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Published: July 24th 2010
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July 21 - Wrong. Sleep was not easy going as the other guy turned out to be the loudest snorer in the history of snoring. Even with ear plugs. I wanted to kill him. See, people are not peaceful by nature. I ended up getting up at 6:30am since I was awake anyway and had to leave at 7:30 to see if I could still get a ticket for the ferry. Before I left, I also booked a place to sleep in Torun for the next couple of nights. The ticket office was only a five minute walk from the hostel. There were people already buying tickets but I was in luck - I was able to get ferry tickets leaving at 8:30am and coming back at 3:30pm. This would give me five hours in Hel. Plenty of time I think. I came back to the hostel, got ready and then left around 8am. Another guy at the hostel was also trying to get tickets and left at the same time. I stopped in a store to get breakfast, a drinkable yogurt in this case, and never saw the guy on the boat. Turns out he was too late and it
was sold out. Sucker. That's what happens when you don't get home until 5am. Such a productive morning.
When I got to the boat there was already a long line to get on. Or should I say a massive crowd of people? Lines don't seemt to be as popular as crowding and pushing your way on. Maybe they feel like they've earned it then. So I got in the crowd and pushed my way with the best of them. Probably got on quicker this way actually. I went straight to the top of the ferry, as always, as if I feel I will somehow miss something otherwise. I got a seat on a bench facing a scary tatooed couple and a cute young couple. Well, they weren't so scary just too touchy for me. It was cool enough out but sunny, which was a surprise and they had talked of rain for that day. So it was a nice day. The ferry took two hours and I passed the time catching up in my journal and relaxing.
Once we arrived in Hel and I disembarked, I felt I was in hell. It was all touristy, horribly so, like
an extended carnival, minus the rides. Food and games and stuffed animals as far as the eye could see. A really really crowded beach. Crap. So I walked on and on and on, thinking I could escape this part and just enjoy something. I picked a road and stuck with it. Eventually it lead into a forest, past a camp ground and became a dirt road. I was going to turn back, but there were plenty of people walking and a few gold carts taking people up ahead, including the tatooed couple, so I conmtinued. The road ended at a lovely beach, with way fewer people, so I decided I would stay. I do not usually do the beach, especially alone, as it is impossible to reach my own back for sunscreen and I always burn. Plus, I am worried about my bag if I go in the water. Will it still be there when I return? But I decided not to let that bother me. I had on my bathing suit top and changed into the bottoms rather successfully with the help of my sarong (and knowing that there were not that many people around yet). I applied as
much sunscreen as possible and then laid down to read. It was a warm day but there was such a nice breeze that I stayed cool. I decided not to go swimming as I didn't know what to do with a wet swimsuit, but I did walk around in the water and it was cold. Felt nice though. I read my book, decided to finish it so I could store it away in my big pack. It's a trilogy in one book, so it was massive. Had an apple and some goldfish wanna-bes for lunch, and just tried to relax. I was there from 11am-1pm. Then I packed it up and went back to town in search of the folarium, a place where they keep endangered Baltic seals. It was just about feeding time, unfortunately, and super crowded. It only cost about 60 cents to go in, but it took ages to get a view of the seals. Fifteen minutes later and feeding time was over, so I was able to get some views and pictures, which was nice. There was even so more feeding, so that was good.
I made it back to the boat a bit early,
with the intention of possible getting a real lunch, but I really had to pee and still refused to pay for the toilet. Cheap-o. So I waited for the boat. As soon as it pulled in, there was a massive crowd again. I was in a good position but they weren't letting people on. But I saw that they were in the back, so I went there. But that was only a group of kids, so I had to wait for them to finish and there seemed to be 1000 of them. Then it was my turn and instead of heading for the toilet, I raced upstairs and got a seat in the hot hot sun. What is wrong with me? Certainly I'd had enough sun. And I still had to pee. Yet I wanted a good seat and I am traveling alone. No one to save my seat. So up I went and finished my book before the boat even left. It was a rather boring ride back. I laid down for a while and tried to sleep, and then just moved around to try to keep out of the sun as much as possible.
Back in Gdansk,
I went to the hostel and was surprised by a naked ass upon opening the door. It was the snorer, fresh from the shower. I let him change and went to the bathroom (finally) and then we met officially. He's from Spain and would be staying another night. Bummer. But he was nice, of course. I went to grab a kebab, which I finished before I grabbed a coke at the shop. Came home, put the coke in the fridge while I showered and packed up, and then settled in with the coke for some internetting befoe retiring a bit early and reading. I got to sleep by 11pm, which is impressive.
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