Result! Alex Burman has my phone! Apologies to Bosnia for suggesting there might have been a thief in your midsts, it was my fault, I left it at the hostel in Sarajevo. It was passed to Alex (could be male / female, nationality also currently unknown), as he / she was also heading to Belgrade. Missed him / her by a couple of days, alas, but will hopefully hook up in Budapest in a few days. Alex, you genius, I owe you beers. Everyone apart from Holly from Shrewsb...

Arrived in Belgrade yesterday, after an 8 hour bus ride from Sarajevo, and have our first passport stamp after two and a half weeks travelling (haven't even been asked to see passports half the time)! On the negative side, Paula had her bank card swallowed by a machine, my mobile has gone AWOL and we suspect our stash of English teabags is still on the bus, probably back in Bosnia by now. This adds to the growing list that also includes a pair of bikini bottoms, ...

Sarajevo is one of the most fascinating cities I've ever had the good fortune to experience. And to think we almost missed it! It was a fifty fifty decision to travel eastwards through Bosnia or Montenegro, and good reviews from a handful of people we met in Dubrovnik just swung it in Bosnia's favour. In my ignorance, I was completely unaware of Sarajevo's unofficial status as "The Jerusalem of Europe", but as I'm writing from our hostel, which sits half way up o...

View of the trip so far! From the top of the hill overlooking the Dubrovnik Old Town, looking up the coast at the brooding, whale-like silhouettes of islands sitting in the Adriatic. Check out the pics! Other than that, Dubrovnik was pretty much as we'd expected, having spoken to a number of backpackers travelling along the Croatian coast in the opposite direction to ourselves. Possibly the definition of picturesque, but swarming with tourists, and the latter f...

Split is an amazing city! Only really intended to use it as a gateway to some islands and then pass on straight through to Dubrovnik, but it could well turn out to be the most eye-catching city we see in Croatia. I'm not normally into Roman ruins as generally they tend to be little more than a pile of stones, Zadar perfect case in point (although I may not have mentioned the ones there earlier (exactly, in fact!)). Apologies to any archaeologists for my ignorance...