BEWARE THE WAITERS

BEWARE THE WAITERS

Beware the waiters in Sarajevo. They practice a minor graft (possibly witchcraft as well) - tacking on an extra BAM here and there to the bill. Doubtless for a larger party it would be more than I'm getting stuck with. The waiters are apparently the worst paid profession. It is expected by their employers that they will steal enough to make up the difference. Weird. So - when you are thinking about tipping them, just remember that they have probably tipped themselves already by adding it to your bill.



MONEY

The advice I read somewhere about not carrying anything larger than a 20 BAM bill is true. ATM's like to give you 50 BAM bills. This normally sends the waiter out to hunt for change. Weird.



By word! I have found Sherlock Holmes' clothing! There seems to be some sort of invisible barrier between the clothing and I!



CUISINE

Cuisine from this part of the world is pretty much summed up as meat, potatoes and bread. The main spice is paprika. Compared to other countries I've been in the food is nothing really too exciting. Hence, I suppose it is a good place for me to try to eat less. Go health! I don't suppose all of the rum and cigarettes are helping but dammit I'm doing what I can here. Can I do more? Perhaps - but baby steps is the thing here.



TURKEY

I can't tell you how depressed I am that everyone I talk to keeps telling me that Turkey is more expensive than Bosnia. I'm trying to figure out where a new destination country is. It is looking like Turkey will be another 'pass through' country as I won't be able to stay as long as I'd like. The more I discover the more it is starting to look like Asia.



Minela (left) and Mirza (right). If you get to Sarajevo, go meet Mirza. Nice guy, knows a lot of stuff and excellent English.



ROUGH PLAN

Here's what I'm currently pondering. From Sarajevo head to Belgrade (Serbia). From there, go to Romania and see who all is willing to host me on couch surfing. If I like it there, find a pension and stay a bit longer. From Romania, eat to Moldova. Moldova, as I understand it, has the dubious distinction of being the poorest country in Europe. I might be able to survive there for awhile. If I like it, maybe even teach some English to the school kids. I'm contemplating going further east possibly into Odessa (Ukraine) to check it out afterward. Possibly. I will get more information when I get closer. I might even go visit the 'break away state' (bit more dangerous there I hear) between Moldova and Ukraine - not sure on that yet. Maybe even cut back through Romania to go to Bulgaria. A lot depends on my finances. If at any time they fall to the amount I've defined as "Oh oh" then I'm going to see about getting transport of some sort to India and finding a cheap place to hole up for awhile. Given the countries between where I'm at and India, probably an airplane and pray it doesn't drop out of the sky.