Train Ride

The other day I travelled by train to Sofia. Travel west about 6-7 hours by train and you will reach the capitol city where the Peace Corps office is located. When traveling in Bulgaria, there are a couple of options available for Peace Corps volunteers. And a couple options forbidden. For example, we cannot drive vehicles ourselves and we cannot ride horseback. Usually, we just stick to taxis, trains, and buses. From Bourgas to Sofia, Jess and I prefer to take a train. There are express trains, fast trains, and slow trains. If we take an express train, it only takes 15-30 minutes longer than a bus, but taking the slow passenger train can sometimes take an extra four hours. We like the train because we can use the toilet whenever we want and there's more space to stretch out. And most important, it's much cheaper - especially if you have a frequent rider card like we do. Occasionally, we need to take the bus. It is less spacious and you have to wait for the driver to stop (usually at the halfway point) to use the restroom. It is more expensive (sometimes twice as much), but is quicker and runs more frequent.

To give you an idea of what traveling is like, my trip to the dentist last week in Sofia went as follows: I woke up at 4:30, showered, grabbed a day bag, and walked ten minutes to the station. I bought my ticket at the cashier window and got on the train which left at 5:30 am. It arrived at 12 and I rushed to the tram stop (connected to the train station through a small underground tunnel). The trams have automated machines in them to buy tickets with computer screens that dish out ride-cards, but I have never seen anyone use them. Everyone just buys paper tickets and very carefully punches them and hopes that there is no problem when the tram officers come to check them. (It is always safest to punch two if you have a bag with you - if it is determined you have cheated the ticket punching system in some way, you can be physically removed from the tram and forced to pay ten times the ticket price). I got on the tram, punched my paper ticket, and rode to the dentist office. There I got a new fake tooth, which my counterpart jokes must be for my new microphone to communicate with the new president. After that, I rushed to a doctor's appointment at the Peace Corps office, grabbed some lunch, and then took the tram back to the train station to catch the 3:55 train back to Bourgas. I arrived in my city of residence at 10:30.

While on the train, I can usually read a small book. (It's about 13 hours of travel!) It's hard to write letters and I usually have a hard time sleeping, even with the gently rocking of the train car. Jess on the other hand has no problem sleeping the entire six hours. Outside, the countryside is amazing. This past week, I enjoyed watching hawks hunt in golden fields, then seeing freshly snow-topped mountains, passing through valleys and by rivers, then being surrounded by all-white fields and mountains again. We like travelling by trains, it's relaxing and peaceful but occasionally, we read a scary story about train accidents. Last year, several people died in a train car that caught fire, and just yesterday I read this story: "From Trud: The daily leads with the news about a potential train accident which reportedly was about to happen early Saturday morning, December 6, near the Lesicheri and Resen train stations. The accident which allegedly would have been caused by an oversight on the part of the Resen railroad dispatcher was prevented thanks to the quick reaction of the engine drivers of the two trains which were about run into each other. The daily notes that this is the second time that such incident is prevented by the engine drivers in the last 20 days." However, we have never personally encountered any problems and enjoy the opportunity to take public transportation - something not so readily available in the U.S.