The Wild East "The barman is continually grinning at us....." Villach, Austria We get on the train- the correct one this time- after successfully operating the lockers with our backpacks in. The train goes through an impressive tunnel about 5km long separating Slovenia and Austria. The wild East proper has begun... When we get to Lesce-Bled we have to wait with an old man at the side of the road for a bus into Bled. The roads are pretty good in Slovenia, but then this was by far the richest republic of the old Yugoslavia. In 1990 they voted overwhelmingly to have an independent country after 72 years of Yugoslavia, and being held back by backward regions like Bosnia, and Macedonia. It's surprising that Slovenia, and Bosnia were the same country 10 years ago, looking at the differences in wealth and development between them now. We book in at the Bledec hostel, probably the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in, although we are in a 4-bed dorm. A good meal and beer is purchased for just under £4. WE stroll around the town for a bit. There are a lot of tourists around, most of them 30+. At around 5am the next morning after returning from the bathroom I come face to face with a sinister skin-headed figure in the darkness. I'm slightly alarmed, but the figure suggests (in a strong Aussie accent) that I could wake him up for breakfast at 8 in the morning. The explanation? We were actually in a 4-bed room, and this is our roommate. We were expecting someone, as there was an Eastern Europe guide (new edition) lying on one the spare beds, which we had a quick look at when he wasn't there (I have the old '99 edition). Mark meets the Aussie guy the next morning. He's quite pleasant, and spent his time at a disco the night before which explains why he didn't get in until 5am. He'd been to Croatia and Slovenia, but nowhere else. I was dissapointed considering his guidebook was so battered- it looked like he'd travelled the world. We spend the day walking/sitting round the lake. There is some fabulous scenery around. there are also a high number of pretty girls. It was around this time that the rating scheme was devised. Green-definately! Yellow-maybe. red-no. At around 5pm we have to get up from our lying in the sun to go and catch the train to Ljubljana. another hostel, similar price. Eventually I give in to Taylor's demands to go for a McDonalds. It's McDs by name, but the service is not McD-like. MT is angered by the rude service, and is about to make some suggestions to the management, but I talk him out of it. We go for a beer in a place called Nostalja. The barman is continually grinning at us.....a sudden dark thought crosses my mind....there are a pair of men sitting at the table, another male-male couple outside. It can't be....?There are no women around, and I get more paranoid, and suggest to Mark that we may have stumbled into a gay place. It wasn't, but I think the barman was very suspect. Back to Main Page