[Ray:] I'd been telling everybody I was going to Romania so even though Dave had other obligations I decided to go anyway. Flying there would have been about three times as much as taking the train; and the flight back to London was much cheaper on RyanAir from Poland; and so gradually the mission drifted into a prolonged not very well thought out and occasionally hurried and stalled at the same time social visit.
Ljubjana
The first stop was Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia and a new sort of hip destination, for other people at other times of year. I arrived on two state holidays and saw a great number of closed stores. Also there wasn't anybody to eat with. More pictures...
Belgrade
I was only in Belgrade overnight between trains, staying at pleasant place called the Star Hostel, fronting on a parking lot behind a bank downtown. More pictures...
Romania
At long last, Romania. Really good friends are people who pick you up from the train station at 3 in the morning when they haven't seen you for 6 years. More pictures...
Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia
This was the part which was really stupid. I got it into my head that if I took the train north from Iași, I could save time getting to Southeastern Poland and my flight home. I suppose it technically was shorter than going via Budapest, but there is this problem that the Ukraine is not really wired yet and you can't buy a through ticket. So be prepared to buy onward tickets in Ukrainian at 4 in the morning. More pictures...
