.

It really becomes obvious at night when most of the tourists leave the palace and normal life goes one, kids playing games in the squares, washing hung up across the ally ways and just people hanging out talking to their neighbors on the street. I have been through and taken photos at night and will do the same in daylight and hope the photos show the convergence of a normal town living in a UNESCO historical site.

Today was my big walking day, I spend four hours walking up the mountain to the west to their national park and walked all the way to the end. It was very nice just wondering all day and never intended to spend most of the day out there considering I had not really seen the town in daylight yet. Gives me something to do tomorrow.

Will probably spent one more night here, but depending on how the day goes I might need to spend another. I looked into diving while I was here, but everything is pretty much shut down for the winter, maybe I will have more luck in Dubrovnik.

Slow the lowest travel (other than the flight) is now finished and even though it was a hard day it was rewarded by me now sitting outside enjoying a beer in a t-shirt. When I got to the hostel there was no one there to check me in so I went out to do some exploring.

I think it will take a couple of days to wander around this place with all the little ally ways, but I think it will be a good place to recharge the batteries.

I am aiming to be in Istanbul by the first week in December, so once I go through Bosnia I need to work out what else I can fit in to hit that date. The trip has always been about middle east, so I don't want to shorten my days in Jordan. Now I am doing a tour in Egypt it is a set date in the calendar and everything is working around being there by the 21st.

At least work has come to the party and I can spend a couple of days home before having to fly back to Tasmania for work.

Got back in Ljubljana last night and great night out barracks that were taken over by squatters and turned into a series of pubs and clubs.

Went for my final walk around town today, checking out the park and the old town which I had not been to yet.

Tomorrow is a big travel day, going all the way to split - 2.5 hours in a train and then 6 hour bus trip.

Had a big day yesterday, go up early and did Bled castle, fantastic views. After a bit of lunch we went off and walk the Vintar Gorge in Bled.

We then did the nightly pub crawl, starting at Georges Best Bar (Greg the owner is fantastic) and then onto Bled 1004 Bar. These guys just won't stop at the moment. We had another lock in and they literally would not let you out to go to bed.

I finally got out of the place at 4am and am now try get out of this place and at the moment just keep on saying I will catch the next bus.

Bled has to be the best town ever. The scenery is amazing the people are so friendly. It is the off season and it seems like everyone is letting their hair down and partying.

We went drinking at Georges Best Bar (that is the name) and we Greg the manager closed up we all went to the next bar with him. He only charge me 8 Euro for all the drinks we had and the next bar which stayed at until 3am would not even accept any of my money. It was half full of back packers and half of locals and they just wanted to keep going. It was a great night.

I have woken up to a beautiful morning in Bled, it is cold and cloudy but I am sitting here watching a spectacular fog roll of the lake while I sip on my coffee

Went for a final wonder around Ljubljana this morning and got caught in a massive hail storm. Caught a bus with Anna and Melissa this afternoon to Bled. Did not get much of a chance to see anything today, going to get up early and go for a walk around the lake.

Met a group of guys on Monday night and we all headed off to the Skocjan Caves for the day. It was an hour and half train trip and then we had to catch a small bus to the caves.

The caves were absolutely amazing and well worth the trip out to see them. You can't take photos inside, though one of the girls Anna had here camera going the whole time so you may see some photos post soon. For now here is a link to their photo gallery - Photo Page

We then came back to town and went out for dinner and then did a bit of a pub crawl. I am heading off to Bled this afternoon.

Finally left Zagreb and onto Slovenia to Ljubijana. I could not check into the hostel until 3pm, so I just dropped off my bags and went for a walk up to the castle. The weather wasn't great so I didn't bother going up to the lookout. Walk down the castle hill to the town center which is on the river. Walked past a bar and the Formula 1 was on so ended up sitting down with another Aussie to watch the race.

We are off to the cave tomorrow which I am really looking forward too, but apparently you can't take photos inside the caves which is a bit of a bummer.

Last day in Zagreb today, finished off the last couple of things I wanted to do. Pretty cruisy day and just laze around in the afternoon recovering from the big day of walking yesterday.

Have an early start to Slovenia in the morning.

Thursday was a bit of a none event being a public holiday (they still run by the policy everything closes) and it was raining all day.

I spent the day planning the time i needed for all essential things I want to do at the end of the trip. So I now have a date I want to be in Istanbul to give me time in Jordan, relax on the coast at Dahab and make it to Cairo in time for my tour. I have ensured I have plenty of time in Jordan and if I get through it quicker I can just beach it a bit longer.

I have also discovered there are some good wrecks in croatia down near split, actually all along the coast but split seems like the local spot to dive - hopefully the dive operators are still diving

Yesterday I went off to the Plitvička jezera Nacionalni park which is a UNESCO listed site. It was a long day leaving Zagreb at 7:30 and arriving there at 10am. I then walk around all the park until 4:30pm and did not get back into Zagreb until 8pm.

It is a beautiful park and was well worth the day trip out there even though it was a bit out of the way.

Caught the 6:15 train to Zagreb this morning, it was on four and half hours travel time but I had a 2 hour wait at Gyekenyes which is basically a small town near the border and nothing to do for two hours.

Finally got to Zagreb and booked into the hostel. Went for a walk around town and then got some stuff done in planning the rest of the trip. While I was walking around I noticed there were loads of police around and next thing I know there was Hilary Clinton.

It is All Saint Day today (nothing to do with Halloween), so i went out to the cemetery tonight to check it out. The whole place is lit with candles and there are hundreds of people walking around the cemetery.

Tomorrow is a public holiday here so I am thinking of taking the bus to a national park about two and a half hours away.

I only have one day in Pecs and I made the most of it and I would be struggling to find another day of things to do. But this is a beautiful place and would be absolutely pumping in the summer. It is such an nice town and they have done such a great job of maintaining the history. I started early with a walk up to one of the hills that border the town and then back to town for breakfast. After breakfast I went to the main historical area where the ancient Turkish wall still stands. They have some amazing UNESCO protected christian ruins. Discover under existing buildings they have created underground chambers to view the ruins, truly the best way I have ever seen sites protected. Wandering through a fantastically painted church and through the gardens was truly an enjoyable day. I love the little streets of old buildings, it is real joy to just walk around. Off to Zagreb early in the morning.

Got up early to find it snowing, not enough for it not to melt on impact with the ground but it is the first snow for the trip. Got a train to Pecs and and had a bit of a wonder around for the afternoon, will have a big day tomorrow before my next train trip to Zagreb the following morning.

Last day in Budapest today, after a wet morning the rain stopped and I managed to tick of the last couple of things I wanted to get done. Firstly Memento Park - The answer to the question what do you do with all the communist statues when you are no longer communist? Dump them in a paddock outside of town, realise it is becoming a tourist attraction and build a park around it. It is pretty cool, but a lot of the locals have never been to it. Then back into town to go to City Park, just hadn't had a chance to get up there to check it out. It was pretty cold today and I think it is the sign of things to come. They are talking snow this week, it is definitely getting cold enough. I have a nice reasonable flight at 10am in the morning, so there is not big rush with only a 10 minute tram ride to the train station. Then off to Pecs for a couple of days, which is on the way to Croatia

Saturday, my day of rest when traveling. I have a good sleep in and then went to the shops to get a couple of things I needed for the trip. Went into town and had some traditional goulash for dinner, a couple of drinks at a bar and now a nice relaxing night at the hostel. I have one more day in Budapest and there a couple of more things I would like to do. The forecast if for rain, so hopefully it not too bad a day. The thermals have already come out as of yesterday and they are predicting snow for Monday, a bit earlier than I was hoping. If it does it will mean within a week I have gone from walking around in a t-shirt to freezing conditions

Another slow day in Budapest, went to the markets for lunch and then walked through the city for a while and then hooked up with the free tour on Communism in Budapest. It was a really interesting tour, run by a woman around my age who lived through the massive changes that have occurred over the last 25 years. Then it was off to do more of the same as last night, this time with no Tequila shots. Went back to the same bar to catch up with some people from the previous night. One of them lives in Istanbul and needed to get his tips on places to stay there.

Budapest is becoming one of those cities which are hard to leave, there is so much to see but it seems you can walk around all day and achieve nothing. Yesterday I went into town wandered around the markets and then to find a designer shop I had heard about. Five hours later and a very big lunch I had actually got nothing done. I then went for a walk around the Jewish quarter looking for all the Ruin Bars, these are bars set up in old abandoned buildings. There is the favorite which I have already post photos (and more from last night), but I found a couple more that a group of us investigated later in the night. So I ended up doing a free tour on the Jewish quarter which was very interesting, but it ended up in Szimplakert Ruin Bar (which is apparently ranked as Lonely Planets third best bar in the world) and then the long night and morning began. After a while we went off to another ruin bar for Tacos, stop off at another one call Lokal and then ended back at the original spot. After many beers, gold Tequila (with cinnamon and orange instead of salt and lemon - awesome) and a hooker (water pipe) it was time to try and get home before daylight. After a long journey I found my way home on the night buses and had a much needed sleep.

Did a free walking tour around Budapest today, got a fee extra photos of myself for once since I met up with a Brazilian girl call Evy last night who came along as well. It is so much easier getting photos without having to ask complete strangers. So we started the tour in the pest side getting shown around and ended up at Castle Hill again (there yesterday) and then over to the church on the same hill which have a really cool roof. It is currently being restored so I didn't bother going in (can always refer to the 15 year old photos of the inside). We then went down to the Opera House and then to House of Terror which I could not get into yesterday due to the crowds. This is the secret police head quarters, originally used by the Nazis and then by the communists to interrogate and then execute dissidents. Evy went off to opera and I head to the designer shops (local artists) to find some cool t-shirts to bring home with me. At the rate I am going getting through this place I will not be leaving until at least after the weekend. I have also heard of a big dance party happening on one of the islands all weekend, so might need to check that out.

Did not start too early today, I am finally getting a long sleep rather than the four or five hours I have been living on. It is a public holiday today which turn out to be a good thing for a tourist, turns out all the entry frees were waived. I caught a tram to the castle and then walked up the hill, I could have taken the easy way, but walking is such a better way to see the view. Made it up top just in time to see the changing of guards, they put on a pretty impressive show. I then walked around the castle and got free access to the Art Gallery and the Museum. Being a public holiday to celebrate the revolution it appears it is the national day of protest. There was a large group protesting at the bottom of the castle against the government, pretty much about how they are running the country (I got this information from a local). I walked down the hill and followed the masses across the bridge and into the city. We then parted ways and I then ran into another group of protesters, I did not need to be told by anyone what these guys are were talking about, you could just tell by how they were dressed. Once I got back to hostel they confirmed that they were fascists\Nationalist and apparently stir up a lot of trouble. I then went through a walk through the street and found some food and a great bar called zsimplakert.

There was also march going down the road near the river, it is the celebration of the 1959 revolution - against who I am not sure (will have to read up on the history). They we hand out flag with a hole in the middle, I guess that was removing the part of the flag that had a symbol of who they defeated.

Flight to Hungary today - had to get up early to get out to Stansted Airport for an 8:30 flight. Turned out to be pretty ease - train from Kings Cross to Liverpool Street, then an express train out to Stansted. Turns out I wasted my time buying a ticket on th express, no one was there to check the ticket, so I just walked onto the train and was not checked during the trip either. Have heard some horror stories about Ryanair, but it all went very smoothly. I think it helped that I decided to pay 10 pound for an exit row, this gave me priority boarding, extra leg room and no one next too me on the plane. Turns out it is first in best dressed when it comes to getting a seat on the plane, so I don't think I would have enjoyed having to do that. I was wondering why people had queued up so early and seemed to be running to the back stairs of the plane when we were boarding. After checking into the hostel, I walked up to the Liberty monument which has great views of the city. I then walked into the city to find some diner and got a tram back out to the hostel.

Went for drive with Matt, Andrea and little Liam to Haption Court. We parked in Bushy Park and then walked around the ground of Henry VIII castle and along the Thames. We then went had a nice Sunday roast at the Kings Arms Hotel which is just outside the grounds near the Lions Gate entrance. Then it was time to say the final farewell, hopefully only for a few months when I will get to repay the hospitality. Train back to Kings Cross and a night at the hostel before an early flight to Budapest.

A trip out to Guilford today to see Matt's home town. A nice pub lunch and then a walk down the river. A bit of a quiet day, but it is the weekend, I can't go hard every day. Nice home made curry and beer for dinner.

Took the train from Surbiton to the city today and headed to St Paul's Cathedral, taking the 530 steps to the top of the dome. Then headed back to Covent Gardens for lunch. It has been part of the plan to find a nice restaurant in each city - today it was Jamie Olivers Union Jack's. After a nice lunch it was off to Oxford Circus for a bit of shopping, got myself a new hat for my travels.

Headed off to the British museum to see what has been plundered of the centuries. The building holding it all is very impressive in itself. I can see why they don't want to give back all that was taken from the Parthenon, there would be a huge room empty if they did. Seeing the Egyptian collection was inspiring and can't wait to see it all for real in a couple of months. Then walked down to Trafalgar Square to the National Gallery, really did not know most of the work except "Sunflowers". Just went for a walk and ended up in Convent Garden Markets which I will be revisiting today for lunch. Met up with Matt and went out to his place to stay a couple of night.

Not two hectic a day yesterday, went through Westminster Abbey - for the price you would think that you would be able to take photos. Then went over the road to the war rooms, the bunker used by Churchill. Then caught up with an old friend from my original backpacking days, Cimarron. We reminisced about the good old days - the good times on Little Shastered Farm picking cherries and apples.

After a good night sleep, I hit the road early again today. Got the train to the Tower of London and spent the morning there before walking over Tower Bridge. Then down the river to The Borough for some lunch, found a great food market there that has some great lunch choices. May have to go back tomorrow to try the pork spit rolls. After lunch went through the Tate Modern Gallery for a bit of culture, there is some pretty amazing stuff there, but the most interesting thing was in the turbine hall (a massive room) where there must of been about 100 people carry out this bazaar piece of performing art where they just run around after each out for about an hour. It was quite amusing just to sit there and watch it all going on around me.

Got a bit carried away today and now I am feeling pretty stuff, I get a few hours relax time and then need to go out and catch up with Matt for some drinks. While I waited to check in I caught a train to Piccadilly Circus, walked down to Trafalgar Square, then down to Buckingham Palace. Then down to Westminster and a spin on the wheel. Walked down the Thames and made it as far as London Bridge before catching the train back to Kings Cross. I was going to try and make it all the way to Tower Bridge, but I just never had the energy. Hope I get my second wind before 5:30 drinks.

After a long flight I am finally in London. The flight was great, got plenty of sleep but at the wrong time of the flight, have been up since about 2am UK time. It was a quick run through customs, quickly worked out how to buy an oyster card and am having a couple of coffees in the hostel before starting to go for a walk around the city. Can't check in until 2pm this afternoon, so need to fill in the day.

1 hour stay over in Singapore, got my hands on some cheap duty free and hanging out in the first class lounge waiting for the flight to board. Strange thing, apparently if you are flying business you don't go to the business lounge - who would have thought.

After a hectic day I am now at the airport, only 10 minutes to go and I will be boarding the long flight to London. Only mistake I have done so far today is make myself a Bloody Mary and put way too much Tabasco. Well the flight is boarding now, it is all getting too real. Can't wait to see my seat.