Balkan Salute

Bad times to discover that your Eurail pass isn't valid for Serbia or Bulgaria: when the ticket inspector is checking your tickets for the night train from Serbia to Bulgaria!

Actually, it didn't work out too bad. I was able to buy my ticket off the conductor and pay in Euros (I'd just succesfully gotten rid of the last of my Serbian dinars). I mostly just felt guilty embarassment for misreading my Eurail pass and trying to argue my case with the conductor, when what he was trying to explain in clipped English was actually completely logical and correct (even though my pass says "Serbia and Bulgaria" on it, they're actually in blue which it turns out means "NOT Serbia or Bulgaria").

I have great respect for this ticket conductor for actually understanding my Eurail pass, unlike a large amount of the conductors I've had who take it off you, stare at it, turn it around and then shrug and give it back to you - sometimes scribbling something onto it first (which originally caused me a bit of concern because I don't know if you're meant to write on a Eurail pass, but my new conclusion is conductors know best!).

My unfortunate turn of luck at having to pay for my ticket was balanced out by the fact that I then got a whole cabin to myself! It also felt brilliantly old fashioned - 70s wood panelling, a sink and mirror, a coat and hat rack (now that I have a travelling hat any hat-based facilities are now a welcome bonus) and only 3 bunks. Luxury!

I'm now onto my last few nights before meeting up with Jenny in Athens. Exciting! It's pretty crazy how fast the time's gone and I'm genuinely surprised that the solo leg of my trip's almost over. I didn't go crazy, nor did I write a novel, but I think I landed at a good point somewhere in between.

It was a rainy day yesterday in Sofia but I still managed to see a bit of the town - a nice place! A lot of shops and some crazy drivers. I really enjoyed Belgrade as well. At first I was a bit intimidated by the scowling locals and stray dogs, seen through the haze of a cold, but on my next day there I went to their sunny central park/Kalemegdan Fortress where there were lots of old men playing chess and had some really good Serbian food for dinner (three course meal and a beer for less than $10). I was succesfully won over! Also, in both of these countries I've had a chance to practice my cyrillic reading again - the fact that I still remember it from Russia makes me feel like an alphabet master! Next challenge: Greek.

Today I made it to Greece and I'm in Thessaloniki for one night before the train to Athens tomorrow. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to see too much of the town but I walked along the waterfront which was sunny and smelt great. Now I have a stomach full of delicious food and I've shelled out for a private room for myself, so all up things are good!

I'd succesfully managed to not lose any stuff until Belgrade, not counting an awesome Tardis badge I had for my backpack which went very early on, somewhere on the Trans-Siberian. Considering the number of things I managed to bump my backpack into I think this was always doomed! But tragically Belgrade saw the loss of my Yellow Submarine thongs. I scoured the hostel for them with no luck and it was pretty small so I don't think I just misplaced them. Strongly suspect that someone might have mistakenly or otherwise packed them up with their stuff. Luckily there was another pair of thongs going spare at the hostel so I've taken them with me instead. You win some, you lose some?
I've also had to face the loss of my iPod headphones, which cut out on the side with the volume control. I've bought myself some new, pretty basic headphones here in Bulgaria, but I'm sad that I've lost the ability to control volume without taking my iPod out of my pocket.

I've uploaded my photos from Hungary: here
And photos from Serbia and Bulgaria: here

Time for a count-up - here are some numerical statistics of my trip to date!

Number of countries visited: 19
Number of currencies used: 11
Number of books read: 6
Number of trains caught: 46 (not counting metros)
Number of different beers tried: 60
Number of pastries eaten: uncountable
Number of Ikea TROMSÖ bunk beds I've slept in: uncountable
Number of times I've heard "We No Speak Americano" or "Alejandro": uncountable