Here we go again..

I got back home last night at 1.30, promptly gave up smoking again and settled back into the hamster wheel.

What was great about the trip was that it wasn't in Western Europe where some semblance of human warmth was still on display. It came from Alina and her mother who taught us (or tried to teach us) Moldovan on the way to Chisinau, and the warm welcome in the hostel/apartment we stayed in. It came from the guy who took us under his wing at the Transnistrian immigration post, showed us the sights of Bendery and and drew us a map of Tiraspol in sub-zero temperatures before disappearing off to see his family. It also came from the two old ladies on the Iasi-Timisoara night train who fed us like kings with homemade sausages and bacon, and insisted on always talking to us in Romanian and smiling at us despite our confused looks. It came from Georgiana who turned those noises into words we could understand and taught us us how to eat roasted pumpkin seeds. It came from those who smiled at the fact we were tourists in Moldova but couldn't really understand why. It came from the big difference I noticed in Vienna, Dusseldorf and Helsinki, all of which seemed completely sterile and lifeless by comparison to what I had seen over the last week and a half. So thanks to all of you...

It wasn't all beauty and sunshine and relaxation - the temperatures weren't exactly high apart from a beautiful sunny day in Mostar, and the early, early mornings dragging ourselves and our bags off night trains into dark and wet cities were tough, but it was all worth it. Travelling isn't really travelling in my mind unless there is some aspect of suffering to it as well. Without lugging my stuff uphill at 6am in Belgrade with no feeling in my hands or toes and mucus streaming down my face, there is no way I would have enjoyed my cheese burek for breakfast quite as much. If we hadn't travelling for 48 hours straight we wouldn't have got to see Moldova and Transnistria, which were pretty cool. Without any of this, I wouldn't have had the sense of achievement from the trip. I don't like touching down at the airport and getting a taxi to the beach. I like to earn what I get. There'll be more gushing praise and merciless bashing soon - I've got another 3 months straight here before my little adventure to the Middle East so I'd better get back into the swing of office life...