The next step in our trek brought about quite a shift in mindset. We left the advanced north of Europe for the newly reformed east of Europe. And our entry point here: Prague, Czech Republic.

Interestingly, by just looking out onto the city, you wouldn't think that not so long ago it was a communist run country. In fact the only time that we really saw what we were expecting - the grey square blocked buildings - was on our way to the airport for our flight out of Prague where we drove through the outskirts and suburbs outside of the city centre. The city is filled with unique and extravagant buildings, the Vltava River, famous bridges, a colossal palace and then all the modern capitalist wonders of today: McDonalds, casinos, hotels, restaurants and bars. It was even preserved during WW2 as the locals managed to overpower ze Germans that remained in Prague before the allies arrived to play war. Interestingly, the Jewish history of the city is probably one of the best examples of pre-WW2 Jewish life as Hitler planned to use the Jewish Quarter in Prague as the museum of an extinct race and ensured the safeguard of much of its history for times to come.

Our hostel here was probably the best example you'll find of a hotel-come-hostel in Europe (at least for what we've seen to date). This place was big with lots of rooms and was more modern than most of the hotels we've stayed at. It was full of the latest technology, had a real restaurant and bar and a stage for live bands. These new-age hostels are the kind of place where your room gets cleaned daily and you get crisp linen and towels. They provide different levels of amenities and services but they definitely stand out from the smaller, homelier feel of the pre-interweb-traveller-using-guide-books-instead-of-ipads type of backpacking hostels. We prefer to stay at hostels over hotels for both the economic and social aspects. But times have changed. These days, travelers are more likely to be seen sitting behind their laptops or tablets on Facebook, Skype or booking their next travel step than they are to be chilling and chatting to new strangers over a beer. Hostels are still sociable places and you're definitely more likely to meet people here than at hotels but it's definitely a different experience to what it used to be - even as recently as two years ago. Sometimes though, we can't get into a hostel (a decent hostel) or hostels cost much more than a decent hotel - yes, it happens - so we land up booking ourselves into a hotel. Other times, especially after a few days off the beaten track, it's just lekker to check into a hotel for a few days. It definitely beats taking those last two beds in a 20 sleeper dorm and we're lucky, and grateful, that in certain cases we can choose to stay in a hotel for a few days.

Apart from this incredible hostel, we also did our first Euro pub crawls here in Prague. Prague seems to have become the Las Vegas of eastern Europe and over our weekend there, we saw countless bachelor and bachelorette parties. Heading out on the pub crawls, we understood why this is the case. One of the local's favourite pass times is drinking and this city is the home of beer drinking - one tick for parties. There are cool bars everywhere, the best were the multi-leveled cave like cellar bars - another tick. It's easy to walk around the small city centre, even after an absinthe or three - tick. And then there's the music and people, where everyone's just keen to have a good time - last tick. So the nightlife here is really good and you may even land up at their "famous" Five Story club.

We also did our first free walking tour here. Apart from seeing some of the city's main sites, these tours are a great way to get a sense of direction in a new city, get some insider tips for while you're visiting and an understanding of the city, its people and it's what to do's and what not to do's. Randomly, you may be walking through the streets on one of these tours and hear your name being called out from a distance. Ok, it's not really a component of these tours, but it did happen to Mlungu Brett when his cousin, Dale Balkin, saw us walking on the tour and called us out. It was great to see him, Tracy, Jamie and Sandy and to catch up. This was our first random running into people we know situation and it was great that it happened to be family. It was also great to catch up with Josh Farron and Ann, an expat and his fiancé, who are living in Prague - thanks again for showing us around and giving us a real insider experience of the city.

This city was full of eastern European marvels and fortunately no little green pixies from drinking too much absinthe. It was all round a brilliant experience.

Trek on…Brett and Darren.