In October of 1990, just after official German Reunification, I traveled from Berlin, in the former East Germany, to Czechoslovakia ( now two nations) ,Poland,Hungary and Romania. While today the Eastern countries are much a part of the modern world, the East 20 years ago was a group of lands newly awakened from a long and stifling slumber.

In the next few days, ArcticTropic will feature a photo series  – Eastern Europe at the Fall Of Communism – to be interspersed with our regular adventure news and updates. Eastern European travel at the time was an adventurous undertaking, given the lack of infrastructure, the lack of any understanding of tourism and the unfamiliarity of many people with the outside world.

Latvia is not a country of high adventure, but with modern cites in close approximation to old Northern European villages and countryside, it is a great place to hunt and enjoy simplicity on the beaches.

A small peaceful Baltic nation with great hunting in the wintertime – wild boar and red deer.

Estonia is not the most adventurous country, though included by ArcticTropic because it is old Unspoiled Europe.

Beyond Prague, the outdoors beckons. ArcticTropic has two hunting lodges and one ski area included now – please suggest any more that should be listed.

Croatia is a great economic alternative to Euroland. Right now ArcticTropic has three listings – one for the sea, one for hunting and another for fly fishing. Please suggest additions below.

The Rhodope mountains,part of the Balkan chain,offer great skiing,snowboarding – and in the summer – excellent vineyards. ArcticTropic has Three locations in Bulgaria.

One can be forgiven for thinking this video is old Communist film footage from 1985 – it was ,in fact,taken this summer ! For those who missed seeing the old Soviet Union – Belarus is the place one can still see it. There’s great hunting as well, ArcticTropic has two providers for Belarus.

Bosnia now enjoys an uneasy peace – for Europe the country is relatively undeveloped and therefore great for exploring. ArcticTropic has two links at the moment.

On May 1 , I posted Albania Adventure 1995 – do go back and read it if you haven’t already. To get an idea of what Albania’s recent past was like – check out this old Stalinist ( in praise of Hoxha and his enslavement of the Albanian people) propaganda, courtesy of YouTube.