Well.....it was on our luggage, in a luggage hold, but we did spend the better part of a very long day in a luggage storage room on an extremely crowded train with many other people standing for hours in corridors and sitting on bags and nestled in between bikes.
We had booked our tickets the day before and as is typical with Polish trains, we arrived early with everyone else and we all waited until the few minutes before the train was due to check the platform and destination of the train. We had been told peron 2 (track 2) and it arrived and we could not find anywhere to sit and neither could many of our fellow passengers including women with children, old men and women and cyclists. The trip was 8 hours long with one change at the border where Lithuania has different gauge tracks - at Sestakoi.
A lovely lady (a music teacher ) helped us find a space in a luggage storage room and she guarded it for us, and talked to us in her halting English. She was travelling with her bike, many bags and her dog. She had to watch out for the ticket inspector as she had not paid for her bike or her dog.
We could not do anything to while away the time except look over the edge to the view outside. The diesel fumes were strong and nauseating, Richard was sick with hay fever and there was no table or back rest. We could stretch our legs though, and considered ourselves well off compared to the others squished in narrow corridors where perching on bags was awkward.
8 hours like this. The train did not serve food or drinks. We had planned and brought our own supplies. We did not want to eat or drink too much; if this was what the carriage was like then what would the toilets be like. They were bearable but later we found a nicer one further down the train. When you use the floor flush pedal you can see the tracks wooshing by.
A few people got off along the way but not many. The cleaning ladies in their high heels and gypsy skirts cleaned the train when a large group got off at the second last station. One whole carriage of school kids with all their back packs and camp beds, phew!
We had booked our tickets the day before and as is typical with Polish trains, we arrived early with everyone else and we all waited until the few minutes before the train was due to check the platform and destination of the train. We had been told peron 2 (track 2) and it arrived and we could not find anywhere to sit and neither could many of our fellow passengers including women with children, old men and women and cyclists. The trip was 8 hours long with one change at the border where Lithuania has different gauge tracks - at Sestakoi.
A lovely lady (a music teacher ) helped us find a space in a luggage storage room and she guarded it for us, and talked to us in her halting English. She was travelling with her bike, many bags and her dog. She had to watch out for the ticket inspector as she had not paid for her bike or her dog.
We could not do anything to while away the time except look over the edge to the view outside. The diesel fumes were strong and nauseating, Richard was sick with hay fever and there was no table or back rest. We could stretch our legs though, and considered ourselves well off compared to the others squished in narrow corridors where perching on bags was awkward.
8 hours like this. The train did not serve food or drinks. We had planned and brought our own supplies. We did not want to eat or drink too much; if this was what the carriage was like then what would the toilets be like. They were bearable but later we found a nicer one further down the train. When you use the floor flush pedal you can see the tracks wooshing by.
A few people got off along the way but not many. The cleaning ladies in their high heels and gypsy skirts cleaned the train when a large group got off at the second last station. One whole carriage of school kids with all their back packs and camp beds, phew!
There was a time change at Lithuania - one hour forward. The guard let us know to change our watches, catch the train and off we went - surprised that one guard knew or cared - and had a seat on a train to Vilnius.
A seat at last and into Vilnius in an efficient, clean, spacious train, through lovely farm land and forests and over rivers.
You are certainly having a variety of adventures!
ReplyDeleteThere has to be a friendly dog on the trip :). I'm so glad you found a couple of nice people along the way xx
ReplyDeletethe dog's name was Dombruvka
ReplyDelete