So until about 7 last night I had every intention of going to Belgrade on the 9pm train; I had a hostel booked and a seat reservation for the train. But I was sitting at dinner with these two Aussie guys who were on their way to Istanbul, and I was having a really good time. I haven't liked anyone I've met that much since these two guys in Berlin, and I'm still kicking myself for not changing my plans to go to Amsterdam with them. So when I found myself truly enjoying these guys' company, I just said screw it and got on the 8pm train to Sofia, Bulgaria with them. We're heading to Istanbul (and 70 degree weather) tomorrow night.

When we got on the train, not only did we not have sleepers, there weren't even compartments; it was just a normal car with an aisle and two seats on each side. Through Romania the train was boiling hot. I was stripped down to just a tank and tights - I'd even taken off my socks. Around one when we finished with border control, we decided to go to sleep. There were some Romanian people in our car, but they added another car at the border, and they all switched. We assumed it was because we were being loud, along with another group of three Aussies. So anyway, we go to sleep with hardly anything on (the boys on the floor, me sprawled across two very hard seats), only to wake up absolutely freezing at about four. There was absolutely no heat in the car. I put on about six layers, but I was still freezing - especially my feet. The boys woke me up around 6 because I was sleeping sitting up, with my knees to my chest, and my face buried in between, and they worried I was too cold. At this point one of the guys, Blaze, wandered into the car they had added at the border, only to come back to tell us it was about three times warmer. We moved, and not only was it warmer, it was an eight person compartment with really comfortable reclining seats. Ohhhh - that's why all the Romanians left our car . . . too bad we figured this out with only two hours left in our journey.

Our train was due in at six, but we were actually really happy it ended up being two and a half hours late - the scenery was absolutely amazing. It got light right as we were heading through the mountains, and there was snow everywhere, plus it was all misty - beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. At one point we came out of this tunnel over this rocky gorge, surrounded my mountains lost in the clouds -probably the coolest landscape I've ever seen. I made a mad attempt to get to my camera, but I wasn't quick enough . . . next time I guess.

After a sweet nap on the couch at our hostel, we had a bit of a walk around Sofia today. It was nice and sunny, but there really isn't much to see. It's quite rundown as well, except nowhere near as creepy as Bucharest. The Bulgarians are proving to be even nicer than Romanians; we couldn't find the place that sold train tickets in town, so we went in this random building to ask and the guy walked us there. Tomorrow we're taking a day trip to this monastery in the mountains; it's a bit expensive, but I think it'll be worth it.

It's amazing how traveling with others (especially two guys) takes the stress out of everything. I don't have to worry about drawing attention to myself or getting into some sort of mishap; it's a completely different travel experience - one that is going to make me never want to go home.

I'm ecstatic about going back to Istanbul -the chaos, the smell of the sea, the calls to prayer over the loudspeakers, even the overeager shop owners pawing at every passerby. I couldn´t fall asleep on the train last night because I was so eager to get to Istanbul. I even considered taking two night trains in a row to make it there by tomorrow morning.