The Long Train Ride

Last evening we arrived at the train station and jumped on a six hour train ride from Zagreb, Croatia to Belgrade, Serbia.  We had to pay for a sleeping car on the train because we were on such short notice.  The conductor said he could not take Croatian Kune, but wanted Dollars or Euros.  It was only supposed to cost 210 Kune, which is 42 Dollars.  He actually charged us 70 Dollars.  You have got to be careful in second world countries.  People might just rip you off.

We all had great anticipation for the longest train ride we had ever experienced.  From Zagreb to Belgrade, we all slept through the night.  In the morning, we changed trains in Belgrade and stocked up on food supplies. We were still a little tired from waking up early on our last train.  Today, we traveled across Serbia and into Bulgaria.  I did 3 or 4 hours of school work on the train. Out the window of the train, we saw many old and run down rural communities.  We passed many sunflower fields, all in full bloom.  After I finished my school work, my dad and I played Infinity Blade on the Ipad.  

Today, I experienced the longest train ride of my life and the biggest scare of my entire life.  Dad got off the train in Sofia, Bulgaria to get some food.  A few minutes after he left, the train started to leave.  Mom was at the front of the car screaming at the conductor to stop.  I was guarding our luggage alone in the compartment and started to break down and scream.  A couple French passengers from another compartment ran in and comforted me.  Well, the train was just backing up to attach additional train cars.  A couple minutes later, Dad got back on with water and food and helped me recover from the scare.  It took me a while too recover from my shock. 

Right at sun down, two nice Dutch college students came into our cabin. They are traveling together through Europe for one month.  Their names are Luc and Laurens.  We all shared food and talked about our different countries and our travels. Tonight, we will watch a movie and sleep on the train as we ride to Istanbul.



 Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic.