Summary of My 22D19N Balkans Travelogue (2019) Covering Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania & Montenegro

SUMMARY OF MY 22D19N ITINERARY

Day

Destination

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Kota Kinabalu → Singapore Singapore → Istanbul → Bucharest Bucharest Bucharest → Brasov + Bran Brasov + Sinaia Brasov + Sighisoara Brasov → Bucharest → Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo → Sofia Sofia Sofia → Skopje Skopje + Ohrid Skopje → Pristina Pristina + Prizren Pristina → Tirana Tirana + Berat Tirana → Kotor Kotor Kotor Kotor → Podgorica Podgorica → Istanbul Istanbul → Singapore Singapore → Kota Kinabalu

FLYING WITH SINGAPORE AIRLINES

This is my second time flying with this prestigious and award-winning airlines? Why I chosen this airlines? One of the main reasons is because it's connecting the flight between Istanbul and Kota Kinabalu with transit in Singapore and the airfare was pretty affordable. 

VISA & CURRENCY EXCHANGE

Visa is not required for Malaysian passport holders to visit all these 6 countries. However, this will change from 2021 onwards. Malaysians will need to apply for an ETIAS visa waiver, which will be obtainable through the online application system. For more info, you can check out here.

As for currency exchange:

• Only Kosovo and Montenegro are using Euro (€)
• Romania - National currency is leu (€1 = 4.60 leu). I exchanged at Bucharest Airport and Bucharest Old Town (of course I would recommend the latter)
• Bulgaria - National currency is lev (€1 = 1.91 lev). I withdraw some from Veliko Tarnovo train station and exchanged the rest in Sofia
• Macedonia - It's known as denar (€1 = MKD61.40). I exchanged denar at the Old Bazaar of Skopje.
• Albania - It's national currency is lek (€1 = 123 lek). I went and exchanged at the shop opposite of my hostel.
  
  

RECAP OF MY TRAVELOGUES

• From Kota Kinabalu to Bucharest, Romania
• Bucharest - The First City of Romania I Wandered
• To Brasov From Bucharest
• Short Trip To Bran Castle From Brasov
• Peles Castle of Sinaia, Romania
• Sighisoara, Transylvania's Medieval Fortified City
• Train From Brasov To Veliko Tarnovo
• Goodbye Veliko Tarnovo and Hello Sofia
• Sofia, Bulgaria - Things To Do & See In A Day
• Skopje, The Capital City of North Macedonia
• Short Trip From Skopje To Ohrid, North Macedonia
• Leaving Skopje To Pristina
• A Day Trip From Pristina To Prizren
• Tirana, The Beating Heart of Albania
• Berat, The Town of A Thousand Windows
• Kotor, A City of Montenegro That Stole My Heart
• Hiking San Giovanni Fort of Kotor, Montenegro
• The Island Gospa od Skrpjela (Our Lady of The Rock) & Bay of Kotor Cruise
• Podgorica, Montenegro
• Istanbul Tulip Festival 2019

MY TRAVEL HAUL

A handful of fridge magnets I bought

Chocolates. It's funny I don't really into chocolates but then, I love to buy chocolate as souvenirs to friends and family.

Share:

Istanbul Tulip Festival 2019

<< Previous Post: Podgorica, Montenegro <<

Istanbul, aku datang lagi! (it means "Istanbul, here I come again" in Malay language)

To be precise, I've been to Istanbul like 4 times - enter and exit for my trip to Bosnia and Croatia in 2018 and also, for this leg of my trip. It's funny how I'm only focusing on Istanbul but not the rest of Turkey cause I have promised my friends to wait for them. Not sure when and whether we able to accomplish this wishlist or not, but I believe someday we will. Fingers crossed!

PODGORICA TO ISTANBUL WITH TURKISH AIRLINES  

#1: Flying with Turkish Airlines for the second time

From Podgorica of Montenegro, I booked my flight with Turkish Airlines to Istanbul. There are not many options for this route and due to this, the fare is relatively expensive. One-way cost me €143 (approx. to RM662) and this is not my maiden experience flying with them. Even for my previous trip from Zagreb of Croatia, I also booked the exactly same airlines cause there's the one and only option I had. Exiting Istanbul to other parts of Europe is pretty cheap, but entering makes my bank bleed so badly. 

#2: Their flight safety video is super cool! Featured those characters from 'The Lego Movie'


#3: At least the airfare is including in-flight meal and baggage allowance.

ISTANBUL NEW AIRPORT 

#4


#5: The ideal way to get to the city centre from Istanbul Airport is by taking Havaist bus

Though Istanbul might no longer a stranger place for me, but because they moved to the new airport and no longer operated at Atuturk Airport, it's time for me to crack my head once again in order to get to the city center. The newly operated airport is located in the Arnavutköy district, which is on the European side of Istanbul. Thankfully, it's fairly easy to get to the city by using Istanbulkart.

HOW TO GET TO ISTANBUL CITY FROM AIRPORT
Catch Havaist bus at the level (-2) of the airport. Don't worry if you don't have any Istanbulkart with you cause there is a booth for you to purchase or top-up your look-alike "Touch N Go" card. As for the bus fare, it's vary according to your destination. The most popular stops like Taksim and Sultanahmet Square costs 18 lira per trip.

MY STAY IN ISTANBUL

#6: Bunk Hostel in Taksim area of Istanbul

I decided to book other accommodation instead of staying the same place I have stayed before in Istanbul. It's indeed last minute booking as I was indecisive of which area should I stay - whether Taksim or Sultahnamet Square since these two areas are popular among the travellers. At the end, I went for Taksim and I booked this chic and new hostel - the Bunk Hostel. The location of this hostel is 700m from Taksim Square and 800m from Taksim Metro Station. If you are taking Havaist bus from Istanbul New Airport, it will stop exactly at the same place as the one from the former airport - situated behind Point Hotel Taksim.

Bunk Hostel
Date Stayed: 25 April - 26 April 2020
Room Rate: €17.86 (approx. to RM83) for a bed in 6-bed female dormitory room with private bathroom

One of the things I love about this hostel is that it has a large rooftop terrace overlooking the city and I was indeed having a great time sitting here doing nothing but just enjoying the view. Secondly, they served free breakfast for all the in-house guests. The only downside of this hostel is that the dorm is significantly compact and small. I even had issue of climbing up to my bed due to the limited of space.

EXPLORING ISTANBUL
Like I mentioned earlier, this is not my first time to Istanbul and I've been few places like Sultanahmet, Hagia Sophia and bazaars. You can check out my post here.

As for this round, I narrow down my visit to two famous tourist attractions only, which are the Galata Tower and Sultanahmet Square because I was kinda exhausted and worn-out from the long travelling period.

Galata Kulesi (Galata Tower)
Previously used as a watchtower to prevent enemy ships from entering the harbour, now it has becomes one of the eye-catching landmark of Istanbul. However, I didn't make my way up cause the line was extremely long and I'm the type that dislike wasting my time to queue. I think it's best to arrive this place in the early morning to beat the crowd.


#7: Galata Tower


#8


#9

Istanbul Tulip Festival at Sultanahmet Square
Seriously, I never expect and specially plan for this one. I wasn't aware of the tulip festival until I reach Sultanahment Square. The reason I went there just to kill my time but unexpectedly, I was greeted by thousands, or even millions of colorful tulips. Can't believe that previously I always saw this annual event on social media but now, luck was on my side where I got to see and experience right in front of me.

#10: What a sunny day at Sultanahmet Square

#11: Istanbul Tulip Festival - an annual event which held each April, except for this year due to the pandemic situation.


#12: My favourite shot

#13: It's free for public and you don't have to pay any entrance fee. Just that there's a barrier between the tulips to avoid the public from step on it. 

GOODBYE ISTANBUL!

Staying in Istanbul for less than 24 hours, now it's time to kiss goodbye to this beautiful and amazing city. Just like how I got to the city centre from the airport, I used the exact same way which is by catching the Havaist bus that can be found behind Point Hotel Taksim. The bus departs to the airport is quite frequently, therefore you don't have to bother of buying the bus tickets in advance. Make sure that you are heading to the correct airport cause Istanbul has two different airports - Istanbul New Airport and Sabiha Gokcen Airport. 

#14: Anyone collect Starbucks mug?


#15: Absolutely agree with this quote - "Easy to Love, Hard to say Goodbye"


#16: Flying back to Singapore with Singapore Airlines

And this concludes the end of my 3rd Europe Solo travelogue. Pop champagne! If I were to be more hardworking, actually I can complete this whole series of travelogue at least by end of May (which is last month). But you know what happen when procrastinating has taken over me. Hopefully after this I can motivate myself to update my blog more frequently cause I have tons of backlog. 

Share:

From Kota Kinabalu to Bucharest, Romania

After successfully visited two of Balkans countries which are Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia in 2018, I just can't wait to visit the rest of Balkan countries and keep looking forward for it. Once I spotted the airfare with Singapore Airlines to Istanbul was within my budget, instantly I booked the ticket without thinking any longer. Either you take the risk of travelling alone, or you let go the opportunity of grabbing the cheap fare - I told myself. I rather choose the first one as I've been travelling alone quite a number of times. Plus, it's not like always you can grab these irresistible cheap fare, right?   

Just like my first trip to Balkans countries, I began with my flight from Kota Kinabalu to Singapore with Silk Air. At least this round the in-flight meal served by Silk Air is not disappointing than the one I had back in 2018. For your information, Silk Air has permanently ceased its operation for Kota Kinabalu - Singapore route last year and took over by Scoot, the low-cost carrier of the Singapore Airlines carrier.

#1: In-flight meal for Kota Kinabalu flight to Singapore via Silk Air.

So, what's my plan since I have like 8 hours of transit in Singapore before continue my next flight to Istanbul? Initially, I was tempted to visit the newly opened Jewel Changi which opened to the public less than a month, but sooner, I realised something is more important than this - which is my family. Therefore, I decided to go and visit my sister and my little nephew. Family comes first.

#2: Welcome to the most "canggih" airport - one of my most favourite airports.

How quickly time passed and the next thing I know, I need to get back to Singapore Changi Airport again to continue my next long-distance red-eye flight. My flight duration from Singapore to Istanbul took nearly 11 hours. Yes, 11 hours and if not mistaken, this is my first ever long distance flight I ever experienced with. Unfortunately, this airlines which awarded with "World's Best Airlines" failed to impress me cause they were using old fleet for the route between Singapore and Istanbul. Normally I never bother or particular about which aircraft used for any respective flights but when you are taking a long-haul flight, it does matter a lot. Sorry Singapore Airlines, but still, I personally think Qatar Airways is the best one. 

#3: Supper served by Singapore Airlines for flight Singapore to Istanbul


#4: We were served with breakfast before landed in Istanbul.

In 2018, I arrived in Istanbul Ataturk Airport but a year later, they moved to the new airport, simply known as the Istanbul Airport. Therefore, everything seems completely new, totally unfamiliar to me and I need to search all directions and information of this new airport. 

#5: Istanbul new airport - Istanbul Airport

Again for the second time, I was dilemma whether should I just stay inside the airport or heading to the town. This is because my flight to Bucharest (capital city of Romania) is around 3pm and I have like 7 hours to kill before proceed with my next flight. Making choice again! At the end, I decided to head to the town cause there's nothing much I can do if I remain to stay in the airport. I will share more about how to get to Istanbul town from the new Istanbul Airport in my next upcoming post. 

Right after I done with a cup of hot coffee and filled my hungry tummy with pasta in one random cafe in the bustling town of Istanbul, immediately I took bus departing to Istanbul Airport for me to catch my last flight of the day. As for my flight from Istanbul to Bucharest, I booked Pegasus Airlines, a Turkish low-cost airlines. I flew with Pegasus before for my flight to Sarajevo (the city of Bosnia & Herzegovina). 

In short, from Kota Kinabalu with 3 number of flights, 15 hours of transit and nearly 15 hours of flying time, proud to announce that finally I arrived in Romania - the third Balkans countries I've been. 

#6: Finally I'm in Bucharest - after 3 flights, 15 hours of transit and almost 15 hours of flight from Kota Kinabalu with two transit in Singapore and Istanbul. 

This post served as introduction of my travel adventures to the Balkans countries. So for my next post, it's all about Bucharest, the largest and capital city of Romania. Do watch out for this blog of mine 😉😉

>> Next Post: Bucharest - The First City of Romania I Wandered >>

Share:

My 3rd Europe Solo Trip For Three Weeks (Sneak Peek)

Looks like my backlogs forever will never complete cause I just came back from another trip again. Yes, this is my 3rd round of solo trip to Europe after I experienced the first solo trip to Europe in 2017 as well as last year to Istanbul, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia. I never thought that I will get addicted to travel alone cause previously, travelling solo is never my cup of thing. But somehow, life hits me so hard and I realised life is too short and I only live once. If I don't do it now, then when? 

I can say this one is impulse buying (not again!) when I saw another hard-to-resist deal from Singapore Airlines June last year. And I don't know what got into my mind, I decided to book a three weeks trip in the end. Somehow, I did regret and almost want to cancel this trip of mine due to work commitments but with the support and encouragement by the boyfriend, I proceed at the end. Turns out many things I didn't book in advance - including hostels as well as ground transportation especially the intercity one. It's so not me cause normally I will book everything and plan my trip well prior to the trip. But I glad that everything went well and smooth though I encountered several uncomfortable experiences and issues.

Three weeks - I've been to 8 different countries and 16 various cities & towns and for this post, I specially highlight those I really love the most, such as:


#1: Peles Castle in Romania.
I spent almost a week travel around Romania cause there are so many beautiful and mesmerising cities and towns in this country that worth for visit.


#2: Sofia, Bulgaria
I encountered an uncomfortable experience nearby the bus station during the beginning of my trip but then that don't stop me from discovering the beauty of Sofia.


#3: Skopje, Macedonia
Do you know that this is the birthplace of Mother Teresa? There is a small memorial house dedicated specially for her.


#4: Ohrid, Macedonia
The downside of didn't plan the trip well. I did a day trip to Ohrid from Skopje and it's really a quick and fast visit. I should at least overnight at this amazing and spectacular deepest lake of the Balkans.


#5: Prizren, Kosovo
With its rich cultural heritage, cafe culture and mountain backdrop, Prizren is Kosovo's best kept secret.


#6: Berat, Albania
One of the oldest town situated in southcentral of Albania, this town has its nickname known as "City of a Thousand Windows".


#7: Kotor, Montenegro
This is one and only town that make me stay for almost four days but still, I refuse to leave. Normally I will stay maximum of two days in a city/town and I chao immediately but not this one. Kotor does looks alike Dubrovnik to me.


#8: "World's Largest Tulip Carpet" in Istanbul, Turkey
Back to Istanbul for the second time. However, I found out Istanbul is overcrowded with tons of tourists. I hardly visit any of their attractions cause everywhere long queue. But I glad finally I managed to witness the tulip festival after saw it from the Internet few years back.


#9: Done with 6 out of 8 Balkans countries. Guess which two I don't make it.

P/S: Really wish that I can finish all my backlogs as soon as possible before my next trip is approaching soon. 

Share:

Summary of My 17D Balkans Travelogue (2018) Covering Istanbul, Bosnia & Herzegovina & Croatia

And here comes the end of another travelogue of mine - like, finally! This year I managed to complete at least 5 travelogues before year-end; Solo Trip To Europe (2017), 9D8N Australia Melbourne & Sydney (2017), 6D5N Central Vietnam (2018), 6D5N Kyushu Japan (2018) and now this one - 17D of my Balkans trip covering Turkey, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia. Feeling accomplished cause my motivation for blogging is finally back on track! I almost lost my interest and passion not just in blogging, but in travelling too dating back 2 years ago.

SUMMARY OF MY 17D BALKANS TRIP COVERING ISTANBUL, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA AND CROATIA

Here is the compilation of my Balkans travelogue at a glance (obviously I'm lazy to summarise everything 😜):

• 2018 Istanbul, Bosmia & Herzegovina and Croatia (Sneak Peek)
• 48 Hours in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Sarajevo to Mostar By Train and Stari Most
• A Day Trip To Blagaj Tekija, Pocitelj, Kravice Falls & War Tour
• Can't Help Falling In Love With Dubrovnik
• Old City Walls of Dubrovnik
• From Dubrovnik to Split
• A Day Trip To Sibenik From Split
• A Short Layover To Zadar
• The Breathtaking View of Plitvice Lakes National Park
• Zagreb, My Last Leg of Croatia
• Istanbul, Turkey - My Starting and Ending Point of My Balkans Trip

(Just click each of them and it will link you to the individual blogpost)

For this post also, I would like to share not comprehensive one but a brief and basic travel guide based my own first hand experience to Turkey (Istanbul), Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia.

VISA

For Malaysian, visa is NOT required to enter into these three countries. Therefore don't have to worry about applying any visa at all. That's show how powerful our Malaysian passport are, right? However if you are intended to stay more than 90 days for each respective country, then you have to go and apply for the visa. I don't have experience for this cause normally, I only stay one or two weeks for each country. 

CURRENCY EXCHANGE

Before embarking for this trip, I exchanged Euros and some Turkish lira (I changed in KL Nu Sentral). You can bring along US dollar, British Pound or even Singapore Dollar cause these currencies are also widely accepted in most of the European countries.

• Turkey's national currency is Turkish lira. It can be found in Malaysia. But in case you don't have the time to change, no worries cause you can exchange in Istanbul. TRY100 = RM102
• Convertible mark (KM/BAM) is the only legal tender in Bosnia & Herzegovina. I exchanged in Sarajevo International Airport - the first Bosnia's airport I landed. €1.00 = 1.95KM on average*. But because there is 1% commission being charged, hence I got €1.00 = 1.93KM. I also changed at Sarajevo's post office as well and again, there is additional charge of 1% commission.
• The official currency for Croatia is Croatian kuna. €1.00 = HRK7.13 on average*. You can exchange at most of the big cities, like Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb. There is no commission charge for Croatian kuna. 

*The rate I exchanged in May 2018

Top: Bosnia & Herzegovina's convertible mark

Bottom: Croatian kuna 

PURCHASING TRANSPORTATION TICKET

The most frequently asked travel questions - where to buy all these transportation tickets and when? Being "kiasu" in me, I always prefer to buy all my buses and trains ticket prior to my trip in order to secure the seats, especially when the bus and train schedules are quite limited. Except for my train ticket from Sarajevo to Mostar and a-return day trip between Split and Sibenik, I booked all my bus tickets from GetByBus (click here). It's a legit and reliable website, so don't have to worry cause it's really pretty save and secure buying bus tickets from this website. 

The only downside of this website is that you have to print out your tickets. They don't accept mobile ticket. And another thing you have to take note is that for all intercity buses, there is an extra fee of €1-2 charge for luggage fee. Remember to keep some small change.

SIM CARD

Because I was travelling alone, hence it's freaking costly to rent a pocket WiFi by my own. Besides that, for your information Bosnia & Herzegovina is actually doesn't consider to be part of European coverage even for both pocket WiFi and travel sim card. What I did is I bought my travel sim card from Hello1010 (click here) and purchased another one for Bosnia & Herzegovina in Sarajevo Airport. 

There you go! Hopefully I don't miss out any important travel tips and info relating my trip to these Balkans countries. In case you have any queries or doubt, feel free to leave a comment or email me. 

TOTAL SPENDING

As usual, I simplify everything for easy reference - which include means of transportation, hostels, entrance fees, food but excluding my shopping spending throughout my trip around 17 days. 

PARTICULARS	AMOUNT
	€/KM/CZK	RM
Air Fares Singapore Airlines (Return fare Kota Kinabalu to Istanbul) Pegasus Airlines (One-way Istanbul to Sarajevo) Turkish Airways (One-way Zagreb to Istanbul) Cities Sarajevo – 2 days Mostar – 2 days Dubrovnik – 2days Split – 2 days A Day Trip to Split Zadar – 1 day Plitvice Lakes National Park – 1 day Zagreb – 2 days Istanbul – 2 days Ground Tour Herzegovina Tour Others 4GB Travel Prepaid Sim Card - Bought from Hello1010	- - - - - - - - - - - - 60KM -	2,190 293 955 301 188 782 419 149 289 300 363 250 150 103
	TOTAL:	6,732

Exchange rate  €1.00 = RM4.84 as at May 2018

Curious about my souvenir travel haul? There are two items I die-die must buy whenever I visit different country or city which are the fridge magnet and postcard. Besides these two, another one would be the stamps. Sometimes I would spend up to RM100 by just buying these three things. As for this trip, my total spending for souvenir and shopping is RM1,026 including numerous of fridge magnets, postcards, stamps, a T-shirt, a skirt and a dress when I was in Croatia. 

A hardcore collector for fridge magnets.

Souvenirs from Croatia including tea towels, liquid soap dispense and a T-shirt for my nephew.

Pouch and fridge magnets from Istanbul.

Turkish ceramic bowls in various sizes.

AIRLINES EXPERIENCE & THEIR IN-FLIGHT MEALS
For this trip, I flew and experienced 4 different type of airlines:

1) Silk Air for my journey between Kota Kinabalu to Singapore. I even blogged about this airline before (click here).

In-flight meal for Silk Air. I like their fresh fruits but not their main meal. Feel like eating thick flour instead of fish meats.

2) Singapore Airlines for the trip from Singapore to Istanbul as well as for the return. Finally I got to fly with the World's Best Airline. However, I'm quite disappointed with the fleet for the flight to Istanbul cause it's one old aircraft being used. The in-flight entertainment wasn't fascinating and not many options were given. Even for the in-flight meals, I found out it's just so-so and nothing to shout. 

For the route Singapore to Istanbul, their meals are quite acceptable. 

But for the route from Istanbul to Singapore, the meals look kinda sad and unappetising. Luckily there's an ice-cream to cheer me up

3) Pegasus Airlines for one-way journey from Istanbul to Sarajevo. Pegasus Airlines is a Turkish low-cost airlines with no-frills, similar to AirAsia where the fare doesn't include free baggage allowance, in-flight meal and entertainment. 

4) Turkish Airlines for a trip from Zagreb to Istanbul. Turkish Airlines is a national carrier airline of Turkey and it's full-fledged airlines. This is one of the most expensive fares I ever bought in my life just for a single trip. 

Never thought this is going to be a lengthy post but I'm glad that finally this is the end. Now I'm going to have a cup of nice hot coffee and at same time, thinking which travelogue should I blog next.

Share: