DAY 175 - BUDAPEST DAY 1

Paul, Dave and the Big Serj at the Chain Bridge, Budapest

Today the whole gang got together to go for lunch on Paul’s dad the Big Serj in Raday Ucta. After lunch we wandered around this absolute gem of a city taking in some of the grand architecture along the banks of the Danube such as the magnificent Chain Bridge. Unfortunately Tony had to leave to go home to the lovely Ailish. Needless to say, he added heaps of value during his stay with us.

Gary about to order duck for the 4th time in as many days!

Not everybody noticed, but remarkably at dinner that night, Gary ordered duck for the 4^th time in as many days. Rio nightclub was so good the night before that we decided to head off there again for another mad night.

DAY 174 - TARGU MURES TO BUDAPEST

YETI ATTACK IN BUDAPEST!

Scarlett, The Yeti's cute little buggy is dominated by the beast in Budapest

After a quiet enough night, we were up early and had a look around the lovely little Transylvanian town of Targu Mures before hitting the road towards Budapest, the capital of Hungary. 

The lads in Targu Mures

Stuck on a single lane road packed with trucks, it took us six hours just to get to the Hungarian border. Close to the border and stuck in traffic, we stopped at a currency exchange to get Hungarian money. Marty and Gary were last to leave and just as they were attacked by a giant pig who was being chased up the road and aggrevated further by an angry old Romanian Gypsy. Marty screamed like a girl and tried to keep the pig at bay with a broom while Gary looked on laughing. Random but absolutely classic!

Marty glad to escape with his life after the giant pig attack and Gary thinking about his duck dinner in the doorway

The roads instantly became better once we crossed into Hungary and Tony who flew ahead from Bucharest had been on the phone several times and seemed very anxious to meet us in the city. We thought nothing of it and that he was probably on his own waiting for us.

All the lads with Big Serj and a Turkish Man. What the hell is Tony trying to do to Dave?

We finally found Tony’s hotel in the centre of Budapest and just as we parked, we saw some weird guy in a kilt shouting and running past the Hummer. We thought nothing of it until we saw a cute girlie little scarlet coloured Mercedes reversing up the road towards us with the British license plate ‘P 5OKY’. He’s absolutely had us!!! Paul Sokhi aka 'The Yeti', who was with us all through South East Asia and India had repeatedly let on to Dave that he wouldn’t be able to meet us until Scandinavia had turned up to surprise us all in Budapest. Paul had driven the whole way from Glasgow with his dad, the Big Serj  and kept it on the down-low, only telling Tony. Tony’s odd choice of a flight to previous day and anxious phonecalls all made sense now.

All the lads at Cafe Del Rio, Budapest

Needless to say, it put everyone in the mood for a mad one and the 9 of us all headed out to the top spot in Budapest, Café Del Rio on the banks of the Danube. Another epic night was had!

DAY 174 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 173 - BUCHAREST TO TARGU MURES

TRANSYLVANIA!

This bloke lives near where we're going. Marty was shitting himself!

Cillian and Rob were unfortunately leaving us today after mad few days but the other lads would be with us until Saturday. Alan was feeling really sick and sadly needed to go home with the two boys today as well. The three lads added nothing but value to CRAZYJOURNEY and we look forward to seeing them when we get home.

Our next destination is Budapest in Hungary which was at least 2 days driving so we planned an overnight stop in Targu Mures in Transylvania (the home of Dracula!)  where Dave would meet his lady friend Judy who’s from there. Tony being Tony decided to fly ahead to Budapest. We all thought this was a bit ridiculous but the man had an ace up his sleave that we wouldn’t find out about until the next day in Budapest!

So 7 of us piled into the Hummer and had an enjoyable drive through Transylvania and arrived late to the surprisingly beautiful small town of Targu Mures. Dave stayed in with Judy while the rest of the lads piled into a taxi to suss out the nightlife. 

DAY 173 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 172 - CONSTANTA TO BUCHAREST

Cillan and Gary hang out of the train back to Bucharest. Don't try this at home kids!

There were way too many of us today to pile into the Hummer today for the drive back to Bucharest so most of the Irish lads hopped on a train. By all accounts they had a good laugh drinking and hanging out the moving train’s door like idiots! 

Alan hanging out of a train like a madman!

Back in Bucharest, Andy had arranged a 2^nd big apartment for all the lads to stay in. The 13 of us all went out with Andy as our guide to another Romanian nightclub and were all completely blown away yet again by the beauty of Romanian girls.

In the wee hours of the morning, Cillian fell fast asleep in the first apartment, he somehow locked the door behind him and didn’t budge as we banged the door to try wake him up. This forced us all to cram into one apartment for the night!

An even bigger mob of  lads out on another crazy night in Bucharest

DAY 171+172 - BUCHAREST TO CONSTANTA FOR 2 DAYS

AND THEN THERE WERE 13!

WE MEET THE IRISH MOB IN CONSTANTA

All the boyos at dinner in Constanta

This morning was a bit emotional for everybody as would have to say goodbye to Tomo who has been with us since that rendezvous of destiny at McDonalds in Luxor, Egypt. Tom is flying out of Bucharest to the Greek islands to meet mates. The lad was nothing but a value addition to the drive and will be sorely missed!

A teary goodbye to the one and only Tomo

After saying goodbye to Tomo, 7 of us including the big units Rob and Cillian, piled into the Hummer for a 2 hour drive to Constanta, a resort town on the Romanian Black Sea coast, where we would meet 4 more Irish lads, Tony, Stuie, Gary and Alan who had come from a wedding in Italy to meet us.  Constanta was the only place in Romania they could get to from Italy.

A beautiful sunset in Constanta with the large silhouette of what can only be Cillian O'Byrne's head!

By the time we got to Constanta, the lads had already arrived and were waiting for us at the hotel. Unfortunately, the town was completely dead as we had arrived two weeks before the holiday season began. Nonetheless, we all got together for a few beers and a meal at the hotel. We all went out to find some action but there was nothing going on, so we got out the Shisha pipes brought Damascus and a bit of a seisún at the hotel.

Alan nestling in for a Shisha seisun!

The next day, we had a chilled out day by the lake in a lame attempt to get some sun. Meanwhile Marty who was struggling with only backpack of filthy clothes decided to do a DIY wash but bought bleach instead and almost made a balls of the whole thing. He ended up using hotel shampoo clothes and dried them at the beach like a true bum.

Classic Aussie! Marty improvises at the beach to get his washing done

That evening, all the lads got together again for dinner in local Irish bar and restaurant. After dinner a few of the lads stayed out at a 24hour café bar for a few late drinks with the rest hitting the sack early with a trip back to Bucharest the next day.

DAY 171 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 170 - BUCHAREST DAY 1

Down in a hole! The Hummers gets stuck in a huge trough in Bucharest

Feeling rough after a big night in Bamboo and stuck in a crammed apartment, Dave and Marty went in the Hummer to find a hotel to make life a bit easier for us all. Marty found a cheap hotel in the city so a few of us took a drive there. We were parked beside roadworks outside the hotel and a hungover Cillian informed a hungover Dave of a giant unmarked hole just in front of him. Dave acknowledged this but after sitting for another 5 minutes in the car waiting for Marty’s return, the hole had completely vanished from his mind. Leaving the hotel, we made it about 1 metre before the entire front right wheel fell into a massive 4ft deep trough with a horrifying bang.

Fintan gets into the huge hole after the Hummer was reversed out

Shock and horror instantly struck our zombie heads. We were all a bit worried when we got out of the car to see the damage. It looked like we would definitely need a tow but we decided to have a punt at a reverse job anyway. Luckily enough, the beast reversed out with ease and miraculously there was no damage at all.

That evening, Dave went off to get the car a much needed valet, the first wash the Hummer has had since Dubai months ago. We all took it pretty handy that night knowing what lay ahead when we meet 4 more Irish lads tomorrow.

DAY 169 - SOFIA TO BUCHAREST

AND THEN THERE WERE 9! 

CRAZYJOURNEY HITS BUCHAREST

All the boys together in Bamboo nightclub, Bucharest

All a bit groggy after last nights activities, we hit the road at midday bound for Bucharest to be on time to collect Cillian and Rob, two mates of ours from Dublin at the airport. Rob’s brother Andy is working in Bucharest so he had everything organized for our arrival.

Crossing into Romania was no hassle at all and we met Andy in Bucharest city centre. Much like Sofia, Burcharest maintains a Soviet feel. Dominating the city is the immense Parliament Palace, built in 1984 by the communist ruler Nicolae Ceauşescu. 1/6th of Bucharest was bulldozed to accommodate its creation and after the Pentagon, this is 2^nd largest building in the world.

The massive Parliament Palace in Bucharest

Dave and Andy drove to the airport to collect the lads while the rest of us went to The Harp Irish Bar for a feed and some warm-ups for what Andy promised would be a big night. It was great to see the 2 lads again after so long and after a few drinks, we got ready at our apartment and met Andy again before going in taxis to the one and only Bamboo Nightclub.

Dave, astonished by the calibre of girls in Bamboo!

Rob, Andy, Fintan and Marty getting loose!

We didn’t know what to expect from Romania, but were absolutely blown away going into this glitzy nightclub with Ferraris pulling up and by far the most beautiful girls we’ve seen on the whole drive inside. Bamboo is regarded as Romania’s top nightclub filled with Bucharest glitterati.  The 9 of us had an amazing night and were completely shell shocked by the girls in the place, especially the podium dancers who some us struggled to keep our eyes off! Cillian disappeared for most of the night to show Romanians what ‘going mad’ really means!

No words are really needed here!

Bucharest taxi drivers are a bunch of rip-off merchants and while asleep on the way home in a taxi, Fintan’s precious iphone was robbed leading to what Tomo later described as hilarious outburst of rage!

A distraught Fintan desperately trying to call his precious and stolen iphone!

All in all it was a great night and a taster of what’s to come, especially since 4 more Irish lads are joining the mob on Monday!

DAY 169 ROUTEMAP

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CRAZYJOURNEY HOMECOMING PARTY!!

PARTY TIME!!

The lads have nearly made it!

We have driven all the way from Sydney to Dublin over 40 countries, 50,000kms, 4 continents.

On Fiday 4th July and upside-down on the other side of the world from Sydney, a big party to celebrate the homecoming and to raise some more funds for AWARE is being held at the fabulous SPY Bar on South William Street in Dublin's City Centre from 10.15pm - late.

We'd love you guys to come along and celebrate the end of this amazing journey with us!

10 Euro donation upon entry goes directly to AWARE

DAY 168 - SOFIA DAY 1

The Hummer in hot water on a Bulgarian Tram-only line

Waking up to a grey and dull Sofia, we set out to explore the city. En route however, Dave managed to take a wrong turn and ended up driving on a tram-only zone with Bulgarian passengers staring at us in disbelief! Imagine the sight of a Hummer passing you by on the Luas line back home!

Escaping in one piece, we were all pleasantly surprised by the Bulgarian capital which is a lot more modern and happening than we first expected. Marty and Dave headed off to a local Poker Room to endulge in one of their favourite pastimes for a few hours before going home and getting the lads ready for a big student night out in Sofia.

Marty and Dave, up to their usual antics in Alcohol Nightclub, Sofia

We got some insider knowledge from local boyos to visit the appropriately named 'Alcohol' nightclub  and had a great night with the mad student punters! good luck to anyone who can wake up Rhys tomorrow morning for our mammoth drive to Bucharest where we will be meeting the visiting Irish mob over the coming days.

Rhys with a fine example of an overly macho Bulgarian bouncer

DAY 167 - THESSALONIKI TO SOFIA, BULGARIA

CRAZYJOURNEY REACHES BULGARIA

A dodgy Bulgarian border policeman pulls us over

This morning, we had to peel ourselves out of what felt like our death bed and somehow get ourselves organized for a big drive to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Fintan’s mum brought him for an incredible lunch at Sotiris Adelakis, one of the best fish restaurants in Greece, owned and run by a crazy former truck driver.

It was 4 and half hour drive to Sofia and just after crossing the Bulgarian border  we were stopped for speeding by Bulgarian Police who fictitiously claimed we were driving much faster than we actually were and threatened a trip to the local police station where our license would be taken. After spending a lot of time in Moscow and learning from his mate the dodgiest of all Russians, the infamous Vladimir Bosyakov, Dave realised that this was the usual prompt to offer a bribe and asked if there was any possible way of paying ‘a fine’ on the spot with a 10 euro note. The answer was an immediate ‘NO’, but when a 20 euro note was presented, it swiftly became possible and all documents were handed back over for us to head on our way again.

Arriving in Sofia, the country’s Soviet history is apparent in the city’s run down tram networks and communist-styled architecture. As with most Soviet countries, the disparity in wealth is obvious with top of the range sports cars roaring past old Ladas and super chic nightclubs situated only a stone’s throw from dull and run down Soviet housing projects.

Downtown Sofia

We managed to find a good feed at Flannagan’s Irish Pub situated right in the city centre. After finding cheap accommodation, the lads didn’t hang around long and hit the town for the night and found it hard to mingle with the grumpy and ultra-macho Eastern European men and incredibly stuck up but beautiful women dancing to trashy Eurotrash techno music.

DAY 167 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 166 - KAVALA TO THESSALONIKI

All the lads with Fintan's mum at a bar in Aristotelous Square

We had to get up early this morning to reach Thessaloniki Airport for the lunchtime arrival of Fintan’s mother, Deirdre. Arriving in coastal capital of Northern Greece in plenty of time, we dropped off the lads in the city centre to find accommodation and headed to the airport.

Being idiots in Aristoleous Square

Returning from the airport an hour later, we rendezvoused in one of the packed cafes in the city’s Aristotelous Square which was the perfect spot to soak up the city’s young and vibrant atmosphere over a few beers.

All Hail Pharaoh Spargo IV the Great!

That evening, we all watched the nail-biting Champions League Final and stayed around the square and waterfront for the night. Dave and Marty lost the run of it with their Cleopatra/Rick James hats and up upon entering one nightclub, insisted on the bouncer bowing to the Great Pharoah Spargo IV.

DAY 165 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 165 - ISTANBUL TO KAVALA

CRAZYJOURNEY FINALLY REACHES EUROPE!

The lads at the Blue Mosque, Istanbul

We were up early this morning to have a wander around Istanbul and see some of it’s sights. Our first stop was the Blue Mosque, whose name comes from the blue impression created from it’s tiled walls and painted dome. Afterwards, we wandered down to the waterfront and watched some funny fishermen dancing to techno music.

We wandered back to the hostel through the Grand Bazaar, a labyrinthine medieval shopping mall with over 4,500 shops selling everything from rugs to apple flavoured tea. Marty ended up nearly spewing after trying some local cheese at one of the stalls.

The Grand Bazaar, Istanbul...note Dave's hideous Ratty!

After a quick donar dinner, all 6 of us crammed into the Hummer and hit the road bound for Thessaloniki in Greece in time to meet Fintan’s mother tomorrow. It was well into the night when we reached another massive milestone on the drive by entering Greece and EU for the first time. This was the easiest border crossing yet and it was an absolute pleasure not even requiring  a stamp on our passports for once.

The Hummer finally enters Greece and the EU!

We began to run out of petrol 100kms outside Thessaloniki and pulled into a small coastal town near Kavala to fill up only to find out that all petrol stations were closed for the night. We were all knackered anyway so decided to find somewhere to stay. With all nearby options for accommodation closed, Marty thought it would be a good idea to sleep in an unlocked van on the side of the road, which could have been a last resort option only for the dodgy Bulgarian license plates! Eventually we found a B&B and got some rest before Thessaloniki tomorrow.

DAY 165 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 164 - ANKARA TO ISTANBUL

CRAZYJOURNEY IN THE BUL!

And then there were 6....Marty joins CRAZYJOURNEY

With a 3.30pm rendezvous with  the man himself, Marty Spargo in Istanbul Airport, we hopped back on Turkey's brilliant highways and headed towards the airport. Marty had been on a world tour and come straight from the Palestinian West Bank to meet us.

Arriving into Budapest, we had monumental crossing over Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge which connects the Middle East with Europe. It was a huge milestone for us to see a sign stating ‘Welcome to Europe’ as we drove into Istanbul, the only city in the world built on two continents.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge connecting the Middle Eastern and European Continents

With just about enough petrol and stuck in traffic, we miraculously made it in time to collect Marty 5 minutes before he landed. As ever, Marty was full of mad exploits from around the world and South East Asia in particular. He’ll no doubt be a valued addition to the team until his departure in Prague.

Marty up to his usual antics at the Hostel Bar

We stayed in Sultanahmet, the beautifully cobblestoned tourist heart of Istanbul, only a stone’s throw away from Istanbul’s most prominent landmark, the Blue Mosque. That evening, we went for drinks and the usual Shisha in bar before trying to make a night of it in the city centre. Unfortunately the place was absolutely dead so we returned to the bar near the hostel for a few quiet scoops.

DAY 164 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 163 - DAMASCUS TO ANKARA, TURKEY

CRAZYJOURNEY ARRIVES BACK IN TURKEY

Scary looking turn-off for Iraq

Today was a massive day of driving from Damascus into Turkey. En route through Syria, we saw plenty of opportunities to turn off for Baghdad. A classic was the compulsory turn off for tanks and trucks entering Iraq!

We had a relatively trouble free border crossing back into Turkey. On our first entry into Turkey from Iran, all of our bags were checked thoroughly but this time around, the head of customs lazily took one look at all the bags piled in the back and sent us on our way!

We reached Ankara by midnight on good Turkish motorways and got a much needed rest before our rive to Istanbul tomorrow.

DAY 163 ROUTEMAP

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DAY 162 - AQABA TO DAMASCUS

CRAZYJOURNEY GOES FOR A FLOAT IN THE DEAD SEA

The Lads go for a float in the Dead Sea

Having already been through Jordan and Syria and with a deadline to meet the one and only Marty Spargo (Dave’s mate from Sydney) in Istanbul in 3 day, we have a marathon drives ahead of us to reach the European continent in time. Not wasting any time in Aqaba we hammered it North and planned a quick stop in the Dead Sea close to Amman.

This body of water is the lowest point on the surface of the earth at 420 metres below sea level. It’s name comes from the fact that it is 8 times saltier than the Ocean so no fish can exist here. So with the sunset view of the Palestinian West Bank in the distance, we hopped in for the obligatory float and read of the newspaper. It was an incredible feeling have so much buoyancy and Rhys made the mistake of dipping his head underwater only for the salt to sting the hell out of his eyes!

The sun sets over the Dead Sea and Palestinian West Bank

We tore on towards the Syrian border and eventually reached Damascus in the wee hours where we checked into the same hotel as last time!

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DAY 161 - SHARM EL SHEIKH TO AQABA, JORDAN

CRAZYJOURNEY CATCHES THE FERRY BACK TO JORDAN

The Hummer gets ready to board the Nuweiba Ferry

Waking up bruised and in tatters, we put the pieces of our life back together and hit the road for Nuweiba to catch the return ferry back to Aqaba in Jordan.  Arriving only half an hour before the ship set sail, we were told by probably the most uncooperative, unfriendly and useless ticket officer on the whole planet that there was no way of getting onboard. Not giving in, we went into the port to meet the official who had helped us out a week previously. Luckily, he told us that the ferry had some problems and was delayed and radioed the ticket office to allow us to have a ticket.

After a massive blow-up with the obese ticket officer, he reluctantly let in and gave us our tickets at an inflated price! At that stage we were in no position to bargain and took the tickets. The ferry’s problems were finally fixed and by the time we arrived back in Aqaba it was already 3am so we settled back into the hotel we had stayed in previously.

DAY 161 ROUTEMAP: Click on Icons for Details

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DAY 160 - SHARM EL SHEIKH DAY 1

CRAZYJOURNEY FOAM PARTY!

Tomo, Fintan and Rhys at the foam party in Pacha

With black mud coming out of the shower this morning, Dave and Fintan decided enough was enough with this hellhole and left Rhys, Tom and Chuck to go and find better accommodation. We had done a bit of research and found out that Pacha, one of the best nightclubs in the world, had a venue in Sharm El Sheikh so we planned to find accommodation as close to there as possible. Luckily enough, there was a perfect spot in the form of the Camel Hotel only 2 doors down. TOO EASY!

We spent the evening wandering around the strip at Nama Bay, one of the many bays on Sharm’s coast. Although Sharm still has the package holiday feel, it is certainly more well kept and actually offers some of the best scuba diving in the world. Rhys took advantage of this by going on a night dive. Meanwhile we went to dinner at Bhudda Bar for an amazing sushi feed with Dave getting along famously with the young Russian waitress. 

Pacha Naama Bay

We all reconvened at our hotel for some warm ups before heading into Pacha for an absolutely mad night. It turned out that tonight was foam party night so half the nightclub bailed into what can only be described as a foam cauldron of lust and swimming pool for crazy night of antics. Thinking the foam would somehow cushion our falls, we were up on each others shoulders and diving around the place only to wreck ourselves on the concrete floor!

Rhys and Tom get involved!

During the night there were also reported sightings of an abominable foam-man lurking around the club, with Tomo even managing to catch a photo of the beast himself! The craic was absolutely mighty and ended in the wee hours of the morning!

The abominable Foam Man lurks in the distance baring some resemblance to Dave!

DAY 159 - HURGHADA TO SHARM EL SHEIKH

CRAZYJOURNEY REACHES SHARM EL SHEIKH

Sharm El Sheikh by Night

We decided to get out of Hurghada as quickly as possible and head to Sharm El Sheikh, a more popular Red Sea Resort situated at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula. We’ve seen a lot of seedy men on Crazyjourney so far, especially through India and the Middle East, but one bloke we saw when leaving Hurghada could definitely be in the running for the world’s seediest man! We spotted him loitering outside a shop and couldn’t help screeching to a halt to get a photo. How good is his kit!!!

3 simple words...."World's Seediest Man!!!"

Taking another tunnel trip under the Suez Canal, it was another mamooth drive all the way to the Sinai Peninsula. Arriving at 3am, Nama Bay in Sharm El Sheikh instantly looked much cleaner and properly developed. We began the ordeal of finding hotel in this predominantly high-end package holiday resort, eventually finding and with little choice, settling for an absolute dive which was completely run down with cockroaches in the room.

DAY 159 ROUTEMAP

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