If in doubt, go East!!

Ok, so after I left you last I was still in Aachen right? Met up with Marie that afternoon which was really good (Marie Couchsurfed with us in NZ) and just grabbed a $8 coffee and had a bit of a look around, it was bloody freezing so I bought a sweet hat..which I left at Annas (it wasnt that sweet)! On the 7/1 I think I just chilled out and enjoyed my last day in Aachen. On the 8/1 Anna was awesome and woke up super early along with me to take me to the train station to catch my train to Budapest to meet up with Nicholas. Train journey didnt start great, my train was delayed which meant that I would miss my connection for the next train...so a 15 minute delay was going to infact cost me 2 hours!! Luckily the train which I was meant to be connecting with was also delayed which I didnt find out until I stepped off the train and my other one was right there waiting for me..perfect! The rest of the trip to Budapest was pretty uneventful but some really nice sights! Donny picked me up from the train station which was great because it meant I didnt have to think at all about where I was going or anything. Dropped the stuff at the Hostel and then grabbed some din dins from BK. Had this really cool 6 mini burger meal which was really cheap compared to the rest of Europe so far! The bums in Hungary live such a sweet life, just chilling in the underground walking areas with their mattresses blankets and bottles of meth, just like a never-ending slumber party with your mates...and meths! That night we just chilled with a few beers, exchanged stories and just caught up on general. Because Donny had already had one day in the Pest it meant that I would only be spending one day there, but it also meant that this was ok because Donny knew his way around pretty well so we went and saw all the sights, cruised round on this frozen moat for a bit and visited a heated duck pond. We figured they heated it to attract ducks from around Europe because a city without ducks is like...umm a duckless city, which isnt cool. It was a good day and we decided to head to Zagreb, Croatia that night. Train trip was pretty good, played some Kings and Assholes trying to relive good ol' school days and Donny lost almost the entire remaining trip budget to me in Poker. Arrived in Zagreb quite late at night and wandered round following Donnys terrible sense of directions to a hostel while constantly being reminded that 'Sir Edmund Hillary didnt need to ask for directions/take a rest/drink anything/wear shoes/breathe in order to make it to the top of Mt Everest' so neither should we. Finally gave up on the noon-exhistent hostel advertised in the train station and headed towards our original hostel. Found it no problem thanks to the awesome directions I had written down! Checked in, internetted it up for a bit and then hit the hay. Got up quite early the next morning and headed towards town. Zagreb is the city of Supermarkets...theyre everywhere, not big but everywhere. Was a really nice town and just checked out the usual sights and sounds. A weird lady stopped me and Nick and started rifling through her purse for something, I was sure she was about to stab us (being new to the East) but Donny was relaxed so I played it cool. Turns out she just wanted to randomly give us lollies, we later figured this was because Donny wouldnt stop sniffing! Spent the rest of the day just looking around then headed back towards the hostel and grabbed some beer and some dinner. This was my first encounter with 2 litre plastic bottles of beer at about $3 each! Watched a couple of dvds (remind me to watch 'rise of a foot soldier' again). Chilled out while trying to ignore the arrogant OZ pricks playing their 'trance' through their shitty Ipod speakers. Hit the hay, got up in the morning and took a day trip to Ljubljana, it was a Sunday so the place was really dead, but really nice all the same. Walked up this hill to an old castle which had a sweet platform "not for the faint hearted"...unforunately it was closed for repair...but the castle was nice anyways! Played with some of Donnys sweet firecrackers/mini sticks of dynamite and had some lunch then headed back to Zagreb to grab our bags and sneak out of the hostel without paying (which Donny says we had to do because he had good karma from somewhere else where he was forced to pay for an extra night or some shit, who am I to argue?) So we took the night bus from Zagreb to Sarajevo (in Bosnia for those of you less well travelled :D) Arrived at 5am and just headed through half blowed up buildings and buildings with bullet holes in the direction of what we thought was the city. Took about half an hour walking before we started to see some life. Found a 24hr cafe and sat down and relaxed for a bit with some food. Asked the guy where a net cafe was and he mumbled something in Bosnian and pointed down the street. So we wandered for a bit in the freezing cold with huge backpacks before stumbling upon a 24 hr hostel reception. Enquired about the price and then headed back out into the cold (not sure why, maybe we didnt like the guy, cant remember) wandered for a bit more before grabbing a coffee. I thought I would be nice and uncomplicated so I just ordered a coffee while Donny got a hot chocolate. I was very tired very cold and choking on the smoke of some business people stupid enough to be in a cafe that early. Then they bought me a fucking short black of all the different coffees I would have prefered they choose a goddam short black (Im sounding like a real Aucklander or something eh, but it was bloody early). So my morning was not going well. We headed back to the hostel with 24hr reception as it seemed to be the best deal and checked in. Were shown to our rooms and got the bags down and decided to shower. It was cold...I wont go into how angry I was and what words I may have said but it was cold and I hadnt showered for a couple of days. Met a few cool people in the hostel including Sandra the ozzie who becomes a bit of a feature. Donny and I spent the day exploring and visiting the famous spots of Sarajevo which are actually quite cool. For example the spot where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated sparking the beginning of WW1. Including a little museum with the actual gun used and the clothes worn by the assassin etc. By the end of the day I had fallen in love with Sarajevo. A capital city with so much history. Bullet holes covered every wall, Sarajevo roses where grenades had made holes in the pavements which had since been filled with red glass like stuff. And not a single McDonalds or other fast food restaurant. It really is like another world. The night of the 12/1 after having been awake since 5am (after not much sleep on an overnight bus) we grabbed a few bottles of Pivo (beer) of the 2litre plastic varieties and drunk the night away with Sandra and a couple of other hostel patrons. Visiting a cool cheap bar and getting the worst kebab ever which we suspect may have been cooked using a hairdryer...which broke halfway through. On the 13/1 Donny and I spent the day exploring the suburbs and walked up the hills around the town and stuff, visited some graveyards filled with graves from the Bosnian war..only 10-15 years ago so really interesting! That night we once again hit the plastic bottles (Donny with the intention of getting up at 4am to catch a bus to Belgrade) we were lured to a small local pub next door to our hostel up a small alleyway completely hidden away by some shocking, albeit traditional music. The place was fantastic, filled with friendly locals and a few cool foreigners. This is also where Donny met and subsequently un-met his Bosnian fiance (which he was depressed out for the next few days). ***Unfortunately due to time constraints made necessary because of the incredible number of fun things to do, I am unable to continue my blog at this stage, therefor this is the end of part one, but stay tuned. There will be more!***