After Romania

So, I went to Budapest, Hungary. Yes, it can be easily confused with Bucharest, which is in Romania; they both start with "B" and end in "-est." Budapest is described as a sprawling city, and when you stand on the Buda side and look over the Danube, you know exactly why they describe it that way. I made another friend in the hostel, also my roommate. But again, the journey to the hostel is another story all together.

I traveled on the overnight train thinking that maybe I could save money on a night at the hostel once again. On the train ride from Sighisoara, a guy traveling with a Europass was told he had to buy another ticket. As some of you may know, you buy a certain number of stops over a certain period of time. 4 stops means 4 countries and you decide to travel these 4 countries within a month. Each stop usually takes a day of travel. However, one does not always depart in the morning or afternoon. A day of travel may be considered an overnight train ride as long as the trip begins after a certain time in the evening, maybe 4 pm. This was the case for our fellow traveler. The ticket collector either was not familiar with these rules since there are few foreign travelers with a Europass or worse, he was trying to make extra money. (No, I was not the only person to think so). Our whole car was listening to the conversation, and all the English speaking passengers, especially male, were trying to put in their two cents...whether to give advice or for encouragement. I remember the train stopping at the border and seeing absolutely nothing around us but fields and trees..and I was afraid my fellow countryman would be left out there, ticketless and perhaps penniless. The ticket collector was asking for almost 50 euros if I remember correctly and he didn't have cash on him. Anyway, he was allowed to stay on the train and decided to make a complaint to the office at the train station once we arrived in Budapest.
His problems hopefully came to an end.

Mine were just beginning. You see, I did some research before arriving. I found out there was an English speaking help desk inside the train station. I thought I'd ask the help desk to help me locate my hostel, ask if I should take a taxi, and if so, how much the fare would be. (I didn't want to get ripped off and unfortunetly, taxi drivers are known to rip of foreigners in Budapest). So, I told him the name of the street. He told me to go straight and make the second right. Outside the train station, with my ton of luggage, a guy who looked like he'd been sleeping on the street approached me and asked me if I spoke English, if he could help me with my bags. I pretended I couldn't speak English. I made the second right, but I should have stayed on the left, because the road split into a "V". I stayed on the right and I kept walking and walking. The streets kind of reminded me of a 19th century New York City, maybe the upper east side. But, I must have looked like I had been sleeping on the street considering I hadn't slept a wink on the train all night. On top of that, I was probably the only Asian looking person they'd seen. Some people just passed me by when I asked for help with directions. Maybe they didn't speak English as well. Who knows? A couple of people did attempt to help me when I asked them for directions, however, and boy do you get to appreciate a stranger's kindness at times like these. One man, I remember seemed very confident in talking to strangers....I figured he'd traveled a lot in his day. I must have been walking for an hour, dragging my luggage across town when I saw a Chinese restaurant place that was open. I realized I was hungry so I ate a cheap but delicious meal, chatted a bit with the owner about what nationality I was, and I was off again. I even stopped by a second hand store to sell the blanket my grandmother knitted for me...just to lose some weight in my luggage. This sounds so insensitive now, but maybe one day you'll know the challenge of too much luggage. Anyway, she wouldn't take it! After asking two guys working at a kabob restaurant, I finally made it to the hostel. Thank God. I went upstairs, took a shower, and met my roommate.

She had just arrived as well. We decided to explore the city together sans sleep. We did Pest the first day, Buda the second day. On the third day, she went to the spa at Gellert (I believe), while I went caving. Caving was awesome. I tried not to think about how much earth was above my head and enjoyed the adventure. Our guide was great. As a matter of fact, I had saw him on the History Channel on a show called something like "Underground Cities" the other day. I'll never forget it. We were all hungry and tired by the time we came home.

The following two days in Budapest were spent alone since my friend went off to her next adventure. I explored the church inside the cave, the hospital inside the cave, and found his beautiful church that was painted....in marble. It was the most fantastic thing I'd ever seen. I also ended up going to this Asian restaurant that had a korean soup on their menu. At that moment, I realized that I must be homesick.