Surprising Slovakia

We spent 2 days in Bratislava, the capital, and yet again didn't really have any expectations as to what there was to offer...

Its a small, quaint town, that had a cosy, friendly feeling to it. In contrast to the very Western European feeling of Budapest, we very much felt like we were back in Eastern Europe. Some parts of the newer area were the obligatory shade of grey, and the beautiful old town was of course cobbled and had pretty churches dotted around.

The main square was barely visible under the stalls that had popped up for the Christmas Market and the sprinkling of snow gave a wonderfully festive feeling.

Honestly I wonder if the market wasn't there, would I have warmed so much to the tiny capital? I'm not sure, but regardless it was a lovely 2 days of mulled wine, giant sausages and delicious tea.

Two days in Budapest

Wow, when you do a quick tour of Europe it means A LOT of blogging! I hope someone's still reading...

So our time in Budapest has all but come to an end. We were joined by our friend Ben from home (everybody say hi! He's an old friend from Martyn's uni and it was pretty much a given he'd join us at some point), which has changed the dynamic of the trip, it's been so long that it's just been the two of us planning to the point we don't really need to ask what each other wants to do as we already know! How weird to articulate your thoughts verbally now...

So, to Budapest. It was the first European city we've been to that actually felt "European" we got off the metro and nearly got run over by a red double decker bus, overlooked by a lot of tall buildings, next to a large river with a Parliament building looking out. Sound familiar?

As all three of us had travelled a long way we decided to relax for the afternoon. Relaxing in Budapest means one thing, baths. Thankfully it was no way near as naked or awkward as Turkey, the baths were actually pools that you could go in, rather than to clean yourself. It was an amazing experience, there were three outdoor baths that were heated to 38 degrees. You could see the steam rising over the walls of the building, it was bliss in the freezing weather. Indoors there were over 15 pools that you could have a dip in. Ranging from a balmy 36 degrees, to an exercise pool at 34 degrees, a sulphurous pool that had a rather dubious whff and even, for the not so faint-hearted, a plunge pool (20 degrees!). It was very easy to just relax in one corner of a pool and forget about your troubles.

I didn't realise before we got here that Budapest is actually split into two parts, Buda and Pest. 

We started the morning in Pest, and visited the Jewish Quarter. I've never been in a Synagogue and was surprised at how much it felt like a Christian church. Probably just in comparison to all the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim holy places we've visited. It was coupled with a museum that gave a brief introduction to Judaism, listing all the different rites of passage and religious holidays, and a section showing the pain and murder of Jews in the Second World War. It was obviously very sobering and unfortunately only the beginning of many things we'll have the opportunity to see throughout Europe. The garden of the synagogue had an absolutely beautiful memorial, a silver weeping willow sculpture with names of families and individuals engraved into each leaf.

Leaving Pest, we crossed the Danube into Buda to the 'Citadel', a viewpoint that was occupied during the second world war and rebuilt as a memorial and finally handed to the Tourist board in the 70s. It gave a spectacular view of the whole city, from both sides of the river.

Strolling further along the river we came to the Castle. I know nothing about this castle apart from there is even more of an old town with cobbled streets around. It was far to cold to stop and look at things. A few photos taken and we trudged back across the river with the intention of going to see the 'Horror House'; a memorial of the atrocities commited against the Jewish people during WWII. Personally, I couldn't have coped. It was freezing cold, putting us into a low mood as it was and we'd happened across the Christmas Market! A place of happiness and mulled wine! Yes, not the best reason in the world to avoid remembering victims of a terrible crime, but we justified it by acknowledging we are going to Auschwitz in Poland too...

Following a rather large glass of mulled wine and strolling through the interesting stalls and pretty lights we headed back to the warmth of the hostel for a cup of tea and out into the night for dinner.

Tomorrow morning we're off to Bratislava on a 6.30am bus, we hope it's worth it!

We love Romania!

Having only spent 3 days in Romania we weren't sure whether we'd get enough of a flavour, especially as we were in two cities. How wrong we were!

Arriving into Bucharest felt a bit grim. We followed the directions given from the hostel and ended up walking through half built roads with graffitti everywhere.Turns out we just made up our own directions and ended up in the right place anyway through sheer luck!

The hostel was a small friendly place run by a lovely couple who gave us a run down of the city. As we arrived really early we didn't have a bed yet so we headed off the explore.

There were a couple of walks marked out on the map that were really handy to get an initial idea of the city, we walked about 4km that morning and got a lovely introduction to the city. It is definitely a capital and there was plenty to see, including the 2nd largest building in the world (second to the Pentagon). There is the obligatory old town that seems to be a staple in many European cities that comprise of cobbled streets, arty shops and in winter Christmas markets and hot wine.

We visited the Romanian Museum of History, which was undergoing renovations (turns out since 2002!). We were still charged full price just for 1 room. We saw a Roman column that had been deconstructed for the exhibit. The base was easily the size of a room, and had 2 small blue doors in the side that were uncannily like the TARDIS! Round the column height was the story of how the Romans had come and defeated the local people, the Tamans (I think they were called). It was 130 scenes long and really interesting but we did expect more from a museum that size.

However, the Romanian museum people were soon redeemed when we visited a "Peasant museum" down the road. It was a beautiful glimpse into local life in the past. There were lots of demonstations of how life was like, including drying corn on the cob in the sun, milling flour with a huge windmill and how to process sheeps wool into yarn. It was really interesting, and on reflection afterwards it was made even more interesting as we'd seen these techniques still being used in Nepal and India, not looking like they were going to get relegated to the past any time soon...Within this museum was a whole house! It was made of wood and rebuilt into one room with holes in the walls to allow people to look in and see the scenes laid out for us.

After a whirlwind tour of Bucharest full of museums and walking we hopped on a train to Brasov, the main hub for access to Transylvania into easily the best hostel we've stayed at so far. You got a free beer per person per night! it was just a shame we were only there for one night...

Turns out that Monday is the day everything is closed in Romania so we weren't able to visit any of the exciting Transylvanian sights, such as Dracula's Castle and the like. Instead we took it as a nice day off, walked the length and bredth of the town and played in a childrens park.

After this taster into Romanian cities we are both itching to go back and explore even more!

More offal! Yes that is a whole liver!

We're not sure what Martyn's Christmas Market stall sells, but it appears to be invisible...

Our hostel had the right priorities

An egg vending machine!

A traditional Romanian dessert of two ring doughnuts topped with little doughnut balls and covered in jam and yoghurt. Tasty!

Bulgaria... Kind of.

We spent 3 days in Bulgaria (with a little travelling time too) visiting the picturesque town of Plovdiv and the capital city Sofia. Even as we were planning we weren't sure if this was enough time but we tend to be quite fast at sight seeing and so we weren't too worried.

We arrived into Plovdiv at 3am after being dropped off by the most comfortable luxurious bus we've had all trip. There were individual touchscreens for each passenger that played movies, TV shows and games! Admittedly it was in Turkish but still, Solitaire is universal right?

Funnily enough there was nowhere open at 3am so we walked the streets and managed to find the railway station and sleep on a bench. This is not the best plan. It was cold and grim but at least we were in a fairly decent place. Once the cold got too much we went for a walk at 5.30am and found new town. Costa opened at 7 and I think it was the best coffee I've ever tasted!

The seating area outside our hostel

When we finally walked into the old town it was like walking into a fairy tale. All cobbled streets and old buildings. Its a beautiful little town and we would recommend it. However, I think we caught them on an off day. That funny time between tourist season and Christmas Markets (the stalls were being set up), so a lot of things were closed. We saw a great ethnographic museum (local culture) and a huge Roman stadium now used for theatre. Oh and of course delicious Offal Trough!

A stunning stained glass window in one of the
many orthodox churches

Offal Trough!

The really pretty Sofia Train Station

A quick train to Sofia later we were stood outside our new hostel. The dorm room turned out to be basically a spare room in a lady's house. But it was clean and she was friendly, so never mind. As we went out to explore Sofia we were greeted by police officers in riot gear surrounding all of the main tourist attractions! Turns out there was a scheduled protest by students that was going to take over the main roads of Sofia. Pants.

It was interesting to see the protest and it was all peaceful but as many a guidebook had already told us that tear gas travels pretty far on the wind and the police in Bulgaria like to use it we didn't stick around too long...

The friendly neighbourhood riot police

Student protesters

Their demands....??

We figured the next day would be better but it wasn't meant to be. There were still road blocks on many of the main areas and so we missed out on a lot of sights. It's a shame that we didn't get to see everything we wanted to but at the same time we did get a good feel of 'Downtown Sofia'.

We're now in Bucharest, after another overnight journey. This time by train. Initailly it was a bit confusing as the conductor didn't speak any english and she kep consulting a guy that looked like he'd come off the street, which made us even more uneasy when she gave him our tickets and he wouldn't give them back! Turns out he was another conductor that just didn't fancy wearing his uniform. We had a comfy 4 bed compartment to ourselves and managed to get a fair nights sleep before heading out to explore another city...

Soup seemed to be the national dish of Bulgaria. It was tasty!

A book vending machine! I love it!

Turkey in a nutshell

The 4 days in Istanbul has already come to an end, and we've really enjoyed it. Turns out this city is the perfect mid-point between India and Europe. There are many similarities, or quirks that you can see have evolved from what was once the same as Asia, yet at the same time there are things that are reassuringly European.

1. Chai wallah. 

In India young boys run round the streets with chai to be doled out to all the shop owners.

In Turkey there are men that work in çay (pronounced chai) shops transporting just as much tasty tea to other shops.

2. Goods transportation.

India, there are fit men carrying anything you care to think of on their backs in the baking sun.

Turkey, the same fit men now have trolleys to trundle along all the cobbled streets.

3. Men.

In India and Turkey men travel in groups and are definitely the louder more obvious gender. 

4. Begging.

In both countries there are still obvious gaps in income, however we have seen nothing in Turkey that compares to the slums of India.

There are still street children coming up to you and pulling at your sleeve for money and food, and it's obviously just as difficult to know what to do.

5. Markets.

Yet again both countries have markets that will sell you anything as long as its for the right price.

However saying "no thank you" in India will get you nowhere. Of course you want this camel hump umbrella stand, you just haven't said no enough!

The selling is no way near as agressive in Istanbul and we've had a lot of free Turkish Delight. Bonus!

We think this crossover had come from Turkey being in both Asia and Europe. Not a qualification many countries can boast. Apparently the best of both worlds.

Turkish Baths

Having heard that you shouldn't leave turkey without going to their famous Hammams (baths) I dutifully went.

The most famous, and tourist accesible, is the Çemberlitaş Hammami, right across from our hostel. The brochure said the busiest time is from 4 til 8, which I ignored and arrived promptly at 3.45. Another bonus, the marathon was run today so a lot of tired athletes (professional and amateur) were waiting in the queue. 

After wrestling the queue to pay I was lead to a changing room and given a small strip of cotton and a rather attractive pair of black granny knickers to change into.

I did as I was told and removed everything except my glasses. Even they came off as I walked into the main room; as the door opened I was hit with a face full of steam and Spanish chatter. I got a glimpse of 15 semi-naked ladies before my glasses steamed up (wink wink, nudge nudge).

I was in a group of 3 ladies that were lead round the central marble circular stone that all the ladies were lay on. We walked all the way around and were given spaces to lie on, sans strip of cloth.

As I tried to get myself relaxed a rather portly Turkish lady wearing bra and pants and the number 47 on a badge pinned to her bra grabbed my knee and told me to move closer to the edge so I could be next. I lay down and closed my eyes, finally relaxed in the steamy atmosphere. Gush! 47 had poured a bucket of oily warm water all over me. Came as a slight shock but still pleasant.

She took the mitt I'd also been given as I walked in and proceeded to scrub me all over. Yes, all over. When the front was done, I swapped to lying on my front and my back was scrubbed too. On completing the scrubbing 47 slapped me on the arse and over I flipped again. This time for a good soaping.

The soap suds are stuff of legend. A bar of soap is in a canvas bag full of air, shook around a bit and then the bag is squeezed, soap and air are forced through the material to form loads and loads of suds! This process is carried out over you and you soon disappear under a mountain of bubbles that are massaged into the raw scrubbed skin. Bliss. I even got a bonus foot scrub and massage as through a miscommunication she thought I was a marathon runner. Oops.

The finale was to walk over to the nearest sink, sit on the floor and have 47 was my hair. She scrubbed just as vigorously and torrents of water were thrown over me.

"Finished. Jacuzzi" Was the last I heard from 47 before she was off scrubbing at the next girl.

I was so relaxed at the end, it felt amazing. I walked around in a dreamlike state and you could pour me into a glass! I would recommend this to anyone. It was fantastic! 

Tihar

Today is Newari New Year, a part of the Tihar festival. Newaris are the indiginous people of Kathmandu Valley and we are now in the year 1138. Woo!

The Tihar festival is made up of several days honoring different animals and people.

First day, the crows, the messengers of death, they are fed corn and rice.

Second day, the dogs, they are the guides over the river of death and decorated with tika and garlands of flowers.

Third day, festival of light or Deepawali. The Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, visits all the homes during the night. Everyone wants a visit and so they light their homes with butterlamps to guide her way.

Fourth day, Newari New Year and honouring your self. Mandalas are drawn by individuals (the circles of colourful designs), which are said to represent the God within yourself and your soul. According to this I am a compass and Martyn is chaos! There is then a long ceremony of puja, which we were able to take part in through our wonderful host, consisting of:

Making the mandala

Burning incense

Throwing wheat

Blessing a flower with yoghurt

Burning wicks

A massive tika

Having flowers poured on your head!

Eating an egg and drinking rakshi, local home brew :)

Saying namaste to the new year.

Followed by lots of food and booze!

Fifth day, Bhai Tika, honouring everyone's brothers. Brothers travel all over the valley to visit their family, especially sisters. They are honoured with a "panch tika" or five coloured tika. We can't wait for more colours and fun!