Travel and Transformers

We have been searching like mad for the best travel deal too Latvia for the past few weeks, it’s been looking pretty expensive and more than that, it’s been difficult to find a way into Latvia as our Eurail pass doesn’t include Latvia and to fly it would cost us between $800 -$900, which I think we can all agree is an incredible amount!! We decided that it’d probably just be easier to go and see a travel agent in Warsaw itself as they might have more options for us, so this was our first point of call after stepping off the train.

We almost missed the travel agents. From the outside and from the front window it looked very much like a Thai restaurant. Little Asian bits and bobs decorated the window front, tradition costumes could be seen hanging, bowls of fruit and sweets were lying about… it took us a good time to be convinced it was actually an agent. The travel agent was a big help and was able to get us on the next over night bus to Latvia, which was later on tonight. It was short notice but our best bet as otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get in for another 2 days. So, we cancelled our night’s accommodation in Warsaw and then, with a few hours spare, decided to go and see a movie.

It sounds like a real cop out I know, we went and saw a movie in Warsaw, we should have been sight seeing etc, BUT with it being 38 degrees outside, sweat dripping off us like we’d just stepped out of a shower and being so tired, we just didn’t have the energy to do anything other than sit in a cool room. Thankfully there was an English movie playing, Transformers 2, which was okay, wasn’t too keen on the ‘funny’ talking robots, but it was alright none the less.

After this we had to make a move to the next bus station. This little jaunt was HELL. I mean it, it was hellish! We were told to wait for bus 127 that would take us to the big station… we waited and waited, we weren’t sure if the side of the road we were on was the right side, so we asked a young lady next to us, who was very nice but didn’t live in Warsaw, this didn’t deter her though, she asked someone in front of her, who nodded and told us to get on bus 157 or 152, so we decided “okay” The next bus came along and we saw written on the side of it our next destination, so we hopped on and showed our little map to the bus driver, who looked VERY VERY confused. He studied it for a long time then kept pointing to outside and saying “central, central” and we kept saying “no, central BUS station” then he would point to the outside and say “station” anyhow, we would point to the map again, which had our next destination circled and starred and said “THIS bus station, you go?” He shrugged his shoulders and then closed the doors on us, leaving us trapped on this bus that we had no idea where it was going… He drove off and from the map we knew we were going the wrong direction, we were saying “no, no” and were ready to jump off at the next station, but we needn’t have worried, he was only going around the block to where we had started and then pointed to the bus station and said “bus” OOOOHHHH it was getting frustrating and confusing. We thanked him and he again displayed to us that we would have to wait in this area for our bus… which we KNEW was wrong. We thanked him very kindly and made a move, and then around the corner back to our original standing position. We had almost reached our bus shelter and we heard these little pitter patters, the bus driver had parked his bus, leapt off and was running after us to tell us to go back to where he had left us. It was painful trying to tell him thank you, but we knew where we were going now… he looked so confused and perplexed and then he just shrugged in this way that said “you crazy, but okay”

The lady who had originally told us to catch the 152 or 157 was still at the station and when a bus arrived she motioned for us to follow her onto this already PACKED bus with our HUGE packs. We squashed in and she motioned that she would tell us where and when to hop off, we nodded and said thank you. The bus was completely and utterly jam packed. You could not fit another single person onto the bus, but somehow they kept coming, it was now hard to breathe, a) because you were so squashed and b) it seems that Eastern Europeans, with no offence, don’t seem to understand the use of deodorant. It was more than a little smelly. It was mouth breathing only.

We eventually came to our stop and after a bit of charades were able to tell people “MOVE!” the transport systems here don’t wait to long at the stops, you usually only have about 20 secs to get on and off!

Our bus to Latvia is anything but luxurious. We thought being an over night bus there might be some sort of reclining seat, nice air conditioning, little lights for reading, a clean WC… no no no. How optimistic and dreamy of us! We were crammed into our little seats, me next to a young girl and Chris next to a young man. There was a neurotic young lady in front of me, who I actually have to say, was more than a little odd, and, annoyed the crap out of me and then, a very large, very wide older man behind me. Mmmm, comfy. All set for our 13 hour over night ride. Chris, poor thing had the large man to his other side and then, the two girls in front of him were able to recline there seats, and did so, going so far back as to touch Chris’ knees. It was not comfortable.

We drove into one of the biggest storms we’ve seen yet. It was pitch black, I have no idea how the driver was able to see, lightening split the sky and danced in a zig zag formation and at one stage thunder cracked down right over us, making everyone from the bus jump like cats. It was pretty awesome; I do love a great storm, apart from the one in Venice.

The bus ride was horrendously slow and painful. Our legs cramping, our necks on odd angles, the neurotic girl had jars of marmalade or something on the rack above me that rattled against one another for the whole time, making us want to scream or throw them out the window… if they opened… We stopped every three hours for the loo and a stretch of the legs, which was nice, but just tiring. But then, as we drove into Lithuania, the sun rise was amazing, casting great pinks, reds and oranges across the green and gold paddocks, it was just gorgeous! It made it worth while and helped to erase the throbs of pain that pounded away in our legs and neck!

written by  Chris and Emily on June 30, 2009 from Warsaw, Poland
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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