Budapest

Another country ticked off the agenda! We have spent today exploring the beautiful but huge city of Budapest. The city is split in 2 by the river Danube, with Buda (hilly and residential) on one side and Pest (flatter and commercial) on the other. Our campsite is in the Buda half of the city, and the reception and bar is created from an old tram station.

The old tram station, now the bar / reception

After we arrived we took a cable car ride up to the highest point of the city to climb the observation tower, and then hiked back down through the forests to find the camp site again. 

This morning we caught the local bus down into the main city, and boarded a tour bus where we were able to stop at many of the local highlights including the Parliament building (a rather awesome building), the citadel viewing point, the synagogue and the cathedral.

Us next to the Danube with the Parliament building in the background

Tonight we will be using up some of our spare currency to buy a few drinks in the bar, and then getting up at 5.30am to make our way into Romania in the morning.

View of the Danube from the citadel vantage point

  

Vienna

Another 2 days completed on our epic tour, and the latest stop over has been in Vienna, Austria. We were delighted to meet up with our friend Sabine in the centre of the city, where she gave us the grand tour of the city including a trip up the tower of Stephanssdom the city cathedral.

Roof of the Stephanssdom

In the evening we capped of our stay with a walk along the river Danube as the sun was setting, before a freezing cold night saw us left with ice on some of our tents and a general lack of sleep. 

Sun setting by the river Danube

Now we're off to Hungary to check out Budapest for a couple of days!

Church of Bones

Our last stop on the way out of the Czech Republic (other than the one at the petrol station to allow people to spend all of their left over Krona on sweets) was at the famous Church of Bones.

Inside the church are the bones of over 30,000 people who wanted to be buried on sacred ground, but due to the plague there was little space available and so they were stored within the walls of the church. Some time later a half blind monk (no I'm not making this up!) was commissioned to pile the bones up, and in doing so he created some off the most morbid interior design since Lawrence Lewellyn Bowen.

Check out my facebook page soon to see more crazy constructions like this one!

Prague

So the last 2 days we have been camped just outside of the city of Prague in the Czech Republic. We have been staying on a small and basic campsite about 40 mins away by public transport from the main city.

Camping just outside Prague

Prague is an incredibly beautiful city with plenty of interesting architecture, and is busy with people everywhere you look. The city's castle, which is more akin to a cathedral and palace rolled into one, is the cities main attraction, although we found it slightly too touristy and therefore did not go inside.

View looking away from  the castle

On the plus side alcohol is cheaper here than the lemonade or the coke you would mix it with, and therefore it is forcing us to drink more of it....shame :) 

Tomorrow we head off to Vienna in Austria for another 2 days, and fingers crossed another few great days!

Hoping to put some photos on Facebook soon, but the battery on the computer is running low and will need to find somewhere to charge before I can do that. Visit again soon for some Austrian news!

Changing of the guard at the castle

Germany

Next up for us has been a spot of bush camping in the forest in Germany. Having left the farm in Belgium at 7.00am (our routine being up at 5.30am, breakfast served at 6.00am, breakfast cleared away by 6.30am and on the road by 7.00am) the truck traveled 678km to an area of forest off the beaten track in Germany (nearest village unknown).

Ready to camp in the forest

It was a fairly uneventful day with the maximum permitted time on the truck of 9 hours being clocked up. The driver (Adam) has to conform to the European regulations when it comes to driving, the same as if he were say a haulage driver. Once we leave Turkey and enter Iran then there will be no restrictions on the distance we can travel in any given period.

Some of the girls find a small clearing for their tents

Once we were set up and dinner was eaten we took a short walk around the forest before bedding down for an unbearably cold night in the tent, with just 2 and a half hours sleep before our 5.30am alarm call.

Coming next...Prague (Czech Republic)

Internet at Last!!

On our third day we finally have an internet connection! Time for some blogging :)

Lets rewind to 7th April, and of course the day we set out on our epic adventure. We traveled from London down to Dover in time to catch the lunchtime ferry to Calais, and a rather amusing crossing it turned out to be. We shared the ferry with a party of snowboarders all kitted out in fancy dress who were headed off to Switzerland for a massive convention, and there was just about every costume imaginable on view.

Us setting off on the ferry

Once on the other side of the channel, we the journeyed 372km into a small village in Belgium where a local farmer, come dentist, reluctantly allowed us to camp in a field next to his horses. A freezing cold night followed, with unfortunately not much sleep to be had. Spirits were high however as we headed off on the next leg of our European phase the next morning...

Sandy farmers field, our tent, and the vehicle in the background

No Pakistan for us :(

Not good news this week as we have been rejected for a visa to enter Pakistan! Along with 6 other members of our group we will be finding our own way from Iran to India as it stands (provided we can get into Iran of course!!).

Otherwise final preparations are now in full swing. We have rented out our house for the year, and our bags are mostly packed. You can see in the picture below most of what I'll be carrying in my bag:

In the large black waterproof bag: Everything I will need to sleep. A sleeping bag, 2 sleeping bag liners, A self inflating sleeping mat, a mosquito net and a pillow.

In the silver bag with the orange end: Believe it or not this is an entire weeks worth of clothes! Air squeezed out to make it small but heavy in a waterproof compression bag.

In the bright orange bag: Vicky's self inflating sleeping mat, as I never go on holiday without her running out of space and packing something in my bag!!

In the small black bag just visible in the left half of the rucksack: Toiletries and medical supplies to keep us clean and safe :)

A pair of sandals for when it's too hot for shoes.

And of course a 3-in-1 jacket and fleece combo to suit most weather conditions.

Not Pictured: I will also be carrying a smaller day bag containing all of our electronic gadgets, in a waterproof liner to keep them safe. Perfect for blogging!