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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DAY 158 - LUXOR TO HURGHADA

CRAZYJOURNEY GOES BALLOONING!

The view from our Balloon

This morning the lads were up before the birds to go on a Hot Air Baloon tour of the Valley of the Kings, home to some of Egypts most famous Pharaohs. We were escorted by bus to the landing site, stuffed into a massive basket and before Rhys even woke up,  were in the air. 

A half asleep Rhys gets a rare view of what a sunrise looks like!

Other than the burning heat from the balloons flame, the whole experience was incredible, cruising around some of the ancient ruins and soaring to 2,500 feet with stunning views of the Nile and a golden sunrise.

Tomo lights up

After another few hours sleep, we hit the road for Hurghada. However after only 15 minutes outside Luxor, we were stopped at yet another checkpoint and told by the official that for safety reasons there was no way we could continue to Hurghada unless we were in an official convoy. With this not really being an option, we decided to find our own way through the back streets of small villages. After half an hour of driving through farmland roads and getting directions from men on donkeys, we eventually found our way back on to the motorway and past the checkpoint via and old train track.

One of the lads that offered us help!

After a few hours and several more bewildered looks from checkpoint officials, we arrived on the outskirts of Hurghada on the Red Sea Coast. We had read in travel guides that Hurghada wasn’t the nicest place but when we arrived, we realised that this was a massive understatement.  Strewn with tacky and half-finished resorts, the predominantly Russian package holiday makers that come here seem to be oblivious to this locations nightmarish existence. The place is literally tourism gone wrong!

The first thing we did after driving through hell hole was to try and find a way out of in the form of a car ferry to Sharm El Sheikh, another Egyptian Red Sea Resort. However we were devasted when told that there was no car ferry.

Surprisingly enough, there is actually a Ministry of Sound club in Hurghada so we decided to stay for a night. After checking into a nearby run-down hotel we made the most of it at a half empty Ministry of Sound for the night.

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DAY 157 - LUXOR DAY 1

CRAZYJOURNEY VISITS LUXOR!

The Luxor Temple

We had a well deserved lie-in this morning after a tough few days driving. Rhys and Chuck, disheartened by the closure of Maccas the previous night, decided to go get their fix that afternoon. Amazingly, when they were sitting down, Rhys looked over and couldn’t believe that a mate of his, Tom from Sydney was sitting right across from him. What a random place on Earth to meet someone from home! After chatting away, and realizing that Tomo had time to spare before meeting other friends in Greece, he decided to join us and travel back up towards Istanbul over the next week.

Tomo is the latest addition to the CRAZYJOURNEY team

We spent the afternoon wandering around Luxor which has a far more relaxed feel than Cairo and sprawls around the Luxor Temple, a striking collection of ancient Egyptian columns and statues. The west bank of the city is home to the Valley of the Kings which houses the burial chambers of ancient Egypt’s most famous Pharaohs. Rhys, Chuck, Tom and Fintan organized to do a hot air balloon tour of the valley tomorrow morning. Dave has opted out of this one due to his acute vertigo.

Luxor Temple

That evening there was another battle of the blogs with Dave and Fintan doing a marathon session in an internet café for 5 hours. We were in bed early because of the impending 5am wake-up call for tomorrow morning’s sunrise balloon ride.