Ohrid, Sveti Naum, and some little village, Macedonia

I arrived in Ohrid, on Lake Ohrid in Southern Macedonia at about 4 in the morning and first I thouht it was an awful time to arrive somewhere but after walkin for a while I was delighted to be there that early. Knew where I was gonna stay but didn't want to wake the guy yet so I just hung around by this church nearby perched on a hill overlooking the lake - it really was fantastic and I stayed there as the sun rose behind the mountains and watched how the light changed everything... it was a great way to get a first impression of the place... and to get very tired! Slept very peacefully when I finally got to bed!

Ended up staying there in Ohrid for 4 whole days, and it was only then, when I slowed down a bit and 4 days seemed like such a long time to stay put, that I really realised how fast I'd been moving! It was twice as long as I'd stayed in any one place since Moscow! It's all good!

I spent my days relaxing a lot - first day met these great Swiss girls and we just sat for the day by the lake, having some food, chatting, I sewed quite a bit, and of course swimming. It was a great place to swim.. One day I was out walking and found a really beautiful secluded beach - didn't have togs or a towel but I wanted to swim so much that I just went in naked and waited in the sun to dry afterwards - all good but felt a little uncomfortable when I noticed two old men standing on the hill above, seemingly watching me for ages!

Weather was fantastic so that really helped the relaxation and I was very grateful - had been hoping for the weather to impove before the end of the trip.

One evening when I went to a perfect spot to watch the sunset I met Bernd, a professional photographer from Germany, and Vanco, music producer, amateur photgrpaher, cd shop type guy from Ohrid - two really interesting guys and I spent some good time with them over the next couple of days.

Bernd was in Macedonia for a month taking photographs for a final exam at university. He was full of all these insights into Macedonia, it's people, history, economy, political situation etc.. which at first I was quite intimidated by - i'm not very good at that kind of thing - but I listened to what he had to say about the place and he took me in his car to a little village nearby so I could see the life there and I'm very happy to have met him - he helped me get a more rounded view of Macedonia and hopefully to understand the country a little bit more.

Also headed for a day trip to Sveti Naum, a monastery complex nearby with a great little church in the centre.. lots of great churches round the place.. the town of Ohrid itself has some great sights like this also but I liked it more for its overall relaxing atmosphere, the spectacular lakeside scenery, and for the people I met there. Others who I haven't mentioned yet include Stefan, the guy whose place I was stayng at and Marco, from Slovenia, living in Macedonia for last 2 years but returning to Slovenia now to play with the Philharmonie. It was a very interesting and relaxing few days.

Ruse, Veliko Tarnovo, Koprivshtitsa & Sofia, Bulgaria.

Bulgarians nod their head's up and down to say "no" and shake from side to side to say "yes"! Crazy! Confusing sometimes but usually just kinda fun!

Ruse is right at the Romanian border and was alright for a one night stay and a couple hours walking round - always nice to see another town on the Danube - but really wasn't up there too much for me. But just as I was starting to feel a bit weary and down, a little tired of the road and bored by Bucharest and Ruse I landed in Veliko Tarnovo. Weather was still sucky but it didn't matter a bit to me in this town! In the hills the houses of the town are built on and into the sides of the hills and cliffs around the place.. another hill has a huge fortress perched on top of it and great stone walls running round the outside - these elements, various other hills, the views, the mist, even the drizzle all combined to make a place that for me was dramatically beautiful .

Added to this I found a great little shop that had loads of little things I'd been looking for for ages and spent a small fortune. The groovy owner showed me all the best bars in town and I headed to them with the Australian and New Zealish ex-boyfriend and girlfriend that I met in the house where I was staying. Met more locals in one of the bars and had a great night out with them - beer was delicious and cheap but Bulgarian Tequila (who ever knew it even existed?) was the most shockingly cheap thing ever! Dom, New Zealish guy, went to the bar for a round of 6 and had change from a euro!! After a couple of those however memories of Slane '99 came flooding back and I had to call it quits on the tequila!

Returned to my my favourite shop the next day and spent even more money - at least by paying more I knew I was getting quality stuff - that sounds like I was buying drugs!! No, it wasn't drugs - no drugs this trip except alcohol and a growing amount of caffeine!

And after this I couldn't have found myself in a better place, or a place with a better name, than Koprivshtitsa. Small little village in the hills again, centred round a river/stream running through the valley, the town rises on the hills on both sides. I'm sick of describing places as "beautiful little towns, with cobbled streets and winding alleys" but these words do come to my mind again for Koprivshtitsa - they are inadequate however because it is a place so different from any other I have been - the architecture for a start was new to me and walking the streets, the hills, along the streams, over the bridges and through the forests I was often amazed at the beauty of my surroundings - the style and atmosphere was very new to me and I'd never even imagined a place quite like it.. and from my description I know you can't imagine it either but maybe it's better that way! Just go there! And maybe I will return - very romantic place to walk if one had one's Missy to hold one's hand!

Sofia was also nice enough but it didn't strike me and I didn't give it all that much time to grow on me either - left in the evening after arriving in the morning - was eager to get to Macedonia and I don't regret leaving so quick, I had a nice day there and felt that it was enough. Wanted to go to Rila Monastery out in the mountains but a tour was too expensive and I had missed the only public bus out there for the day - would have needed another couple of days to get there so I decided to give it a miss - sometimes it's nice to miss some things, as an excuse to return some time.

Sofia is the highest capital in Europe.. I remember that came up in a table quiz with Miss, Marie & Eimh once and I had no idea of the answer.. now I do!

Later people.

Miniature Update Live from Ohrid, Macedonia

OK so since Romania I've had a great trip through Bulgaria to some great little towns in the countryside and I've come to Macedonia and relaxed for four days here by Lake Ohrid. Tomorrow morning I will walk across the border to Albania and figure out my way across the country to Tirana - for once lonely planet is severely lacking in information but I am glad because I look forward to figuring it out for myself.

And I'll leave it at that for now... "If only he was always so concise" I hear you mutter! Yes that would be nice.. but my obsessive compulsion for some of the littler details means that I will write more about these countries some time in the coming days.

If I'm not in touch before the 27th then Happy Birthday Speederson (he likes to pretend it's the 23rd but don't believe him).

Heading home is becoming an increasingly close and increasingly exciting reality but before then I have my Albanian adventure, a 24 hour cruise in the Adriatic, my Slovenian reunion, and officially some time in Italy and Austria to boot, whatever that phrase really means.

Later, you beautiful people, O the B.

Brasov, Poiano Brasov, Rasnov, Sinaia, Bucegi Mountains, Bran, Sighisoara & Bucharest, Romania

It took really ages to cross the Ukraine-Romania border. Checker guy wasn't convinced by my passport photo so wanted to see other forms of ID - of course all my other IDs look probably even less like me now so that was kinda funny! He got over it in the end though... but still had to wait ages for everyone to be cleared, bus to be emptied, baggage checked, and so on and so on.. anyway that's one of the things that makes travelling in Eastern Europe a bit more of a novelty I think.

Now saw quite a few places in Romania but I'm gonna try and keep this short. First thing I noticed bout Romania was that I really was returning to "Europe" - people were eating foil wrapped snacks, rather than sausages and tomatoes, on the train and no one really seemed to speak to strangers. I heard English and German all around as I walked the street and could order food in English instead of making a fumbled attempts at Russian and pointing a lot. Must admit I was at first a little disapointed to be back "on the trail". Where piles of backpackers gather just kind of pisses me off - much of Europe seems to me like a playground for grown up kids to come and party in and I don't enjoy this attitude to "travel".. this was my most negative of thoughts towards the place but I soon got over it and realised there's other reasons people come here - Romania, and Europe in general, is seriously beautiful, interesting and diverse!

One great thing that immediately struck me was the general appearance of the countryside. There was something about the shapes of the hills, the texture of the grass, the colour of the fields & the patterns of trees that made it unlike anywhere I'd seen before - and all the horses and carts around the place were pretty groovy also!

All those towns in the title - except for Bucharest - are in Transylvania. Brasov and especially Sighisoara were great places to just wander round and explore - cobbled streets, great architecture, lovely squares, churches etc etc and both, again especially Sighisoara, situated in hilly countryside.

Sighisoara is where Vlad Tepes (aka Dracula) was born and I had dinner one night in the house he was born in! Ordered breaded brains - thought it a suitable location to enjoy this speciality again!

Rasnov is another little town - main focus is the great castle on the steep hill overlooking the centre. Walked the 10kms over there one day after visiting Poiano Brasov, where I took a cable car to the top of some big mountain just to find myself in the middle of a big cloud. Walk was nice though.

Then Sinaia is the premier ski resort town of Romania - no skiing going on when I was there though. Had a welcome day of rest during which I explored the incredible Peles Castle in the hills just outside the town - really fantastic place, I'm talking tingles down the back of my neck kind of beauty as I walked through its splendid rooms.

Then the highlight of my time in Romania was hiking for a couple of days across the Bucegi Mountains. After the first day I stayed in a real cosy Cabana on the highest peak, Mt. Omul. Met cool hiker dude Reinhard from Austria there and we hiked together down the other side the next day.

First day it had been freezing, quite cloudy and even snowing, but this made for some very dramatic atmospheric scenery and snow is always good for photographs! Second day was clearer and yes this also made for more dramatic scenery! The mountains are seriously beautiful there and Reinhard was good fun to walk with - even if walking with him made me even more aware of my clumsiness and the amount of times I nearly trip over!

Our hike ended in Bran, home of Bran castle, where Bram Stoker decided to base Dracula - this was never Tepes' home nor did he probably even visit here but needless to say local souvenir pundits have made a killing from the association and you can buy all sorts of dracula memorabelia from the dozens of stands around the entrance.

Then I was on to Sighisoara for more wandering through the streets and the hills and a couple of days later to Bucharest... not the ugliest place in the world... think I'll leave it at that though!

Romania is a land of contrasts, a few of which I got to see: from the concrete complexes that were Ceaucescu's civic centre in Bucharest, to the narrow winding streets around Sighisoara's old centre, to the spectacular scenery in the Bucegi mountains - and the list could go on - Romania is a country that deserves serious exploration - Reinhard was spending a month there and still wouldn't see all the diverse regions of the country - I got at least an overview though and I was happy with that on my way to Bulgaria.

Don't know if I've "kept this short" but I tried!! Later buddos.

Damn Ryanair

Was planning on writing up about Romania now but cos of a mess with Ryanair I don't have time any more. In Bulgaria now but only for a few more hours because tonight I'm getting the overnight bus to Macedonia in a little bit. So I'm kinda far behind here but I'll get it sorted soon. I blame Ryanair.. a great deal is always a great deal until it changes and then it's not such a great deal any more. Ciao.