15 june ~ 16 june
I am about to blog the experience of my life! ~ nothing good ~ nevertheless an experience!
I arrived in Athens on 14th june 2011. We are scheduled to leave Athens on 15 june via a train to thesessloniki then from Thesessloniki take a overnight train to Istanbul (Turkey). We are supposed to reach Istanbul on 16june 2011. ~ This is the plan! But i guess things never go as plan.... a series of unfortunates events are revealing it self....
On 15th june, after sending my friend lr off, me, ka n lu are supposed to go to the main train station in Athens to board a train scheduled for departure to thesessloniki at 1 plus..on the day of departure, there is a heavy strike by the train workers, huge demonstrations and many streets are blocked off, police are everywhere, things went alittle haywire in athens...
lu went to ask around where to buy the train tickets to thesessloniki, someone directed him yo some ulu agency in some small street n alley...on our way there to the agency, we have to make some roundabout with our HEAVY luggage due to the demonstration, racing against time...after much work and effort we finally reach the agency, BUT at the agency we were told that we r supposed to buy our tickets from the main train station and not here in the agency!!! so we have to go to the main train station...we have walk back the same route again..with much effort to get to this station and board a train to the main train station. Finally we reach the main train station, we asked the officers how do we purchase train tickets n he said there r NO train today at all!!! We r all stunned! lu then ask him how we get to thesessloniki then, n he said we hav to gg to take a bus at "victoria street", which is near the place we came from!!!! rOar! We have to go back the same region again..with all our luggage...finally we reach there, we have to search high n low for the bus terminal! n after finding the bus terminal, lu went to ask around where can we board a bus to thesesslonik n how to purchase tickets, we r told that there is a bus at 2:30pm, but the police stops the bus from coming so the bus is scheduled to come at 4:30pm instead... that will be too late for us..we r supposed to catch a night train in thesessloniki to istanbul..so we look for alternative, that is to go to another bus terminal~ kossifiki ~ there is a bus at 3pm
To get to the another bus terminal, we have to take a bus 081, but first we have to find where to board the bus!! wE walk through many streets n alleys, seeing all the drug addicts n weird people around, all the streets r damn dirty and disgusting...street names r not clear and all in Greek!!! After some help from passer-by and much much effort, we finally located the bus 081..n boarded it!!!
When we arrived at the bus terminal, we r just in time for departure to thesessloniki!...after a close to 6~ 7 hours bus ride, we finally reach thesessloniki main bus station at about 9:15pm! lu went to ask around, n he found out that we have to take a train from thesessloniki main train station to istanbul...so we need to wait for a bus that will bring us to the train station...we checked the bus timing, n we only need to wait for 15mins for the next bus....so we waited n waited n waited....
After 20mins, still no bus arrived, yet we see buses moving around..lu went to ask someone, n we realised that there is no buses operating today!!! the lady in the bus terminal said there is a bus n then now someone says NO buses r operating TODAY!!! so the only way we can gg to the main train station is via taxi!...okie so we took a taxi..5 euros for 3 person...quite reasonable still...
When we reach the station, lu went to ask the polices over there how do we find the train that leaves istanbul...N..guess what he says?!! There is NO train to istanbul!!!!!!! There never is such a train anymore!!!!!! OMGG!!! Thunderbolt striking..what r we gg to do now?? we r stuck here! we cannot get to istanbul on time, there is no accomodation for the night!!!
The police suggested taking a train tmr to komotini, a border between greece n turkey, MAYBE at there we can find a train to istanbul! MAYbe??!!! n where the hell is komotini...so foreign..what if we gg all the way there then realise there is no way to get to istanbul?! then how?? WE r all stunned n lost...
I saw a internet cafe..so we decided to do some last min research again....i checked n realise that the info i found earlier r all outdated!!! Greece is in serious financial problem, n it cuts off all international train services!!! OMG!! I landed my friends all in HOT soup!! It is all my faults! Anyway, I found out that a company called Ktel offered bus services from thesessloniki to istanbul ~ 2 daily departures ~ 10am n 10pm.. we can purchase tickets n board the bus at this street called Irini's street 17....
Hmmm... a gleam of light... next i decided to treat my friends accomodation out of guilt..i found a hotel nearby via booking.com..n we decided to gg n ask if there is room available for 3! Impromptu...right?
We found 2 possible places to stay, we ask the police how to get there, n he said by taxi, everything by taxi!! lu is frustrated by it! we then met a funny n weird taxi driver outside, we cannot understand him, he cannot understand us! the drive even take out his cell phone to call someone, n ask that person to talk to lu!! the entire situation is amusing..though..but i know lu is really not happy already..after my deliberation we boarded that particular taxi to one of the hotel place...Funny..haha..lu came all the way to my side n open the taxi door for me! haha..so out of blue n soo..hmmm..don noe how to say....
Actually the places we stayed r simply 5 ~ 20 mins walking distance from the station, there is no need to take a cab...that is why lu is angry that the police simply just says everything can only be reached by cab!
Anyway, we just went in to the hotel, and ask if there is room for 3 person...n luckily he says YES!!! Nice room with bedsheets, hot showers, air con, tv n fridge! only for 45 euros! for 3 person! not bad already!
lu suggested to gg out n eat to lighten up the mood...we ate...n later went to walk around to find the irini street, we even buy fruits back! it was close to 2am when we r back in our hotel!
Finally!!! can rest after a gd hot shower!!!..the guys entertain themselves with vic jumpshots!!! they just kept laughing n laughing...i even called my mum using skype..free wifi avail! ka even talk to my mum for awhile!
We slept at about 4am plus..we need to wake up at 8..so we can prepare n take the 10am bus! but because greece time is 1hr forward, we woke 9 plus...we rush out to get to the bus terminal.....
By the time we reach there, lu went to ask around, n someone told him the bus to istanbul is not here is at another place.... we rush to another place...but we cannot find the place he mentioned, so we think such a place does not exist...so we went back n ask again...rush to find the place again N we saw the bus to istanbul LEFT!!!!!! right in front of our eyes!!! ROAR!
so we r forced to board the next bus at 10pm!! we finally buy the tickets though from the agency called "crazy holidays"..we left our luggage there n stoned...just stoned for 1 hr...before we decided to eat n tour around thesessloniki...unexpected....
When night time arrives...we finally managed to board the bus!...a load off the shoulders! "phew".....we will just reach istanbul on the 17 instead of 16 june...
What a dAy!!!! ~ 2 days somemore...even blogging this incident is tiring!
