Day 9 : Munich, Germany

We took the 8.09am train to Munich from Salzburg and it was a double decker train (another dream realized). It was roughly a  2 hour journey. When we reached Munich Hbf, it seems familiar, a modern european city. Everyone in the station was rushing, the crowd is huge, and there are more than 4 train platforms. But it's surprising that we need to pay 40 cent for a map from the tourist information center. 

Our hotel is just 5 minutes away and this time it was the right train station :

Property Name: Pension Locarno

Address: Bahnhofplatz 5, Munich, 80335, Germany

Website:http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/germany/munich/49589/

For the public transport:

We took the partner inner district day ticket which cost €5.30 per person.

After checking in and freshen a bit, our 1st stop is the Allianz Area, the home to the newly crowned european champion; Bayern Munich.

The team won the treble this year but the decoration of the stadium does not looks like it, maybe they did not want to waste money on unnecessary stuff.

Next we went to the BMW Welt (or BMW World).

Note : the Welt is open every day but the museum  tour is closed on monday. We were not able to enter the museum.

They display all the latest model from BMW, Mini Cooper and Rolls Royles. But the car that I wanted to see is the BMW i8 concept car which was on the Mission Impossible movie.

We also wanted to stroll the Olympic Park next to the BMW Welt but since it was raining, we head back to the city centre. 

Our 1st stop in the centre was looking for lunch and then we continue visiting the attraction. 

If I had breakfast here, does it still counts as "Breakfast at Tiffany's"?

Day 8 : Salzburg, Austria

The journey was a 4 hour train ride. When we arrived in Salzburg, we found out that our hotel was not next to the Hbf, but a different train station. Since it was 4am, we had to take the taxi again (€9 fare).

Since the hotel has a 3.00pm check in policy, we had to store our bag in the luggage room and went to the city center around 6.30am. 

Being it on a Sunday, shops & cafe does not open till 10pm. So, walking in the old town makes it feel like a private tour. We covered the old town and all it's surrounding attraction by 11am and by that time, we were tired. 

There are several restaurant with halal notices that we found in the city but it was not opened. So, we cannot verified but like in any major european city, there is a halal kebab stall near the train station.

The public transport are mainly electric powered buses with tram-like route. the one day ticket was €4.20 if bought in the shops or €5.20 on the bus. 

Note : We took the wrong no.2 bus on our way back ( we took the one in the direction of the airport instead of the hotel). Make sure to ask the driver.

Our accommodation details :

Property Name: MEININGER Hotel Salzburg City Center

Address: Fürbergstrasse 18-20, Salzburg, 5020, Austria

Website:http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/austria/salzburg/65178/

We got back around 1pm and relieved that we are able to check in early. The room was nice with a personal balcony but sadly the elevator was not working. We had to walk up to level 5 to reached out room. Other guest also faces the same problem especially for those with several luggage.

The theater also closes on Sunday but since I've seen a concert in Vienna in spring last year, I'm not that disappointed.  

Day 7 : Ljubjlana and Lake Bled, Slovenia

That morning we took out time before checking out at 11 since the plan for today was only visiting Lake Bled and the train was at 12.50 pm. We went to their farmers/street market at the square to kill sime time.

The 12.50pm Ljubjlana-Lesca Bled train took around 1 hour. Then we need to continue the trip by bus which was a 10-15 minutes ride (cost €1.30 pp one way). The bus station is just opposite the road from the station.

When arrived, the lake was just down a hill. I can't say that it's worth the trip since there's not much you can do unless you enter the National Park.

The lake itself is quite dirty but there are people swimming in it. From a distance, the island and castle looks great. To reach the island where there's a church, you can hire a gondola/boat ride or swim. The castle is also a accessible by hiking by following a route.

We just seat there enjoying the view before heading to the famous Original Bled Cream Cake kafe. The cafe terrace oversea the lake and the price is reasonable (€5 for a cake and a latte). We wanted to have lunch there but the seafood and meat is cooked together on a single grill.

There are frequent trains leaving for Ljubjlana in the afternoon ( compared to the one leaving from Ljubjlana) and we took the 5.51pm train. 

The train for Salzburg was at 11.54pm. So, we just hangout at the hotel's common area. They are nice enough to say "make it like your home". 

Day 6 : Ljubjlana and Postojna, Slovenia

We board the 9.40am Ljubjlana-Postojna (pronounced Postoina) after having breakfast at the hostel (included in the price) and arrived Postojna at 10.50.

The train station and Postojna Cave is roughly 2km. There are no bus services from the station and no official taxi stand at the station compound (and the station is on a hill). If you are in luck, you can take the taxi to the cave but I do not know the fare cost. 

The ticket counter worker gave us direction to the cave by foot at it's not hard to find as it is clearly mark. There's also a tourist information center (labelled "Kompas"...hahaha) along the way and we asked for short cuts because the signs are generally for driving direction.

It took us around 25minutes to reach the cave. The price list is as follow depending on the type of ticket:

Note : If you have access to a car, the Postojna Castle is 10km away and might be worth the visit.

The temperature in the cave is 9 degree celsius  and is advisable to wear suitable and waterproof attire. The tour start with a 2km train ride inside the cave, 1km walking (there's a short cut if you have difficulties climbing the hills in the cave) and another 2km train.

After the 2km train ride, the group os divided into several smaller group depending on the language of the tour guide.

Generally the tour is smooth and does not requires demanding fitness capabilities unlike the Skocjan Cave (I wanted to visit this cave in the 1st place but after reading some travel review, I don't think I'm fit enough).

Not many picture were able to be taken since it was dark and use of flash is prohibited.

Day 5 : Plitvice Lake National Park & Zagreb, Croatia

Breakfast was included and it was the 1st time we had proper breakfast since we were always catching the morning train.

The park opens at 7.00am but we only arrived there around 9.00am it was already fill with tour groups. For student, the entrance fee is 80KN. We took the B-route which took us 3.5 hours to complete.

Note : suggested route if I'm not mistaken

A-route      2-3 hours

B&C route 3-4hours

K-route      5-6hours

The attraction of the lakes is the different level of the lakes makes a small waterfall at each level. And the "Big Waterfall" is near Entrance 1.

We than waited for the bus to Zagreb where we'll transit before boarding the 9.30pm train to Ljubjlana, Slovenia (we arrived at 6.30pm and missed the 6.25pm train)

Note : Bus to Zagreb cost 100KN. There are taxi services that are willing to make the trip to Zagreb for the same 100KN IF the number of minimum passenger of 7-8 people is reached. The Plitvice-Zagreb bus time table:

0650-0930, 1250-1510, 16.45-1900, 1715-1905, 1716-1950, 17.50-2020, 

We arrived Ljubjlana at 11.30pm and took a taxi (it cost €7.50 and it was a taxi with meter) to the hostel since we didn't want to risk not finding the hostel in the dark and being mugged.

The accommodation details:

Property Name: Hostel Tresor
Address: Čopova 38, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia
Website:http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/slovenia/ljubljana/91133/

This video recap our 5th day in Plivice Lake National Park

Day 4 : Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina & Plitvice National Park, Croatia

We took the 7.30am bus (Eurolines 46KM or €23) to Bohac (pronounced Bihaj) which we bought the day before upon arrival from Mostar ( in Sarajevo, the bus and train station is next to each other as well).

The bus journey took about 7 hours but somehow, it does not feel that long. Since the bus stops at most town, I think that's why it took 7 hours. It was a double decker bus, the lower level has a train seating with a table for every 4 seats while the top level follows the normal  bus seating plan.

We arrived Bihac at 2.15. The next bus to Plitvice Lake National Park was at 4.45pm (for 4KM or €2) in the direction of Zagreb.

 Bihac is NOT a tourist spot, so there's not much to do. We had lunch at a nearby.

There's a nearby Mosque from the bus station. The direction is so simple:

1. Walk down the main road infront of the bus station until reach a traffic light (20meter)

2. Turn right and walk another 20meters. 

3. The mosque is on the right.

The bus arrived early and it is adviced that you be there before 4.45pm because I cought the driver changed the time on his bus from 4.42pm to 4.45pm.

The driver also charged 1KM per luggage to be stored in the liggage area. 

Note : Tell the driver which Entrance you wan't to stop depending on your accomodation. For us, it was Entrance 1.

We arrived the National Park's Entrance 1 around 6.00pm. Out accommodation details :

Pansion Krizmanic
Address:	Rastovača 4 Rastovača (Plitvička Jezera),53231 Croatia
Phone:	+38553758010
E-mail:	dragan.krizmanic@inet.hr

We did not enter the park eventough the open until 9pm. We had our dinner at the hotel's restaurant. We read some review on Lonely Planet that they cook all the meat and seafood in the same fireplace. We tried to request out meal on the hob, seperate from the other orders. To our surprise the chef agreed.

Day 3 : Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

From Mostar, we took the 7.55am train (the other train is at 6.30-ish pm) to Sarajevo. The train is relatively comfortable and clean (cannot expect it to be as good as the London-Birmingham Virgin Trains or London-Paris Eurostar). 

The 2.5 hours train journey itself is to enjoy. But don't expect too much from it. A friend said that you should not sleep and enjoy the scenery but from my experience, you can't sleep because being an old train going trough tens of tunnel, it's not a quiet ride.

Arriving in Sarajevo, we were lost when trying to find our hostel. The description was to find a hospital but in sarajevo, there were 2 hospitals and was pointed by locals towards the wrong one.

Note : never be too confident. Ask the tourist center for a map and directions

We had to take the taxi from the wrong hospital. Since they do not have a meter, we were charged 5km (or €2.50). If it's the official rate, we say thanks to the taxi driver but if not, we are still glad to pay the price.

The accommodation details is

Property Name: Hostel Ami

Address: Gorusa 2a, Sarajevo, 71000, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Website:http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/bosnia-herzegovina/sarajevo/76996/

There's not much to do here. We wanted to visit the Tunnel of Hope but we can't find any public transport to ho there. The only option is to join a €20 tour. Again, we decided not to join and just visit the old town where several other attraction is located (we are not cheap but on a budget).

We had a Bosnian lunch. It's different that what we are used to.

It might not be as interesting as Mostar but maybe that's just me since I rarely enjoy a city/capital (except for Rome, the best city i've visited so far). 

I don't have any video to recap our visit to Sarajevo, sorry guys. Day 4 is going to be a long day. Hopefully it's going to be worth it for Day 5~