ooooh, deary me. One of those days today. I went to that festival yesterday so I'm feeling a little tender today. I only got back in at 8 this morning. Not only have I been feeling than an industrial sander, but the guys I went to the festival with, Dawn and Stu (pot) (both from Scotland), Chris (from Macclesfield) and Ed (from France) have all moved on today. I guess that's one of the things about travelling but they were all really cool. Guess it's just left me a bit lonely for today but that's alright. There'll be someone else to chilll with soon.

So yesterday at the festival I saw Nitin Sawhney and the Buena Vista Social Club. Both excellent. Haha, two Polish guys we've met along a bit later on in the day, one of them insisting that Dawn drank more beer to make her 'easy'. Very amusing, as was teaching them what to say when I say Bo (shelekta of course). On that note the bar maid at the hostel's called Bo... made for several minutes of pissing myself. I got split up eventually from the guys I went with though. They weree dawdling on the way to the dance tent so I just leggeed it. I ended up with some Austrians and sat with them at their marquee type thing until it got light. Then I had to try and get home. Not so easy when you're a little worse for wear, covered in mud and in a somewhat unfamiliar city. Like a tool, I got off the train too early so I had to hike bloody miles. Not the most fun.

Well, I'm orf now. I've walked into the centre and habve to figure out how the hell I'm going to get back and then I think it may be bed time. Going for a swim tomorrow and maybe more festivities around the second and third.

Alright, I'm in Budapest.

The train journey was awful, got here and had no accomodation but landed on my feet massively. There's a music festival here in the next couple of days and loads of good bands are playing. The plan is to jump the fence and camp there for a bit. Need to buy a tent first though. Bennito moonio, if you're not busy this weekend, come over! MAssive attack, Lamb, Goldfrapp all playing for our pleasure. Anna and those, Make sure you book ahead, Budapest is packed! Overflowing with people and not any rooms at the inn.

Just before we start. The links in this blog are all for pictures, as I've still not got a camera, so they're just lifted off the web as before. So just click and they'll pop up unless you're on a clockwork computer, in which case you'll click and then wait three days.

Evenin' all. My time in Brno has come to an end just as soon as it started really. Got to keep moving though. When I first got here I thought it was proper dive. It was chucking it down with rain, the station's a bombsite and the hostel is massive, characterless and largely empty. With the rain pouring down I just looked around the city for a bit and went to bed.

Day two proved a lot better. I had to revise my idea of Brno being a hole. It's actually a top place. Far less touristy than Prague and a lot cheaper to boot. I walked up to the castle in the morning. Lovely place, apart from the fact it used to be prison circa the 18th century. People got chained up in there for life. This dude looks like he's been there far too long. Honestly though, it was eerie as, with no natural light and long low cells, packed to the brim with unfortunates. Then the Nazis grabbed it and used it in the war and there's some remnants of their occupation.

Outside was much more cheery. From the tower you could see a 360 degree view of the Brno. Couldn't help noticing the power station slap bang in the centre, hmmmm! Just as I was starting back down the bloody bell rang and I nearly nose dived down the spiral staircase but kept my cool (sort of).

To appreciate the interior you don't have to be an architect. To appreciate the museum you have to speak Czech. Still they were showing a loop of the first bit of Gladiator (Romans kicking the Teutons arses) so that was entertaining.

Today was an early start (half 5) to get to some caves out of town. An Oz couple were getting an early train too and they'd been the day before and told me what see and which train to get. The caves were class. Firstly a walk through all the Stalactites and mites, opening out into the Macocha Abyss . More mites and tites, then a boat ride down the subterranean river. For the geologists amongst us these caves are part of the Moravian Karst. I'd tell you more but of course the guided tour was in Czech. The Abyss was even more spectacular from above after the hike up to it through dense green forest, with trees filtering the sunlight into shafts.

On the wayback I got try out my new Czech phrase.... Je to vlak do Brno... (is this train going to Brno) it was and now I'm back. Bumped into a lad (kev) that I met in Prague, just before I left, on my way to write this. Turns out he's in the same hostel as me (told you it was big!) so we're off out for a few beers tonight.

Other than that, Phil - I think I'm going to have to go to Venice to get a cheaper flight home. It's not far from Croatia so I might see you there for a beer or two!

For those of you posting messages (mum) you have worked it out right but no need to post them twice. Also, my phone is
on the blink, i.e. the battery's run out and I can't find a converter for my charger anywhere! Not to worry though. As you can tell, internet access is not a problem.

I'm off to Brno tomorrow on the train. Slightly apprehensive about it due to not speaking Czech but never mind. It's only three and a half hours away! Just been for a Thai foot massage for half an hour, as my feet have been killing me. It was rather painful but well worth it. The stumps feel very refreshed now. The lady doing the massage kept talking in Thai which I couldn't understand. Her and her mate seemed to be having a good old chuckle. Haha, no doubt taking the piss out of me. And no I'm not paranoid. My proof is that at the end of it I said thanks in Thai. She looked somewhat embarassed, then laughed and ran at me as if to hit me. When I let her know that I couldn't speak Thai at all she looked suspiciously relieved. Anyway, all good fun. I'm off to Tesco now and then to chill at my dorm for a bit. Ciao.

Last night was most uneventful. I was absolutely knackered so I just went to bed. The day was good though. Went to the market and wandered round that. Haha, right next to it was the red light district. Consisting of one bar, one shop, and one brothel. Not quite Amsterdam. Then walked up to Stromovka, a big park to the north of the city. It turned out to be quite a hike and the weather was still scorching. Got caught short aswell and there is a severe shortage of public loos here. Had to hold on until I got back to the centre. The loo at a McDonalds would have to suffice but managed to make a bit of a prick of myself. By the time I'd got there I was so desperate I chucked my change all over the floor instead of giving to the 'nice' lady at the door, who just sneered and said something in Czech. There was a massive thunderstorm in the afternoon aswell which was actually needed. It cleared the air a bit and cooled the soaring temperature. Had to take refuge in a Cafe which turned out to be really rather quaint.

This morning was mainly devoted to trying to get myself a place to sleep tonight. I think I'll be booking ahead in future. Much more sensible. After trying to find a place miles away and failing miserably I eventually found one about 40 seconds away from my original dorm. Don't know what I'll be up to tomorrow, possibly a proper look at the castle or maybe a day trip out of the centre. Don't know. But the day after that I'll be orf to Brno on the train. I now know about 5 Czech words. If I was here for a year perhaps I'd be able to pass myself off as a halfwit.

Begun to formulate a plan now. I'm going to spend another three nights in Prague I think. Just to make sure nothing is missed. After that I think I'll go to Brno. The second largest city in the Czech Republic. After a few nights there I'll probably go to Bratislava. Not sure what's there as I still have to acquire a guide book. I'm making my way down to Croatia and from there I'll have to lie on a beach for a while. After that, maybe home? Maybe a bit of Western Europe? I don't know. But anyway, I'll write again soon.

Hi guys, sorry to those who have mailed me for not replying personally but I jumped the queue to get on here so I have to be quick. I'm in Prague at the mo (for those of you who didn't know). Just the ultimate, 'arrrrgh things are too much so I'll run away'. For how long I don't know but Prague is a wonderful city so I think I'll stay here for a bit. A week probably. Anna's still here too but staying in a different hostel. Following Prague I think I might get down to Croatia to stay on the beach (if it even has beaches...?) for a bit and then probably come home again. Gues I have to at some stage. I'll write again soon. Bye.

Hello everyone. You may all be a little confused as to what's going on. In the last post I put that I was in Singapore. I apologise, I lied. But it was necessary. You see I didn't know whether my ma would be checking it or not. Anyway, the plan worked brilliantly. Mum didn't have a clue that I was coming to south africa with her. Hahaha! And me being late and lazy as usual meant that I didn't see her till I got on the plane. She was sat there and I walked up behind and tapped her on the shoulder. I believe my opening line was eyup or something equally as crap. Anyway, it didn't matter as mum nearly fell through the floor. Ahahahahahahaha. She was agog for a while then managed a, 'what's gone wrong, why are you here?' As predicted she assumed the worst.

We're both in South Africa now which is cool. Not in the jive talkin' sense either. I mean it's bloody cold. Bit of a shock learning that this country has a winter too. Have to where a fleece and everything. tch. Should be off to the beach today though and it'd just be rude not to swim in the sea. Lets hope I don't get pnuemonia.

Gran's birthday was a good craic. Went to a lovely restaurant and ate like a king (20 people and the bill came to 300 quid. Unbelievable). Anyways, those two are considerably older than the last time I saw them. It's sad really but I guess it's going to happen to all of us at some stage. I stayed with them for a couple of days but have now jumped ship to a backpackers. It's a bit tatty but there's a bed, a roof, a bar and a pool table so it'll do. On Thursday I'll be legging it to Singapore so there's little point in forging any long term friendships but the clientel seem alright. Most of them are here for a big surf festival that's going on at the mo. Haven't had a chance to check that out yet.

It's great seeing Wayne and Jenny (aunty and uncle) and the kids (cousins) again. Clyde and Brenda (aunty and uncle) were here briefly too. Gave me a chance to say thanks for how good they were when dad got ill. Weird seeing some other folk too. Going to dinner at Glen and Corty's tonight. Last time I saw them I held there baby for a little while. Now he's 8! Doesn't seem that long ago at all. Well, I'll leg it up to the grandfolk's house now. I just hope mum's going to drive today (never thought I'd say that) but it's a bit of a white knuckle ride with Grandpa driving. He can't remember where things are so Gran sits in the back shouting right or left. She's beginning to forget aswell so it makes for some pretty interesting driving.

ciao for now. P.S. Bell well done for figuring out the comments this time.
Jess, don't know if you've subscribed yet but if you haven't do.
Andy, kill the prozac'd little shits

Right then, the new additions to this page appear to be working. Fingers crossed they stay that way. What we've got is a commenty thing. It works the same as the last one, and it's in the top left of each post and says "COMMENT" (shouldn't be too hard to spot). Make sure you at least enter a name though or it won't post it for you.

The other thing is the subscription. Works exactly the same as last time. Enter your email address into the box and click subscribe and then when I post anything new it mails you. Clever eh? I'll do the cheeky thing of randomly subscribing folk when I'm online too coz I'm a git like that. Took off for Thailand yesterday and am now in Singapore. t's hot and bloody wet and I need to get out of here quick sharp as its also well expensive. Should be legging it over to Malaysia tomoz or the day after.

London. Haha. Tis an odd place. Very much fun though. Free night last night. End of Phil's financial year so we went to place in Victoria and had free drinks all night. Many an ice cube fight later we came home. Phil's being a lazy bugger today. As am I to be perfectly honest. I've now sorted my insurance so there's nothing left to do apart from get on the plane and fly. Woo hoo. Nearly finished Harry bloody Potter (it's rubbish) and Sirius Balck buys it right near the end. It's a piss poor deatht though. Just fals through an archway. The whole book reads like a film script (if you've read Hannibal you'll understand what I mean) and it's obvious that the money grabbing Rowling is being affected by the pull of the silver screen.