Friday 9 October 2009

Vilnius to Warsaw


Not staying in Vilnius for the night I headed straight for Poland. If you look at a train map of the Baltic states you will notice one thing: All trains go to Moscow. Looking on the internet the only official way to get from Tallinn to Warsaw via Riga and Vilnius on land was to use the bus and since the last and longest leg between Vilnius and Warsaw was the most expensive I thought I might as well hitchike from Vilnius. Even though upon arrival in Vilnius I realised there actually is a train connecting the two capitals I decided to stick to my plan. Luckily I met a German who was also hitchiking and who gave me a few tips. After an hour's walk to the border of the city I waited not long before catching a ride to Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania. There I was until it got dark; after all it was already quite late. Two friendly but dodgy guys gave me a lift to Augustinov, Poland, from where my interrail ticket was valid again.
The guys dropped me in front of a hotel which was already full. I walked to another one, which was too expensive and a pension, which was already closed. Looking across the canal I had my dinner and afterwards concluded my search for a place to sleep.
Asking two old guys, who had just come from a bridge evening with a couple of others, about a cheap nearby hotel, one of them invited me to sleep at his flat.
Next morning I got up very early when the sun hadn't been shining for more than an hour, because my host had to leave.
It's supposed to be the most beautiful city in the region; yeah right. The shabby houses from the 60s and 70s left me a bit hoping for something better to come as I made my way to the train station. It was a couple of kilometres, which took me around 2 hours, but as I walked the second half of the way next to or through a forest it was quite alright.
Something I stumbled on was really worth the stop alone: A colourful graveyard right inside the forest.
I had just enough time to buy something to eat for lunch before my train to Warsaw arrived.

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