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Hi, I'm still alive and doing great. We've made it as far as Istanbul, so Europe is just about behind us. Since the last update we've traveled through Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and into Turkey. The weather from Hungary to Bulgaria has been very cold, with a lot of snow in Romania. That along with some dodgy roads has made traveling a lot slower. Entering Romania, we definately got the feeling that we were leaving western Europe and life as we usually expect it. The Hungary - Romania border is particularly grim, a lot of run down and derelict industrial buildings and rubbish everywhere. You automatically get the feeling that people are not as well off in this part of the world.
Vienna was basically a 2 day party in the hostel bar with a lot of sleeping on the bus the next day! Budapest wasn't much different.
Romania is where things have got a bit different. Because we're traveling on a bus we get to visit some towns that probably have never seen tourists and we're starting to get people staring and pointing, we feel a bit like celebrities! Another common thing is a look of absolute shock from shop and cafe workers when they have 40 people landing in at the same time.
We had only 1 night in Bulgaria and now we've entered Turkey. Highlights have been, stopping at a small town outside Prague called Kostnice to see a small church which is decorated with skeletons of people who died in the plague - very different! In Romania we stopped at Dracula's Castle in Transylvania. Also in Bulgaria we had to travel on a mountain pass, it slowed us up but the scenery was spectacular.
I'm pretty used to the bus trips now, we've got our full itinerary now and we will be driving about 4 or 5 days every week. Everybody is still getting on well although the younger people tend to stick together and likewise with the older people but there are plenty of activities like organized city tours which everyone takes part.
So, just into Istanbul, internet connections and availability may not be great now for the next month or so but I'll try my best to keep you posted.
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