After a difficult night on the bus we arrived in Prague around 7am to Hostel ELF. Even though we were exhausted, we were also eager to explore, plus our rooms wouldn't be ready until after lunch. Leaving our gear in the storage room we headed in to the centre for our first look at the city. It quickly became apparent that this city was even more liberal than Amsterdam, as we walked past the ever-present sex shop as well as liquor stores selling Vodka infused with Marijuana. The city itself seemed to be a mix of lush green parks, old buildings with character and structures that we could only describe as "Soviet" due to their bland, decaying exterior.

The main square was very modern and unimaginative containing the usual mix of shopping, retail and Starbucks found throughout the rest of western Europe, and we were yet to really see the Prague that had been so recommended to us. After a quick breakfast we continued on, heading away from the main strip, losing ourselves and finally finding the city we had hoped for. After stumbling upon the Atomic clock, we continued until we came to the edge of the old city and the rivers edge rising into green hills. 

We made our way back to the hostel, checked in and sat down to a quite beer while we planned our coming days. Before we knew it we were joined by the rest of the hostel, which was the beginning of a very entertaining night containing a crack team of German foosball players, Canadians and drinking games, as well as a lot of laughter.

The next day we had to get to the Indian embassy early to get our visa applications underway but we were slightly delayed due to Kayla discovering that playing drinking games with Canadians can have consequences… When we finally left, the first stop was at the travel doctor to find out what was involved in get vaccinated for some of the places we were about to visit. This turned out to be quick, easy and pricey but before long we were on our way again with two dead arms and freshly infected. After a brief pause for lunch we finally made it to the embassy just after noon, only to discover the embassy closes at noon. So back to the hostel we went to relax and recover, ready for an early start the next day.

Up and out early, we arrived at the embassy before the doors were opened at 9am. Arriving first thing turned out to be a prudent choice when we ended up being the last ones to leave at lunch time after we had initially been told that they only accepted applications from Czech residents, contrary to the information on the Indian website as well as the email we had received from the Indian embassy in Australia. After a lengthy interview and paying for the visas in full with no chance of a refund if we were declined, we headed off with the expectation that we wouldn’t hear anything for at least a week. With the vaccinations taking their toll on us the remainder of the day was spent meandering back through the city for an early night.

The weather had turned and we were still feeling a bit under the weather the following day, so this was spent in doors. Thursday came and we returned to the main square for the tour we had booked. Until now we had spent a lot of time just leisurely exploring the city, which had been great but we were looking forward to learning a bit more about the place. The tour was quite comprehensive, starting with a walking tour through the old city, followed by a boat ride along the river, another walking tour through the Jewish sector then lunch and ending at Prague castle. Along the way we began to appreciate the struggle the city and country has gone through in the past hearing stories of soldiers arriving on their doorstep to liberate them. We were told of how a local ice cream shop was one of the biggest attractions at one time due to borders being closed and ice cream being a luxury. The same was said about the first Chinese restaurant that was the place to go to impress girls when choices were so limited. The buildings themselves also had a history all of there own, displaying a collection of architectural styles at different levels, due to the need to just extend buildings instead of starting from scratch because of the turbulent history.

Friday brought us a surprise with the news that our Indian visas had been processed. We headed in for the 4pm collection time, apprehensive about whether the processing was in our favour.  Before too long we were happily presented with our new visas and set off back to the hostel to celebrate. This turned into another great night, meeting an Australian from Cairns, as well as some very entertaining Germans and Ukrainians. As the night got late the other Australian pulled out some shisha tobacco and we soon became determined to enjoy it. After many failed attempts at fixing the hostels one (we didn’t have enough gaffer tape…), we headed off in search for a local shisha bar. We never did find the shisha bar but had a great night anyway.

Saturday was spent, in doors, out of the cold and recuperating from a very late night. This gave us the opportunity to plan the next part of our trip, to Turkey, in depth. Having booked a bus that left at 9:30pm on the coming Monday, to arrive in Istanbul at 6:30am on the Wednesday, we needed to confirm where we would be staying. After contacting several dive schools, we settled on one in Kusadasi, which we would fly to from Istanbul, shortly after arriving on the bus.

After organising transport and accommodation the previous day, we spent most of Sunday completing the online diving course, ready for the practical when we arrived. Being our last night here we decided to have a few farewell drinks, being joined by the German and Ukrainian from Friday night. Although, the night was shorter it was quite possibly even more entertaining with some amazing foosball and many smiles.

Waking early on Monday we prepared our bags, checked out and stored them before hanging out in the hostel until 7pm. We were aiming at getting to the bus stop early to ensure we got good seats that we help us sleep along the journey. This turned out to be a waste of time, with the bus arriving late and then being told which seats were to be ours. After an hour delay we were on the road heading south. The night was long, broken by regular stops to pick up other travellers (with all lights being turned on when this happened) but eventually things quietened down and we both got a bit of sleep.

We were woken early as we came to the Serbian border control before our journey continued. Although we only saw a small part of the country, what we did see was very green and beautiful, but the best part was the temperature was increasing. In less than a day we would be saying goodbye to our extended winter and welcoming regular sunshine. After 19 hours, 5 countries and several border crossings we arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria. This was only for a few hours before getting on another bus for the next part of our journey to Turkey.