The taxi to Keleti Station cost me 1900 forints. This was much cheaper than the 5000 forints that it cost me on the day I arrived. Fucking taxi drivers. I entered the station and was hungry so I went to one of the food vendors and got a hamburger and 2 bottles of water. It cost me about 700 forints (about $2.50 AUD). After eating I changed whatever paper forints I had for Euro. I ended up with about 70 Euro. I forgot that I had a heap of 200 forint coins in my pocket and didn't exchange them. I am not sure if forints can be exchanged outside of Hungary, but I hope so. It was about 11:15 AM, and the train was due to depart at 11:45 AM. The train was on the platform so I decided to try and find my carriage.
I walked up and down the train trying to find the numbers that matched the numbers on my ticket. I couldn't find them anywhere.There was a rail worker sitting in the entrances to one of the carriages. I asked if he spoke English and he said 'No'. I pointed to the carriage number on the ticket and then pointed up and down the train. He seemed to understand what i meant because he banged on the door of the train to indicate that I need to look at the numbers on the side of the train. It wasn't much help.
It was about 15 mins before the train was due to depart now and I still had no idea where I should be going. I decided to go into the international ticket office to see if they could help. There were a lot of people in there and I thought great, while I am waiting to ask the train will leave. Luckily I noticed a guy standing around with a staff vest on. I asked him if he was able to help me. He said 'Yes'. He explained that i needed to look at the numbers on the carriage., to which i explained that I did. He walked with me down the train and pointed to a number on a piece of paper taped to the window on the door of the train.
I felt so stupid. I didn't even notice those numbers. They were easy to miss especially if the doors were open. We found the one marked '259'. I thanked him with a handshake and I got on the train. I found the compartment with my seat number and opened the door. The compartment is like a booth with a door. There are 3 seats either side facing each other. Above the seats are racks to store luggage. There was a young guy already sitting in the compartment. He was in the seat opposite my allocated seat and had a bag on the seat I was supposed to be sitting in. As there was noone else in the compartment, I sat at the opposite end. to maximise 'personal' space.
After what seemed like forever, but truth be known, was only 20 minutes. The train started to move. About 15 minutes after we left, the conductor came in to check our tickets. It didn't take long for me to get bored. It was a 6 hour trip to Praha (Prague). I tried to occupy myself with my phone but there was no WiFi. I was very tired so I decided to try and sleep. The seats were reasonably comfortable but I am a horrible sleeper, especially on public transport. I was also a little bit mindful of my backpack. The main part is fine as it has locks for each compartment but the detachable 'daypack ' doesn't. The daypack is like a small backpack that you can detach from the main pack and use to carry things you need for sightseeing or whatever, instead of lugging the entire pack around. I had the daypack at my feet and behind my legs.
All the valuable stuff, my laptop, camera, Ipod, etc... I keep in my daypack as this is what i usually have with me all the time. I have some tags that I can use but I forgot to attach them and they are not practical when you will be constantly forraging through to get things. I will try to find another lock at some point, but will just make do for now.
II decided to stretch out across the seats too. My carriage companion asked if "I wanted him to move his bag from the seat so I could stretch out". I said, "That would be great", and he moved his bag. I'm not sure how long I slept for but I think it was only 30 mins or so. I woke up and was bored. I took out the laptop and began drafting the previous 2 posts. I had no WiFi so I just drafted them in Microsoft Word and would post them later.
After about an hour, a text came through on my phone. It was from the phone company, it was in a foreign language so I didn't understand a word of it, but it had something to do with roaming. Apparently we had crossed over into Slovakia. Interesting. Apparently, the train from Budapest to Prague goes via Bratislava in Slovakia. Luckily I didn't need a visa for any country otherwise it may have been a problem. I was waiting for someone to come and check my passport but it still hadn't happened by the time we reached Bratislava about an hour and a half later. I thought it was a bit odd.
The coutryside in Slovakia is very nice, however it was predominantly trees and fields as with Hungary. Bratislava is not a big city but it reminded me of alot of some of the smaller cities in Romania.
All the valuable stuff, my laptop, camera, Ipod, etc... I keep in my daypack as this is what i usually have with me all the time. I have some tags that I can use but I forgot to attach them and they are not practical when you will be constantly forraging through to get things. I will try to find another lock at some point, but will just make do for now.
II decided to stretch out across the seats too. My carriage companion asked if "I wanted him to move his bag from the seat so I could stretch out". I said, "That would be great", and he moved his bag. I'm not sure how long I slept for but I think it was only 30 mins or so. I woke up and was bored. I took out the laptop and began drafting the previous 2 posts. I had no WiFi so I just drafted them in Microsoft Word and would post them later.
After about an hour, a text came through on my phone. It was from the phone company, it was in a foreign language so I didn't understand a word of it, but it had something to do with roaming. Apparently we had crossed over into Slovakia. Interesting. Apparently, the train from Budapest to Prague goes via Bratislava in Slovakia. Luckily I didn't need a visa for any country otherwise it may have been a problem. I was waiting for someone to come and check my passport but it still hadn't happened by the time we reached Bratislava about an hour and a half later. I thought it was a bit odd.
The coutryside in Slovakia is very nice, however it was predominantly trees and fields as with Hungary. Bratislava is not a big city but it reminded me of alot of some of the smaller cities in Romania.
The guy that was in my compartment got off the train in Bratislava. "Nice, hopefully I get the carriage to myself now", I thought to myself. I moved over to my allocated seat next to the window and continued writing. I watched the people walk past the door in the hope that nobody would enter. Just when i thought it was safe to assume I had the compartment to myself, the door opened and in walked a young couple. I think they were maybe late teens. They sat on the 2 seats on the opposite side and at the opposite end, closest to the door.
I continued to write but the young people kept distracting me by making noises. They were just tickling each other and play fighting but it was kind of annoying. After about an hour I finished writing and packed the laptop away in my daypack and I tried to sleep some more. I wasn't able to sleep and ended up playing 'Jewel' on my phone. It was still about 3 hours until we arrived in Prague. The train made several stops at other stations, in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and more people entered our compartment. by the time we reached Prague, the only vacant seat was the one the first guy left in Bratislava.
The countryside in the Czech Republic, is amazing. Especially around the town of Ursti (I think that was the name of it). I couldn't take pictures as it was beginning to get darker and there was fog. It was a valley that ran between 2 tree covered mountains. It had a clean fresh water stream running around the edge of the track and small village type houses. It has to be seen to be believed. As beautiful as the scenery was all I wanted was to reach Prague and get off the train.
We arrived in Prague at about 6:30 PM. I stepped off the train into Praha Hlavni Nadrazi (Prague Main Train Station). WOW!!!!. This place was as big as an airport terminal. I was feeling lost. I walked around and followed the signs as best I could. Most of them had English translations so it wasn't too difficult. The first thing I wanted to do was have a cigarette as it had been 6 hours or so since my last one. I walked outside the main terminal and lit up a cigarette. It was one of the most awesome cigarettes ever. I went back into the station and withdrew some local currency from the ATM. I took about 7000 Czech Koruna ($350.00 AUD).
I walked down the footpath leading from the front of the station out to the main street and waited for a taxi. Before I left Budapest, I Googled a little about taxis in Prague and found that AAA Taxis were a reliable service. I walked down and there were a few 'private' taxis parked and waiting. I ignored them. Behind them was a yellow AAA taxi. He had a female passenger in the car but was stopped. I waited to see if he would become available. The woman got out after a few minutes, and the driver acknowledged for me to get in.
I got in and asked if he spoke English. He said "Yes", and I showed him the address of the hotel and we left. As he was driving we chatted about many things. We talked about women, I said "The women in Eastern Europe are so beautiful". He told me that all they care about is money and if they think you have money you can get anything you want. I said, "Good to know". The cab from the station to my hotel, 'Barcelo Praha 5' was 295 Czech Koruna (About $15.00 AUD).
The hotel was very nice. It looked very upmarket but it was one of the cheapest hotels I could find. It was a little far away from the main tourist area which maybe made it slightly cheaper. I walked in and the guy at reception looked at me puzzled like 'what an unshaven guy with a backpack doing in here'. I checked in and he showed me where some things were on the map. I tried to follow but it was slight information overload. He handed me a tour brochure with my key and I went up to the room.
The room was very modern. The bed was very comfortable too. I checked out the mini bar. There was no alcohol in it. Perhaps the reason is because they have a bar downstairs and encourage people to use it. I ordered a Grilled Chicken Panini, some fruit salad and a coke from room service. It cost 300 Czech Koruna (about $16.00 AUD). The Panini came served with french fries and salad. For those of you who don't know what Panini is, it is a type of bread that they make sandwiches with. The food was very good. It was the first food I had eaten since the burger in Budapest that morning.
I ate and then relaxed awhile and went to sleep early because I was so tired.
No comments:
Post a Comment