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Tokyo

Japan is the first stop on this adventure. So as my first ever steps on asian soil, ive thrown myself right into the hub of the country, the metropolis known as tokyo! And what a city it is!!

In tokyo i was staying with my friend Peter from university, who moved yo japan for work after graduation. I had not seen him for over a year when i arrived so it was pretty exciting to get reunited and caught up.

Because i was so keen to see peter i ended up staying in tokyo for 9 days. So i could include two weekends where he wasnt at work. Although it was nice to have the extra time with my friend. I feel 9 days was too much time for tokyo. I guess it depends what you like doing. But i definitely prefer being nearer some rural open space. And i feel like i had run out of things that i wanted to see/ do. (But maybe tokyo would be better if you had more money than i do in that respect as i didnt really go to any attractions i needed to pay entry).

So heres the best things i did in tokyo:

Food food and more food - im a big fan of various asian cuisines and japanese food is definitely included in that. I was surprised to find that you can actually get very large potions of food for very fair prices here. I was expecting tokyo to be extortionate. But i went to various ramen places between ¥320 and ¥700 (£2 -£6) for big filling bowls of the stuff.

6 really tasty gyoza for ¥200 (£1.50)

Sushi was a bit more expensive though cant really remember exactly how much. Split one of my sushi bills with peter while quite tipsy on sake and plum wine. And the other night had my dinner paid for me by peter and his friends. (Too kind arent they!)

Akihabara and Harajuku - a bit of modern day sightseeing here of some youth culture in japan. Whilst not typical of all japanese citizens i think theres definitely a stereo type to how popular some things are here, simply because they are not a part of our culture and we dont have anything that similar.

Akihabara is the electronics district. Which involves not just the electronics themselves but gaming stores and comic book/film stores - mainly anime and manga. This is not something im interested it. But thought id take a look myself anyway. Definitely more of an male oriented street with several shops selling busty female action figures or having pornography floors 1 floor up from basically kids toys. Also got introduced to AKB42 - a girl pop group with more than 50 members!?

Harajuku i guess is the female equivalent of unusual youth culture. Featuring everything pink, cute, fluffy and all aspects of kawaii. Owl cafes. Cat cafes. Shops with cute dress and jewellery. Stands selling colourful icecreams and crepes. A lot more condensed than akihabara. Focusing mainly on takeshita-dori. Which just made it even more intense.

Got myself a coin purse that looks like a slice of toast and butter as a souvenir.

Enoshima - went out of the city to the seaside area of enoshima. I went hear cause i read that on a clear day you can get a good view of mt fuji from the beach. However despite being fantastically clear skies overhead, low down there was a lot of haze due to the heat and humidity. I still had a brilliant time though. The island was continually circled by these huges hawks (black kites it turns out) and was pretty cool to walk around. Various shrines, butterflies, crickets chirping. It was a beautiful day so i had some soba noodles on the beach and an ice cream followed by a paddle in the sea.

Senso-ji - temple in Asakusa (the area i was staying in). Possibly one of the most famous temples in tokyo. It was pretty spectacular. As the first buddist temple ive ever visted i wasnt disappointed. Beautiful building, large lanterns, koi swimming around the pond, the smell of incense everywhere. Pretty much everything i could hope for.

I decided to get my fortune reading aswell (why not). All the temple have these paper fortune slips known as omikuji from what i read senso-ji is renowned for people often drawing bad fortunes. At which point you tie the slip of paper onto a stand and hope the gods help you deal with your bad fortune. I was surprised that when i drew my fortune it was the best one available. Although i dont really believe in things like that it was a nice positive boost for the day, being told youre going to have good luck and everything you are trying to do will go well!

Tokyo is done now, and ive moved onto Kyoto. So expect another update soon!

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ASIA!!!

So here we go again. Not used this blog for a wee while now. Meant to put this post up about a week ago. But better late that never. Im off to Asia on an 11 week trip around Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. What makes this particularly exciting is the fact ive never left Europe in my life. So almost 3 months in asia is certainly going to be throwing myself in at the deep end. Im going to try my hardest to put up one blog a week. But we will see how well i stick to that! (Note ive been in japan for 10 days, so im already running late! So expect an update on my stay in Tokyo and first impressions of Japan shortly!)

(Nb. In regards to my last post, due to lack of funding amongst other things i have decided to cut Australia out my itinerary. But will definitely be heading that at some point in the future, just not this trip)

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Next Big Adventure:

A couple weeks ago I booked a one way ticket out of the UK to Tokyo!!! So a few weeks back from my first solo adventure and i’ve already  started planning my next: I will be travelling to Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Australia over 3-4months, starting at the end of September ( AND I AM SO SO EXCITED!!!)

I have never actually left Europe in my life, pretty upsetting really, ive been dying to travel more for years, but because UK politics is a sham and this stupid thing called Brexit is happening, i postponed this trip ( my original plan) until i had interrailed Europe ( seeing as its super easy as an EU citizen currently). But now that’s over and I’m raring to go, I’m finally going to Asia and Australia! I will try and do updates with my planning as I go along, but first I need to get saving up cause I definitely do NOT have enough money at the moment :(

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Brexit Tour: The Summary Part 1 - Overview of Everything

Budget and Costs:

First things first, I saved up plenty of money to do this, more than I actually needed in the end, which was excellent. So it meant i wasnt exactly watching what i was spending - so if you’re looking for advice on keeping costs low, I’m probably not going to offer you much enlightening advice with this section!

In total, over the course of 5 weeks i spent appoximately £1,300, this included: -interrail ticket + eurostar ticket + a few train/bus/tram tickets within the countries i visited -Food and Alcohol (lots and lots of alcohol) -Accommodation  -excursions (eg. caves, castles, boat parties, spas etc)

Train Travel:

I really enjoyed inter-railing, i really loved travelling across the land, getting a real sense of the scale of Europe. Not only that but getting a glimpse into other, ore rural parts of the country that you wouldn't necessarily chose to visit. Through farmland, and small non-touristy towns. 

The most beautiful journey by far was from Munich, Germany to Ljubljana, Slovenia. It went through the Austrian Alps, snow covered and shining in the glorious sunshine. But I’m assuming it would just as beautiful in the summer this route.

A downside to train travel is that some trains can be delayed, i found myself sat in a station in the freezing cold more that once, but most of the trains did run smoothly. Although, they were pretty quiet (dont know whether its down to it being winter or not but), I got 4 seats and a table to myself on most of the long distance trains (>3 hours). Which did make the whole experience pretty comfortable, much more room than you would get on a plane/bus/car.

Another problem is that some journeys are pretty long  (but i guess you could avoid this). I ended up doing 20 hours of train travel within 3 days Prague - Glasgow when heading home. Which was pretty dull and tiring.

A problem i did notice with trains in europe, particularly if you are doing long distance travel between countries like i was, is that on the boards in the station, it doesnt always state every station that the train stops at. Not only this but i ended up on a few trains that part way through the journey the train number would change ( ie. if you were to look it up from one station it would be called something else. for example the IC 211 from munich would be the IC71 from Salzberg << note: not a real example) which was a little confusing. Not only this but some trains actually split into 2 seperate trains midway through the journey - and this wasnt always very clear - particularly if you dont speak the local language, so watch out for that!

Thankfully, I didnt have any problems, and somehow made it smoothly through ever train journey i took - although i did get very confused and stressed at times ( Emma Queen of Trains!)

Accommodation:

I stayed in hostels throughout this trip, ranging from £7pn to £12pn for 8-10 bed dormitory rooms ( well other than the few nights i spent with a family friend). Every hostel i stayed in was clean and fufilled easily my needs of somewhere warm and comfortable to sleep, with hot showers and somewhere comfortable to relax. However it became quickly apparent that some hostels are much better than other for solo travellers. However even when i worked out what i was looking for in a hostel, this wasn’t always possible to get within my price range. I booked my hostels as i went along, so while in one location, i would book my accommodation for the place i was moving to next. This allowed me some flexibility with my travel. Allowed me to change route slightly, or even spend a few days more in a location i was enjoying!

Meeting People:

As a fairly quiet and shy individual this was a part of the trip that i was pretty worried about. Not so much would i meet people to talk to, but would I actually be able to strike up enough conversation for people to want to spend time with me/ do things with me/ have a drink and a laugh with me?

Turns out yes, i am capable of this, and its a nice feeling :)

I met so many amazing people on my trip, a few that stood out in particular and made my trip special, even more amazing, and with their brief presence have made a big impact on my life! I cannot wait to see them all again someday.

But a huuuuuuge part of making these friendships is to stay at a very social hostel. Stay in a dorm room at a hostel with communal areas and preferably one that organises evening activities and you will be thrust into crowds of likeminded travellers looking for people to talk to ( rather than some who arent particularly social that you may be sharing a room with ).

Plans and Timescale:

I am a very organised person, I like to know what im doing in advance, im not very spontaneous, i like having a layed out set of plans to stick to and get me by. This is not possible with travelling. I didnt expect it to be, it wasnt, and y’know what? I dont even care! :) If youre like me and feel the need to organise every moment of your trip, dont get too hung up on details, its much easier just to go with the flow. Plan yourself a rough route like i did, with aims of what you want to see/ where you want to go, and approximately how long for. but do not expect to stick to it exactly.  For example, i spent 2 extra days in Budapest that i planned cause i loved the city and the hostel so much. I rerouted Romania entirely due to a fault with my own planning and went to a city i hadn’t even heard of instead! I slept in and caught different trains than planned ( cause i was hungover).

It’s these small details that make the trip more enjoyable and less stressful. Don’t think you have to do everything, see everything, and be busy learning and being cultured every second of the day. It’s not going to happen, and trust me it doesnt even matter. Just being in the hostel lounging about and chatting with fellow travellers and doing nothing productive is an important part of the experience. - You’re never going to have enough energy to go non-stop anyway unless your some sort of machine!

Summary:

Basically, i had the time of my life. I already have several new friends that i can go stay with all over the world. I’ve seen so many beautiful countries that ive never visited before. I have seen awe-inspiring sights. Ate delicious local food. Partied in some of the best bars i’ve ever visited. (Coming soon - hostels i stayed in and my reviews of them - brief run down of the cities i stayed in and what i recommend seeing/ whats not worth seeing/ what i wish i had seen) PS: If youre european and want to visit australia, travel europe in winter - i now have a contact in all the major cities! Aussies everywhere! PPS: Any questions about my trip or my first experiences as a solo traveller, please please please just ask :) Visit my instagram for more trip photos: instagram.com/emmalucyangus

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Day 28/29/30 - Prague

Right, because I’m an idiot and didn’t blog about Prague as soon as i got home you’re gonna have to cope with my 3 week old memories of Prague - i will try and remember as much as possible as it was such a beautiful and amazing city! I will definitely talk about all the main points of my time there, but I’ve combined this into one post as i definitely can’t remember what order I did all this in.

On my first day, after a bite of brunch in a cafe - spinach quiche and a smoothie, i headed out for a walk around the old town of Prague and up Petrin hill. I kid you not, this hill was almost vertical in places, and i seemed to end up walking up the steepest part of it with a banging headache and massive handover from the bar crawl - i started to wonder why i had done this to myself. But i did make it to the top and didn’t regret it, it was so sunny and the views over the city were stunning. I sat down on the grass up here and just listen to my ipod and watched life go by for a while. On my walk back i walked over the Charles Bridge, hearing this was one of the  things to see in Prague, being hungover it ended up just annoying me, it was incredibly busy, Prague in general was the most full of tourists of anywhere i had been in Europe ( i think it was half-term for the schools in the surrounding countries, and also the weekend- so i suppose that didnt help), there were far too many people, so i ended up just heading  back to the hostel for a quiet evening. Headed out for dinner to a nearby Czech restaurant, but went to be pretty early.

On the second day,  again pretty sunny, i walked up to Prague Castle, it was surrounded by armed military and i had my bag searched at the gate - which i wasnt quite expecting, but fair enough. I walked through the castle courtyards and went up the bell tower of the Cathedral to get some excellent views of over the city again. The clock tower of this cathedral was particularly interesting as it had 2 clock faces, one with a hour hand, and a separate face with the minute hand.  After the castle, i walked down the side of the river, past the modern art gallery and down the “the dancing house” an interesting piece of modern architecture next to the river, built around 20 years ago. In the evening we went to the Beer Museum - a pub that has around 30 types of beer on tap. Now, i really dont like beer, but i liked my company at the hostel so i went along, and luckily there was a Czech Cider available on tap ( i love cider, so this was excellent)

earlier on on the 2nd day my plan had been to visit the Jewish Graveyard. I never actually did though, i was very disappointed to find out that you had to buy a ticket to enter - i was expecting this, a few Koruna for a walk round or something, but no, i had to pay approx. £10 entry ( a ticket for 3 buildings i wasn’t particularly interested in visiting, to get entry to the graveyard so i gave it a miss, i did however find a gate to peer through at it! ) On my third day in Prague i cant actually remember what happened, i really don’t think i did anything particularly interesting. Think i just wanderer around some more, and ate a load of food. In the evening though we had a movie night, we watched American Pie with some popcorn and drinks before all heading out to bar/club called Vzorkovna which i absolutely loved (i wasn’t even planning to go as i had to get up at 7am the next day- so very glad i gave into peer pressure and went). Didnt even realise it was a bar from the outside, just looked like  dark doorway, you went inside and there was a guy who took your money and gave you an electronic wristband that contained credit of the amount of money you paid him, so you could use this wristband at the bars and no cash was being handled- a pretty interesting system. The bar consisted of many different rooms with live music, foosball tables and all these nooks and crannies and shelves to sit. Its hard to explain just how cool it was. In general, i love love loved Prague, it was a beautiful city, the hostel i stayed at was great, the restaurants and bars were excellent. I can’t wait to go back again with my mum at some point in the near future :)

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Apologies!

Hello everyone!! I’m so sorry about the abrupt end of my daily trip blogging! Let me explain:

So as you may remember, my phone had broken in a way that meant i could only charge it when it was connect to a laptop or PC. So this meant i was running very low on battery in Prague where I couldn’t leave it to charge for particularly long periods at a time. But on my 2nd day in Prague the screen cracked aswell ( i believe someone sat on it when it was in my jacket pocket in a bar) meaning that the liquid from the LCD started leaking out and within a couple days made it entirely un-usable :(

So i have been back at home since the 25th February, but i’ve had a rather busy and hectic couple weeks. Unpacking, getting my phone fixed, catching up with friends/family and celebrating my birthday! So this is me finally getting back around to giving you the final few days of the Brexit Tour aswell as a summary post. So bear with me and these will be up ASAP.

Once again apologies!

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Day 27: Took the train at 12.10 to Prague. A 4 hour journey that was pretty boring. I just want in the mood for travelling at all, and didnt really want to read - my only real form of train entertainment. But im here, im in Prague now. I walked from the station to the hostel which took about 20 mins so i could try and find a bank along the way to get out some money as they only accept cash payments. After checking in and getting set up, i googled some restaurants and headed out to the closest one, which was actually really good. I had duck with mashed potato and cherry sauce. Nice and hearty food for a starving traveller. I've eaten so much duck on this trip, its everywhere and as cheap as chicken here. which is making me happy as i really love duck! Anyway, i was planning on going on a bar crawl with the hostel, so headed back to shower and try and fit in a quick nap before the nights activities. You had to pay to go on the bar crawl, but that included 2 hours in an open-bar as one of the stops, so i definitely got my moneys worth cause i cant remember much after that bar!!! other than a KFC on the way home. mmmmm.

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Day 26: Vienna, Austria (1 week remaining) Today, I went on a day trip to Vienna, it only being an hour away by train from Bratislava. Upon arrival i took the underground to Stephensplatz to explore the old part of the city. The first thing i saw upon emerging was St Stephen's Cathedral. An absolutely massive building, with a patterned roof and huge spire and unfortunately a bit of scaffolding up (every single church/cathedral i have visited this trip has had some kind of scaffolding up, i wonder why?). I was pretty disappointed by the inside however, it didn't really live up to how beautiful and grand it looked from the outside. By this point i was starving, and having been speaking to a friend from a previous hostel who is currently in Japan, i had been really craving ramen since the night before, so had looked up restaurants in Vienna and much to my delight there was one very close to Stephensplatz. I ordered myself a lunchtime feast of Gyoza and Ramen, accompanied by a glass of wine. and OMG it was amazin. the google reviews did not lie to me, so incredibly happy. I didn't really have a plan for Vienna, so i spent most of the rest of the day simply wandering round, admiring all the old and truly beautiful buildings. One thing i regret is not having a plan, cause it was once in the city that i realised this is the home of the incredibly famous Spanish riding school and their masterfully trained Lipizzaners. D'oh. - as an avid horse riding, there are several related shows/events i've wanted to see and this is one of them. When i reached the school, i saw that i had missed their morning exercise which was on between 11 and 1pm. Whilst not the incredible shows themselves, would have been fascinating to watch them in training, and for a measly fraction of the price of the real thing. After a bit more of a wander around the city, i headed to a cafe i has spotted earlier on called cafe Oberlaa - i noticed it due to its delicious looking cakes. It was absolutely mobbed, ram packed, surprised i even got a seat. I took this as a very good sign. I was right. I had another glass of wine and a cake that was layers of soft sponge and strawberry mousse. I swear it is honestly, possly THE best cake i have ever had. I truly have eaten like a queen today. Had a quiet evening back in Bratislava, had some dinner, read my book, had a bath, and now this, before packing up my things, onwards to Czechia tomorrow morning!

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Day 25: Bratislava, Slovakia I slept in until about 11am, again recovering from the Budapest hangover of the day before. My plan for the day was to go out and see the city of Bratislava having been told i could probably see most of it in one day. I didn't leave the house til about 12, once up spent the rest of the morning playing with the pug puppy Barty (who is absolutely adorable). Once out i realised just how cold it had got again, think it was around -2C. but i soldier on regardless, after a brief thought of turning back to get my thermals. I first wandered round the old town, and whilst having some pretty buildings not particularly much to do. I found the cathedral (St Martin's), only to realise I couldnt go inside as mass was on between 11am-1pm, so i went to find a cafe for a slice of cake and a cup of tea. Now the place I chose, i chose purely because of the sign outside, it made me laugh and drew me in. The cafe itself was lovely, it was called eleven11 and was full of books which you could read while enjoying your tea/coffee, and if you enjoyed you could buy them to take away with you. The was only one cake, i have no idea what flavour it was, i recognised the taste, it wasnt very sweet, but still pleasant ( just annoying me though that i cant put my finger on the flavour) and a cup of tea. Before wandering back down to the cathedral to have a look inside. It was pretty, but not the most ornate cathedral ive ever seen, not very big either, but worth a wee look. I then headed down to the bus station under UFO bridge, where after looking confused at a ticket machine for a while, figured it out, bought a bus ticket and go on the 29 to Devin Castle, situated just outside Bratislava. A quite impressive ruined castle, perched upon a rocky cliff next to the Danube. Once getting there it was even colder than in the city, my chin went completely numb, so i walked pretty briskly to try and keep myself a bit warmer. The castle itself was pretty big and the surroundings would have been very nice, had it not be so foggy that i could barely see the hills around! I was a little disappointed that the most exciting looking and highest up bit of the castle was closed off, they appeared to be doing some work on it. but i walked around the rest before heading back to catch the bus around an hour later. Upon arrival back in the city, i decided to head up the hill to see the castle in the city centre, by this point i could barely see the castle even when i was standing directly infront of it! and my views of the city from the viewpoint were absolutely dire. So freezing cold and unable to see anything i headed back to the house for a bit. Oven pizza and chips for dinner, a classic, and actually exactly what i felt like, really hit the spot. We went back out again in the evening to join the work collegues I had met the night before to see Trainspotting 2, this was its first night of being shown in this part of Europe, I certainly waited long enough, everyone i know saw it 3 weeks ago! I wont talk about it too much on here but i thought it was great, really enjoyed it!

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Day 24: Being more hungover than expected i slept in and missed the train i was planning to get, and ended up having to go for a later one at 1.30pm. So i went out again to that vietnamese restaurant in budapeat with venessa for a quick spot of lunch before rushing to the train station. I managed to get a compartment in the train all to myself which was pretty cool and pretty great. Meant i was able to close the door. Fold up the arms of the chairs and lie down and have a nap! However i was woken suddenly, not once but twice by the ticket inspector who seemed quite concerned about me missing my stop (bless him). So i am now in Bratislava, Slovakia. Ive not seen much of the city yet though, thats coming tomorrow! I am staying with a family friend. So i met her and her daughter for dinner in a near by hostel pub, where i had a veggie burger and a load of wine. We were joined for a while by some of her work friends who all seemed lovely aswell. And of course her pug puppy Bartleby and a friends puppy aswell. Upon heading back to her flat i have now had a bath, done some laundry, had a cup of tea and actually have a room to myself, not sharing with like 9 other people for the first time in 3.5 weeks which is actually pretty lovely! Now just getting ready for bed and ready to go out exploring tomorrow!!

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Day 23: Morning was pretty dull, but at 2pm i caught a train back to Budapest, getting in about 7pm. I was going back to the same hostel as i had been at before, and as an added bonus, Venessa who i met in Zagreb was also going to be staying there! So i went and got some alcohol before checking in, went quickly for a shower and straight into drinking games until 10pm, when we all headed out to an open-mic organised for all the hostels. it was pretty fun, i didnt get up onto the stage but we got drunk and chatted and ended up having a dance to some of the people up singing who were actually pretty good. (or maybe i was just drunk?)

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Day 22: My second full day in Timisoara. Again i had a bit of a lie in, trying to relax and a saw most of the city sights the day before. so i left the hostel about 12.30pm and headed out to get some food. The free map i was given by the hostel is essentially a map of all the best places to eat and drink in the city, so ive just been following that advice, and it didnt once fail me. For my brunch i went to this tiny shop that made sandwiches and for 20 lei ( £4) i got the biggest and most filling sandwich i have ever eaten. i was starving when i arrived but it was a struggle to finish. it was basically a huge tuna steak in a spicy ginger and soy sauce, with a load of fried onions and other salady things in there. Possibly the best sandwich ive had in a long time, i couldnt fault it. I then just wandered aimlessly around for a while, seeing other, slightly less scenic parts of the town than the day before, and then heading back to the hostel for a bit. When back at the hostel i then realised i had an email telling me to complete another part of an application for a gin company internship i had applied for months before and completely forgotten about. It involved going and reviewing on social media a gin i had never tried before. The problem with this being Romanians arent really big gin drinkers and all i had seen so far in bars was gordons or beefeater. But i found and irish pub that did Monkey 47 ( a german gin) so i went and sampled that! While there i met a lovely pair of friends from essex who were also drinking at the bar, who gave me some company for a few hours as i didnt really know anyone at the hostel. They all only seemed to speak Spanish for some reason. it was pretty odd. all in all a very relaxing, chill day

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Day 21: Timisoara, Romania (only 12 day remaining - boooo!!)

So here I am in my spur of the moment romanian city. It does appear as if their is a lot to do hear sight-seeing wise, but i dont mind too much as i need a rest after the carnage that was Budapest ( a holiday from my holiday if you will)

I slept for a solid 12 hours. got up about noon here ( although romania is GMT+2, rather than +1, so in my head i got up at 11- which sounds better) I had a quick look at my map and headed off into the city centre, stopping first for some lunch. I didnt think about it much before going out, but today is Sunday and half the cafes seemed to be closed, which was a bit annoying, but i found a nice looking italian restaurant where i got some very very tasty freshly made pasta for 20 lei ( approx 3.50) so could not complain at all even though ive eaten a lot of pasta lately.

I then wandered down the the cathedral and went inside, and snuck a quick little photo of the inside. im not sure if i was allowed to or not, everyone in that building was devoutly religious in a way that ive never experienced in the UK ( whether its different of not here im not sure, but i’m not a religious person so i dont know). It was a beautiful building, but because of this i didnt want to take any photos really as i didnt want to end up offending someone, and left fairly swiftly.

I wandered round some more of the city and through the botanic gardens before heading to a cafe in a beautiful square where i sat outside in the sunshine ( despite it being 0 degrees) and ate an ice cream sandwich sorta cake and drank a cosmopolitan - hooray for cheap afternoon cocktails!)

I have now headed back to the hostel where i am using the computer to charge my phone and to type of these past 3 posts, as well as watch a live feed of the six nations Scotland vs France. C'MON SCOTLAND!

(Resuming writing this 4 hours later)

I went out for dinner at this grill and had the biggest plate of meat and chipa i have ever had. Not only because it was huge but being mainly veggie im not usually the sort to go for a rack of bbq ribs on a menu. But it was exactly what i needed. And the chips were godly. Now for another early night. Where i have just found out that Venessa from my hostel in zagreb will be in budapest the night i stop there on my way to bratislava. Hoooray! Reunion coming up!

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Day 20: Spend the morning packing, re-looking for my glasses - to no avail, then cuddling up in the movie room of the hostel with everyone from my room and watching Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets. I left about 2pm to catch a train to Timisoara, Romania. This city was never on my original list, but after a load of hassle after realising how far away Bucharest and Sinaia were, then realising i needed to prebook any train to Vienna on this day, i ended up just picking a Romanian city at random, seeing as i got out some of the currency in the UK, may aswell go spend it. The train took about 6 hours and wasnt very eventful. Other than i spend the first 5-10 minutes panicking cause i wasnt sure if i was on the right train, and also the loudspeaker on the platform said something about how you must book a seat on the train to Bucharest ( which i was on) - and i had visions of being thrown off the train in a small hungarian town where no-one spoke english. But everything was absolutely fine and i got to Timisoara. My plan was to get a tram, but as previously mentioned, i lost my glasses. So it was dark and i was partially blind, so i reckoned a taxi would be much easier. a bit awkward though as the driver couldn't speak any english at all. So i just had to sit next to him in silence for what felt like an eternity. Upon arrival at the hostel i was told to run to the supermarket as soon as i arrived, before i even checked in, cause i asked if they was one nearby as i hadnt eaten since lunchtime ( it now being 10pm) and turns out they close at 10.30pm. So i rushed out and got some pasta and couple of ciders. I got back and checked in, ate some food, chatted for a bit, showevered and went to be about 11.30pm. Could not believe how tired i was!

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Days 16/18/19 Get prepared for a very long post. Had a bit of a mishap with these posts. So 3 of these days i had written up in full but for some reason my tumblr app wasn’t working and just deleted all 3 posts and i just gave up in the huff not wanting to type all that up on a phone again. But this hostel has a laptop, so here we go: I did a LOT in budpest so im just going to have to give a cut down version of what i did cause honestly im struggling to remember 3 days worth of stuff ( probably cause i drank so much!) Day 16: i appear to have just completely missed out for some reason, i got up very hungover around noon and went for a walk around the city to get myself orientated. I walked across the river onto the Buda side of the city and up onto the hill with the castle to get a view over the city. I also went to a cafe in the back of a book shop which was incredible grand. high painted ceilings with chandeliers for lunch. After a bit more wandering i went back to the hostel, grabbed my bikini and headed back out for an early evening in the Szechenyi Baths ( the largest thermal spa in the city of Budapest). The walk there was pretty scenic, walked through heroes square, then through a park, in which the pond was full of thermal spring water and all these ducks and gulls bathing amoungst the steam, keeping their little tummies warm. The baths themselves were pretty impressive, although it would have been a lot nice to go there with someone else to talk to, it was very relaxing, especially fun being in a 40 degree outdoor pool when the air temperature was only 2! i decided to have a quiet night that evening, i did go out for a couple drinks with people from the hostel, but headed back early and was in bed by around 11pm Day 18: I woke up with my body in a lot of pain from the caving the day before, Cant believe quite how physically demanding it actually was. I went out for lunch to a Vietnamese restaurant with 3 people from my hostel room, called Funky Pho. Exactly what i needed on my hangover, it was absolutely delicious. I had a pork summer roll and some ginger chicken Pho. We then parted ways and i headed to the house of terror. This is a museum dedicated to the political history of hungary during the 20th century. The rise and fall of the communist leaderships, Nazis, Soviets, and the hungarian arrow-cross party (the museum itself is infact the former headquarters of the arrow-cross and the AMH- hungarian secret police). It was very interesting, but it was a hell of a lot of information to take in, especially while hungover, but in each room you were give a sheet of paper, so i basically have a short book about it now to read through when i have a bit more time. It was a pretty upsetting way to spend an afternoon, realising the attrocities that went on, particularly in the 40s and 50s. Evacuations, labour camps, exocutions and tortures. Particularly hard hitting when you go through the basement of the building - formerly the prison cells and torture chambers of the AMH. In the evening, after a short rest and a shower, i headed out to yet another boat party, it wasnt my intital plan, but i got ( quite easily) roped in. When in Budapest eh? Day 19: My last full day in Budapest, i went with a couple of guys from my room to Budapest Bagels on a recommendation from the hostel. The were absolutely delicious, although i was a little disappointed they weren’t hot or toasted. We then headed up the hill to the citadel to get some excellent views of the city. We stopped halfway up when we discovered a load of large slides to play on, obviously! And left the hill covered in sand and mud from playing on this slides and deciding to take a particularly muddy shortcut down a very steep hill. After heading back to the hostel to chill for a bit we went out together again for dinner at a restaurant, again recommended by the hostel. We were told it did hungarian cuisine, although we couldnt see what was particulalrly hungarian about it. I ended up having grilled duck with tabbouleh salad. Safe to say, i ate incredibly well this day! The food was good, but things kept going wrong for my this day. Firstly I have lost my glasses. absolutely no idea where the went. Budapest has them now. I was told that someone is sure I was wearing them when i got back to the hostel. but i turned the hostel upside down looking and they didnt appear. Secondly, my phone now only appears to charge when connected to a low power charger. ie. a laptop USB or a train socket. Again, tried absolutely everything and these are the only 2 places i can get my phone to charge. Which really isnt ideal and involves a lot of rationing of my power. Particulalry as these charging outlets are so painfully slow.

[adventures-with-emma-blog]

Day 15: Onwards to Budapest Aftet a quietnight in i woke refeshed at 8am, ready to bid farewell to Croatia and catch my train to Hungary. Did manage to spend all my Kuna, still have about £6 worth. Everything was just so cheap. But i want to go back again so many other things elsewhere in Croatia i want to see, such as the plitvic lakes and Dubrovnik (aka Kings Landing - or where they filmed a lot of game of thrones) Anyway. My train to Budapest was 6 hours and pretty uneventful. Getting inyo Hungary was was the most secure border ive come across so far. I had mg passport checked at both sides of the border and the border itself was actually visible, large coiled barbed wire fences. I arrived in Budapest about 4.30pm and headed straight to the hostel where upon getting my wristband and key was told not to get in taxis and call a specific number if i needed one as the mafia runs half the taxis in the city apparently. After showering and eating i headed to the common room with a bottle of wine. Ready to meet some people and was straight into a game of ring of fire. And then off the the Danube to get on a party boat!! It was a little expensive, but o saved up plenty, so why not! It was incredible, the views were amazing, all the old, majestic buildings lining the river were illuminated and as much fizzy wine as i could drink was included in the ticket. All round a good choice!

[adventures-with-emma-blog]

Day 14: 2 weeks in -19 days remaining Woke hungover this morning again, but not as bad as the other day. Super achey legs from walking up that hill yesterday. I walked with Hugh and the 2 australian gitls (laurie and charlotte) who i had met last night to the station to see them off and decided on my way back to go via the botanic gardens. A nice plan. Unfortunately they are closed til april. So i get weng back to the hostel. Went out for lunch as i still have about £15 worht of kuna left. Things have been incredibly cheap here, ive had two big nights out and i only took £55 worth to begin with. I then took the tram to the lake in the city for a short walk and to stretch my achey legs. I realised that this was actually the first tram i had ever been on, and it was SO cheap. A ticket valid for 30 mins was knly 4 kuna (approx 40p). Ridiculous. The lake was pretty and full of swans anx these other little black water fowl. So i sat around for a bit and watched them as it wasnt too cold. It was also still pretty frozen despite being over 10°C for about 3 days now. This evening ive just been chilling in bed. Having a night to myself for the first time in a week before moving cities again tomorrow!