Of Hungarian Night Trains and Romanian Train Stations

Well, I took a night train from Budapest to Bucharest last night. I went for the cheap option in which up to 6 people could be slept in the same compartment, however it was just me and a sketchy Romanian man. He had a greasy ponytail and a 'stache, along with coke bottle glasses - had I been a solo female I would've been a bit freaked out, but he was nice enough. He spoke a little bit of English, so we talked a bit, and since there were only two of us, we went to bed right after we crossed the border (and time zone!). It wasn't the most comfortable sleep I've ever had, but it was better than I expected. When I awoke all my valuables were intact and my bag was still there (which is good cuz the lock on the door was broken!) so it all worked out. I had a sandwich for breakfast that I made earlier and then it was on to Bucharest!

When I first got off the train I was hassled a bit by a guy named David. At first I thought he was just being friendly (how naive!) but I realized when he didn't leave after convenient breaks in the conversation that something else was up. I think he was trying to get me to take a rip off taxi to the hostel, and then he even offered to walk me there, but I told him that I was travelling alone and didn't need any help. He wasn't too pleased about that (I think cuz he wasted 10 minutes talking to me beforehand) but he did leave me alone. That caused me to flee from the train station rather quickly though, as I didn't want to be harassed any further, which is a shame because that's where I tend to get maps and internet access and whatnot when I first arrive somewhere. Thankfully I had already booked my hostel but I hadn't written down the address - which in hindsight is rather stupid, but I figured I'd just hop on the internet when I arrived and figure it out. Note to self: don't do that again! I wandered around the streets of Bucharest in 31 degree heat (hey, at least it wasn't raining!) for 30 minutes with my bag on my back, sweating like a maniac. I couldn't find an Internet cafe for the life of me - unhelpfully, there is a chain of currency exchange places here called Amanet, so everytime I saw a big sign with 'net' on it, I thought I had found one, but I was wrong. Then there was another place that I thought might be an internet cafe so I wandered in and instead, it turned out that it was a Ford dealership. That was closed. Go figure.

At any rate, eventually I decided to head back towards the train station, figuring that there had to be something at least nearby, and if need be, I could bravely venture back in - but I didn't have to in the end! Eventually I found this place, which is the basement to a convenience store across the road from the station. It's nothing special, but it's cool (temperature wise) and will be a good place to kill time before heading to the hostel - the address, of which, is now in my possession!