Beautiful Mountains in Montenegro and a silly mistake

Today was a blast and it also happened to be a day that I was totally SCHOOLED. Thankfully some Montenegrins came to the rescue, bless their hearts. Such an eventful day that I’ve learnt a lot from.

In the morning Max, a nice German guy I’m travelling with for a few days and I left Melih’s house in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia & Herzegovina to head towards the bus station where we got a bus to Nikšić in Montenegro. It was a beautiful, scenic journey on the M-17 which ran alongside the emerald-green Neretva River.

I usually track  my bus journeys and realised that there was fork on the M-17 that would either bring us to Nikšić or Žabljak, the city that we were headed to, which also happens to be the city with the highest altitude in the Balkans at 1456m. It was coincidental that the bus stopped at a Caffe Bar, a place where the people in the Balkans usually stop by for coffee and a beer. At this stopover we somehow managed to end up sitting at a table of a late-40s or early 50s random Montenegrin guy who was having a coffee, a beer and an egg. I find it so odd how they put eggs on the table at that place for people to eat. The guy, Rascanin was a seaman who actually had just returned from his job in Singapore a few days ago and he kept offering to buy us stuff, which we declined at first but at his persistence we got a beer and an egg (this is at about 1PM in the afternoon or something so I bet all you Singaporean folks will think this is odd!) I love eggs if you don’t already know. Turns out that he was headed to Žabljak too and we asked if he could take us there. We ended up removing our bags from the bus and going to his home to have beers with his brother and friend. We even spent some time laughing about random Singaporean idiosyncrasies.

Rascanin, myself and Max

Checked ourselves into Hostel Hikers Den, a hostel highly recommended by our Argentianian friend Isidro who had a stellar experience here a week ago. He wasn’t kidding. We were warmly welcomed and given information instantly on how to get to a lookout point by bike. We were also loaned mountain bikes free of charge. Alex and Gina are awesome too, so friendly and nice! Tonight there is going to be a BBQ at the hostel and I’m really looking forward to that!

Max and I cycled 8km uphill through the valleys on an asphalt road. I hadn’t really cycled uphill because Singapore is quite flat so it was a little strenuous for me but still heaps of fun. It had snowed just a couple of days before (yes, in May! Crazy weather…) so there was still snow in some parts. During a short break, we threw snowballs at each other. The view along the way

Now this is where I did the dumbest thing ever…. At the lookout point I locked the bikes to the wooden post and somehow was way too violent while doing it. I bent the key so badly that when I re-inserted it, the tip broke and stayed inside the keyhole. My jaw instantly dropped and I felt like the world’s greatest idiot. This wasn’t cool at all because we were very far away from the hostel. Tried many ways to open it including digging it out with my fingers but the lock wouldn’t budge.The casualty of my violence – two bikes stuck to a wooden pole

That commotion aside, Curevac, a viewpoint at 1625m provided a panoramic view of the Durmitor Mountains. More than 1000m below, the Tepca village stands proudly amidst pine trees.

There was a local Montenegrin woman sitting nearby and enjoying the view so I went up to her and asked her if she had a knife or pliers. In between hand gestures and a smattering of English she came over to see what the problem was and called for help. 5 minutes later, a man came with the full works – hammer, pliers etc. and I passed him the broken key. Instead of using his tools he just took the broken stub and shoved it into the keyhole, releasing the mechanism only after a few tries! Such a nice guy who drove all the way to help me and the joke is that I could have done that myself but didn’t think of it. Took away some valuable lessons from this experience that I will keep with me.

This brings me to the point where I gush endlessly about the people in the Balkans. They are so friendly, so hospitable and exceedingly kind, helping without expecting anything in return. I’ve only had positive experiences with them so far!Back in Bosnia, I spent an evening at a guy’s birthday party at the hostel I was CouchSurfing at aka staying for free and it was full of laughter and good times even though I didn’t understand them almost 70% of the time.

I think that the decision to come to the Balkans was one of the best ones that I’ve made this year. The region is beautiful and provides an untouched view of nature. There are few tourists now and the mountains, the Adriatic coast and the people are just amazing. The people have been through a lot here in the Balkans with all the fighting after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and I really hope that their situation will improve with time.

To get to the Durmitor Mountains/Žabljak from Sarajevo, here is some useful information on buses. Come to the Balkans, guys! I know that it might seem daunting because there is little information on bus/train schedules available online but they are frequent enough and very safe. It is cheap here as well, you can stretch your euros!

The World Spins Madly On

So many things have happened in the past few months and many of these moments have been woven into the fabric of my life, of our lives. Every day is priceless.

First of all, Croatia is beautiful! I’ll write a guide to Plitvice Lakes soon, but for now, here’s a picture.

My travel style is evolving rapidly. I tend to shun flights for overland travel now because it’s really just too much  of a hassle to check in, keep my liquids to a few 100ml bottles in a 1L transparent ziploc bag (which I have managed to cheat for the past few flights anyway) and endure uncomfortable full-body pat downs which either leave me squirming or wanting to burst into laughter because I’m ticklish. Taking a bus/train/hitchhiking does not have liquid restrictions so I bought a bottle of honey from the Farmer’s Market in Split today.

When I can and when it’s safe, I think that hitchhiking is a cool way to travel. I’ve vastly improved since my first hitchhike. Part of the magic of travel is making something happen from nothing and when I hitchhike I love it more and more because of the people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet. In my last 230KM hitchhike from Dubrovnik to Split, Nic and I took 4 cars. Our first ride brought us into Bosnia & Herzegovnia and then out again because the country owns a little bit of coast along our route. The driver was an old man who smoked many cigarettes as he drove us silently from Dubrovnik to Opuzen. We took one hour to get our next ride in Opuzen. It was a misunderstanding that the driver, a pensioner with grandkids had stopped for us when he actually wanted only to pump petrol. He picked us up anyway and told us he’d bring us north for another 10KM only to this town near to Ploce. We couldn’t wait to get out of that spot so we accepted his ride and he ended up bringing us far more than the 10KM he agreed on as he enjoyed talking to us so much! He even flagged another car down to try to ask him for a ride but these efforts were futile and we parted ways after a quick photograph. Five minutes into waiting at our new waiting spot, a guy pulled over and said he was going to Makarska. We had great conversations about the difference between Americans and Europeans. This guy even made a detour to drop us at a good spot for hitchhiking! Waited about 40 minutes before we got our final ride to Split by someone who drives a minibus.

With the lovely old man who picked us up and drove us for a little longer than he intended to 🙂 He says he’s very red because he spends a lot of time at the beach looking at the sun.

I just had my last full day with Nic here in Split. Yes, we’re splitting up in Split! How corny is that? It has been more than 4 months of travel (on and off) with this good friend of mine, plus Ben, who is already back in Singapore. I will miss these two dearly, they have been such gems during these months. Such caring, funny and crazy travel buddies who have willingly participated in my shenanigans. See you both in Singapore when I get back!

Nic will be moving on to his last city in Europe, Prague, while I continue my Balkans tour. It’s funny how much I enjoy this region. I barely knew anything about this region until my host in Gent, Bertrand told me about it.  The people are stellar over here; always helpful and kind. I’m leaving tomorrow for Mostar in Bosnia & Herzegovina and will run through BiH and Serbia (and perhaps more!) before making my way back to France to shift baggage and retrieve my summer clothes. It worries me though, that there is a risk of flooding in the region with a huge storm soaking Eastern Europe. Today I wore shorts for the first time and was appalled to see how white my legs look in comparison to my tan arms….hahaha

To end off this post, I’d like to say a very happy birthday to the love of my life – my amazing boyfriend Shaun! You’re deeply missed and very much loved, see you in 1.5 months for our adventures around Iceland and the Mediterranean.

Dubrovnik

Thankful. Every Single Day.

I’m currently sitting in Autobusni Kolodvor Zagreb (the bus station in Zagreb, Croatia) hammering away at my laptop at 2:15AM in the morning while awaiting an early 5:45AM bus to Plitvice Lakes, Croatia. Today was the most impromptu day of our travels, we only decided where we wanted to go this evening at 6PM.

I’ve been pretty busy the past few days clearing a backlog of tasks (I worked all night yesterday and only went to bed at 6:30AM this morning, it’s insane) but I thought I’d come here to write some things I’m thankful for.

1. Passing all five modules in Neoma BS

Took the French about 50 days to release my results but I finally received my full transcript today and was overjoyed to see that I passed all my classes! I enjoyed learning at Neoma, although some courses were a tad too slow for my liking… I have such fond memories of classes, projects and presentations with all my international friends. I took life a lot easier when in Rouen. In Singapore, I’m a lean, mean studying machine so it was finally nice to relax a bit this semester and still clear these modules easily. I’ve definitely taken something away, be it from the French style of teaching or little anecdotes that my international friends have shared during classes. Taking Geopolitics and International Relations as one of my modules was one of the best decisions I made – it has sparked a new interest in me and I can’t wait to learn more at my own pace.

2. My first CouchSurfing experience with two awesome girls. Finally!

I’ve been wanting to surf with females for a long time now. Usually, I either can’t find female hosts or they never reply to my messages or they are too busy to host. Besides surfing Marion’s couch (which doesn’t really count because I already knew her before that), I hadn’t really had any experiences CSing with girls in Europe. Guys are cool (you know I love you all 🙂 ) but it’s nice to have some girly downtime sometimes and I had three days of absolute bliss in Budapest surfing with the most amazing girls, Kata and Mariann. In between bouts of laughter and crazy pictures, we had so much fun. It was so hard to leave their place which was a true happy haven and a CS paradise!

Mariann, myself and Kata!

3. First CouchSurf with a family

I surfed in Ljubljana, Slovenia with Marko, Julia and Ilya, a lovely family. We cooked every evening and it was nice to be around each other in the kitchen, helping out, washing dishes and creating delicious dishes. Nic was the head chef the last night and we cooked some Peranakan Babi Tai Yu which reminded us of Galois cooking days and home. It felt really nice to be incorporated into a family once again and was a reminder that CS helps to keep me grounded during my travels. Marko and his family were so sweet, caring and just great hosts 🙂
Nic cooking on one stove, Julia cooking on the other and Ilya watching

4. Hitchhiking Success again

Did it again from Bled to Ljubljana. The public bus, which costs €6.30 takes 1 hour and 20 minutes to cover this route, we did it in 1 hour and 40 minutes using three different cars. The route

I really love the unpredictability of hitchhiking and the chance to meet the most random people. I’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot about the places I’m in while in the car with the locals and talk about anything and everything. I never would have thought that I’d like it so much but I’ve been inspired by my friends who have done it and in turn inspired my own friends to try as well.

My favourite singer, Jon Foreman wrote about hitchhiking and life here and I love it. He puts things into words so beautifully.

“This life of ours is not a guarantee: it’s an unlikely, chaotic adventure that is mostly beyond our control. We might think that we’re the ones behind the steering wheel, but in reality we’re just hitchhiking, wandering down the road at the mercy of these incredible mysteries. The chaos of life and death is all around us; but against all odds we are here. Alive. Walking down that open road of lifetogether — thumbs out in anticipation for the ride that awaits. ” – Jon Foreman

Leaving you with a photo of Lake Bled.

 

Santorini, Greece

Magical, that’s what Santorini was. When people think of Santorini, the first things that usually spring to mind are the iconic white-washed houses with the blue domes and the splendid sunsets from Oia. But Santorini is way more than that, it’s a destination that offers breath-taking views, unforgettable hikes, incredible gusts of gale-force winds, turquoise waters and lasting memories. I loved it and cannot recommend visiting this lovely Greek island enough! This place really takes the cake as one of the most beautiful islands I’ve visited. Warning, this post is picture heavy!

Santorini is special because it’s actually a volcano island with a long history. It is the most active part of the South Aegean Volcanic Arc and there was a huge Minoan eruption Santorini in the 17th century BC, which may have inspired the legend of Atlantis. It has a beautiful caldera with striated layers of red, green, black and brown. At first I had no idea what a caldera was, so I googled it and learned something new – it was a very cool geography lesson.

Here are 5 things that I loved:

1. Hike from Fira to Oia

Ben, Nic and I decided that the best way to explore the island on the first day was to go on a 12KM long hike from Fira to Oia. After a hearty lunch in Karterados, the village where we were staying, we walked to Fira, the capital of Santorini and proceeded towards Oia. It was not easy to find the starting point from the town as there are no marked signs, but we used these resources to get to Oia just in time for the sunset! The hike was so much fun and as we walked along the caldera, we were treated to some great views.

A stray dog decided to join us mid-way into our walk and followed us for about 3KM. It was a welcome companion and at certain points in time even seemed to be acting as a guide dog and pointing us in the correct direction!  

Ah, the famed whitewashed churches with the blue domes!  

There were certain parts where the ground was very slippery due to the shifting volcanic rock/sand and I was wearing sneakers which are losing grip so I fell down once.

While traversing the slippery path, a gale-force wind cut into our walking path and pushed Ben and I around. We almost fell into barbed wire but managed to correct our stance a second before we fell into the fence. So beware of the barbed wire if you are doing this hike!

2. Sunset from Oia

Watching the sun slowly slink into the sea in Oia was a true treat and delight.

 Although the place was swarming with people hoping to get the golden solar shot, I really loved this moment and watched in awe as the sun dipped into the ocean. Everyone broke out into applause when the sun fully submerged itself into the Aegean Sea.

3. Ancient Thera

This was an unexpected find. We drove up a winding road and climbed a little to see breathtaking views.

Of course, I took the opportunity to take some pictures after finding a flat rock that overlooked the seemingly seamless sea & sky.   

4. The Bay

We especially loved the Red Beach! 

5. The Drive

Rented a car for 24 hours and made full use of it to visit the different parts of the island. Some parts of our trip would not have been possible by just sticking to the erratic public buses.

Many of my friends have been asking me for tips on Santorini, so I’m going to try my best to help out.

Where’s the best place to stay?

The most popular towns are Oia and Fira. We stayed at Starvos Villas, in Karterados. Although it was a 20-30 minute walk from Fira, it was okay with us due to the price. We paid €11.50 each per person, per night to stay in this lovely place. Imerovigli is a nice place to stay, just away from busy Fira and with much less crush from the crowds. Karterados is the same, just without the picturesque views. The cheapest accommodation in the island is at Perissa Beach but it’s really far away from everything so you would either need to rent a car or waste time waiting for the infrequent and erratic public buses!

A huge factor in choosing where to stay was whether the villa offered a pick-up service even though we arrived super late (at 1AM). Stravos, the owner of the villa does this for free, no matter how late your ferry gets in and it was a gigantic deal clincher because who wants to be stuck in the ferry terminal until the next morning? We had already slept the previous night in Milan’s Bergamo airport which was ranked as the worst airport to sleep in 2013 so we needed some rest haha.

How do you get there?

Santorini is part of the Cyclades Islands, south of Athens and a 6-hour ride via ferry. What we did was to book the tickets on Petas.gr and pick them up at the latest one hour before the scheduled departure time at the port. (Although we suggest doing this 2 – 2.5 hours before scheduled departure – reasons below!) The ferry travels from Athens’ Piraeus port and ends up at the only port in Santorini.

We travelled with Blue Star Ferries for €37.50 each way and the journey was comfortable. Comfy, plush armchairs that you can sleep in and if you’re lucky, you can find one of the few charging ports! Embark early if you can in order to get the better seats. We were the subjects of much envy as many others eyed our charging port.

How do you travel within the island?

The island has a public bus service, with buses costing € 1.60 to €2.20. You can walk, too, as we did with the hike. AMAZING.

I strongly recommend hiring an ATV or car for at least 24 hours during your stay. The price of an ATV, which seats up to two people , is 15 euros for 24 hours, while a manual car, which seats up to five people costs 25 euros for the same amount of time. The car is definitely more economical if you’re travelling in a group of three and more and it is weatherproof too! Petrol costs about €1.78 per litre on the island.

On Turning A Year Older

(Wrote this on 2nd May, managed to upload it on 4th May at 6:20AM Hungarian time, leeching wifi from another bus on the Hungarian – Serbian Border)

I was in a rock and roll bar last night, soaking in the atmosphere in between dances with Bill, Ben and Nic. I didn’t even pay attention to the time but at midnight I was stunned to see a waiter and Bill come up with a box of Greek desserts, with a candle stuck into one of them :’) The happy birthday song, blowing candles and “cake cutting” followed soon after, plus a tray of free shots from the bar! Ben and Nic bought me a necklace and got my name written in Greek too. Thank you, the best travel buddies I could ever ask for and my awesome host and new friend, Bill! Such a rock and rolling good end to my time as a 21-year-old and a happy entrance into the next year.

This year’s birthday is a little bit different. Four months away from home and on the fortieth consecutive day on the road, I’ve changed. Long-term travels are life-altering experiences and I’m definitely not the same person as I was when I left Changi Airport on the 1st of January this year.

We find out a lot about what we’re made of through the open road. In the quiet moments of reflection about the ways I deal with situations and people, I’ve thought a lot about how to be a better person; how to grow. I have become more comfortable who I am and understand better what kind of person I want to be, as well as what excites me in life. I have a better grasp on my weaknesses and strengths. I’ve been inspired by the people that I have met, and touched by acts of kindness from complete strangers who don’t even speak the same language that I do. I’ve gained lifelong friends from my stay in different places, especially my neighbours in Galois Residence and my favourite #CaipiMonday gang in Rouen, France who have done way too many good things for me. 

I’ve had to shelve past notions and expectations about things to make way for new experiences and knowledge. Nothing is as it seems until you’re there to experience it for yourself. Being there in the thick of the moment and in the places so quiet that you can feel the spaces between the lines changes you. It makes you understand, feel and breathe.

Ah, the openness to experiences and life. All this has changed and will continue to keep changing. My world view is different and the way I interact with people is different. I’ve always been adventurous growing up, but the travels have taken me to a new level of adventurous-ness. (I know this isn’t proper grammar hahaha) I have done so many things that I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing this time last year and still want to push boundaries. I don’t know if this will sync back with friends & family back home when I return but we’ll see! This is one thing that I worry about – when I get back home late July, I’ll probably get a reverse culture shock because of the different ways we view the world. Also, the way that I currently live is so spontaneous and carefree, taking things as they come. I’m in different cities every week and constantly meeting new people all the time so adjusting to a “standard life” might be difficult.

In the past few months I’ve visited majestic palaces, royal castles and huge temples that are drenched in opulence & decked in finery. They are impressive for sure, but I realised that the real treasures are not in gilded walls or bzyantine jewels on a crown. The most precious things in the world; the things that are worth the most need to be experienced. I’m a collector, picking up memories along the way and shoving them merrily into my pockets for safekeeping, holding them every once in a while and feeling them with my bare hands… cherishing things that are worth never forgetting. May I never forget the rough nights and the mornings that I wake up feeling sore from sleeping on airport floors. The thankfulness when a car stops to pick me up when hitchhiking. The taste of the Mediterrenean Sea on my lips. The gale-force winds that almost blew me into barbed wire. The melodies that stick with me after a few listens. The fiery sunsets. The inside jokes. The kindness and hospitality of my CS friends. The heartfelt embraces. The prodding of my travel buddies to wake them up in the morning.

I will continue to enjoy living in wonder, being as joyful and raucous as I’d like. The world keeps dancing, and I want to be able to keep up. I want to see it untainted and in all its splendour – beauty is all around and love is everywhere to be found. 

If there’s anything that I’ve learnt in my time here, it’s the fact that I don’t know much. The richness of culture and history in the places that I’ve visited has definitely intrigued and astounded me all at once. Sometime in April while wandering around London alone, I decided that gaining new knowledge in a specific field was something that I’d like to do. I’ve decided to be persistent and dedicated to understanding World War Two history in the next few years. I’ve never really studied History at a higher level in school, so this will be exciting for me! I’ve always liked learning random bits of trivia (I loooovee pub quizzes you see) but this time I want to go in depth. I also want to become conversationally fluent in Spanish, so I will be trying to see if I can check myself into a language course in Spain later this month. Anddddd I love board games even more but have a hard time losing them 😛

I’m completely in love with life. As I turn another year older, may I never lose the spark and the passion I have towards living.

Every year I say this, and I hope these words continue to echo in my heart and mind –  I am so lucky to be alive. Each day is a present wrapped in the finest bows, a blank page ready to receive new etchings. On some days in these few months, I’ve been fortunate enough to fall asleep in a certain city and wake up to the morning sun and feel the youth behind my eyes in a different one. I’m thankful for this chance to see the world.

As always, I am grateful each day for the lovely people who surround me. Taking one person out of the picture would render my world a very different place. So to everyone who has stuck around, as well as the new friends I’ve met on the road, thank you. Keep your dreams in your pocket and faith in your heart. Never stop exploring!

With much love,
J x