I travelled back to the UK from Georgia at Christmas to spend it with my family by public transport and it was an adventure of it’s own. I wanted to take public transport to avoid the general boredom, financial and emissions cost of taking a plane.
The bus from Tbilisi to Thessalonika was a long distance parcel service which seemed to go on a tour of obscure Georgian towns, spending up to 30 mins in each, picking up hillocks sized piles of parcels and shoveling them into the back of the bus. I helped stack them on partly to try to speed up the process and partly for the novelty experience. All the parcels were stacked up behind me in the bus so when we got moving again I had to stop the precarious Jenga towers of parcels from falling on me and my bike.
A pretty awful photo of me but you can just see the parcels behind and my bike.
I met some Georgians on the bus. One man named Erekle, offered me Khatchapuri and Lobiani and another, a chef going to work in Greece, had some Armenian Sojuk (a kind of spicy sausage) and some homemade Brandy, a bit like drinking a delicious mulled wine mixed with compote. My new friends proceeded through various rounds of traditional toasting which I was invited to joined in with.
At Thessalonika, I found that Erekle, was heading to Geneve. He didn’t speak English and seemed to be looking for help to reach his destination so I offered to help.
We ventured into the Thessalonika bus station where I had hoped there would be a bus at 9pm, but we had to wait until the morning as it was the low season and therefore the buses were less frequent. We camped outside the station on top of gathered rows of chairs outside a cafe.
It was cold but I had my sleeping bag so I was snug. I gave Erekle my inflatable rollmat to sleep on. There was another man who was probably waiting for a morning bus too (or he might have been a tramp sleeping there) who made an elaborate sleeping and security system consisting of 15 chair gathering and arranged around him.
In the morning we caught the bus over the mountains heading for the port of Igoumenitsa. When I’ve taken the bus before it was summer. In the winter, the countryside was transformed into a snow-covered mountain scene- extremely pretty and Christmassy!
Some much needed sleep was taken on the bus, between bouts of reading - The Cosmos by Carl Sagan. At Igoumenitsa we spent the afternoon eating cheap kebabs and then caught the boat to Ankona. On the boat, thinking we had found a quiet comfortable corner to sleep on deck, at 2am they started the music and transformed the place into a nightclub- not conducive to a good night’s sleep.
From Ankona we took the train to Milan smoothly passing along the coast before heading inland over reams of flat agricultural land- vineyards and other crops, on a grey overcast day. In Milan, I helped Erekle buy a ticket to Genev. We rushed through the busy station for him to catch the next train. It had been better to have company on the journey, pick up a bit more Georgian and see his first reactions of Europe- which were mainly - very expensive and that he was missing Georgian food (although I did manage to get him to eat a tasty Greek kebab).
After Erekle left, I left the station and cycled to find some food for dinner. I wheeled my bike through the impressive lobby of Milan station. It was very cold and I pedaled furiously down the street to warm up. There was a big market selling various overpriced tourist souvenirs outside the station. I passed a grand square with posh hotels. Christmas lights lined the main boulevard. It seemed surprisingly quiet for a city nearing Christmas. I found a small market away from the station and bought some food.
My train was at 11.30pm which meant I had six hours to kill. I spent the majority of the time reading but Milan station is cold and drafty so I wandered around with my bike and took it out to pedal furiously round the block to warm up again. It was only at 10.30pm that I discovered the ticket office had heating. I went and sat in there and was chucked out 5 minutes later by a policeman who told me the office was shutting- c’est la vie.
The ‘Artesia’ night train from Milan to Paris arrived and I wheeled my bike along the platform to the last carriage of 6 berth sleeper cabins. It was quite a cosy affair. I shared my cabin with mostly young travellers including some Indians who I chatted with. They were from Delhi and had come to travel around Europe. The guy was proud of the fact he’d spent all his 3000 Euro budget in two weeks. The atmosphere was like being in a youth hostel.
My bunk offered a welcome night’s sleep in a bed (of sorts)- at least I was horizontal, disturbed only by the police who arrived to check passports. One passenger in the cabin didn’t have a passport or luggage and so he disappeared with the police!
In the morning we arrived in Paris. I built my bike on the platform, got a complementary map of Paris, and directions to the bus station in the Gallieni district. I decided I would cycle as the weather was beautiful and it wasn’t far. Paris was just waking up as I pedalled down the streets and cycle paths passing sleepy looking people. I pedalled into the Eurolines bus terminal, bought a ticket and was on the bus heading for Calais.
The bus went on the boat over the channel because of a problem with the Channel Tunnel, which I narrowly missed out on getting involved in. It felt good to be on my way back to see my family but also exciting to be on the road again. It was good to have a change of scenery.
I enjoyed sitting and observing people on the boat. It was interesting to be amongst English people. I don’t know whether it’s just English people or what but it was chaotic on the boat. I don’t think people expected to be taking the boat. Everyone crowded off the buses. I heard a lot of people complaining, and nattering away. Then on the boat, there was a mass exodus to the food hall. People drifted about in groups. Some seemed to be on a mission to explore the boat. I was sitting by accident underneath a map of the decks and so people kept coming up to me and asking me for directions to places on the boat!
The boat eventually reached English shores and as the white cliffs drew closer, everyone funnelled down into the buses and we were off again down the motorway in the dark, I snoozed. We arrived in London at about 7 pm.
That’s how I got back to England. Since I’ve been back, I’ve spent a nice Christmas at home with the family and I’ve been working to earn funds, and staying with friends in London. My plans are to do some more travelling by bike around April/May time and I’m also applying to University. Tom and I are planning an overhaul of the website in the coming months, before Tom leaves in April, so watch this space.
My sister
Leicestershire under the snow
Sun through the wintered trees in a forest near my home
