AUGUST 1999 - PART 1 

Prague - Rakovnik - St.Dizier - Dijon - Lyon - Torino - Brindisi - Patras - Athens - Thessaloniki - Pythion - Istanbul - Pythion - Thessaloniki - Athens - Patras - Brindisi - Conegliano - Venice - Maribor - Vienna - Zajeci - Brno - Prague

With my friend Michal we decided to go camping to France, Spain and Portugal. We were very lucky as we happened to find a truck going to France. The driver gave us a lift so we took that opportunity and set off. As soon as we got off the truck it started raining. Our target was clear - to get to St. Dizier (Champagne) where a friend of ours live

as soon as we could. After 20 minutes of being ignored by French drivers our strage way of hitch-hiking brought a success and a guy in a white Peugeot stopped. Maybe he felt sorry for us since we really were soaking wet. Then it was alright and in a couple of hours we got to our friend's (Mylene's) house. There we met Sandy. The girls started persuading us to stay at their house longer then just for the total eclipse of the sun and wanted us to go with them to Morocco. Finally we agreed but then found out that we need a visa which we couldn't get so we're started choosing an alternative. Turkey. That's it!

We bought Inter Rail tickets for 2 zones (French one including France and Benelux and as we said an Italian one including Italy, Slovenia, Greece and Turkey) (note: non-europeans can't buy Interrail but can buy Eurorail). Then on Saturday, August 14, we left. We actually could have left earlier but starting our trip on Friday 13 scared us so we all declined.

We got smoothly to Lyon and changed to Torino. We arrived there around 8 pm and didn't think our next train leaved in half an hour which was utterly awesome. The train wasn't very nice and throughout the night it got very crowded but we care because we didn't have to pay any supplement and in the morning we were in Brindisi.

Now, just book our place in the ferry and go swimming. This was the only thought in our minds. But the office opens at about 6 pm so we started seeking a beach. Unfortunately, there was no one who could speak English so it was a matter of luck we actually got to the bus stop. After getting on the bus we were told we'd had to buy tickets before in a tobacconist's or whatever. The driver asked the people in the bus whether someone had spare tickets and as soon as he saw a lady who moved he ignite the engine and left. But the lady didn't have any ticket so we went for free. During this we met 2 guys who seemed to be backpackers as well. They come from France and India, lived in Hongkong and currently study in the US. They joined us for the next 2 days. We all had a nice swim in a crystal clear sea and in the evening left for Greece.

The journey was alright and we spent a part of the night talking to our new friends. The following day we landed in Patras. As the first train to Athens was completely full we decided to go by coach. On the ferry we also met a couple of Slovaks and so there was a big group of us who went to Athens.

The coach station in Athens is really horrible and it's pretty far from train station. Actually is not - on the map you can see it's like 500 m but you can't pass so you have to take either bus or taxi and you have to go like 20 minutes.

The same night we left for Thessaloniki and Istanbul. The only problem was that there was a supplement on the train as it was a couchette one. Anyway, we arrived to Thessaloniki and carried on to Istanbul, actually, just to Pythion which is a village on the borders. In the train we learnt loads of new things. For instance that there was a earthquake in Istanbul about 3 hours ago, ... We also met an American guy Murice who told us a lot about Istanbul. Because of that earthquake we were stuck in Pythion. No cash points, no cards accepted, turkish toilets, not very nice people. Our passports were immediately taken away and returned as soon as we got on the train about 10 hours later. In Pythion everyone tried to find out some news about the earthquake as the Greeks turned to be imposible to find out something. But finally we decided to continue to Istanbul.

For us a strange thing happened in the train. There actually weren't normal windows with frames but just a glass pane with a handle. The pane couldn't remain open kept going up so Mylene always pulled it down. When she did it for the third time the handle stayed in her hand and pane broke.

We arrived during night 24 hours after the earthquake. When we were walking through the centre and looking for a shelter we were amazed by 2 things. Amazing mosques and tons of people lying in the parks worrying about their lifes. We didn't care about this as we were pretty tired and the only thing we thought of was to find the hostel Murice told us about. The Yucelt Hostel.

We found it and all the people who spent together a day in Pythion paid a night and went to sleep. They didn't have enough rooms but we didn't care and slept on the terrace. This hostel turned to be totally smashing. 50 metres from the famous Haigha Sofia Museum (Ayasofya) and Topkapi Palace, 3 meals a day and from 8 am to 7 pm all drinks for free (beer, wine, coke, tea, coffee) and just for 8 Dollars.

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