Eternal summer, but that's not all. Part one. To paradise on the relays.
Perhaps this part should be posted in the section about Hungary or divided into Hungary and the UAE, but this story is much wider and it is all about my "military" trip to Bali, which is why I want to keep the integrity of one story in one section.
Departure from Ukraine through Hungary.
My daughter and granddaughter moved to live in Bali and I was lucky enough to help them with the move. So, in the midst of hell, I ended up in heaven.
My daughter and I were in Bali 9 years ago and then we really did not want to leave. And the island did not want to let us go. Goodbye, Bali! I'll come back! — I promised then.
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February 2014 photo.
And now she's back.
It has become difficult to get to Bali from Kyiv. As, however, and in any place. Airports in Ukraine do not work. It took me three days to get to Bali and two days to get back.
December 9, at 7 pm, I got on the train and went on a long journey - Kyiv-Chop-Zahony-Budapest-Dubai-Bali. It will be easier back - Bali-Dubai-Warsaw-Kyiv.
I didn’t find tickets for the Kiev-Budapest train, perhaps they are the same difficulty as with Kiev-Warsaw tickets and you can get them in a one-second period, at 8 am, on a certain day - exactly 20 days before the trip) But, unlike Warsaw, I didn’t even hear how to get train tickets to Budapest. Therefore, I considered two options - either from Uzhgorod a transfer in a passenger car for 40 euros or by train from Chop with a change in Zahony. There is also a bus from Uzhgorod, but for me it’s completely trash. And I love trains. The way by trains with transfers was cheaper and seemed to me convenient and not difficult, the main thing is that things should be easy. I still had the main burden on me - a jacket and boots. And swimwear and T-shirts won’t pull your hand too much)
9.12. Moving Kyiv-Budapest
Kyiv-Chop №59 coupe, 320 UAH. benefit, 19.11-12.26
Chop-Zakhon №033.115 UAH (cash, card not accepted) 14.10-13.27
Zahony-Budapest at 14:40, arrives in Budapest Nyugati at 18:37, ticket at the box office is free. You can take an upgraded class for a small amount, about 80 UAH.
TOTAL: 320+115.435 UAH (11 EUR)
You start from Kyiv at 19.11 and in Budapest the next day at 18.37 (23.5 hours on the way)
In Chop, I got off the train, stood in line at the ticket office, bought a ticket and stood in line for control. Customs and border control takes place in a separate room, right at the station. This hall was opened when the line for tickets ended. Inspection of things is purely nominal:
-Open the suitcase. What do you carry besides things? How much money with you? Happy road.
My suitcase is tiny, but full to overflowing, it doesn’t close well, I’m hot and I don’t understand why I opened it, no one even looked there.
I bring, from the forbidden, a small stick of smoked sausage and a sandwich with ham. I took 2 packs of cigarettes, as expected, I was afraid of a fine. But no one checked with me.
There is one X-ray machine in the hall, someone's things were driven through it. I don’t know how they choose “clients”, maybe someone has a lot of luggage or who is nervous at the words “open the suitcase”)
Passport control is fast, no one asks anything. Exit stamp - happy journey.
The waiting room is full, people are waiting in a queue for the train to Zakhon. But there are seats. I take a free seat and discuss why people like to stand in line. The train to Zahonya takes 17 minutes (as it turned out, even 11). Do people stand for an hour to sit for 17 minutes?
The train from Hungary is late. We are waiting for all the people to unload and go through control. Then, apparently, the electric train is checked and removed. And we are still waiting.
Finally, at 14.42, that is, 32 minutes behind schedule, we set off. A train with soft seats, a clean toilet, intercity, no less) We drive for 11 minutes. For some reason, the Internet works in Zahony. Maybe roaming, I don't know. He no longer worked in Budapest. In general, Ukrainian providers made free roaming in Europe, but for this I had to switch to another tariff, which was unprofitable for me. I am writing to my daughter that she has already crossed the border.
Control in Hungary takes place right on the train. We sit, wait, no one comes to us. I’m already starting to think that we’ll be late for the transfer, but I didn’t know how the trains go further there. Finally, control comes to us. Passports are stamped, they ask who is carrying what. No one is asked to open anything (why didn't I take more cigarettes? ? )). Two boys are sitting next to me, one is released earlier, he runs to take a queue at the cashier, the second helps me with my suitcase.
Although my suitcase is small and light, I am very grateful to the guys for their help, there is a low platform here, you need to carry the suitcase up the stairs.
A volunteer girl is standing at the checkout window. Tries to distribute brakes, no one takes them, and neither do we. Apparently, it has been standing here since the beginning of the war, when people traveled from home in what they stood and crossed the border without food and money. In Ukrainian, he explains to us that tickets are free, you need to pay extra only if you want increased comfort.
What is it? I ask.
— There is Wi-Fi in 1st class carriages.
Let's ride in a free)
At 14.28 Hungarian time we are already in the car, dropping things, going out for a smoke. Departure at 14.40.
A wonderful free car, clean, there is a toilet. Also clean, and not like ours) This car does not differ at all from the train to Zakhon, only a gypsy camp rides in the car with us.
Children scream, they are children, and adults eat all the way, apparently volunteer brakes - packed lunches with forks and napkins.
I put on a mask and earplugs and sleep all the way to Budapest.
Budapest.
Here I could use Wi-Fi. Despite the fact that I had a “bus” point in mepsmi, I got lost. It's dark, it's raining, it's hot. The suitcase is heavy (from the rain, probably) does not want to roll normally. Umbrella interferes, put on a hood. It's getting hotter.
I go outside, there is a tram in front of me, but I need a bus. And not just a bus, but one that travels instead of the metro, since the metro in Budapest has been under repair for some year. The Budapest metro is the oldest in Europe, operating since 1896. Not surprisingly, already tired)
I circle back and forth, try to call a taxi (yeah, it doesn’t work without the Internet), try to ask passers-by (it turns out I understand Czech perfectly) and in the end, pretty tired, I find a volunteer point in the transition. They speak Ukrainian! I tumble in wet and tired with one question - how to get to Deá k Ferenc té r, where I booked a hostel and a bus to the airport leaves from there. From the station there, instead of the metro, there is an M3 bus. Stop coordinates 47.509741307030815, 19.05493495303515. It turns out that I marked a completely different bus on the map.
If you go to Budapest airport from the border of Ukraine, then there is a train stop near the airport (a little more bus ride there), and if you need to get to the airport from Budapest, bus 100 E is best for this, and it goes just from Deá k Ferenc té r. The bus makes one or two more stops in the city (depending on the time of day) and rushes straight to the airport.
Tickets can be bought from a vending machine right at the bus stop. There is no Russian language, you need to either understand English or watch video tutorials in advance on how to take tickets. You can pay by card. UAH 143 was written off, which is about 1500 forints or about $4.
But, I ran ahead, but for now I'm standing, wet, tired, with a heavy suitcase at the M3 bus stop, but there is no ticket machine here! I have two ways - to return to the station, to find (or not to find) a vending machine for bus tickets, or to go as a hare.
Buses go one after another, I missed a couple of flights, thinking about what to do, and then I resolutely get on the bus. Drive three stops. I don't know what the penalty is, but I didn't care anymore. I couldn't go back anywhere.
There was no control and no fine (do not try to repeat)), I safely got off at my stop, crossed the road and now the hostel.
Of course, I circled around the house, it's huge, there are a lot of doors (and hotels), but in the end, with the help of a hundred questions, I get to the cherished door. I call and they ask me what I want. Really, what can I need in a hostel)) I just give my last name)
The hostel is good!
If you have never lived in a hostel, then the format of the hostel may shock you, but I have been in hostels since childhood, so do not scare me. I love hostels because they are cheap and have a student atmosphere. There was no atmosphere here, there were two guys in the room, but both went for a walk. Room for 6 people, it contains half-capsules. That is, not just beds, but individual minks with curtains.
They gave me the top floor, I didn't mind, but I don't understand why, with the lower ones free, they decided to complicate my life, my aunt 50+, absolutely unsportsmanlike. Climbing to the top floor was not easy, because there are no stairs.
And I was already terribly tired, I only had the strength to wash myself and climb the perch with difficulty)
I'm in the house)
Of course, I planned to walk a bit around Budapest, very close to the river and not very far from the famous Parliament. But maybe in the morning...
In the morning I woke up early, but I absolutely did not want to go for a walk.
During the night it got very cold, the wind just blew you off your feet. I got out, stood, smoked, walked to the 100E stop, watched how people take tickets from vending machines and went back. There is no breakfast in the hostel (and I stuck to them - what time is breakfast? )) and on the street I did not find anything that I would like. There is a fair next to the door and a lot of food, of course, only I didn’t have cash, and they don’t accept a card at fairs, although I didn’t ask. The hostel has a kitchen. I don't have any products)
I took my suitcase, bought a ticket from the machine and went to the airport.
So I did not change money in Hungary. Everything was paid by card. It is very comfortable.
It was not yet one in the afternoon, as I was already at the airport. The plane at 15.10. The airport is small, two terminals are nearby, no waiting chairs are visible, only a cafe is visible, and I just didn’t have breakfast. I take tea and ciabatta, our money turned out 300 UAH. Eat, drink, wait for registration. I’m sad that I didn’t go and see at least a little bit of Budapest. But, the weather failed. It was not enough to get sick on the road.
Flight to Dubai.
I registered online, but I didn't receive my boarding pass. At the counter they ask for a vaccination certificate (Asia will never forget about covid) and the Peduli Lindungi application, in which I could not register. I show the certificate on paper, and Peduli is just like an icon on the phone.
For Bali, you also need a ticket to any country no later than 60 days later (I have there and back) and a completed declaration. The declaration can be filled out in 3 days, or at Bali airport.
Anyway online. As a result, I didn’t fill out at all, my son-in-law filled in for all of us. A covid certificate, which is also important, does not have an expiration date at all in Indonesia, the main thing is that 14 days have passed since the last dose.
Further control, duty free, I buy water for 1.30 euros and stumble upon a counter of volunteers. It says in Ukrainian that you can get internet and food stamps here. I was never able to set up the Internet, he then connected himself. They gave me a food voucher. You can eat for 12 euros. I choose french fries and vegetables, the prices are in HUF, I can't figure out how much it is in euros. I only remembered that the hryvnia was about 1 to 10, and then a stupor. Then I figured out that 400 forints is 1 euro. I think I ate about 5 euros) Water is given at the checkout. Now I have 2 bottles of water)
I'm flying with Emirates and it's a pleasure. I thought so until I flew with them on the Dubai-Bali flight) But, more on that later.
In the meantime, I am amazed by the large chairs, the large distances between the seats, excellent service, cleanliness, tea-coffee-snacks every hour and a wonderful lunch. I'm not talking about the huge selection of films in Russian. Fly only 5 hours. Well, a fairy tale.
I almost forgot - as soon as it got dark, the backlight turned on in the form of a starry sky. Real like a fairy tale.
Dubai.
The future has come to Dubai long ago. There are automatic machines for entering the city) And it seems that no one but me knows about this. I put my passport to the machine, an inscription appears that I need to look at the monitor. Eye scan and I'm free. No one puts a stamp in my passport. How do you like that? )
My daughter and granddaughter are already waiting for me at the hotel near the airport, they arrived in the morning and spent the day in Dubai, and I arrived late at night and will fly to Bali with them tomorrow morning.
Of course, I want to get to the hotel as quickly as possible - here it is, right in front of the airport, lit by welcoming night lights. But it is impossible to reach it. There is no road.
There is a free shuttle every half an hour and it should leave the parking lot soon. It is very easy to get to it - leave the arrivals area, cross the road, go through a small hall with travolators and there is a parking lot in front of you. To my left, that's what the letter from the hotel says.
There are still a few minutes before the transfer, I walk around, look at the buses, then I smoke, then again I wander among the buses, I smoke again ... But what is it? It's almost midnight... There is no transfer and all deadlines have already passed. A few more people, like me, are toiling, the rest must have left in a taxi. Only half an hour later I understand what's what.
We have a departure at 9 o'clock, at 6 the check-in counters will open. We are not going fast enough, we are repacking some things, because I have a jacket, boots and other warm clothes with me. We dress Alice sleeping. We take a shuttle to the airport.
At the airport, everything is fast, fast, there are no queues, we check in our daughter's two huge suitcases as luggage, everything else is with us - a stroller, a bag, 3 backpacks and a small children's backpack.
We decided to immediately find the gate, and then walk nearby, because the 3rd terminal in Dubai is so huge that we might not reach it in time. We looked at the boarding number of the gate, found it, and there is a completely different flight indicated. We figured it out - we came to the gate at A20, but we need B20. It's good that you saw it earlier. To go from the A20 to the B20 you have to walk for a long time, then take a huge elevator, and then ... by train . . And then a long walk)
The landing was announced somehow early, it is not clear why all of a sudden.
After passing the control, we went down to another room and sat there for a long time. Our sector is indicated on the boarding, the board indicates which sector is now entering the plane. Very convenient, no one crowds.
The stroller is picked up before entering the plane, Tanya stuffs her bag in the same place, she fits comfortably into the pallet of the stroller. The whole structure is in a case. I hold the sleeping Alice in my arms, and Tanya manages all our things. We didn’t manage to register for seats nearby, a man is sitting near the window, who kindly changed places with me. We are very grateful to him.
The flight is long, 9 hours plus. Chatters shamelessly. Snacks and tea are not worn, apparently because of the chatter. By the middle of the flight, it’s scary to go into the toilets.
Alice is out of the habit of me, clings to her mother, turns away, shy. I'm trying to sleep by the window, my daughter inflated some kind of cool footrest, you can put it only near the window. The neighbors in the middle row cheated, they were asked to blow it off.
I will not get tired of thanking the person who gave way to the window seat.
If you need to fly with a child, then in addition to an inflatable pillow, you also need a huge bunch of different little things - goodies, books, coloring books, games . . And most importantly - cartoons! ) I don’t know what kind of drug they put in there, but only cartoons can make a fidget sit down for a long time. And even put to sleep) And as soon as Alice fell asleep, the flight attendants remembered that they had not poured us yet and took their miracle carts with goodies. We gave up alcohol, got Coca-Cola, anticipating a mini-party, and Tanya immediately spilled this Coca-Cola on Alice's head) The adventure begins! ))
The next episode will have Bali.
