Day 56 - 60: London

Back in London for a couple of days and staying with the Chow's @ Earlsfield before Adrian heads back to HK and I head up to St Petersburg to start the Trans Siberian!!! YAY!!!

Dinner with Kev & Katie @ Loch Fyne

Steak with the Chow's!

Day 54 - 55: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik hasn't changed much since I was here last time (5 years ago!) just a lot more crowded (except at 6am in the morning!)

Dubrovnik at dawn ... setting up the market


The main street in the Old Town ... nearly empty!

Outside Pile Gate ...


Food @ Locanda


View from this small cafe I found overlooking the sea ...

On the way to the cafe ...

Small beach 2 mins from Pile Gate ... check out how clear the water is ... can u spot Adrian?

Dubrovnik by dusk

Day 47 - 53: Kolocep, Elafiti Islands Croatia

YAY - Adrian arrived safely in Croatia!!!

After a night in Dubrovnik, we caught the ferry from Port Cruz and headed over to the Island of Kolocep. The island is only a half hour trip from Dubrovnik, but significantly less crowded and thus much more relaxing! We spent a week here just hanging out at the beach, sea kayaking, cruising around the Elafiti islands, going for hikes, swimming, snorkling and making sand castles (by hand, as we didn't have any buckets or "proper equipment" as Adrian called it!)

The waters were crystal clear and the weather a consistant 30 degrees with the clearest blue skies every single day!!!

View from our room ...

My first sandcastle!

Island Sipan

More pics from the island we were staying on - Kolocep!

Sea Kayaking & swimming around the Blue Cave!

Cruising around the Elafiti islands!

Dinner at sunset overlooking the sea!

Day 45: Lokrum, Croatia

After the last two hectic days, I spent a leisurely day on the island Lokrum. Only a short boat trip from Dubrovnik, but away from the crowds! I spent the time wandering around the Botanical Gardens, a walk up to the Fort Royal and around the rest of the island before settling down to continue reading my Tom Clancy book!



In the evening I went to this brilliant concert put on by the Dubrovnik Summer Festival at the Rectors Palace Atrium. Nikolay Petrov & Alexander Ghindin performed a piano duet on two Steinway grands ... it was amazing!

Day 44: Perast, Kotor & Budva, Montenegro

Taking the easy route out again, I joined a tour – taking a catamaran from Croatia down to Montenegro - visiting Perast, Kotor and Budva.

View from the catamaran entering Montenegro fijords!

Perast is a small village north of Kotor and is mainly famous for the man made island: Our Lady of the Rock. There are many legends on why/how these islands were created - the one I liked the best was ... upon the safe return of a sailor, they would throw a rock into the sea as a kind of offering of thanksgiving – which eventually created an island!



Second stop was to the old town of Kotor - this town claims the world's second largest defensive wall (second to the one in China!) It was way too hot to even attempt to climb up to see the wall up close, but even from a distance it was quite impressive!

The last stop, 30mins south of Kotor was Budva! This is another beautifully preserved walled city set against the Adriatic Sea - and after touring the city spent a couple of hours with the locals working on my tan!

The sunset on the way back to Dubrovnik!

Day 43: Pocitelj and Mostar, Bosnia & Hercegovnia

Rather than trying to explore Bosnia & Herzegovina on my own, I decided to use Dubrovnik as a base and just take day trips to the surrounding cities! It turned out to be the easier option especially as the weather has been so hot!

The drive out from Dubrovnik at dawn ...

The first stop was at Pocitelj - a fortress town along the old caravan route towards Turkey.

Before making our way into Mostar.

The Mostar bridge (where one side is technically Bosnia and the other Herzegovina) collapsed during the war in 1990's but has since been rebuilt and is probably the most well known attraction in the city!


Besides the bridge, what I found most interesting about the city was the Boulevard running down the center of town (basically just a two lane road) was where the Bosnians where fighting against the Croats! I can't believe how closely they were fighting- and the dilapidated bullet ridden buildings are still scattered along the road(but I forgot to take pics of them!)

... and to finish the day, I went into a restaurant and asked for an authentic dish off the menu - this is what I got!