I had been planning on taking the train to Skopje. Well, you know what they say about best laid plans. (Actually, I just had to look up that idiom...)
I got to the station and everything was fine. I arrived at the correct platform, and asked the conductor sitting on one of the benches if the car I was heading toward was for Skopje, because I knew that the train was going to Sofia, as well. "Skopje? Yes, okay!" So I got on the train and found an empty compartment, later populated by a Belgian man and a woman from Kosovo. (Yes, I am going to use the common English names for geographic locations on this blog. If you're curious, Kosovo is often called Kosova in Albanian, which has some political meaning attached.) At this point, everything's cool.
I saw some beautiful old train cars...
...and engines.
The conductor from the platform comes and checks my ticket, and I ask again about the car being to Skopje because everyone around me is going to Sofia, and receive the same reply: "Da, voz do Skopje, yes yes!" You can see where this is going.
So we get to Niš, and I'm more worried about buying snacks at the train station. The other half of the train decouples and rolls away. I get back on, and a new conductor is checking tickets. His reaction, upon seeing mine: "SKOPJE?! Ne, ne, ne! VOZ DO SOFIA!" So at this point I am thinking "!!*?#!@*!" (I can't tell you exactly what I was thinking, because I guess I'm not supposed to swear on here when I'm getting ca$h mon€y from the gov't, even though there's a disclaimer.)
Anyway, I decide to just go to Sofia and take the next bus back toward Skopje. Before entering Bulgaria, the train gets really crowded. There are bags of red peppers (which make me hungry!) and customs officials checking for smuggled cigarettes involved. The conductor comes around, and as I obviously don't have a ticket, he tells me the price in Bulgarian lev, then in Serbian denar, then in euro. I give him the 2.60 euro I have left in the depths of my wallet, and apparently this is found acceptable.
So, surprise, I'm in Bulgaria. The woman from Kosovo looks at me with an exasperated and bemused expression, raises her eyebrows, and says, "Welcome to the Balkans."
I saw some natural scenery...
..as well as post-industrial decay.
I got packed into a compartment (there are 4 people, plus me, not pictured) and arrived in Sofia...
...just in time to see the sunset over the smokestacks and nuclear reactors. Believe it or not, this is enough to convice me that I want to come back! I had a quick dinner of pizza with the Belgian guy, who had been extremely kind by helping me with my bags and letting me read his art mags on the 10+ hour train ride.
Also, look at this amazing train station. Wow!
Anyway, I took the midnight bus back to Skopje, arriving at the hostel I'd booked at some time between five and six in the morning. After being awake for nearly 25 hours, I didn't feel like figuring out which of of the doors in the courtyard led to the hostel office, as all the lights were out. (Of course, it was glaringly obvious after getting some sleep.) So I fell asleep on the courtyard bench, with the hostel dog jumping on top of me and curling up to sleep, too. I made it to Macedonia.
I got to the station and everything was fine. I arrived at the correct platform, and asked the conductor sitting on one of the benches if the car I was heading toward was for Skopje, because I knew that the train was going to Sofia, as well. "Skopje? Yes, okay!" So I got on the train and found an empty compartment, later populated by a Belgian man and a woman from Kosovo. (Yes, I am going to use the common English names for geographic locations on this blog. If you're curious, Kosovo is often called Kosova in Albanian, which has some political meaning attached.) At this point, everything's cool.
The conductor from the platform comes and checks my ticket, and I ask again about the car being to Skopje because everyone around me is going to Sofia, and receive the same reply: "Da, voz do Skopje, yes yes!" You can see where this is going.
So we get to Niš, and I'm more worried about buying snacks at the train station. The other half of the train decouples and rolls away. I get back on, and a new conductor is checking tickets. His reaction, upon seeing mine: "SKOPJE?! Ne, ne, ne! VOZ DO SOFIA!" So at this point I am thinking "!!*?#!@*!" (I can't tell you exactly what I was thinking, because I guess I'm not supposed to swear on here when I'm getting ca$h mon€y from the gov't, even though there's a disclaimer.)
Anyway, I decide to just go to Sofia and take the next bus back toward Skopje. Before entering Bulgaria, the train gets really crowded. There are bags of red peppers (which make me hungry!) and customs officials checking for smuggled cigarettes involved. The conductor comes around, and as I obviously don't have a ticket, he tells me the price in Bulgarian lev, then in Serbian denar, then in euro. I give him the 2.60 euro I have left in the depths of my wallet, and apparently this is found acceptable.
So, surprise, I'm in Bulgaria. The woman from Kosovo looks at me with an exasperated and bemused expression, raises her eyebrows, and says, "Welcome to the Balkans."
Anyway, I took the midnight bus back to Skopje, arriving at the hostel I'd booked at some time between five and six in the morning. After being awake for nearly 25 hours, I didn't feel like figuring out which of of the doors in the courtyard led to the hostel office, as all the lights were out. (Of course, it was glaringly obvious after getting some sleep.) So I fell asleep on the courtyard bench, with the hostel dog jumping on top of me and curling up to sleep, too. I made it to Macedonia.
1 comments:
aw, hostel dog snuggles! i am glad you made it! the pictures are pretty incredible. from here its pretty easy to say it was worth getting on the wrong train... but i guess i don't know if you feel that way yet?
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