Warsaw to Bangkok

The ride to Krakow takes you through a major industrial area. In a way, I was kind of interested to stop for a day and check these places out. The south of Poland is a major steel production region, and a host of cities grew up around the industry during the 20th century. Today, these tightly-clustered cities are slightly rundown relics of a past age. Even Krakow, one of Europe’s most famous destinations, has a major steel plant in its suburbs. That was actually a deliberate attempt by the Communist government to stifle the town’s artistic (read: free-thinking) side. As soon as I got off the train the tourist circus began.

The old town has indeed been given over entirely to the throngs of visitors (at least in summer), in addition to seething masses of pigeons. While this makes it fun, it also makes it less fascinating. Around the old town, the former moat is now a park, and makes for a pleasant stroll.

I also checked out the famous Wiezlicka salt mines. These are fairly extensive, including a cathedral, several churches, and a man-made lake. Soon, though, it was time to depart to Lithuania. This was a total gong show.

There are no trains between Krakow and Vilnius. Not even close. So I found a bus that was running a trans-European route, ending in Vilnius. I booked a ticket online. I got to the bus stop and they would not honour my ticket. I got on the blower with someone from their office and that guy was a total arse. I told him off in a most unequivocal fashion. I decided Mastercard could return the cost of the non-ticket and paid them cash for a seat. Thankfully they had one or I would have been totally screwed.

The ride itself was hell. Overnight buses are not my vibe. I can’t sleep sitting up, for one thing. Plus I was squashed in with all sorts of shifty-looking miscreants. There were no breaks nor onboard washrooms. That was beyond rough. We stopped a couple of hours by the side of the road not far from the Lithuanian border for no particular reason. The border itself was fine and dandy. They’ve built a rest area on the other side. Not that we were going to stop there when there was a free rest stop a little further on. OK, the free one was an abandoned building with a stellar toilet and poop in the urinals.

Wroclaw arrived under heavy cloud. At this point, I was fairly paranoid, largely because I’d just started my trip and couldn’t afford to have my stuff ripped off. That would definitely have put a cramp in my style. So I hurried out of the train station, ending up with some hostel touts who hauled me in a bucket out to their establishment. I got a room to myself in a dismal hostel with disinterested staff, non-existent kitchen facilities and a distinct lack of toilet paper in the can.

I set off for the old town. Along the way I came across a botanical garden. I decided to give it a whirl. It was a pleasant, relaxing place with a few quiet corners and pretty plants. From there I made it to the old town proper. The weather was dark and cool, and the town strangely silent. The square was huge and empty. I retreated to the brewpub Spiz, which is in the old town hall in the middle of the square. From there, I set forth to explore some other beer stops, since Wroclaw overall was lifeless.

Eventually I made my way to a pizza parlour for dinner. The only other diner in the place drowned his pizza in ketchup, one of the most revolting things I’ve ever seen in a restaurant. Overall though, the town was deserted and the hostel lousy. In Krakow, a few of us shared horror stories about Wroclaw’s hostels – apparently they are all terrible.