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Brisbane to Manchester

February - June 2024
The journey to Manchester via Asia and Eastern Europe Read more
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  • 9countries
  • 74days
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  • TravelerBrisbane to Manchester
    Day 70–73

    Bucharest

    May 7 in Romania ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    📌 Welcome to the capital of Romania, we arrived after an average overnight bus (the bus driver kept the radio on the whole time). We had to wait around a little bit for check in, so we perched ourselves for a few much needed coffees in a cafe.

     📌 Bucharest walking tour on day 1 was very interesting, again it was great to hear more about a country that often flys under the radar in Europe when you're Australian. We were shown some great architecture and laneways. We found the French influence and Italian influence on Romania most interesting as this was very different to the rest of the neighbouring countries. We also heard about the revolution against communism which was very difficult to comprehend.

    📌 Our highlights of Bucharest were the architecture, some beautiful parks and the delicious local cuisine. This included viewing many french or austro-hungarian influenced buildings, the heaviest building (a huge building intended for the prev communist dictator) and some cheap weekday lunch deals at restaurants of history. One of these being the first brewery in town with an amazing interior and another being the oldest hotel in Bucharest (an old fort/Inn type structure). The Romanian doughnuts were definitely a highlight.    Read more

  • TravelerBrisbane to Manchester
    Day 69

    Sofia

    May 6 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    📌 Our last day in Sofia was a bit of a day of nothing planned, we had to check out of accommodation, get rid of the car and get an overnight bus to Romania at 11pm.

    📌 I woke up looking like an idiot, the snow had gotten the better of me and my unpreparedness. I was sunburnt all around the areas the sunscreen hadn't gotten and where the sun reflected up off the snow. Ultimately I had a very sore neck, ears and around my eyes! Super embarrassing!

    📌 We started the day with a delicious pastry and coffee shop before ridding the bags at luggage storage and we began wandering around the city. A few visits to malls and shops for us through to lunch which was a mission as every recommendation was closed due to Easter, this was super frustrating after waking 1km trusting google opening hours ☺️

    📌 The evening involved a spontaneous visit to the IMAX to watch The Fall Guy. This was a great choice in the end, it was hilarious and entertaining, the imax screen was huge and the sound was great! We found dinner in a recommendation that was actually open, so we enjoyed some delicious pizzas! We had one last wander around the city at night admiring the architecture before heading to our overnight bus, a night of minimal sleep ahead 😴    Read more

  • TravelerBrisbane to Manchester
    Day 68

    Rila Lakes & Rila Monastery

    May 5 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    📌 We set off with a hire car to the Rila Lakes, a national park in the south of Bulgaria. We intended to stay the night but the day was Easter Sunday and when we rocked up at the accommodation around midday nobody was there and there was no response. We decided to cancel (thanks free cancellation) and then try somewhere else, the language barrier was difficult and appeared there was no room and minimal staff due to the orthodox Easter celebrations. Ultimately, we made it a day trip and would return to Sofia late.

    📌 We headed for the lakes and got on a chairlift amongst beautiful pine trees, as we were ascending we realised we were greatly unprepared ( I had shorts on and no backpack) as we were soon passing snow covered ground and heading for higher areas of snow. We had about 3.5 hours before the last chairlift so we decided we would walk as far as we could of the loop.

    📌 The hike was difficult as there was so much snow, luckily we had hiking boots, some people had sneakers. We walked about 6km and saw 6 of the 7 lakes but we wouldn't have had time to make it to the 7th. Ultimately, we saw everything and more on this gorgeous hike. The snow was blanketed so soft and flat, the mountains poking out were jaggered and vast, but the best part was, there was nobody around and it was so quiet we could actually hear small avalanches. We descended down slowly, slipping over in the slushy hard compacted trail other hikers had created and enjoyed the slow quiet chair lift down the mountain.

    📌 We went around the mountain and through some quaint little hillside villages on a way to the Rila Monastery. The Monastery still functions and it was Easter Sunday so it was reasonably busy, even at 6pm. It was lovely to see the complex in the afternoon sun, the colours with the mountains in the background and the rushing mountain rivers nearby made it a special place. We were starving and found some delicious Nutella and jam doughnut balls outside (thank you tourist stalls for once) and then we headed back to Sofia for a late dinner and check in    Read more

  • TravelerBrisbane to Manchester
    Day 65–68

    Sofia

    May 2 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    📌 A bus to Sofia meant arriving late around dinner, we were staying in a comfy large Airbnb a little bit out of the centre. We found a small food truck park which seemed to be the local 18 year old hang out, but we enjoyed a drink, dumplings and pizza in the trendy Bulgarian capital.

    📌 Another walking tour gave us a great insight into the city and a bit more if an interesting insight into their communist era. Most interestingly, Bulgaria never joined the Soviet Union and were rather their own communist regime. We saw some old communist buildings, some former churches and mosques from the Byzantine and Ottoman ages, and some beautiful Austro-German architecture that survived WW2 bombings.

    📌 Day 3 we visited a an old communist era flat that was telling the story of the locals that lived there. It was such a different museum because you felt like you were in their house and you could open cupboards and look at old relics etc. This day also involved a short visit to an illusion museum to mix it up and kill a few hours, it was fun to be tricked out by illusions and it was a nice change to regular sightseeing.

    📌 Funnily enough, Damien McShane (from East Bentleigh) was in Bulgaria and we caught up for dinner and some drinks. We talked for hours over some beers and delicious traditional Bulgarian food about vet and travel. It was great to catch up with someone as we hadn't really had much conversation with anyone else since Vietnam, Damien is also such a great person to chat with.    Read more

  • TravelerBrisbane to Manchester
    Day 63–65

    Sozopol

    April 30 in Bulgaria ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

    📌 We spent a few days down on the black sea coast, a popular thing for Bulgarian locals in summer. We road tripped down to the coast through some beautiful forested areas, towns and saw plenty of wild tulips.

    📌 It was offseason and day 1 was pouring rain, not ideal weather for the coast. However, we were there to not do a great deal and the hotel was comfy and warm, perfect for some supernatural and truly relaxing. When we emerged into the rain we had a beautiful dinner looking out right onto the black sea.

    📌 Day 2 involved a relaxing day, a wonder around old town, browsing some shops and a struggle to find lunch which turned out to be great as dinner was phenomenal. One of our Bulgarian highlights, a small 10 table or so restaurant perched up on a cliff overlooking the black sea. We enjoyed fresh seafood pasta and some delicious stuffed peppers with Bulgarian cheese. Sozopol was a great little trip that broke up the sight seeing which had started to become a little repetitive.    Read more

  • TravelerBrisbane to Manchester
    Day 60–63

    Plovdiv

    April 27 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    📌 A long overnight train took us into Plovdiv. A comfortable and clean journey, just one disrupted 3-4 times in the space of 3 hours for so many passport checks 😂

    📌 We arrived in the city after checking in and it was very beautiful, it is home to the longest pedestrian street in Europe. This is lovely to walk down as it is lined by colourful buildings rather than communist style architecture.

    📌 As per usual we did a walking tour, which was quite fascinating given Plovdiv may be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe. As a result they have a great deal of Roman ruins, most buried under the city. Additionally, we learnt about the history of Bulgaria, empires that have been through and communism.

    📌 We particularly enjoyed the old town, with many traditional old houses and also a trendy bar and restaurant district. Another standout was all the wild tulips we saw around the area, the most we had seen in our travels so far.    Read more

  • TravelerBrisbane to Manchester
    Day 58–60

    Istanbul: Stop Over

    April 25 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    📌 Time to head back to Istanbul and to start making our way West into Europe. We caught an interesting flight from Yerevan airport with Flyone, a budget Maldovan airline. The airport sucked but luckily the flight was short and straightforward without any extra charges or bags lost.

    📌 We landed in Istanbul and pushed through a long transfer from airport to accommodation with all the bags during peak hour. We eventually made it to the hotel and were keen to eat dinner by this time. A true blessing came across us when we found a small family owned authentic Indian restaurant that was super cheap and incredibly delicious, the perfect meal after an afternoon of transit.

    📌 We started the day with our fav Turkish breakfast, kaymek (cheese and honey) and then spent the rest of the day in Istanbul ticking off some admin tasks as we can only receive texts in certain countries (Turkey one of them) thanks to Aldo mobile. So we had to book some trains whilst we could recieve bank codes to authorise payments. We bought a few souvenirs and then headed out of the city for our overnight train. Taxis are horrible in Istanbul, so it meant a long walk up the hill with our bags to get to the train which would take us to the overnight train. We got there after a tough slog and we were keen to get into our private sleeping cabin. The cabin was quite comfortable and clean, it even had a few snacks, possibly better accommodation then some of our Vietnam ones 😂 Next stop, Bulgaria!    Read more

  • TravelerBrisbane to Manchester
    Day 55–58

    Yerevan: round 2

    April 22 in Armenia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    📌 After some big Armenian meals from Marietta we made our way back to the capital in search for some different flavours, the next few days we enjoyed some delicious Italian, Vegan food and even a Georgian restaurant (defs our favourite cuisine so far in Europe).

    📌 We spent the days in Yerevan with freedom, we explored the city a little more, we went to the gym even and also did a little Pilates workout in the room. Hitting the gym again after 2 months off, geez was the soreness intense the next few days!

    📌 We spent a full day visiting some sights around Yerevan such as an ancient temple that was believed to be built by the Romans (Temple of Garni) where it was part of a bigger complex several thousand years ago. It was quite a different structure that we hadn't come across on our journey of seeing lots of Roman ruins. Not too far from here was a interesting geological formation of organ pipes which was a nice walk through. We then finished the day with an attempted visit to a monastery, however the road works were so insane with absolutely no traffic control, we gave up and turned around. Basically the road was getting grated on one side and cars were trying to use the other in each direction but there was no traffic control 😂

    📌 Our final full day involved a day trip to Dilijan, a township near Armenias largest national park, this area was mountainous and quite pretty due to the dense greenery and spring flowers. A short walk through the forest and a delicious lunch overlooking a lake meant a successful day trip. We finished the day in the capital where they were celebrating/commemorating the genocide anniversary in the old Soviet square, the sound of the speaker echoing around the square really made it feel quite intense, thinking about what soviet speeches would have been spoken in this square.    Read more

  • TravelerBrisbane to Manchester
    Day 54–55

    Goris/Tatev Roadtrip

    April 21 in Armenia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    📌 We set off early out of Yerevan for our 4 hour roadtrip to the mountains of the south of Armenia. It was interesting driving through the country for a number of reasons;
    1. Roads are horrible, pot holes literally everywhere and where potholes are getting fixed, they have cut a chunk out of the road to be filled, but have not yet filled it. So basically you drive on the wrong side of the road a lot and have fun around trucks.
    2. The tensions with Azerbaijan meant there was a war over territory around the borders in 2020 and driving near the border is an unfamiliar feeling.
    3. Lots of Russian soldiers in trucks driving around as they are stationed in the area to keep the peace apparently.
    4. The close proximity to Iran, a country with so much happening right now, and we were approximately an hour away

    📌 All in all the drive was fun and really beautiful due to the mountains, including mount Ararat which the bible lovers think is where Noah's Ark landed.

    📌 We arrived in Goris and headed for the wings of Tatev, the world's longest tramway through some mountains to a monastery. It's 5km approx and offers some awesome views. The Monastery was from 10th century but it was pretty similar to some other ones we had seen, so we had a look around and moved on. We found a random hotel with a restaurant that had beautiful views over the valleys and enjoyed some Armenian/Russian lunch.

    📌 In the afternoon we headed back to Goris where we met our host Marietta, she welcomed us with a hug and said welcome my son and daughter. She was lovely! That night she made us home made dinner of Armenian specialities all sourced from her garden or the area. She even gave us home made vodka and wine. It was so nice to have a home cooked meal.

    📌 The next morning we were treated to a delicious breakfast in Mariettas veggie garden and after many hugs we set off on another fun road to a nearby attraction. We visited an old town where people lived in caves until approximately 1960, it was in a beautiful location with a fun swinging bridge across the gorge.    Read more

  • TravelerBrisbane to Manchester
    Day 52–54

    Yerevan

    April 19 in Armenia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    📌 A visit to another Caucasus country, Armenia! This was also occupied by the Soviets and our arrival came with a fun minivan trip across the border and into the capital of Armenia thanks to some more crazy driving.

    📌 We started our trip with a traditional Armenian meal, the cuisine was similar to Turkish and Georgian. It is mostly meat based but they did have more variety then Turkey. This restaurant was good fun, they had some singing and traditional music which even got some locals up from the table.

    📌 Day 2 involved a visit to the genocide museum, a horrible event in Armenian history centred around the Ottoman/Turkish genocide against Armenians occupying eastern Anatolia (now turkey). The worst part is, Turkey does not officially recognise the crimes committed.

    📌 We finished day 2 with a walking tour of the city, the guy was a character, he was fixated on whether people were married (apparently very important to Armenians). The Aussie guy on the tour was great to have a chat with, whilst the Americans were too serious as usual ☺️. It was interesting to hear the political tensions between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey, and therefore how they must still rely on Russia for many things despite them previously occupying the country during the Soviet era.

    📌We ended the day by picking up a rental car and we were in for a treat, driving around another crazy driving country.    Read more

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