2006-10-01 - 11:37 p.m.
Did you know that you can stay in a Best Western hotel in eastern Slovakia for not too much more than a hostel in Bratislava would cost you? It's true!
Our last day in Bratislava was uneventful, except for supper. We went back to the Slovak pub, and I had deep fried perogys. I have never really cared for perogys, until I had them deep fried. Goes to prove the old motto I guess- everything is better deep fried.
That night was a bad one- there was some confusion about who was sleeping where. I was never really clear on it, but I think some guy came in, and slept in someone else's bed, who then got the receptionist, who came in, turned on the light and left it on. Jesse, who was awake for more of it than I said it lasted for an hour. It was terribly annoying though, since we had to be up at six to catch our train.
We managed to make this train on time, by taking the tram to the bus station. We had no change for tram tickets, and the driver wouldn't sell them to us, so we rode for free, and hoped the inspectors were still in bed. Arriving at the train station, we bought our tickets for the seven thirty train. (actual quote from the girl at reception when I asked about reservations -"This is Slovakia! We are a small country- five million. Don't be silly" )
We had to take the train to Kosice, and from there to Humenne, where we would be staying. The train to Kosice was fine, for the first part we shared a compartment with an old baba and her granddaughter. The funny thing is that both Jesse and I thought that the baba looked exactly like grandma Ferrey (who was an English as they come). It was odd, but she seemed very sweet. I was trying my best to finish Don Quixote, which is a hard read at the best of times, so I don't remember much. The scenery was great though, when I wasn't reading. Lots of big hills (probably technically mountains) and picturesque villages with huge Soviet factories dominating them.
We got to Kosice, and got our tickets for Humenne easily. We even found the right train! Getting on though, we found that Humenne was a very popular destination, and there were no seats. We ended up standing for most of the trip. There were a couple false alarms, as the train stopped for no reason in the middle of the tracks. Everyone piled out for a smoke (much to our confusion). I have no idea if it was train thing, or just so people could have a smoke break.
We finally made it to Humenne, and found our hotel. It was a Best Western, which is funny, since there is a Best Western in Rocky. However, it was nearly the same price as the hostel in Bratislava, and the bathroom was private. It was glorious. We spent the first night reading and watching terrible music videos. Jesse developed an unhealthy fascination with Justin Timerlake's video "Sexyback" and switched compulsively back and forth between the two music channels to try to catch it.
I had talked to the desk staff to find out about busses to Karna. That was the main reason that I chose this hotel- they garanteed English speaking staff, and I had no idea how to get to Karna. Turns out there was a bus there at 2, and one back at 5.
We got up late the next morning, enjoying not having any Stanleys in the room. After a quick breakfast from the grocery store, we found our bus. The bus was three quarters full, mostly with middle aged women who had been shopping. There were a couple kids, and some people our age as well.
It took maybe forty minutes to get to Karna. We went through a few other villages on the way. Karna is absolutely at the end of the road. The bus parks there until it is time to make the trip back.
There was one big main street through the village, and several smaller ones. Most of the houses were two stories, and looked not new, but not old. I would say, maybe thirty years old? Around there. Everything was really well kept up. The houses were all neat, the yards cut. Lots of people had flowers etc.
There were quite a few people around, it being Saturday. When we got there there was a big group of ten or so kids playing in the main street. Walking past them it was pretty clear that they don't get many people out to gawk at the village. They gave up odd looks, and the younger ones stared a bit. There were several people our age as well. In Bratislava they had told us that it would only be old people there, but it seemed to be a pretty good mix. Looked like lots of families.
We walked up the hill to the church. A lady was cleaning the church, so we went around to the graveyard. Saturday is apparently lawn upkeep day in Karna, as we saw and heard plenty of weedeaters. There was a guy working in the graveyard, but we went in anyway. We found several Sivak graves right away, and I made Jesse tramp through the whole thing to look at most of the graves. He's not so into graveyards, but I'm used to it. In my family, going to the graveyard passes as light entertainment.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around. The town is very very pretty. It is surrounded on all sides by these low, green rolling hills. Some of them are forested, but some are not, and I half expected Julie Andrews to come singing over the top!
The feel of the town was very different from what I'm used to. Coming from a prairie town where there is clear distinction between country and city, it was a little odd to see chicken in yards. The town felt like a natural outgrowth of the environment. It felt like a town of farmers- still connected to the earth. It felt, above all, like it was supposed to be there. It was there, and as big as necessary for people to work the land. It is small, because not that many people are needed. It exists still, because people still work the land. I have no idea how long Karna has been there, but I would guess a long time. It's the sort of town that is there because it needs to be there, and I liked that feeling.
We walked all around, and stopped in the general store for a drink. Jesse tried to get Coke, but we ended up with some odd tasting cola. I was happier that way- drinking Western Coke in Karna would have felt weird.
After that we went back up to the church. I wanted to see if I could get a look inside. We ended up meeting an older woman, who talked happily to us in Slovak. I showed her the translation that Allison had given us, and she gave us a house number. I was tempted to go and see the people, but the knowledge that we could hardly say hello in Slovak, thus reducing our manners to shoving a notebook in front them, combined with the fact that our bus was leaving in twenty minutes prompted us to leave it alone. I sort of regret that now, but I think that I will be back.
On the bus ride back, I thought about Grandpa, and what it must have been like to travel those same roads with the knowledge that you may never come back. To leave everything you've ever known for a life in a strange country an unimaginable distance away must be one of the hardest things in life.
We managed to survive the crazy ride back. The bus driver had no silly ideas about slowing down for curves, which made the ride that much better.
Since we had spent almost nothing that day, we went out to the hotel restaurant for supper. I had venison steak, which I had never had before, and Jesse had duck. Both were awesome. We spent the night reading and calling parents (on my part) and trying to find Justin Timberlake on the TV (on Jesse's part).
We woke up this morning, and caught a 9:15 train to Kosice. Once there, we realizes that we would have to wait until six to get a train to Budapest. We spent the entire six hours sitting on a bench, reading. Nothing like going out and seeing the world hey?
The ride from Kosice to Budapest was terrible. our compartment of eight seats was full for most of the trip. I was beside this couple who would not leave off kissing, holding hands across the aisle, etc etc. That stuff irritates me at the best of times, let alone when I'm tired, hot and crowded. It was dark, so when I looked out the window, I could still see them. I mean, at one point he was biting the top of her head!! Is this normal public behavior? In a crowded train??
I tried reading, but I'm reading this horrible book by a guy named Ken Follet, that we got for free in Prague. He's a terrible writer, which didn't help the journey any.
We are now however ensconced in a very nice, quite small hostel in Budapest. Free Internet, kitchen, laundry and TV. Here's hoping the beds are comfortable- I'm exhausted.
