KRAKOW! The train delayed for 2.5 HOURS!!! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!!! We wouldn't even know what was going on if not for the new Polish friend that Jiahan made on the train cos all the announcements were made in Polish but that wasn't enough to compensate the piss-off-ness in me for making my friend wait 2.5 hours at the other end of the railway. Worse, it rendered my planned itinerary redundant cos we had not enough time to head to any of the places we were intended to go. On hindsight, it was really awesome of Hanni to not be angry at all (is that why you're my gf's gf? Haha) and also, after calming myself down, I manage to convince myself that such things happen all the time and it was mainly my fault for planning such a tight schedule...
Anyway, still manage to check in and meet up with Hanni (who was religiously waiting in my hostel using the comp to do her assignment... Really sorry!!! And also thankful for the hostel for allowing her to stay there for a good 2 hours haha). Re-planned the whole itinerary and figured we have to wake up at 5+ in the morning the next day if we were to carry on with both the main attractions of Krakow; the rest were supportive of the idea so it was decided as such. But first, hungry stomachs! Han Ni brought us to this place with traditional Polish food (again) and it was really nice (again), we all had too much (again) in the end. After a nice dinner, our amazing and knowledgeable guide brought us around the city center, the Old Town, the Cloth Hall, walked a few kilometers to the Jewish Quarters and Jewish Ghettos; and most importantly, she even explained along the way and taught us everything she knew previously from the local guide! Really very impressed (and justified our dinner treat, though it was meant as an apology for making her wait haha). Took a bus back, brought our tickets for the next day's activities and headed back to our hostel.
Woke up at 5 the next morning as mentioned and walked to the train station to take a morning train. Chasing the sunrise once again reminded me of my previous solo train ride back from Lund. Reached the final stop but that wasn't our destination; we had two options of either taking a bus or a 20-30min walk, though we preferred to get a bus ride, we weren't sure of either so we had to ask. Found this auntie at the bus stop so we approached her, only to realize that she doesn't speak English. Just as we thanked her and were ready to look for our next target, she asked us if we were headed for "Auschwitz?" I guess that was the main tourist attraction in the vicinity and a group of Asians there most logically points to the fact that we are tourists visiting the local concentration camp. We said yes and so she started using sign language that basically asked us to make a left turn after a roundabout... We were kinda doubtful and even misinterpreted her (took the left turn at the roundabout 20m away which apparently wasn't the one she was referring to) but decided to trust her and feel proud that we actually "understood Polish" (LOL). True enough, we reached our destination. That's the good news; bad news is, the earliest English guide is 1.5 hours away and we couldn't afford to wait with a schedule so packed (again, my bad). So we took a self-guided tour relying on the words written within the sites and also some eavesdropping on other private English tour groups' guide. Auschwitz was depressing as expected and I shall not talk too much about it here...
Lunch time! I realize there're only two places we ate in when we were in Poland: KFC and Polish restaurants; and the latter weren't available in the area we were in, so guess what? Smart. Except this time round we have to put in much effort before we actually get to eat our fried chicken. I have no idea why but we were always running for trains; this time round I had my backpack and one whole bucket of chicken with me as I challenged the roughly 1-km distance to catch our train (next one is in 2 hours' time). Alas, we got onto the train safely, and could happily chow on our fried chicken without the usual sense of guilt. Played "Guess the Word SG" on my phone (good old times man, but I still miss playing the Chinese idiom category with Brandon... seems like the next time possible is next summer) and made hell of a noise but who cares~
Reached the central station once again and met up with Han Ni. This time round we're heading for the Wieliczka Salt Mine! Arrived just on time to join the Miner Route tour (voted among us to be more interesting and so we gave up the Tourist Route that is apparently - and as the name suggests - very touristy, for the lack of time) where we got to suit up and bring with us all the necessary equipment (torch light, emergency batteries, etc) and headed down the depth (which the actual value I conveniently forgot now as I type). Many interesting things such as the "Hungarian dogs" pushcarts that are so-called cos they make a noise that sounds like dogs barking and the thing came from Hungary; the micro-climate within the cave that is supposed to be effective for asthma treatment; there were also horses that stayed underground all the way till 2002 only because it was too difficult to bring them up to surface! What is more interesting is when Jiahan and his itchy hands picked up the emergency phone and caused some minor panic over at the other end of the phone and had to trouble our guide to give some explanation of our childishness (thinking bout it, it was really quite funny lol). Mined some salt as souvenir and even got a certificate for it before we changed out and headed back.
Took our bags and left for the train station; did some efficient shopping (where almost everyone brought something in less than half-an-hour, I got a scarf!) and headed for dinner. Polish food again, except this time in a setting similar to Singapore's food court. Halfway through the meal Huihan saw a friend from Singapore who is exchanging in Germany (what are the chances?) and when I turned around to check out who it was... Jason Chew (WHAT ARE THE CHANCES? Apparently chances are quite high as we had even more coincidental meetings with other people later on in the trip).
Bid Han Ni goodbye (I don't know why but I still feel a tiny tint of sadness after bidding my friends goodbye; it happened when I left Lund, and now it happens again) and "checked in" to the train, which is also our accommodation for the night. Surprise surprise, this sleeper train where we squeezed in a super cramped compartment turns out to provide us with the best sleep we've had thus far (perhaps cos we got to wake at 7 in the morning instead of 5)...
Anyway, still manage to check in and meet up with Hanni (who was religiously waiting in my hostel using the comp to do her assignment... Really sorry!!! And also thankful for the hostel for allowing her to stay there for a good 2 hours haha). Re-planned the whole itinerary and figured we have to wake up at 5+ in the morning the next day if we were to carry on with both the main attractions of Krakow; the rest were supportive of the idea so it was decided as such. But first, hungry stomachs! Han Ni brought us to this place with traditional Polish food (again) and it was really nice (again), we all had too much (again) in the end. After a nice dinner, our amazing and knowledgeable guide brought us around the city center, the Old Town, the Cloth Hall, walked a few kilometers to the Jewish Quarters and Jewish Ghettos; and most importantly, she even explained along the way and taught us everything she knew previously from the local guide! Really very impressed (and justified our dinner treat, though it was meant as an apology for making her wait haha). Took a bus back, brought our tickets for the next day's activities and headed back to our hostel.
Woke up at 5 the next morning as mentioned and walked to the train station to take a morning train. Chasing the sunrise once again reminded me of my previous solo train ride back from Lund. Reached the final stop but that wasn't our destination; we had two options of either taking a bus or a 20-30min walk, though we preferred to get a bus ride, we weren't sure of either so we had to ask. Found this auntie at the bus stop so we approached her, only to realize that she doesn't speak English. Just as we thanked her and were ready to look for our next target, she asked us if we were headed for "Auschwitz?" I guess that was the main tourist attraction in the vicinity and a group of Asians there most logically points to the fact that we are tourists visiting the local concentration camp. We said yes and so she started using sign language that basically asked us to make a left turn after a roundabout... We were kinda doubtful and even misinterpreted her (took the left turn at the roundabout 20m away which apparently wasn't the one she was referring to) but decided to trust her and feel proud that we actually "understood Polish" (LOL). True enough, we reached our destination. That's the good news; bad news is, the earliest English guide is 1.5 hours away and we couldn't afford to wait with a schedule so packed (again, my bad). So we took a self-guided tour relying on the words written within the sites and also some eavesdropping on other private English tour groups' guide. Auschwitz was depressing as expected and I shall not talk too much about it here...
Lunch time! I realize there're only two places we ate in when we were in Poland: KFC and Polish restaurants; and the latter weren't available in the area we were in, so guess what? Smart. Except this time round we have to put in much effort before we actually get to eat our fried chicken. I have no idea why but we were always running for trains; this time round I had my backpack and one whole bucket of chicken with me as I challenged the roughly 1-km distance to catch our train (next one is in 2 hours' time). Alas, we got onto the train safely, and could happily chow on our fried chicken without the usual sense of guilt. Played "Guess the Word SG" on my phone (good old times man, but I still miss playing the Chinese idiom category with Brandon... seems like the next time possible is next summer) and made hell of a noise but who cares~
Reached the central station once again and met up with Han Ni. This time round we're heading for the Wieliczka Salt Mine! Arrived just on time to join the Miner Route tour (voted among us to be more interesting and so we gave up the Tourist Route that is apparently - and as the name suggests - very touristy, for the lack of time) where we got to suit up and bring with us all the necessary equipment (torch light, emergency batteries, etc) and headed down the depth (which the actual value I conveniently forgot now as I type). Many interesting things such as the "Hungarian dogs" pushcarts that are so-called cos they make a noise that sounds like dogs barking and the thing came from Hungary; the micro-climate within the cave that is supposed to be effective for asthma treatment; there were also horses that stayed underground all the way till 2002 only because it was too difficult to bring them up to surface! What is more interesting is when Jiahan and his itchy hands picked up the emergency phone and caused some minor panic over at the other end of the phone and had to trouble our guide to give some explanation of our childishness (thinking bout it, it was really quite funny lol). Mined some salt as souvenir and even got a certificate for it before we changed out and headed back.
Took our bags and left for the train station; did some efficient shopping (where almost everyone brought something in less than half-an-hour, I got a scarf!) and headed for dinner. Polish food again, except this time in a setting similar to Singapore's food court. Halfway through the meal Huihan saw a friend from Singapore who is exchanging in Germany (what are the chances?) and when I turned around to check out who it was... Jason Chew (WHAT ARE THE CHANCES? Apparently chances are quite high as we had even more coincidental meetings with other people later on in the trip).
Bid Han Ni goodbye (I don't know why but I still feel a tiny tint of sadness after bidding my friends goodbye; it happened when I left Lund, and now it happens again) and "checked in" to the train, which is also our accommodation for the night. Surprise surprise, this sleeper train where we squeezed in a super cramped compartment turns out to provide us with the best sleep we've had thus far (perhaps cos we got to wake at 7 in the morning instead of 5)...
