Night train

So, I boarded the night train from Varna, Bulgaria, to Bucharest, Romania. Leaving at 23:10, I was supposed to arrive at 6:25 Monday morning -this morning.

So I put my clock early enough to have the time to wash up before arriving, thinking of the delicious breakfast I would enjoy in the capital after leaving my backpack again in the care of a luggage office in the train station and before visiting leisurely the city. If you are starting to smell a rat, it is because there is a big one.

We were woken in the middle of the night, presumably at the frontier, to show our passports. The train going to Moscow, and my three compartment neighbours going there, they had passport while I had my identity card -which I got back right away after a quick look, while the passports were taken away and brought back later. Nice, to be a European travelling in Europe.

We had two passport controls, both with lengthy wait, at the point that when my alarm rang, at quarter to 6, we were at a standstill somewhere. My phone was still on the Bulgarian network, which tipped me that we weren't exactly near my destination. The staff confirmed my conclusion and I managed to understand that we would arrive at 9:30.

We didn't.

Finally, we arrived at 13:40, which quite simply doubled my original travel time. Of course, I was hungry, having no food with me, and it is only when I left that I understood that there were free soup to be had, the boiler look-alike at the end of the carriage being a kind of urn.

Conclusion, hungry, sweaty -there is no air-conditioning, and when the train isn't moving, no breeze-, I accepted the first -okay, the second, I eat at the MacDonald's at the end of the tracks first- offer to take a taxi and find a hostel. I was thus thoroughly ripped off by the driver, who took me 35 lei (around 9 euros) to take me on a 5 min course. (It is in easy walking distance to the station.) Well, I can afford to be ripped off in Romania, and the hostel is cheap, has a laundry service, and a large shower.