Munchen to Prague in only 15 and 1/2 hours, via 1 coach, 3 hitch hikes, 2 trains and 1 trolley bus
I was having a good laugh with a friend today as she was telling me how she was stranded in Denham in the north of WA last week. There have been a few cyclones in the north of Australia recently, and my friend had to go up to the Northwest for work. The day she was due to leave to Perth the pilot decided the wind was too strong and cancelled the flight. This happened for two more days before she realised she would have to wait in the sodden town until the cyclone settled. She managed to hitch a ride to Geraldton at the last minute and a dangerous rain soaked and wind blown drive eventually got here there 4 hours later.
Her adventure reminded me of the time I woke up one morning after a hefty night on the town with my booze hound Bavarian friend when I was living in Munich. We had drunk far too much, so much so that by the time I staggered home she had already crashed and was unable to wake up to open the door to let me in. After a restful (not) two hour slumber on her doorstep I climbed on her roof to whack her bedroom window to grab my bag for a four day trip to Prague.
This turned out to be the beginning of a three month trip and the start of my Eastern European fascination.
I really should find my travel diary to remind myself of the details before I start to write about this, after all I was horrendously hungover when the trip began.
By the time I got to the bahnhoff everyone was waiting for me, so I quickly shuffled aboard the bus. Firstly, it was the first time i'd seen a scruffy looking bus since I had been in Germany. Everything is so darned shiny and new in Munich! I tried to get some rest as the bus took off, but in the back of my head I was nervous that I had no entry visa to the Czech Republic. The previous day, in the Czech Consulate, the amazingly surly lady at the counter advised me that 'everyone' gets their visas at the border when you get there, and insisted I not arrange one beforehand. Naively I nodded my head and proceeded to buy an el cheapo ticket before heading off to meet Sabine at her local booze establisment. She hadn't been drinking for TWO days and was edgy to start drinking straight away..
Just as I was finally nodding off to the hum of the engine, the bus rolled to a stop. We had reached the Czech border. As I rubbed my eyes, a well dressed border guard stopped by my chair and commanded to see my 'Pass'. I showed him my passport, which did not impress him. He flicked through it a few times and said in halting English: "Where's your visa? You have no visa, you can't come in". I said that I wanted to purchase one now, and he started shaking his head vigorously. "No no, you must be mistaken. You CAN get a visa at the border, but only at the Waidhaus Border", he said. "And where is that?" I asked knowing that I would not like his answer. "A few hundred kilmetres north from here." He waved his hands, choosing not to notice the look of hungover horror on my face.
Yep, so there I was, turfed off the bus in a place I did not quite know whereabouts it was, and had no idea what to do next. The bus took off in a cloud of diesel fumes. I scratched my head. I took out my wallet and realised that I didn't even have any Czech money on me. Hmm, I was starting to feel like a bit of a dumbkopf. It was nearly 9am.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? STAY TUNED FOR SOME MORE TALES OF MY BONEHEAD ADVENTURES NEXT TIME..
Her adventure reminded me of the time I woke up one morning after a hefty night on the town with my booze hound Bavarian friend when I was living in Munich. We had drunk far too much, so much so that by the time I staggered home she had already crashed and was unable to wake up to open the door to let me in. After a restful (not) two hour slumber on her doorstep I climbed on her roof to whack her bedroom window to grab my bag for a four day trip to Prague.
This turned out to be the beginning of a three month trip and the start of my Eastern European fascination.
I really should find my travel diary to remind myself of the details before I start to write about this, after all I was horrendously hungover when the trip began.
By the time I got to the bahnhoff everyone was waiting for me, so I quickly shuffled aboard the bus. Firstly, it was the first time i'd seen a scruffy looking bus since I had been in Germany. Everything is so darned shiny and new in Munich! I tried to get some rest as the bus took off, but in the back of my head I was nervous that I had no entry visa to the Czech Republic. The previous day, in the Czech Consulate, the amazingly surly lady at the counter advised me that 'everyone' gets their visas at the border when you get there, and insisted I not arrange one beforehand. Naively I nodded my head and proceeded to buy an el cheapo ticket before heading off to meet Sabine at her local booze establisment. She hadn't been drinking for TWO days and was edgy to start drinking straight away..
Just as I was finally nodding off to the hum of the engine, the bus rolled to a stop. We had reached the Czech border. As I rubbed my eyes, a well dressed border guard stopped by my chair and commanded to see my 'Pass'. I showed him my passport, which did not impress him. He flicked through it a few times and said in halting English: "Where's your visa? You have no visa, you can't come in". I said that I wanted to purchase one now, and he started shaking his head vigorously. "No no, you must be mistaken. You CAN get a visa at the border, but only at the Waidhaus Border", he said. "And where is that?" I asked knowing that I would not like his answer. "A few hundred kilmetres north from here." He waved his hands, choosing not to notice the look of hungover horror on my face.
Yep, so there I was, turfed off the bus in a place I did not quite know whereabouts it was, and had no idea what to do next. The bus took off in a cloud of diesel fumes. I scratched my head. I took out my wallet and realised that I didn't even have any Czech money on me. Hmm, I was starting to feel like a bit of a dumbkopf. It was nearly 9am.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? STAY TUNED FOR SOME MORE TALES OF MY BONEHEAD ADVENTURES NEXT TIME..
posted by mrlederhosen at 10:15 pm
3 Comments:
all very very interesting, but I feel drunk from just reading it!!
lolll, you naughty mr lederhosen!cheers have a nice weekend, and post the sequel of this post soon!
THIS is what I love to read from you! Your funny and yet real adventures. I think anyone who has traveled around some can relate.
Please write more!
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