A Final Word

If you get even the remotest chance to travel around Eastern Europe, TAKE IT!! You will never regret it. This is one of the most fascinating and enchanting parts of the world that we have visited so far. We ended up visiting sixteen countries, plus Kosovo, and it really was a superb journey. Go now, before it changes too much, just GO.

Days 28, 29 & 30: The Road Home

We left Hvar Island, catching the car ferry from Starigrad to Split. It was a sad moment, because we knew that now the journey home began, and the whole road trip was nearing an end. From Split we were quickly on a motorway, heading north toward the Slovenian border. The northern part of Croatia looks to be quite arid, and it wasn't until we neared the Slovenian border that widespread agriculture became apparent.




Again, we took a very minor road to cross the border, and it took only 2 or 3 minutes to get through. We enjoyed our drive across rural Slovenia, dawdling through some villages, taking the back roads. We stopped for a break and were served an enormous ice cream sundae by a youong woman who seemed very excited to see some real tourists from another land. All too soon we crossed the Italian border, and headed north again. We stayed the night in a small village a few kilometres from the motorway. The mountains in northern Italy are quite dramatic, and may be worth exploring in another trip one day.



We had an interesting itinerary the next day... breakfast in Italy, morning coffee in Austria (after going through some huge long tunnels), lunch in Germany, and dinner in France. We spent the night at the municipal camping ground in St Merthould in north-east France, a bargain at €4.80... and they had hot water!!!

The following morning we drove to Calais, and got in to the waiting queue for a Hoverspeed ferry. Our ticket had been for 3 days earlier, and we were brusquely told that this was the second-busiest day of teh year. However, we got on the first ferry that arrived in port, and we were back in Surbiton by not lomng after 3 pm.

From Calais, back to Calais, we had driven 5,246 miles (8,443 Kilometres)... and all we had done was put petrol into the car, nothing more. Thank you Mr Mazda, you did a great job!!

Days 22 to 27: Camping on Adriatic islands in Croatia

We drove north up the Dalmatian coast from Dubrovnik, but not far before we headed off up a peninsula and then caught a small car ferry across to Mljet Island. They say that of all the Adriatic islands Mljet (pronounced mill-yet) may be the most seductive. According to legend, this oasis of tranqulity was the island that captivated Odysseus for seven years. We can easily see why. Three-quarters of the island is covered in forest, and there is a large National Park on the northern part of the island. Arriving by ferry makes you think you have arrived in paradise, it is absolutley stunning. We spent the night camping in an extraordinarily beautiful olive grove. However, it was a long walk down a clff path to the beach, and we had set our hearts on camping by the beach, so we decided to leave Mljet and move on to Hvar Island.







We spent the rest of our time in Croatia, six nights, camping on the outstandingly beautiful island of Hvar. The sea is crystal clear, and as calm as being in a bath-tub. You have to see the water to believe how blue it is, and to see the texture of the sea. Even our video footage does not come close to showing it how it really is. This is the perfect place for a seaside camping holiday, and to get a suntan. A real slice of paradise!!

Day 21: Mostar, then Dubrovnik

We drove from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik, via the Bosnian town of Mostar. The road takes you through the most wonderful mountain scenery.


The town of Mostar was the setting for much fighting during the war, and the scars are still highly visible.




The famous old stone bridge was destroyed by shelling in the war, but has recently been rebuilt as a symbol of hope. This bridge draws tourists nowadays, but seems little used by the locals in what remains a very divided town.




The coastal region of Croatia is sun-drenched with classic Adriatic rocks and trees. It is one of those sights that just leaves you struck for words.


Dubrovnik, the jewel of southern Dalmatia, is a much-visited city... so it came as a huge shock to us to find ourselves among tourists. We stayed at the camping ground in the city, and caught a bus into the Old Town, which is very close. We did spend a very pleasant late afternoon wandering around, before finding a bar perched outside the old city walls on the rocks above the sea. Here we sat and watched the incredible sunset, before reluctantly going in search of dinner.

This ancient city was once governed by Venice, as betrayed by some of the architecture. The tragedy of the Balkan wars led to the shelling of Dubrovnik in 1991, although the scars have been cleverly healed.

Days 19 & 20: Sarajevo

This is such an incredible city that we decided to spend another night here. What's more we have just got tickets to a concert by Darko Rundek and Cargo Okestar tonight!! Ancient mosques, churches, a Turkish bazaar, fascinating people, and of course the recent war.





We rode the trams, and sheltered under the welcome umbrella of a cafe from a huge thunderstorm and drank huge generous cappuccinos.





It is impossible to avoid mentioning the war, and the siege of this beautiful city for so many years. It is true that the residents of Sarajevo are living their lives, and going forward into the future positively. However, stark reminders of te terrible conflict and suffering are still everywhere. For example, the marks left in pavements where shells burst have been filled in with red cement.... a kind of bloody memorial to those who perished or were injured.



Most of the buildings in the central city area are still peppered with bullet marks, although there are signs of new plastering being done



This image will be familiar to anyone who watched TV during the war. On the left is the Holiday Inn where all the western journalists stayed, and on the right a derelict tower block... still empty.





A much more sobering sight are the billboards advertising the Srebrenica Identification Project. About 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred at Srebrenica after the Dutch Peacekeepers failed to protect a UN Safe Haven.



Did we mention that we went to see Darko Rundek & Cargo Orkestar?? What a magnificant stunning beautiful awesome concert it was. Held in a basketball court outdoors in central Sarajevo, the crowd was young and knew the lyrics for all the songs. It was a genuinely moving experience.

Day 18: Into Bosnia and Sarajevo

We drove slowly across central Serbia, the roads are full of traffic. Nick got a 10 euro speeding fine... which was a complete scam from a local cop who pretended he had a working radar gun. Still it was easier to pay than argue. The Serbian countryside is very pretty.



We climbed through spectacular mountains and gorges. As we neared the Bosnian border we were delighted to see Sarajevo appearing on signposts. However, this was false hope, since the actual turn-off to the border was not sign-posted at all, and we overshot it by a few miles.


The border crossing into Bosnia was as simple as could be, with no queues. It seems no tourists hardly at all come along these routes at present. This meant that we were greeted with warm welcomes by the border guards and customs people.

The Serbian and Bosnian border posts are separated by about 5Km of 'no-man's-land'. We were initially confused to see a sign welcoming us to the REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA. Naturally, we had expected to see a sign welcoming us to Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, it turns out that this nation i snot just divided into teh two identies of "Bosnia" and "Herzogovina", but it is also sub-divided into Serbian parts as well. We happened to be entering the country via a portion that is Bosnian Serb... known as Republic of Sprska. Yup, there are no vowels in that word.


After crossing the border we stopped to have a late lunch in a lovely small town called Visegrad. Even though this is part of the Serbian republic within Bosnia they refused point blank to exchange the few remaining dinars that we had from Serbia itself. In fact they looked quite repulsed when we asked. It seems the politics and tensions of this area are incredibly complex still.

Visegrad is a delightful little town, built on a river with a lovely old stone bridge. It was a very relaxed place. However, there is a very new mosque in the main street... so new, it is still shiny. We suspected that it replaced one destroyed in the conflict.




After a nice lunch we headed down the road to Sarajevo. The road took us through incredible rocky mountain gorges with dozens of tunnels through the solid rock. It was a very spectacular drive!! Most of the tunnels are unlit, and very dark. Some are a few kilometeres long. This was quite a challenge to drive through, since our right-hand drive Mazda had seriously disabled headlights (to prevent glare to other drivers when driving on the right). We also found it advantageous to close the sun-roof since water dripped from the rock also.


Our route from the border to Sarajevo meant that we crossed a national park, and then descended a steep gorge into the ancient city itself. Wow, Sarajevo is the most fascinating city!

Day 17: Kosovo and Prishtina

Had a lazy stroll around Skopje in early morning cool, and left town at about 10.30 am. Border crossibng into Serbia-Montenegro was smooth. If you want to go into Kosovo you have to cross from Macedonia into Serbia first, otherwise they will not let you go from Kosovo into Serbia since they say that you have not yet gone through Serbian immigration. Hence, we chose to use a main border crossing for one, north of Skopje on the motorway. Then, immediatley after crossing the border you can turn west and cross into Kosovo.
We came off the main road and got really lost in a small market town called Presevo. It was complete chaos, with cars and people and carts everywhere!! We spoke to a Serb policeman who spoke no English and he pointed out the road to Prishtina. We wanted to know how safe Kosovo was, but there was little chance of asking these people, so we decided to press on and just go. We did see Serb police in full battle gear with steel helmets... which was a bit disconcerting. But, they were all friendly to us.
It took over an hour to cross the "border" into UN-controlled Kosovo. However the Kosovars were very welcoming to us. Here is a photo of the queue at the checkpoint:














We drove to Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo, and had a late lunch. Despite the recent conflict there it is a thriving city, and there is clearly a lot of rebuilding go on. They do not use Serbian currency at all, instead they use the Euro.






Prishtina is chock-full of KFOR and UNMIK personnel and vehicles. UNMIK is the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo.







We were accosted by a very paranoid young man for taking his photo by accident, and decide to stop taking any more pictures. There are no tourists in Prishtina at the moment, so I guess we were quite an unusal sight. As to be expected, there is still a very tense feeling to the place.

We then headed north across Kosovo, having decided it might be better to stay the night in Serbia. There is a huge miltary presence in Kosovo... we saw KFOR, NATO, and UNMIK. The bridges have signs for the weight limits of trucks, and also for tanks. We passed through Mitrovica and then across the border and on to Kraljevo for the night, arriving just before darkness. A truly fascinating journey!

PS. Even though Kosovo doesn't count as a separate country at the moment, we would be amazed if it did not become fully independent in the future, since it seems so autnomous already.

Day 16: Skopje

We drove through the western mountains of Macedonia. This area deserves its nickname "Little Switzerland". It is very pretty. There are lots of hydro lakes. Little villages are perched impossibly on steep hillsides and there is a lovely forested National Park.







We visited the Bigorski Monastery used in the famous Macedonian movie "Before the Rain", from the early 1990's. If you have never seen that film, do take the opportunity to rent it if you can find it. You will see why we always wanted to visit Macedonia. This is a working monastery, so it was a very fascinating visit.







We arrived in Skopje, capital of Macedonia, mid-afternoon, and found cheap hotel in city centre. This is a modern, lively city with a relaxed but fashionable style. There are many pleasant cafes along the river front, on wide pedestrian streets, and along the boulevards.