Travel stories

Each of us has stories.More M.Yu. Lermontov wrote in “Hero of Our Time”: “The history of one human soul is sometimes more interesting than the history of an entire people.”

So I decided to share my travel stories. Over more than 10 years of active travel, quite a few of them have accumulated. It’s good that everything ended well.

Вот и я решила поделиться своими историями из путешествий. За более чем 10 лет активных поездок их накопилось не мало .Хорошо, что все хорошо заканчивалось .

Story No. 1 Train.

So, this happened a very long time ago, when I had not yet been outside of Russia. All my long-distance travel was limited to trips to relatives in the south, exclusively by train. There were no navigators or smartphones then. I was traveling with my 4-year-old daughter, and the train arrived at its destination late, when it was already dark. And then it started to rain. It’s pitch black and you can’t see anything. Focusing only on the time of arrival, I asked the conductor whether my station would be there now. She assured that right now, and when the train stopped, she put me out with the child and things in the rain. 

I was also surprised that no one was meeting me, but oh well, it’s raining, maybe they’re waiting at the station. The train stopped on some siding tracks, and it took me a while to get over all the rails and get to the station building. Raising my head, my gaze fell on the name of the station, and I went cold. It was completely different from what I needed. I turned around sharply, my train was still standing. My heart began to beat in time with the rain, and, picking up the child and things, I rushed back. It’s good that no one came and blocked the path. I started knocking on all the doors and windows, but no one heard me. It was raining and it was dark. 

Suddenly, out of the darkness, a guy appeared, clearly tipsy, with a bottle in his hand. He moved towards me, and before I had time to get scared, he was nearby. Unexpectedly, he took part in my fate, and together we began to board the train. They finally opened the door for us in one of the carriages. I quickly explained the situation, pushed my things and the child into the vestibule, and the train immediately moved off.

 The relatives who met me were surprised that I appeared from another carriage, but the conductor who dropped me off was even more surprised. I mentally promised her to write a complaint against her personally, and against Russian Railways in general, for hiring people like that. Of course, I didn’t fulfill my threat. Unlike the transfer that forgot us in Finland.

Story No. 2. How we were forgotten in Finland.

This was in those glorious  times when you could move around carefree) I saw discounts on tickets for the Viking cruise ferry, and decided to take this opportunity to take my child to Moomin Park at the same time. 

The departure was from Turku. I called several companies offering transfers to this city and chose one. At first everything went well, the driver called back, arrived on time, drove me and left me there. We walked around Turku, by the way, there are a lot of museums there. In the evening we took the ferry to Stockholm, returned the next morning, went to Moomin Park and waited for our return transfer. 

We sat down in a shopping center where there was WI-FI. It was late, a friend wrote to me, and I asked him to call the carrier company to find out about the transfer. Then I received the happy news that the transfer was in the morning to the ferry, and there will be no more. The dispatcher made a mistake there. There was no time to think. 

By the way, what helped me out was that I prepare very carefully for trips. I am thinking through all possible travel options. Firstly, in order to compare prices. Secondly, just to choose the most acceptable budget option. And it’s just interesting to consider all the ways. Therefore, I knew perfectly well what to do. No, don’t look for an overnight stay and order a new transfer for the morning. We had to run to the bus station as quickly as possible in order to catch the last bus to Helsinki. Fortunately, we succeeded. 

There was free WI-FI on the bus, and the next step was to buy tickets from Helsinki to St. Petersburg. There were no tickets. We were on the penultimate flight, we didn’t make it on time, and there was no one on the last one. I was depressed, spending the night at the bus station in order to leave in the morning, such an adventure. I periodically checked the availability of tickets, and, lo and behold, at some point 2 tickets appeared. But the adventures didn’t end there 

When boarding, the driver did not find us on the list. They weren’t updated and we were waiting for our tickets to appear in the system so he could seat us. Apparently someone handed them in at the last minute. In general, everything ended well, in the morning we were at home with minimal financial losses. It turned out a little more expensive than the transfer, but not by much. 

And I wrote a review of the transfer that forgot us on all possible Internet sites, in detail, because I was as angry as with the conductor from the train. And I encountered more negative reviews in their direction from other people. And now I always read reviews before, not after) The full story, with all the details, can be read here.

Story No. 3. Night adventures in Valencia. Spain.

We rented an apartment in Valencia, this was my first completely independent trip. In those days when I didn’t have a smartphone yet (I had a push-button Nokia), and I had never even heard of navigators. There were Yandex cards printed from my work computer. We lived half an hour from the sea, near the Old Town. 

Since the number of days was limited, and we actively traveled radially, visiting parks, water parks in neighboring cities, museums and zoos, I tried to take advantage of every opportunity to visit the sea, even in the evenings.

So one of these evenings we went to the sea. And when we returned we were late. And the last transport left. By the way, I had a travel card, and I didn’t take money with me, so as not to keep an eye on them being left alone on the beach. But on this particular day I had some change with me, and it really helped me out. T .To. the tram and bus passes were different.

 

In general, my confused look attracted the attention of the girls, fellow sufferers, at the bus stop, or maybe I pestered them with questions, I don’t remember. Somehow they found out where I needed to go, and they took me with them on the night bus. The circumstances were complicated by the fact that the name of my stop coincided with the name of a suburb of Valencia, and they “delighted” me with a taxi price of 50 euros. Then, when I said the name of the street, they figured it out, of course.

 

It was difficult to communicate, they gave me a translator on the phone, but there was no Russian language or Cyrillic alphabet, I had to strain all my knowledge of English and translate it into Spanish.

It turned out that we would have to get there by 2 night buses, with a transfer. It’s good that we were all on the way. And we also loaded onto the second bus all together.

They left earlier, but asked the driver to drop us off where we needed to. He dropped me off in an unfamiliar area, in the middle of the night, in a beach suit and as a child. He waved his hand in the direction where we needed to go and drove off. So we went.

It was warm, but dark and deserted, it was scary. We wandered along the empty illuminated streets, poorly understanding where. Suddenly, a couple with a stroller appeared (what were they doing on the street at night?). I rushed to them, in the hope that they would understand at least I would like the name of the street where I need to go. Without hesitation, they took out a phone with a navigator, built a route, and let me go only when they were convinced that I really understood where to go. After some time, the area began to take on familiar shapes, and in the second At one o’clock in the morning we reached home.

You can read more about Spanish adventures here .

Story No. 4. How we were left homeless in Cyprus.

This was also one of the independent trips, completely organized by me. We flew to Larnaca, and from there we took a bus to Limassol (there is a regular bus, there is a shuttle, it is more expensive, but faster).

I had booked a separate room in a hostel (there are always those there). And upon arrival, when I found the admin who was not there, he became serious, mumbled something, and I sensed something was wrong.

The rating of the hostel simply went off scale, all the reviews were extremely laudatory, and the day before I even wrote to them, nothing, as they say, foreshadowed.

But it happened. I was given a version about a glitch in the program that left us homeless.

Here, imagine the picture, the height of the season with all that it implies (I booked accommodation almost six months in advance, as well as tickets), I am with a child and things in a foreign country, and they tell me that there is nowhere to live. While I stood in silent shock and blinked my eyes The admin hinted to me about a shared room with beds. But, apparently, he realized from my face that something was about to happen that would be completely unpleasant for him, and he immediately found a way out.

It turned out that the same owners also have an apartment in which rooms are rented. They put us in one of them, at the price of a hostel, but… only for 3 days. I immediately made it clear that I couldn’t solve this problem on my own I will, let them think the same. At the same time I took an adapter for sockets from them. Of course, I looked for housing, even looked in neighboring cities, but it was useless. It was the height of the season, the expensive options didn’t suit me, and the more or less budget options that remained were such trash that you couldn’t bring your child there. Then I realized that I needed to calm down and let the situation resolve itself. There was no point in worrying, the vacation was on, I had to relax and let events take their course.

As my situation progressed, I was further offered a room in an apartment with the owner (all co-owners of the hostel and apartments). I haven’t lived like that yet, but I didn’t have much of a choice. And, as it turned out later, they forgot to mention that there was still a dog living there, and I’m allergic to them. But, fortunately, I didn’t need this option.

After 3 days, the receptionist girl came and admitted that it was completely their fault, they had converted my room into a staff room. I wondered, I thought, how many other people had booked it besides me and would come. They obviously hadn’t heard about canceling the reservation or notifying me in advance. Or just don’t care about the guests. And if the accommodation has already been booked, they, logically, do not have the right to do anything with it without providing an alternative, because this is not force majeure, but a whim.

But then some good news arrived. Just that day, they had finished renovating another apartment for rent. They moved us there. A huge half-floor loft with terraces was all at our disposal. And for the price of a hostel.

The story ended well, we even won in this situation, if we did not take into account the stress at the beginning.

By the way, to the website on which we booked this accommodation, they reported that we allegedly canceled the reservation ourselves. Because the site takes payment and commissions from them, and it was necessary to report on check-in. They even called me later and asked the reason for canceling the reservation, of course I told everything that I did not cancel the reservation, but this story happened. They were in shocked and promised to sort it out, and I added that I had no complaints, because everything ended well. I don’t know whether they sorted it out or not, I never heard anything else about it. But I left the details of the apartment owner, just in case, in case we come again .(the same owner from whom we were offered to rent a room in his main apartment, where he lived with his wife and dog).

You can read all about this trip here.

Story No. 5. How the bus broke down on the way to Benidorm. Spain.

 In fact, there is nothing like that in this story. But on one intercity bus there were people from different countries, different nationalities, speaking different languages ​​and with different plans.

This was the same trip where we took night buses in Valencia home.

This time we decided to visit a water park and an amusement park in a neighboring city, on different days, and went there by bus.

To buy a bus ticket, I wrote a text in Spanish in advance and gave it to the ticket office. Unfortunately, either the text was not fully thought out, or the cashier turned out to be sociable, but it did not save me from additional questions. For example, about this I need a return ticket or another date, there are no seats nearby, etc. Therefore, the next time we went to the water park, I rewrote the text more carefully, this also did not save me from communicating with the cashier, but that’s not the story.

Somewhere in the middle of the journey, on the road between a desert area and mountains visible in the distance, the bus pulled off to the side of the road and died. It was obvious that it had broken down. But how long we would have to wait, whether anyone would come for us and when, it was unclear.

For a while we all sat quietly, then we slowly began to crawl out into the street. There was an air conditioner on the bus, but when it stopped working, the air conditioner also stopped working.

We weren’t in a particular hurry. Of course, the earlier we arrived, the more time we would have spent in the water park, but in any case, we weren’t late for anything.

Unlike the couple who were traveling to Alicante airport. In Benidorm they had to transfer to a bus to the airport. So they were noticeably nervous.

The situation was complicated by the fact that the driver did not speak English. It was not possible to find out anything from him. The couple was from Russia. And the man who was running around the bus and pestering everyone in search of an explanation spoke only English. It was unknown where he was late, or maybe he just wanted to find out what was happening… Having reached me, he tried to find out if I could understand him and say something. I felt sorry for him, I went to the driver and we found out that help had been called and was on the way, but wouldn’t get there before an hour later.

The couple on their way to the airport became depressed and offered to chip in by taxi. But when they looked at the prices, they abandoned this idea. 

An hour later another bus arrived and picked us up. The guy and the girl were late for their transfer in Benidorm, the bus to the airport for which they had tickets left. I saw that the bus station employee was taking them somewhere, I hope that they made it to the plane.

And my adventures did not end there. 

We found ourselves at the next bus stop, from which we were supposed to go to the water park. The schedule was strange, we had to figure it out somehow. It turned out that the same numbers had different routes. The required bus still hasn’t arrived. Does it even exist? 

After 30-40 minutes, I went to a nearby hotel at the bus station to get some information. They suggested that I go somewhere into the city, change somewhere to another bus, or call a taxi. I returned to the stop, we had been waiting for more than an hour, the heat was merciless, my patience ran out, I returned to the hotel and asked to call a taxi, which took us there in 15 minutes. 

We were already returning by bus back to the bus station. And then everything could have ended badly. Because I thought that since we got there in 15 minutes, the bus goes about the same. We already had a return ticket from the bus station to Valencia, and we need I had to arrive at the departure time of the intercity bus. I still don’t know how it happened that we left early. Apparently, there was time to figure out the schedule. The bus took about an hour, we arrived late, but we made it in time.

And on the next trip here, when we were returning from the water park, I, already smart, got out an hour before and, it turned out, mixed up the schedule, looked at the bus in the wrong direction. And we had to take a taxi, which brought us to the bus station 40 minutes before the bus.

These are the kinds of stories that happen. You can read more about Spanish adventures here .

Story No. 6 Adventures in Antalya

This trip to Turkey itself was a complete story. In short, we were going to a completely different country, but the flight was cancelled. The tour operator offered either a replacement or a refund within 10 days.

Upon arrival, there was a delay in baggage claim, then a search for the tour operator’s bus in a huge parking lot crowded with buses. Then it turned out that the escort did not know where our hotel was (she also asked me where it was)). Then the hotel was found, and there was repairs, we were taken to another , they don’t hire there, there are no places. They brought it back to where the repairs were taking place and left it there. We were the only ones there. Can you imagine that you are alone on the hotel grounds and there is no one else there? To say it was creepy would be an understatement.

But nothing, then people gradually moved in, the renovations were just finished. It turned out that the hotel had changed its name (or owner), so no one found it. It turned out that this is a system of hotels with one owner, with that hotel where we were not taken due to lack of space. The bracelets were the same, and that hotel was closer to the beach, so we had lunch there and dinner at ours. It turned out that we used the services of two hotels for the price of one. The staff didn’t mind, I specifically found out if it was possible to do this, they even drove us by car from hotel to hotel if we wanted to go to that pool or to that animation program.

However, this was a preface.

One day we decided to go and see Antalya. We had to go with a transfer in Manavgat. We decided on our own, as always. There was a tour there, but why overpay if the bus is much cheaper, we will not be limited in time, and we will go wherever we want.

And, although at the bus station we were strongly persuaded to take a taxi, I still insisted that I wanted a bus, and they took us and put us on board.

We successfully reached Antalya, took a walk, and got ready to go back. We had to get to the bus station and take a bus there to Manavgat, then change there to a minibus (dolmus) to Side.

I had to use public transport, and I didn’t even imagine that this could cause any difficulties.

However, the passage to the tram stop was blocked by turnstiles. I decided to go to the bus and buy a ticket from the driver. There were no turnstiles there.

We figured out which way to go, and then I was blown away by the number of buses. They arrived one after another. Moreover, if the stop was busy, they sat outside and just left. At the stop there was a list of about 20 buses, with a list of them stops. Having found the word “bus station” (otogar in Turkish), I had to remember the numbers, then run to see what kind of buses were arriving, then run and check the list, because it was impossible to remember everything. 

When the right one arrived, it turned out that it was impossible to buy a ticket from the driver. Only from the machine at the bus stop. Well, the machine is just an machine. But for some reason there was also a surprise waiting for me there (and why do I attract them so much)). The machine didn’t want to sell me a one-time ticket, only a travel card, and why do I need it? I tried to ask the locals to buy me a ticket, but they didn’t understand what I wanted from them. It was only later that I learned that I had to first buy a travel card and then put money on it. But why do I need it if I’m only in the city couple of hours. After fiddling with the machine and realizing that he wouldn’t sell me a ticket, I tried to resort to plan B.

We had to go out onto the highway and catch an intercity bus there. We walked to the exit point on the highway. Where to catch him, what road would he take? There are several of them. A man I came across took me to some spot and left me there. It was getting dark. The streets were deserted. After standing for some time, I finally decided to return to the nearest stop.. And halfway there I saw a bus. We got there further without incident.

You can read more details here.

Story No. 7. Adventures in Taman.

I have wanted to visit this place for a long time, mainly because of the Ataman ethnographic park, which recreates a Cossack farm with huts, household items and way of life.

I came here by train from Anapa. I went out to the bus stop and realized that if there was a bus here, it was extremely rare.

The law enforcement officers patrolling the railway station said that they had never even seen the bus.

There is a stop, but there is no bus. Although there is even some kind of schedule.

I opened applications for calling a taxi (several different ones), but there was not a single car within a radius of several (tens) kilometers.

Having waited, for the sake of decency, about 30 minutes, I realized that there was nothing more to wait.

I opened the browser on my phone and typed “Taxi Taman”.

The first number I came across was an answering machine, which invited me to place an order. I didn’t like the idea of ​​ordering a taxi through an answering machine, so I dialed the next number. The dispatcher answered me and promised a car in 15 minutes.

Standing with me at the stop was a man who had arrived on the same train. He was going to some sanatorium, and was very happy when I managed to call a taxi. He planned to use my car so that they would pick him up and take him after me. But the driver refused him. He had to wait for his bus, which, according to the schedule, should arrive in a few hours. He did not ask to call a separate taxi.

I prudently took the driver’s phone number so that he could take me back later.

Having done all my business according to plan, visiting the park

Museum of M.Yu. Lermontov,

landscaped Taman embankment,

After passing by the Archaeological Museum and walking a bit, I got ready to go back.

 

I needed to find a convenient landmark for the driver, where he could pick me up, and I stopped at the bus station. For luck, I decided to open the application for calling a taxi and check again. And, lo and behold, I found a car at a price 2 times lower.

If, for example, I had not taken the phone from the driver, and again failed with the application, there were cars on duty at the bus station, but the price most likely would have been different. Well, as a last resort, you could call the same dispatcher again. There were options.

The driver who arrived said that I was very lucky that I was able to find a car. But they don’t have public transport. (How is it, it’s interesting, people live here, how do they get around, do they all take taxis? Especially since it’s a tourist place)

At the train station, my Internet lost, and I was unable to transfer money to the driver. He explained this by jamming at strategic sites, which is the station. In general, it was good to have cash, you should always have some.

You can read more about the trip to Taman here.

Story No. 8: confusion with a ticket to Kaliningrad

We have this practice, traveling on weekends. We fly somewhere on weekends. To Kazan, Volgograd, Moscow, Kaliningrad. Not all of them, of course, but periodically.

And here, and this is not the first time this has happened, an incident happened.

When you take a ticket on the night from one day to another, you need to be very careful.

I wasn’t even embarrassed by the notification that check-in had started (it opens a day in advance) for the return flight, when we had not yet departed there.

And only while sitting on the plane, I finally decided to check the time and date of the return flight, and saw that instead of tomorrow evening, the ticket was for tonight. The well-known airline, whose services we used, seated us, like malicious defaulters for choosing a seat, at different ends of the plane, and I could not discuss this with my daughter. I could barely wait until the end of the flight.

It’s easy to get confused with the date when the ticket goes into the night, or late evening, from one day to the next. Upon arrival, I, like the smartest one, immediately sat down in a panic, under the airport WI-FI, to buy a new ticket while it was available.

When this process was successfully completed, at the exit, I saw the airline office. The ticket was non-refundable, but I decided to ask if it was possible to return at least some fees. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that the ticket could simply be exchanged for another date, subject to availability. They didn’t give me any money back, they just removed me from checking in for the wrong flight.

This is how I gained experience and the airline money.

And now I share it with you.

Photos from Kaliningrad can be viewed here 

Story No. 9. About Crimea.

This trip took place during a pandemic, when vacation has already arrived, and it is still unclear where and how to go. Flights to Greece and Germany were canceled, and even money for tickets was returned (Aeroflot immediately, AirBaltic returned for six months, trying to pay off with a certificate).

The trip was planned a week in advance, and, as usual, it was supposed to be multi-part, with transfers to 3 cities, travel around the surrounding area and by sea. It happened in one of these three cities, namely Yalta.

I always choose housing very carefully. I read reviews, even write to the owners if I have questions or need to clarify something (availability of a kettle, air conditioning, location, etc.)

As it turned out earlier, good reviews are not a guarantee against surprises, but it is impossible to foresee everything, especially in a limited time frame, and during the season when housing flies away before our eyes.

We discovered this on the second day of our stay. The room was very good, not far from the center and the beach. With a microwave, kettle and dishes, there was even a corkscrew. There was also another surprise that suddenly fell from the ceiling… in the form of beetles. They were floating in cups, on the bed, on the floor. Most of all, I was afraid to bring them home. I went to find out, it turned out that everyone was aware of this natural phenomenon, the administrator even said – ugh. And the cleaning lady said that this is a rare species of beetles brought in The Red Book, and those living in the neighboring tree, advised us to simply not open the window and use the air conditioner. And they live exclusively only in our room (where the tree is).

I was about to start a scandal, demand that we be moved or evicted and the money returned, but there was nowhere to move out, and there were only a couple of days left to live here. Having angrily promised to write them an appropriate review, we stayed in this neighborhood.

Then we left for Simferopol, from where we flew home. When I was looking for housing there, in the reviews people indicated the presence of ants and cockroaches. And I chose housing without the presence of these insects. Everything was fine in Simferopol. And in general, the trip turned out to be good and eventful, and no one is immune from small surprises; the main thing is, don’t let your own mood ruin your vacation.

You can read all about the trip to Crimea here.

Story No. 10. About "Swallow"

“Swallows” travel all over Russia, connecting large and small cities and settlements. From St. Petersburg this one goes to Vyborg, Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, Petrozavodsk.

In the Sochi area, it’s like an ordinary train, for which you don’t need to buy a ticket in advance, you can ride standing. That’s what let me down.

During my month-long trip along the Black Sea coast, which resulted in visiting 9 places, I needed to get from Anapa to Lazarevskoye. The entire travel route was planned in advance, accommodation (which was canceled 2 times), train and plane tickets. But I didn’t buy a ticket for “Swallow” in advance, I thought it wasn’t necessary.

Here I was also confused by a story from Nizhny Novgorod, from one of my trips… From there I wanted to go by “Swallow” to Vladimir, and when I was going to buy a ticket in advance, on the official website of Russian Railways, it cost 3,000 rubles. The price seemed suspicious to me, considering the distance. As a result, at the ticket office at the station, they sold me a ticket for 500 rubles.

Therefore, I did not buy this ticket in advance. And having arrived in Anapa, I immediately went to the ticket office so that after 4 days I could travel further along the route. And, to my surprise, but in fact it was logical, because the final station of this “Swallow” was the airport, there were almost no tickets for it perhaps a month in advance. And it did not function like an ordinary train, but rather like a train, without standing places.

I was offered to go through Krasnodar, take the Lastochka there, there were no other options… In general, I didn’t mind visiting another city in transit. I wasn’t late for the plane, it was still a few days after visiting the mountains, and agreed. Just in case, I looked at the bus station, but there were no tickets to Krasnodar for a week in advance (the bus travels faster and costs less). Therefore, another point was unexpectedly added to my trip, visiting which I was almost late for this “Swallow” , walking around the city, but this is a different story, like the story with housing in Lazarevskoye. And this whole trip was full of stories.

Stories can be found everywhere. The main thing is how to teach them. It’s like stand-up comedy, where they tell seemingly ordinary incidents from their lives, not trivial, and maybe not even remarkable. But the manner of their presentation, the emphasis on the right things and meanings gives them tangibility and vitality.

The main thing is not to be afraid that something will go wrong, not according to plan, to be optimistic and look at things and events positively. In the end, this is what all life consists of, travel and the events that happen within them give us a new outlook on life .As Max Fry said, “We never come back the same, someone else always comes back.” These events change us, and we return different. Let all changes be only positive.

Good impressions and travels.