Weirdly (and this was totally unplanned) it is exactly a week to the minute (18:11) since I left London Waterloo..... 7 days, 5 trains, 3 hostels, several (!) beers, 1 new facebook friend and so many Ausies I've lost count already.... and here I am in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Expectations are strange things - For those in the UK, I don't know whether Michael Pailin has reached eastern Europe yet, and if he has maybe your expectations would be different from mine. Having read very little about Polish & Lithuanian history/politics my assumption was of a ex-soviet outpost with large concrete and rusting green buildings, nothing but stew and dumplings to eat and slightly scary looking women..... how wrong can a girl be!! This place is fantastic - bright and vibrant, full of colour and stunning architecture, flavoursome food. incredibly friendly hospitable people and an energetic nightlife.
Challenges - The biggest so far have been 1) trying to find my way out of Warsaw train station which although only has 6 platforms has eight million exits all of which seem to lead you to McDonalds.... 2) trying not to get dragged into political conversations with Americans.....3) Spending at least some time on my own (hostels are friendly places.... and 4) Remembering to take plenty of photos, there is always the delete button!
Thought for the day - Why is it that wherever you go in the world outside the UK people talk to you on trains? It was wedsnesday afternoon and I was a little confused as to why the train had stopped, a bunch of cleaners jumped on and scrubbed the whole thing down whilst an engine was attached to the back of the train, the cleaners jumped off and the car I was in promptly headed off with the new engine in the direction we had just come from.... noticing my suprise Lithuanian Mark suggested he come and sit with me as "its much more fun to have someone to talk with".... fine by me as not only did he help me get off at the right point and change onto the correct train, but also spent the following four hours in conversation ranging from his views of Russia to the global monetary system to sharing a bag of dill flavour crisps (v.good they are too!).... so next time you see a lost soul on a train....well, I leave you to decide!
Current reading material - The Gum Thief, Douglas Coupland.
Current ipod tunes - Bruce Springsteen / Medieval Babes / Killers
So...12th October I leave London Waterloo like any other day, but instead of catching the train back to Hounslow its first stop Brussels and then pretty much everywhere!! Keep reading to follow the adventure.
About Me
The Plan
12/10/07 -14/10/07 - Brussels (Belgium)
16/10/07-18/10/07 - Warsaw (Poland)
18/10/07-21/10/07 - Vilnius (Lithuania)
21/10/07-23/10/07 - Riga (Latvia)
23/10/07-26/10/07 Tallin (Estonia)
27/10/07-29/10/07 Moscow (Russia)
29/10/07-11/11/07 - Trans Siberian Railway to Beijing (Russia, Mongolia, China)
11/11/07-15/12/07 - Five weeks in China
15/12/07-06/01/08 - Vietnam
06/01/08-13/01/08 - Cambodia
13/01/08-20/01/08 - Thailand
20/01/08-26/01/08 - Malaysia
26/01/08-01/02/08 - Singapore
01/02/08 -09/02/08 - Freight ship to Brisbane (Australia)
09/02/08 -01/05/08 - Traveling around Australia
05/05/08-28/07/08 - Volunteer work in Dar El Salaam
28/07/08-01/09/08 - Traveling around Tanzania
01/09/08-04/10/08 - Morocco, Spain, France and back to the
UK
16/10/07-18/10/07 - Warsaw (Poland)
18/10/07-21/10/07 - Vilnius (Lithuania)
21/10/07-23/10/07 - Riga (Latvia)
23/10/07-26/10/07 Tallin (Estonia)
27/10/07-29/10/07 Moscow (Russia)
29/10/07-11/11/07 - Trans Siberian Railway to Beijing (Russia, Mongolia, China)
11/11/07-15/12/07 - Five weeks in China
15/12/07-06/01/08 - Vietnam
06/01/08-13/01/08 - Cambodia
13/01/08-20/01/08 - Thailand
20/01/08-26/01/08 - Malaysia
26/01/08-01/02/08 - Singapore
01/02/08 -09/02/08 - Freight ship to Brisbane (Australia)
09/02/08 -01/05/08 - Traveling around Australia
05/05/08-28/07/08 - Volunteer work in Dar El Salaam
28/07/08-01/09/08 - Traveling around Tanzania
01/09/08-04/10/08 - Morocco, Spain, France and back to the
UK
4 comments:
Rhian, was just doing some archiving and found your invitation note for your leaving drinks, oh dear..you have been travelling a week already and im getting back to you on leaving drinks now! I hear you say :-)
Anyway I took the opportunity of feeling guilty for 5 minutes to read your blog, sounds like you are having an interesting time of it. I did wonder what political conversations the typical travelling American would want to have with a european??
Anyway good luck on the rest of your travels, your blog will be a great record of your ups and downs. I intend to drop in here now and again to catch up with the world outside the daily struggle for a desk at southbank.
Sounds like it is all going well Rhian. I found Poland and Warsaw in particular an amazing place and I went there just after their independence. The architecture in particular was amazing.
Thanks for the update. It is good to hear from you. Keep posting!
BTW, the IBM marketing conference thing seemed to go well. I got a lot of positive comments :)
Now if only the 6.11 train from Manchester to Euston on a cold Monday morning was as interesting......although not sure that I would get into anything but trouble if I chose to engage in conversations with my fellow travellers!
Sounds like a great start to your trip - keep having fun, a very envious Fi x
Glad to hear it's all going well so far Rhian! I worked in Poland on and off for 18 months and it has a special place in my heart so glad you enjoyed it. My track record of talking to strangers on trains is that they turn out to be nutters so glad to hear Mark wasn't a Lithuanian nutter. Having said that I did meet some wonderfully random and entertaining people when I was travelling and it makes it all more interesting. Keep the great stories coming!!
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