Day 33 - Jednu kartu do Beograd?

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My hiking backpack landed with a weighty thud on the bench I attempted to sit on (attempted, because the damn thing was so big, there was no room left on the seat for me to sit on!). I still had another hour to go before my train was due to arrive, the one that would take me straight to Belgrade.

So tired. Somehow I managed to forget, after a whole month in Montenegro, how difficult it is to get around without knowing more than a few words and broken phrases of the local language. Silly me.

The clerk at the train station knew no English, but fortunately, I prepared a brief, but comical oral presentation, titled "attempt to order a train ticket in accented Serbski."

Haha, it's pretty funny to think about it now, how grim the clerk looked when she flatly said 'no' to knowing any English, lol! My weak attempt at the local language ("jednu kartu do Beograd?"/"one ticket to Belgrade?") managed to earn an equally grim smile, thank goodness! I think she took pity on me and gave me a discount :D.

This and the frequent exchanges with gypsy children (somehow I started to answer them in Spanish...don't ask me why, I don't quite know myself o_O), tired me out for the day, and it was only 10AM.

Wonderful.

The rest of the day was fairly eventful (if you could call a 10-hour train ride eventful :P), given that I was, from the very beginning, somehow paranoid that something would go wrong. First it was getting on the right train (yes, I would consider getting that step right rather important in getting to Belgrade :P), then it was making sure I didn't wind up sitting in the wrong compartment (I heard somewhere that in some long train rides, the last caboose or two would detach itself from the main line to be picked up by another train going in a separate direction), then it was locating my hostel with this UNGODLY amount of weight on my back in the dark without getting killed.

Thankfully, all the things above were accomplished with a mild level of success, and I slept happily in my dorm bed that night, dreaming of things to come...

...and who knows? What's to come, I mean? I sure as hell don't...

But I guess I wouldn't have it any other way, now would I? 😊

More on Belgrade coming very soon!

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Photos

train compartment
the compartment I stayed in :)

view from the top
the perilous mountains of Crna Gora! lol

Kolascin?
the wintry resort destination in Montenegro (I think)

border patrol
crossing the border into Serbia!

border patrol
some weird-looking church randomly at the border...O_O

Central Station Hostel
the hostel I stayed in!

CS hostel
the steps to the hostel

hostel room
the room I stayed in :) 8 dorm beds

Belgrade train station
The first thing I see once I hopped off the train!

Comments

[Elin]

Belgrade
Very interesting blog :) I'm considering travelling by train to Belgrade, sleeping at the same hostel as you. If I come with the 00.30 train in the night, is it far to walk to the hostel ?

[devyn]

Actually, no time at all! Central Station Hostel is just directly across the street from the main train station...just cross the tram tracks and you're already there! =D Have a fun and safe trip!