|
|
|
|
| The Caucasus - My Journal |
Crossing the Frontier Alone
London (UK) -> Budapest (Hungary) - 2nd July
The first day of my travels began early, by 7:30am I was waiting at the train station in Portsmouth, near where I live. It was a sunny, yet eerily quiet day. This may have been because it was Sunday, or maybe because it was a day of mourning - England had been knocked out of the World Cup the day before.
With typical British Rail style, I found that my direct train to Gatwick had been cancelled. On talking to the ticket desk, the attendant nodded his understanding and followed a seemingly routine procedure to find me an alternative route. I couldn't work out if the ease which with he did it was comforting or not. Makes sense though, rather than trying to overcome the train problems - just learn to live with them!
An alternative route was quickly found and I was soon on a near empty train on a slightly more indirect route.
As I made myself comfortable, with my faithful Karrimor Panther beside be, the realisation that I was going to be backpacking once again began to seep over me. For those of you yet to go backpacking, its a strange mix of feelings - a combination of excitement and trepidation about the upcoming adventure. It also actually felt a little strange to be leaving the country on my own. On my gap year I'd left with 3 friends, but returned on my own (because they came home early, not because they went missing in the wilderness!). And in China I travelled with 4 friends. Travelling solo has its own benefits and cons (discussing those would be a whole new Go Gap section!) and so magnifies the mixed feelings of leaving on a new adventure.
 The journey to Gatwick went so smoothly that I actually got to the airport too early to check in. So I passed the time learning a few Hungarian phrases with the mp3s I'd downloaded onto my iPod, and before I knew it, I was on the other side of the departure gates.
A few months ago, a friend had found out that if you book an airport lounge with an Egg card through a specific site, you can get 75% off the price! After searching the web, I found the site and found it would cost less than Ł5 to use the impressive sounding Continental Presidents' Lounge while waiting for my flight. At that price it'd be too expensive not to use it!
After hunting around for the lift for a few minutes, I sped up to the 5th floor and the lounge...and wow! It's pretty nice! A spacious and comfortable lounge with a great view of the airport and a very tranquil atmosphere, a nice break from the hectic madness of the terminal. But even better...there were free snacks and drinks...including alcohol! A treasure trove of a find! I'll definitely go back!! (Even though I did feel a little bit out of place with the businessmen and their families).
The rest of the checking-in process went smoothly, and it wasn't long before I was sitting on the bright orange and white plane, speeding towards Budapest. The flight was only two hours and went without a hitch.
The airport in Budapest was small, but spotlessly clean and new looking. It was pretty straightforward to find the airport bus into town which would whisk me right to my hostel.
I'd pre booked my hostel on-line at HostelWorld.com just to make sure I'd have no trouble finding accommodation for my first night. The place was called the Mellow Mood Central Hostel, and I'd picked it because it really is centrally located and the prices were pretty good. It also has its own bar on the top floor! Perfect for meeting other travellers!
While checking into my spotlessly clean 8-bed dorm, I overheard the receptionists tell someone that the hostel was fully booked. Thank God I'd pre-booked! After sorting out all of my things, I went out for my first look at Budapest.
 The city itself seemed quite compact, most of the interesting places were pretty walkable from my hostel, and the few that weren't were easily reachable with the cities small but speedy underground metro (the 2nd oldest in the world!).
I ended up wandering down the main pedestrianised thoroughfares, with their nice shops and sprawling open fronted cafes and bars. I have to say that Budapest really is a very amicable city! The wide roads, clean streets and breezy foliage lining the roadsides really gave it the feeling of a small Paris. Sipping coffee and watching the world go by in the perfect pastime here!
 As I wandered around I slowly began to piece together a mental map of the key areas and how my hostel fitted into the city layout. However, when I set out It was already getting late and the sky was starting to darken. So after grabbing a rather non-distinct dinner, I began to head back.
However, just as I turned into the street where the hostel is, I saw a girl who was staying in the same room as me. She recognised me to so we started chatting about Budapest and travelling in the area. She was walking around town with another girl, who turned out to be her sister. They were both Canadian and the girl I'd first recognised had left her job for some extended travelling, whereas her sister had taken a couple of weeks off from her work to join her for a bit.
We all headed up to the bar on the top floor of the hostel to continue our conversations about travelling and comparisons between North American and European life.
My first beer of the trip was a refreshing and very cheap local beer. A good start to my travelling adventures!
After a few hours, it was time to call it a night. The sisters needed to catch an early train to Vienna and I needed to get up at a reasonable time to continue my explorations of Budapest!
|
|
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
|
|
|
|
|
