Travel thread

[Langeveldt]

I'm doing tutorials at Varisty and have lent my camera to my friends mum who is also on the course, absolutely gutted that I didn't have it on the way back from Joburg.. Thunderstorms coming off the ridge at dawn was worth a solid morning of shooting to be honest

[Burgey]

Originally Posted by Evermind

Quality.

[NUFAN]

Just booked tickets to New York! I'll be going in September. Just basically wondering if anyone knows of any not so touristy things to do?

[social]

Originally Posted by NUFAN

Just booked tickets to New York! I'll be going in September. Just basically wondering if anyone knows of any not so touristy things to do?

Hop on the Statten Island Ferry - one of the cheapest (used to be free) and best ways to see possibly the world's greatest skyline plus Statue of Liberty etc

It's a commuter ferry so not strictly a tourist attraction

Other than that, eat, drink and be merry at any number of great restaurants and bars

[Craig]

Somebody I work with went to the States last year to visit his daughter who turned 18 last year, and along the way he visited New York, and he is a professional photographer and videographer, and he said walking arount Time Square at 2am with his camera and video gear and he never felt more safe in his life. More safe then walking around Sufers Paradise at the same of the morning.

[Langeveldt]

Not really touristy, but Centurion, Pretoria and somewhere in the Langkloof

[Craig]

Is it common to be the only car on the road for hours on end? We have done family trips and have ended out in the outback (it was considered the outback but we were no where near the Simpson Desert) and we would go ten's of km without going around a corner or not see another car for ages.

[Langeveldt]

Originally Posted by Craig

Is it common to be the only car on the road for hours on end? We have done family trips and have ended out in the outback (it was considered the outback but we were no where near the Simpson Desert) and we would go ten's of km without going around a corner or not see another car for ages.

Not the only car for hours on end, but you can drive for hours and hours and never see more than perhaps two cars at a time. The straight sections in the Cape are about 5km at a time, inland they can go up to 50km without a bend. Ironically the road in the photo runs paralell to the N2 (otherwise known as the Garden Route), but the tourists don't know about it, so they end up snarling on the freeway with all the trucks... My choice? Inland every single time, so much better..

[superkingdave]

Been looking at my mini trip for september, thinking of flying in/out of Krakow and Sofia, doing Bulgaria, Romania/Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. Might be a bit ambitious to do that in 2/3 weeks, but thats what i will have.

I've been to Croatia and Slovenia before but will definitely go back there at some point as well and do Bosnia as well so I think I might go through Romania and leave Serbia for another trip

Any thoughts from those that have done the area.

[Goughy]

Originally Posted by superkingdave

Been looking at my mini trip for september, thinking of flying in/out of Krakow and Sofia, doing Bulgaria, Romania/Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. Might be a bit ambitious to do that in 2/3 weeks, but thats what i will have.

I've been to Croatia and Slovenia before but will definitely go back there at some point as well and do Bosnia as well so I think I might go through Romania and leave Serbia for another trip

Any thoughts from those that have done the area.

Well you could do Sofia in an afternoon.

Shame you would be coming over just after I have left. I would have certainly bought you a beer otherwise.

[Craig]

I have unfinished business in Poland, and I would like to to do Bulgaria and Romania at some point as well as Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia.

[abhinav_super]

Well can we post about our daily traveling? Like going scool and going to mate's house or to market.....plz tell me

[Son Of Coco]

Originally Posted by superkingdave

Been looking at my mini trip for september, thinking of flying in/out of Krakow and Sofia, doing Bulgaria, Romania/Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. Might be a bit ambitious to do that in 2/3 weeks, but thats what i will have.

I've been to Croatia and Slovenia before but will definitely go back there at some point as well and do Bosnia as well so I think I might go through Romania and leave Serbia for another trip

Any thoughts from those that have done the area.

I didn't see as much of Romania as I should have (stayed in Poland instead of going back) but the delta sounds like it's worth a visit (out on the coast) and Brasov is a good point for going to Dracula's castle etc. I stayed in a hostel in one of the back lanes in Brasov...I'll try to remember the name. They organise tours to Drac's Castle etc and had some great invite only parties in the basement which we ended up at. If you're catching a train from Romania to Hungary it's about 10 hours I think.

Poland's great. Zakopane in the south is great hiking, and I love Gdansk in the north. Wroclaw is another nice city in the mid-western part of the country.

I only went to Serbia for 1 night (Belgrade) as I was on a crazy schedule withy a mate who only had 2 weeks off at that stage. Belgrade is a lot more modern than I thought. I guess bombing modernised a lot of stuff.

Budapest's a cool city too, lots of underground bars and great clubs. There's a dance club that opens when the subway shuts at one of the stops. There's a place called Eger about 1.5 hours north west of the capital that does great wines and has a nice old castle (ruins) and square. If you have the time to spend a day here it's worth it.

I've been to Bosnia twice. Sarajevo has a wonderful feel to it and the bars are good. The hostel near the old town (don't know what it's called) is a good spot to base yourself. Otherwise you can do homestays for about 10-15 euro a night. I did one and this hot Serbian girl knocked on the door to see if I wanted any water or snacks...nearly passed out haha The tour of the war tunnel in an old house on the outskirts of Sarajevo is well worth it, you can book it at the travel agent next to the hotel. The bus picks you up outside. If you go on it, you'll go into a room in the house where they show you a video of some of the war and there are shells etc. The Australian sew on badge is mine, I left it there when I saw they were missing one haha

Just be aware that train/bus travel takes quite a few hours through these countries and you're looking at 14 hours from Belgrade to Bucharest on the train. Unless you get get flights from the places you leave in one country to the other you're looking at quite a few hours from one place to the next which will take a chunk out of the time you have to spend in each country. If I were you I'd choose a loop that doesn't require travelling through a country that you're not going to stop and see. (Which you'll do if you go from Bosnia to Romania through Serbia).

That's all I can think of for now, I hope it's helpful.

[Craig]

Just write a travel book already!

[Son Of Coco]

Originally Posted by Craig

Just write a travel book already!

Some of my emails about my 2002-04 trip were 90-100 pages...does that count?