afterwards, christina and i walked through the park,  then spent the evening working out which route we were going to take north.

day 427 – pristina and kosovo, while nice, are a little dull. there wasn’t a lot to do. we went to the bus station to buy tickets to podgorica, had breakfast and returned to the hotel to pack and check out.

we walked into town to see ‘the sights’, which consisted of a small museum (which was shut), an abandoned church, an ugly university building and a few parks (which were nice). we had some ice cream and sat in the big park near our hotel. the park was full of people and kids playing. it seemed to be amongst the most popular places in pristina.

we went to the bus station early, bought some food and read our books while waiting for the bus to montenegro. when we got on the bus, a guy who spoke english (and seemed a little weird) sat near us and talked to us the entire time. i was getting really annoyed but held my calm (surprisingly). then, an hour into the trip, a guy checked our tickets and realised the crazy guy didn’t have a ticket. they booted him off the bus and we finally had some peace and quiet.

day 428 – we crossed the border early and arrived in podgorica at about 3am. tired, i went to sleep on the bus station floor for 4 hours. christina slept a little and then got up to buy tickets to sarajevo. i woke up and we had some breakfast which we had to carry on the bus because they’d been so slow to make the food.

we entered bosnia and the bus traveled through a stretch of the most beautiful mountain road i’ve ever seen. the whole trip i just gazed out the window and dreamed of riding through those roads on a motorbike.

the bus arrived in sarajevo and the terminal was out of town, so we caught the tram into the city to our hotel. i was tired as hell, so after lunch (burek) i had a shower and went to sleep at 4pm … i didn’t wake up until the next morning.

day 429 – after breakfast and coffee i felt much better … the 19 hours sleep also helped! we went to the train station and bought tickets to zagreb. we got the tram back to the centre of town and walked up to the martyr’s cemetary.

the siege of sarajevo is the longest city siege in history. the cemetary is devoted to those who gave their lives fighting for sarajevo. all around the city there are still bullet holes and shell marks from the bombing over 15 years ago. the martyr’s cemetary still has a full-time guard of honour and it was nice to walk around.

up the hill from the cemetary is a great viewing point of the city. christina and i sat up there for a while and talked while we looked across sarajevo. we could see all the way to the airport. it was a great view. after that we walked through the old city, to the mosques, bascarsija, pigeon square and up to the catholic cathedral. near the cathedral some old men were playing chess on an enormous chess set. i stood and watched them for a while. they were enthralled by the game and it would have been fun to play. i got some photos, though, and we kept going.

after lunch we took a long walk along the river. on the way back we stopped for a beer and then dinner. after dark, we went for another walk down to the latin bridge to take photos.

day 430 – we had breakfast and checked out. we left our luggage at the hotel (which we had to pay for). we got the tram out to the famous sarajevo tunnel, which ran underneath the airport during the siege and was a literal lifeline for bosnians living in the city.

on the way back to town we stopped at the museum, which was quite expensive, so we gave it a miss. instead we walked around the old city some more and looked at the jewelry stores. we had lunch, walked along the river and looked in the apple store.

in the afternoon we collected our bags and went to the train station to wait. i complained to the ticket office woman about the ticket and exchange rate we’d paid and she gave us a discount on the fare, which was nice. we had some coffee, changed the last of our bosnian money, and got the train to zagreb. on the train another tourist told us that we could sit in the 1st class section, so we moved up and found a compartment all to ourselves and slept on the seats. nifty!

upon returning to athens we had a late lunch. we repacked our bags, had a shower and got ready. we walked through town but everything was shut so we gave up, grabbed our bags and headed to the train station to wait for our train to sofia. the train departed on time and we slept on the train.

day 422 – we crossed the border in the morning and arrived in sofia. we found a hotel, had coffee, and walked into town. we discovered a farmer’s market which is open every day. the market was really cheap and lots of fun to wander around. the funniest part was the vendors selling fruit wouldn’t let you touch it. you told them what you wanted and they’d pick it for you. we didn’t know and a few vendors got shitty with us for groping their wares! lol

we had a late beer in the city, but it was getting quite cold and we quickly went back to the hotel where we watched a movie on the computer and slept.

day 423 – breakfast was small, so when we went into town i was still hungry. i had a huge slice of pizza and looked at the city map we’d got from the sheraton hotel. we decided what we’d see and went first to the archaeological museum which wasn’t very good. after that we went to the aleksander nevski church and st sofia. we also watched the changing of the guard outside the presidential offices.

while wandering, we stumbled upon a junk market which we looked at briefly and then returned to the farmer’s market where we ate fish and chicken for lunch with some local beer. we also bought a bottle of cheap wine (which turned out to be shit).

we went to the bus station and bought tickets to skopje, then returned to the hotel. i was doing some research about visas and thought that we would have problems entering macedonia. but it turns out that there’s no problem (that we could find) and figured we’d take the risk.

day 424 – after breakfast we packed and checked out. the bus station is close to the hotel so we walked and got our bus to skopje. during the obligatory “border control” rubbish, we got talking to a spanish guy called ‘ham’ with whom we hung out in skopje. after arriving, the three of us walked to the hotel and checked in.

christina and i were incredibly hungry, so we walked into the old city to find some food and an atm. we wandered around for a bit, stumbled upon the old city main streets and found a restaurant with souvlaki. we ate and then walked back through the old city again. after returning to the hotel i bought some beer and in the evening we watched the champions league final on tv. the portugese travelers were cheering for inter because their manager is from portugal, so i was cheering for barcelona and we all had fun.

after the game we sat and talked with the portugese guys. we drank more beer and i headed to bed at around 2am.

day 425 – after breakfast we said goodbye to ham and walked to the bus station. we got straight on a bus which took us to pristina. kosovo is small and easy to get around. we got a hotel for two nights and walked down town for a look around.

we found a bookstore where i bought ‘crime and punishment’ by fedor dostoyevski (for me) and ‘peter pan’ by jm barrie (for christina). we returned to the hotel and relaxed. the liverpool game was on tv and i watched that before going to bed.

it turns out that, with anzac day just around the corner, hotels were booked solid and prices had risen considerably. annoyed, we checked into a dormitory and went for a walk to get some food. we had some beer, returned to the hotel and slept.

day 412 – things weren’t working out in turkey. we couldn’t stay in the hotel and everything was becoming expensive. we decided to make a run for it and head to greece. we walked to the train station and booked two tickets to thesaloniki.

when christina and i returned to the hotel, we checked out and stored our luggage for the day. we walked into the city and looked in suhanahmed mosque and the markets. i bought a lonely planet europe.

then we visited the million stone, constantine’s column and sat on the grass near the fountain. christina bought some corn, so we ate it and talked for a while. we returned to the hotel to collect our bags and walked to the train station.

the overnight train to thesaloniki was comfortable and we officially entered europe. we had our own little private two bed compartment, so we sat and talked and slept for the whole trip.

day 413 – after passing through the border stops we got some more sleep and in the morning arrived in thesaloniki. we found a hotel in the city and walked along the foreshore.

we went to a supermarket and bought some food, made sandwiches at the hotel and then went out for another walk. we ended up at a small cafe where we had beer and wine. christina got a little drunk so we went back to the hotel. she slept and i watched a movie on the computer.

day 414 – we checked out and walked down to the train station to get a train to athens. however, all the trains were full. damn! we had to walk over to the bus station and were able to get bus tickets instead. we had to wait two hours and then it was a long bus ride to athens.

when we arrived it was getting late. we found a hotel and the owner only had one room left, a single room, which he let us have. the owner was very nice and we were happy to have somewhere to crash (cheaply).

we walked around a little and found a small supermarket. we bought some sangria and salad which we took to the hotel and ate on the balcony outside our room.

day 415 – souvlaki for breakfast (yum!) was followed by a long walk around town. christina bought some sandals and we got some food to take back to the hotel.

we ate lunch and headed to the acropolis for the afternoon. however, we discovered that the acropolis shuts at 3pm (every day) and we couldn’t get in. then we noticed that almost everything shuts down at around 3pm. everyone quits work and goes drinking … the cafes and bars are full but everything useful is closed.

we bought some more food, to cook for a late lunch, as well as sangria and cheese for the evening. we went for another long walk before retiring for the night, enjoying sangria and cheese on the balcony with a view of athens and the acropolis. nice!

that was the final straw and any understanding i’d had for israel was gone. annoyed, we headed to the bus and crossed the dead sea again (once into israel, once out) and enjoyed the fact that we were going through the lowest place on earth above sea level.

we arrived back at the hotel and had some lunch. we were out of clean clothes, so decided to do some laundry and spend the afternoon relaxing and checking email.

day 397 – we checked out of the hotel in amman and caught the bus to wadi musa which is the city near petra. we found a hotel, ate a pizza, caught up on diary, checked email and slept.

day 398 – after breakfast at the hotel, we headed out to petra. the day was really hot, which was a surprise considering it has been fairly cool so far on our travels. we walked through petra and saw the treasury and went up to the royal tombs.

after that we walked down to the bottom end of the petra site, got some water and walked back up. walking around petra was very tiring, considering the heat, especially for christina. we had a lot of fun wandering around though, so we headed back to the hotel and christina slept. i played on the internet for a while.

day 399 – in the morning we returned to petra for another quick look around. christina was feeling sick (i suspected heat stroke) and vomited right next to the treasury. we left petra and went back to the hotel.

when she was feeling better, we checked out and caught a bus to aqaba. we had a long wait for the bus because he couldn’t fill the seats.

finally we made it to aqaba, which is a coastal town in the south of jordan. we checked in and christina slept while i watched a movie.

day 400 – my 400th day on the road – to celebrate, i decided to have a very lazy day. we walked along the foreshore and looked at the sea, which was really nice, and since it was still hot we stayed in the shade as much as possible. i had an afternoon sleep and watched tv (star wars).

the first stop was the roman ampitheatre. it was enormous and really cool. we walked around and took some photos before the long walk up hill to the amman citadel. the amman citadel is a set of ruins on the top of a hill overlooking the centre of amman. it’s really quite nice and the walk was fun.

after walking back into town, we were hungry and had a big late lunch. we walked around the markets and returned to the hotel.

day 392 – today we had planned to cross into israel but no borders were open (due to some kind of public holiday). instead we jumped on a bus and make the trek north to jerash to look around the ruins.

the bus ride to jerash was fast and we had the whole day to wander around. jerash is massive and, although we saw most of it, there was a lot we skipped. we got another bus back to amman and i spent the afternoon editing photos.

day 393 – our second attempt at entering israel – we checked out in the morning and left our luggage at the hotel. we only planned to spend a few days in israel, so we packed light bags and left the heavy stuff behind in amman.

the system for entering israel is somewhat complicated but, at the same time, straightforward. crossing via the allenby/king hussein bridge, jordan border officials don’t stamp passports. we got stamps on a piece of paper and crossed the border.

when we reached israel i was stopped and had to undergo a long security interview. they saw the iran, pakistan and syria visas in my passport and wanted to know why i’d been there. they kept asking retarded questions and i answered ‘no’ to practically everything they asked. here’s a sample of the questions:

- do you know anyone in these countries?
- do you have phone numbers or email addresses for anyone in these countries?
- did police or military personnel approach you and ask if you were going to israel?
- did anyone talk to you about israel?
- are you planning to visit west bank or gaza?
- do you know anyone in west bank or gaza?

etc etc

while i’d always been sympathetic to israel, understanding what a difficult position they whole ‘middle east vs jews’ thing is, i came to realise that the israel govt is, in a nutshell, paranoid. the questions were stupid and achieved absolutely no purpose at all.

however, they were satisfied with my answers, so i was ‘allowed’ to get my visa and enter the country. in keeping with most tourists who cross this border point, i got the visa on a separate piece of paper (not in my passport).

finally, we entered israel and caught a bus into jerusalem. we went to a few hotels and realised that staying in jerusalem was going to be expensive (passover and easter were coming and many hotels were booked solid). we checked into a hotel and went to find some lunch.

while looking for food, we bumped into a couple who were on the bus from amman. we asked where they were staying and found out that their hotel was much cheaper. christina and i walked there to inquire whether they still had rooms. they did, so we grabbed our gear from the other hotel, apologised to the owner, and switched hotels.

happy, we had a nice lunch in a street cafe in the middle of old jerusalem. we walked around the old city, which is incredibly beautiful but very touristy. i had an afternoon sleep and went for another walk at night.

day 394 – today was the first day of passover so some things (sights and churches) were shut to the public. we had breakfast and wandered around the old city some more. the golden dome was shut to tourists but the wailing wall was open. i went inside and looked around.

after that, christina and i went for a walk along the old city’s ramparts (which was really fun). we had a sleep and some lunch then went to mt zion. two drunk locals were there downing alak and i had a few with them. then we went into the domition church, saw the room of the last supper, king david’s tomb and st mary’s tomb.

after coffee, we bought a crucifix for christina’s sister and returned to the hotel. the hotel owner (and his family) enjoy playing chess. i played a game with him, i lost, and headed off to bed.

day 395 – christina and i got an early start so that we could see as much as possible. we headed to the dome and were again told it was shut. so instead we walked up to the mount of olives from which we had an incredible view of jerusalem and the old city.

in that small area we were able to vist mary’s tomb, gesthemane grotto and gardens, and the basilica of agony. after that we went to the top of the mount of olives, through the cemetary, to st mary magdeline’s church, dominus flevit and then back to jerusalem city. in the city we looked at the tower of david, but the entry fee was too expensive, so we skipped it.

we achieved all of that before lunch and then walked to the bus stop to catch the city bus to bethlehem. to reach bethlehem we have to pass through a checkpoint and we get to see the infamous ‘wall’ separating israel from palestine.

we arrived in bethlehem and, annoyingly, spent ages looking for an atm (since we were running out of money). we had lunch and then looked around manger square and the church of the nativity. the line to visit the actual ‘manger’ area were incredibly long, so we skipped it and wandered back through town. we got on the bus back to jerusalem. at the checkpoint we had to get off the bus while they inspected everyone’s id. then we returned to jerusalem.

i had a small sleep and then we walked to the bus station to check times for the return trip to amman. i had another game of chess with the owner (this time i won), talked with a brazilian couple from the hotel, packed and slept.

we had to wait a while and the shipping charge was really expensive. cursing and muttering to myself, we wandered back to the hotel, picked up our bags and had another long wait at the bus station.

the bus ride to sanl urfa was good. turkish buses are very comfortable and clean. they give you hand wipes and free drinks. i actually managed to sleep a little on the bus, which is amazing for me.

day 382 – we arrived in sanl urfa at 3.30 am. nothing was open and we had to walk for 15 minutes to find the hotel. we got questioned by the police as well, but they were more curious than anything. we woke up the hotel clerk, checked in and slept. however they told us that we had to check out the same day … so we’d paid full price for 7 hours.

we checked out and walked around the old city. sanl urfa is actually white a beautiful place. we saw the main park (dedicated to the biblical character of abraham, which is supposedly where he was from), a temple and a fish pond which is very popular. we also checked out the citadel. on the way back we collected our bags and got the bus to gazi antep.

we arrived in the evening, walked through town, found our hotel and had some dinner – during which the waiter spilled yoghurt drink (ayran) on me. we bought baklava, i washed my clothes,  and sat up for a while using the hotel’s free wifi.

day 383 – today we planned to cross the border to syria. we checked out early for the bus to kilis. the only way to cross the border is by taxi, and we made the negotiations before departing.

we had a long wait at the syrian entry point where they checked our passports thoroughly. the guard even questioned some stamps (laos) to make sure that they weren’t israeli stamps (syria doesn’t recognise israel as a country and won’t permit tourists with israel stamps in their passports). they finally cleared us for entry, which is when i discovered that the visa fee was $90. holy shit! apparently syria and australia don’t have good diplomatic relations. christina paid $30.

we coughed up the money and continued to azas. from there we got a minibus to the city of aleppo. it felt good to reach aleppo after a long day, but we had more difficulties to come. it took four or five hotels before we found a decent and affordable room, then we wandered around town for an hour looking for some place to eat (no shortage of shoe stores, but not a lot of restaurants). we eventually found a place, ate, and returned to the hotel (tired as hell) to sleep.

day 384 – we had breakfast in town and headed towards the aleppo citadel. the citadel is beautiful and really fun to look around. as well as taking photos we talked to a few local people. they were very curious about us, since syria doesn’t get a lot of tourists.

we had to keep moving so we returned to the hotel, checked out and caught our bus to lattakia. we checked in and had an afternoon sleep.

in the evening we put in some washing then walked along the harbour. although we didn’t get a good view of the sea (due to the shipping port that takes up most of the foreshore) it was beautiful weather and we enjoyed the evening walk. we watched a little tv in our room and slept.

day 385 – today we felt lazy and had a very easy morning. we collected washing and then got a bus to sal-hadin castle. the bus took us most of the way but we also had to get a taxi up the hill to the castle proper. we looked around the castle and, since there were no taxis, we decided to walk back.

we had walked most of the way to the bus station when a car pulled over and a middle aged man spoke to us. we didn’t understand a word he said, but the meaning was obvious – he had offered us a lift the rest of the way and dropped us at the bus station. we got our bus and returned to the hotel.

in the evening we went for another walk along the harbour, sat in a small cafe where we had some fresh corn and tea, then went to bed.