The Return Journey
The Return Journey: Exploring Istanbul, mosques, Turkish Delight, darkened rooms, farewell to James and Amy, fresh fish, border fiasco, flat tyre and finally bye bye tuk tuk….
Entries by Rachel
We’ve Arrived!
A letter to Emily from us all as we eventually arrive in Istanbul and the end of our journey. We are ecstatic, relieved, sad, tired, emotional and also incredibly grateful to all those who helped us along the way…
DAY 36 and DAY 37 and DAY 38
Skopje –> Sofia –> Plovdiv :
Roman aqueducts, dodgy men behind bushes, microwaved soggy bread, bleak towns, more mountains, we feature on the Bulgarian National news twice, visiting friends and the cutest hostel ever in Plovdiv….
DAY 34 and DAY 35
Dismal beaches, Rachel is abandoned on an Albanian mountainside, “Where is she?”, a screaming Bharat, brambles, drone misdemeanours and Macedonian TV interview…..
DAY 31 AND DAY 32 and DAY 33
Cruise-ades, David Attenborough impressions, city walls, forts, 1500 steps, more droning, closed border crossings, the tuktuk conquers the Kotor Serpentine, unsung heroes and we arrive in Albania, at night…
DAY 28 and DAY 29 and DAY 30
Stunning scenery, beautiful bridges, bald patches, bombed out buildings, lost passports, the walled city of Dubrovnik and the very unglamorous campsite launderette
DAY 25 and DAY 26 and DAY 27
Trieste –> Krk –> Zadar –> Trogir Things fly out of the tuk tuk, tuk tuk toppling scare (James), vomiting (James), tuk tuk stutters to a halt (James), wasps, waterfalls and Zadar brings back memories of Emily…
DAY 22 and DAY 23 and DAY 24
Ljubljana –> Lake Bled –> Trieste
Walking, cycling, rowing, swimming and kayaking – we do more exercise in one and a half days than in the last three weeks. One set of Alps was not enough so we test the trusty tuk tuk once again as we go up and over the Julian Alps via 50 hairpin bends. We get vertigo on a bridge over a gorge and then gorge ourselves with too much food (again)…
DAY 20 and DAY 21
Keszthely –> Maribor –> Ljubljana
The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Bharat Shouting…. as we journey from deserted town to pretty town, visit the oldest vine in the world, wind up and over the Slovenian mountains and land a 50 minute walk from where we want to be in Ljubljana
DAY 18 AND DAY 19
Parking tickets, more howling wind, how to keep warm in the back of a tuk tuk, 3 countries in 2 days, smelly hands and smelly lakes, castles and face masks…