It was time for another trip, which was first planned differently. I was supposed to travel not alone, but things change quickly in this world. I booked all the flights, so there was no way of backing out! This trip will probably get interesting. I’m writing this article while traveling, so let’s see what will happen!
18h in the bus
Yes, I did it again, going from Hamburg in Germany all the way to Budapest in Hungary. There are only two destinations I reached by bus so far for getting good flights: Vienna in Austria and Budapest. In both cities, I have friends now, so I visit them as well.
I can sleep quite well in buses, but still, 18 hours is a long time. The trip started a bit after midnight, and I arrived in Budapest after 6 am. The first 8 hours, I had nobody sitting next to me, so it was perfect for sleeping, which I did for a few hours. These days, I was on the phone a lot, so that gave me some inner stress, or at least that’s how it felt.
After stopping in Prague, the bus was changed with a waiting time of an hour, which isn’t bad at all! I was happy when I finally got off the bus because from Prague to Budapest, it was quite annoying. People were listening loudly to things and snoring too, not my favorite!
Back to Budapest
It was my third time in the city, and each time I used it for good flights. One time to Costa Rica, the other time to the UAE, and this time to Azerbaijan, a direct flight for just 50 Euros, a good deal!
I am quite happy that I got better at booking flights, which often means having less comfort. Since visiting Jordan and talking to a Dutch guy in the desert about flights and hearing he was flying for 250 Euros less than me there. Even though I thought I had a good deal, which I, for sure, didn’t have! Now I have a bit in my mind which prices are good and which aren’t for a country. After checking flights for many hours, you get better, of course. Never mind, that is a different topic, back to Budapest!
I arrived and was quite lost, even though it wasn’t the first time. I was talking to someone for help, who surprisingly was better with German than English. Always like those moments, even though I get confused a lot in those moments as well. Nothing worked, but my friend Bady helped me out while texting with him.
He lives quite well in the city, on the Buda side but only a 30-minute walk to the Parliament.
First Night
I arrived at his place, and they were about to leave to do some party. A Dutch friend of his was also staying over that night, who was not from Couchsurfing. We left after 10 minutes of my arrival and took the tram closer to downtown. A friend of Bady’s invited us to his place for some pre-drinking. Outside was an event going on, for which we were too late at the end because the party was going quite long, which wasn’t an issue. It was a lot of fun spending time with Bady and his friends. Some of them were local, and some internationals were also there.
We all went to the Pest side, where mainly the parties are happening. As we got closer to the clubs, people were already super drunk, mainly tourists. The first club was quite crowded. The music was like from the 90s to 2010, good for parties. I knew most songs, but not the lyrics, which is usually not the case. We were dancing and having fun, but I didn’t get that hyped in this club, maybe because my mood wasn’t the best in general.
It was time for a Latin club in which the people were more hyped and excited. Here I knew fewer songs, but that was fine because there it’s more about the dancing in which I am not as good. Adding to it, it was super hot in the club, so all of us had to take many breaks by going outside. It was small, super crowded, and no air conditioning. We went home at like 3 am because everyone was still tired from the party a day earlier at which I wasn’t joining.
Laziness Wins
I had a really lazy day after, I wasn’t tired or feeling bad, I just had no motivation to do something. I had been in the city already and felt like I didn’t want to see anything, so I was way too much on the phone.
Luckily, it was not pure laziness. I went to the shop to cook some lunch, but besides that, the only guys who helped me out were Bady and his Dutch friend. At the end of the day, we went out for a walk and sat on the Danube river to listen to some music, which was playing on a boat. It was a good way of finishing the day, I would say, but I was disappointed in the day for sure, so my goal for the next day was to do better.
Let’s see how that goes!
It was my goal to just get out there. I went to Margit-Sziget island, which is located quite close to the Parliament building. Every time in Budapest, one visit was included. It was quite hot outside, which wasn’t expected. Buying some breakfast in the supermarket and let’s go!
After my arrival, I was searching for a shady spot as quickly as possible. I sat down to do some meditation, in which I wasn’t getting in that well because a water show was starting right next to me with music. I tried to focus on the meditation but gave up. It was time for the water show, which was actually quite good. A water show wasn’t expected, and then it is, of course, already good! The music was a mix of kids’ music.
People liked it as well. There were many chairs around it, and I purposely didn’t have the phone on. It was interesting to see that many people were not even looking at the show because they were staring at their phones.
After the show, I went to the grass and sat down underneath a tree to finally do the meditation, which helped me a lot to calm down a bit. As I went back to leave the island, another water show was starting. I couldn’t say no to that. This time the music was classical, and it was great seeing another water show in the shade.
Starting the “Real” Trip
It was time to leave Bady’s place at the end of the day due to my 5 am flight. I didn’t want to sleep at his place and then wake everyone up quite early; it was better to stay relaxed.
On my way to the airport, I walked through the city and crossed the Szechenyi Lanchid bridge, which was finally open. It had been under construction for so long, and it was nice to walk over it. It was a relief not to need maps for the way to the standard things in Budapest anymore. I arrived at the bus station, and the bus was there. It was time to get to the airport.
I had to kill 5 hours before being able to enter the security check, so I decided to roll out my air mattress and get some sleep until 3 am. It was super comfortable, and I did manage to fall asleep. However, at 3 am, it became so crowded around me, which surprised me. I wasn’t waking up from it; the alarm went off!
The best thing of the day was for sure not having my backpack checked. The person in front of me was checked and had to pay extra, so it felt amazing to not have to pay extra AGAIN!
What’s Up Next?
The next story will be about the short trip to Azerbaijan, which had a bit of a chaotic start with an attack on the first day of arrival. So, stay tuned!
