Time to leave Croatia and head to Hungary. Got to the station and was so confused with the train. All the carriages were labelled differently indicating that somewhere down the track they would be splitting off and heading to different destinations. For anyone planning to travel Europe, make sure to check where your carriage is heading. Don't just assume that the by being on the right platform that you'll end up in the right destination. After finally finding the only carriage heading to Budapest, we were off.
Once again, went through border checks which took ages. Delayed by 20 minutes. But yay for more stamps. This journey was tough. It took just over seven hours. Not sure if I'll do that again. Night trains are ok since you have a compartment where you can lock and fall asleep (while lying down) but you don't have those luxuries on a day train. Eventually got into Budapest and checked into my hostel which was so much better than my one in Zagreb. This was so spacious and clean. Plus it seemed quiet which was definitely what I needed after two restless nights in a party hostel.
Headed out for dinner at a local restaurant and had traditional Hungarian goulash, paprika chicken (paprika is the national spice and is used in everything) with some sort of traditional gnocchi and crepes filled with chestnut cream for dessert. I thought Zagreb was cheap. Budapest was even cheaper. Gotta love Eastern Europe. It's gonna be a big shock to go back to paying "normal prices" when I get into Western Europe.
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Day 22
Such a good sleep. You really need that while you're traveling. Had breakfast at Burger King. So healthy I know. But I needed to break my 20,000 note and access Wi-Fi. Oddest thing, the guy told me that "due to technical issues, they could only serve me food cooked in oil". Oh well.
Did a walking tour of the city which I found out was actually combined from the two cities on either side of the Danube River, Buda and Pest. Also apparently the correct way to pronounce Pest is like Pesht. They're very particular about this haha. The great thing about these walking tours is that they show you what you can do in the city. After my tour I realised that there was so much left for me to do in Budapest and not enough time to do it in. Decided then and there that I would be back in Budapest in a few weeks.
Did the main tourist sites today like Chain Bridge and Castle Hill, leaving the famous baths for next time (thus forcing me to come back in case I did change my mind). Also went down into the labyrinths under Castle Hill. That was an experience. It was so dark down there that I was constantly walking into dead ends since I literally couldn't see that it was a wall in front of me. There was one section detailing Dracula. I have no idea why it's here in Budapest when it should be in Romania. Anyways, as I continued through the Dracula section, the music intensified (went from chanting priests to almost hellish moans) and I could feel my heart racing. Then as I reached some metal gates leading to a tunnel, all this fog started pouring out making it impossible to see what was at the end of the tunnel. What did I do? Security footage would have shown me standing there for about five minutes frozen deciding whether I was going to go down there or not. In the end, I just couldn't and retreated. It certainly didn't help that there was no one down there in the labyrinths. Losing your way in darkness with no one around is quite freaky. Hearing the crunching of rocks as someone approached was both a relief and a shock as the mind registers that it's not a threat. I do wonder what was down that tunnel but I just couldn't physically and mentally do it. Haha maybe I'll try again next time.
Returned to the world of sunlight and tested my skills at archery at this medieval demonstration. Got to shoot a bow and arrow and a crossbow. This American girl next to me was doing it wrong despite the guy teaching her several times. She almost shot her friend standing behind her. The guy yelled at her. She started crying and didn't want to do it anymore. Sigh.
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Day 23
Checked out on a really miserable day. Rain was pouring down. Excellent day for museums, the problem was getting to them in the rain.
Went to the House of Terrors, a museum dedicated to the Nazi and communist occupation of Budapest. There were some really confronting exhibits inside, many of them long videos. In particular two videos stood out for me. One was a short clip of a bulldozer pushing hundreds of bodies into a ditch, the other was a very long clip of many different old women recounting their survival tales. What made that one so interesting was that they then had the guard recount her experience and it was so skewed. They then all went back to the concentration camp and confronted each other, with the guard oblivious to the hell that she had inflicted upon these women. In fact, she acted like she had been their best friend, claiming that she had always provided them with ample food and other necessities. I found all of this so interesting. Was the guard just pretending or did she actually believe what she said? From a psychological perspective, perhaps she had believed it for so long that her mind had taken it as truth. Perhaps she had to believe that in order to live with herself afterwards. I don't know. But that video was especially confronting and was a great example of how people can choose to believe what they want to believe.
After a quick lunch, went on the free Jewish District walking tour. Probably not the best decision considering the rain but I just had to make the most of my time in Budapest. While I did learn a lot, I was soaked, really cold and my shoes were all wet. Ended the tour with a few drinks at a ruin pub, a pub which has been set up in a run down building that the state can't afford to knock down or renovate.
At the end of it all, picked up my luggage from the hostel and got on my overnight train heading to Krakow, Poland in time to meet up with Aniqa and Tash the next day (hence why I couldn't just extend my stay here in Budapest). Had a whole cabin to myself, and invited an Australian couple, Tom and Kaisey, to hang. Very interesting life stories. They were dancers/models/actors who had been living in London for the past three years. Was great to chat with other people, made the journey less boring. Anyways, we'll leave it here for now. This post is long enough.
HBL signing out from Budapest, Hungary.
Up next: Rendezvous in Krakow...
Previously: Go solo with no regrets...
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