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I have traveled a lot and want to tell you about each of the places I have been to. But instead of recalling all the adventures the old-fashioned way, I want to experiment and write about them as lessons.
You really learn a lot when you are traveling. More than you would ever imagine, especially if you are alone and stuck in crazy places. It’s inevitable to think deep, have ideas, learn, etc. It’s part of the odyssey.
These five lessons are from my last trip around Europe. I was stuck in L’viv , in Western Ukraine and had about a day and a half to get into Sibiu in Romania. It was a friend’s birthday party and I really didn’t want to miss that. Could I make it? Tricky, just keep reading!
Lesson #1: God Exists (and so Does Tremendous Luck)
L’viv is a lovely city. Perhaps a bit stuck back in time, but there’s a lot of nice architecture, places and things to see. It has Habsburg charm (it was one of the remotest cities on the Empire,) mixed with some Ukrainian and Soviet-era uniqueness. It was good to stay there for a few days.
But enough was enough. It was time to finally get out of Ukraine. No airplanes or buses made rail the only option to get to Sibiu. Not really cool as, despite both cities lying on the same line, the rail takes a detour deep into Hungary.
On the hostel I had met Marcel, this hippie and Spanish-speaking French who would join me for the half of the train ride. It’s always cool to have someone with you for these super-long trains, especially in countries a bit hostile as Ukraine. So we went to the central train station to buy ourselves a ride out of L’viv.
There’s nothing in the world that’s harder than to buy a train ticket in Ukraine and Russia. In Russia and in Kiev friends had done it for me… But in L’viv I was doomed. After more than two hours in the station, visiting all the possible counters and asking everyone you could ever imagine I was pissed as I can get.
They didn’t seem to notice the desperation in my face. I tried EVERYTHING… How DIFFICULT could it be to buy a ticket to Sibiu? After giving up completely I decided to at least try to get a ride in a train with destination Budapest. I wrote in a piece of paper, large and in Cyrillic “Budapest” and pointed at me saying “Mne (me), BUDAPEST” (almost like praying, money in hand.) No use.
I just wanted to get the hell out of Ukraine for once! So did Marcel, who, despite his hippie and laid-back kind of lifestyle, was also starting to get nervous… Then, the savior came. Bizarre things keep happening when abroad.
“Hola,” said this random, dirty and baldy dressed Ukrainian old man. He did not have front teeth and seemed more like a mugger than an envoy from God. “I heard you two speaking in Spanish. I’m from Argentina,” he insisted, with a funny accent. Whatever his plans were, he was dead wrong. There was nothing Argentinean on him and I could see all the way he was Ukrainian. I didn’t want to get mugged and told him to go away.
Feeling there was no patience in us two he did his trick. He took out a little blue booklet and said “look, look.” To my astonishment it had written in big letters “Pasaporte Argentino” plus the coat of arms of my country: the real thing. It was no joke! He then told me he was Ukrainian but was naturalized Argentine, after living in Buenos Aires for more ten years. For all those into gossip, he worked there as a bus driver (the infamous ‘colectiveros’).
He, then, in a matter of a few minutes did what we had been trying to do for hours: buy our tickets. I couldn’t believe and I still can’t believe it now. It was just amazing that this guy was in that place at that time and willing to help us out. The odds for that to happen are overwhelmingly low. And really, hadn’t him been there I perhaps would still be in L’viv!
I always think that luck’s impact in your life can be minimized (or played in your favor) if you are prepared and actively search luck. I sympathize with the words of the legendary golfer Roberto De Vicenzo “The more I practice, the more luck I have.” But these kinds of situations are beyond practice, preparation and anything else… This mysterious guy just popped there. Thank God!
Lesson #2: Create Adventures of the Worst Moments.
Once with our tickets Marcel and I boarded the train destination Budapest. I checked and to go to Sibiu the best idea was to get down in this city called Szolnok. I had never heard about Szolnok before… I thought it would be funny to fool around the city for a little bit if I had an hour or so in between trains. After all, more than twelve hours inside a train makes you want to get your legs in the move.
The thing is that I finally had to stay six hours in Szolnok. For much as I would have loved to check out the city, staying six hours in the middle of nowhere is never that fun. Marcel was gone and I was pissed: the next train headed to Sibiu was leaving in just ten minutes and the clerks didn’t want to sell me the tickets.
Why was that? This time they were much friendlier, spoke English and even laughed at my jokes, stories, etc. It’s just that they had to fill in the tickets by hand and that took “at least 15 minutes.” The clerks she said sorry at least twenty times, but told me there was no way in the universe for me to get a valid ticket before the train left.
You can imagine how pissed I was. I got a ticket for the afternoon train, leaving me whole morning to experience the best of Szolnok. I cursed myself for not going all the way to Budapest after all. I had been four times there already and loved the city… A fifth one would be much better than being in the middle of the Alföld .
But it was then, already stuck in Szolnok for good, that I realized how magical the moment was. I was in Szolnok, for god’s sake, no less! No matter how stupid the situation was, I started to feel better about it.
I walked around, spoke with people, ate delicious Hungarian cuisine and had a good time. After all, I knew no one who had ever been to Szolnok, I had never heard about it before and I probably would never be back there soon. Then the city started to look nicer for me, the people friendlier, the buildings more pretty, etc. I had a great time investigating the town.
Presented with a situation like this you should do the same. I could have well stayed in the station or at some place taking a nap or something… But no, I went out to explore, live and have fun in the city. And it was well worth it! I have anecdotes, discoveries and experiences that if I had stayed inside the station I would have never lived.
Make an adventure of life, even of the bad moments. You can’t imagine how angry and pissed I was because I was missing the train just because these women didn’t write fast enough. I didn’t have an emergency to get to Sibiu but when the trip is more than a day long you certainly want to keep it as short as possible. A six hour detour in the middle of nowhere is never welcomed in the first place. But when you don’t have any other choice make the most if it!
Lesson #3: Double-checking Sometimes is Not Enough.
I had enough time in Szolnok to check one million times all the details of my (hopefully) last train of the day. I knew everything someone could know about the Szolnok-Sibiu train. I checked on the Internet, asked all the clerks, etc. Of course, it was not enough.
All the info was worthless. The train was going into Romania, that’s for sure, but the stewards quickly pointed me out that not into Sibiu. I had to get down in a place called Vintu de Jos (more in the middle of nowhere than Szolnok) and there I would, finally, get my connection to where I wanted to go.
I wanted to kill the stewards, the train drivers, the clerks, etc. But they all contained me and told me that the connection would come just two or three minutes after I got to Vintu de Jos. Damning the situation I agreed and patiently waited while the train cruised the South of the Alföld and went deep into the Carpathians. It’s a breathtaking piece of scenery, one of my favorites in Europe.
It was already night when the train stopped at Vintu de Jos. I made sure to ask twenty times if I really had to go down there, when was the next train coming, etc. The stewards showed me the timelines, wrote notes down for me and made me very clear that there was no problem: I would get to Sibiu in less than an hour after I got down.
Of course, there was no train there waiting for me. The officials in the station quickly pointed out that the next train to Sibiu would not come at nine as the stewards had told me but, instead, at four in the morning. I like to make adventures, as I have already pointed you out, but that was enough.
Lesson #4: Don’t Panic, Football Can Save You.
While Szolnok was an okay city, Vintu de Jos was definitely not. It was for sure the most frightening place I had ever been at. All ran down, full of gypsies, stray dogs and very, very dark. The train station was very small and nothing beyond it looked friendly. No shops, no hotels, nothing… For once in the trip I was starting to get really worried.
Then it’s when the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy comes in hand. It may be a humor book, but it has and promotes the best quote any traveler should always remember: “DON’T PANIC.” Of course it’s hard not to, especially in a situation like this, but no matter how bad things are, stay calm. Panicking will only make matters worse.
I had made sure to keep all my valuables hidden, my watch off, everything on the front pockets, etc. But with no one to see and with some probably interesting stuff on me (backpacker after all) I was an easy and desired pray.
The first thing I did was to immediately call my friend. I still remember that loud, cute and mother-like “WHAT IS VINTU DE JOS MARIO?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE?!”No matter how weird the situation was, it was good to hear the friendly voice on the other side of the phone anyway. We spoke for a minute and tried to make up a plan. Best idea: get a taxi (or whatever ride) out of Vintu de Jos and get to Sibiu fast.
But when I was about to hang up, some little guys started surrounding me. One of these started to play with a knife and looked quite seriously at me. I was really fucked, really, really. And I remember this moment: I extended my arms, palms open and in my struggling little Romanian told them “I’m from Ar-gen-ti-na,” “Good football, Maradona, friends.”
Saying that would probably get me killed in most of South America, but these guys were stupefact. I was probably the first Argentine they had ever seen and our football is well known for being one of the world’s top. And, best, Romanians are big fans. “I like Hagi, Popescu, Mutu…” and I continued. Lesson: always learn a country’s best football players and how to say they are good in the local language. Wins you friends, gets you drinks and saves your life. No joke.
After the small chit-chat I went on: “I… Sibiu… Help. Taxi” and took the Argentinean flag I always have hanging on my pack and gave it to them. I’m sure I had won the hearts of at least a few of these guys, but they kept discussing. In a moment like that, better to keep the mouth shut. Then, once they discussion was finished they pointed somewhere and told me: “Taxi.” Miracle, I was out of trouble.
Taxi place didn’t look as Taxi place, but I was definitely relieved to see two more backpackers and two old women waiting on the same spot. Whatever was going on that was the place to be.
Lesson #5: Sometimes You’ll Have to Eat Shit or Be Royally Fucked.
The backpackers at least spoke English, but were less friendly than the gypsy boys. And the two old women… Well, I felt they hated me from moment zero. I just don’t know why, but I never felt so disliked in my whole life. The Taxi place was not a Taxi place, but there was this guy with a big car who was willing to take us to Sibiu for a few Euros.
Jackpot, finally… One hour, that’s all what was left. Thing is that then they started discussing that they didn’t want to take me. This old woman from Germany, who actually spoke Romanian and had become the de-facto leader of the small group, told me there was no place in the car for me. I was better dressed, better looking and more friendly and active than the two others, but she just didn’t seem to have a crush on me.
I don’t know why, but it was mysterious. Either way, after fighting a little bit for the prize and negotiations, they agreed to take me on the trunk of car, all cramped, as the only option. Of course, I would have to pay the same as the other two, bigger and more-space consuming backpackers who had a much comfortable ride.
But then, it was my only option. There was no car in Vintu de Jos and the gypsies wouldn’t be that friendly for the rest of the night. The trunk was better than any other option available and I had to take it. It was an uncomfortable ride, that’s for sure.
Either way, in less than an hour we finally got to Sibiu. Unbelievable, after more than thirty hours inside trains, crazy cities and all this… But the driver wasn’t so nice as to leave us at the center. Instead he left us in the very edge of the city, far away from everything.
And that’s when my favorite part came in. I called my friend fast and in less than five minutes I had a friend of hers picking me up. I left while the other four had a “What can I do now?” face. Said goodbye as a good gentleman, wished them well and went my way. We then went for party, drank a bit and had a great time.
Photo: me in the L’viv-Szolnok train.
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Lessons From Getting Killed in Hungary!Remember Marian Cozma?
Heard about Cozma, horrible! Still – I know it’s very tricky between Hungarians and Romanians. I don’t take sides – Love both! It’s just that I happened to have the more extreme experiences on the latter =)