Where the HELL is Zahony?!

As our Budapest trek came to an end we were slightly glad to be getting on the train at 7 am straight to Kiev. To our unfortunate surprise reserving train seats was something to be taken serious. On our train ride from Oradea to Budapest the train was so empty it almost didn’t matter where we sat, but this time it did. Every time we sat down we were kicked off a minute later by people with seat numbers. This went on until there were no seats left and were standing looking like the lost American we were. And while sitting on the train isn’t something I would really be fighting for or yearning, imagine not having slept well for 2 days and having a language barrier. After much time were able to get two seats that weren’t kicked out of, we fell fast asleep clutching our valuables for dear life.

I woke up suddenly to an empty, still train. I hastily woke up Shan. When we got the tickets the attendant did not mention anything about transferring. To be fair, even if she did I probably wouldn’t have understood. While still groggy on the train I saw a train conductor walking outside next to our rail, I rushed to knock on the window and plastered the ticket against the window. Through hand signs I managed to ask his if we were on the right train. He squinted as he looked at the ticket, shook his head, and pointed in another direction. We sped off of the train and realized we were in a station named Zahony. Needless to say, we didn’t know what country we were in, where in the country we were, if we already had passed border control, or if we were actually heading the right direction. We mounted a train that consisted of only one train wagon, no windows, rusty wheels, and seemed like it had been used Soviet times. There we waiting, all dazed and confused, hoping that by some stroke of luck we were headed the right direction. Finally, a few border patrol officers came to check our passports. It was our exit stamp! Yes!! that meant we were headed in the right direction, even though we still didn’t know what country we were headed to. This was progress for us! this meant we could navigate Eastern Europe with mere hand symbols. We stayed there for another 20 minutes, until the wagon moved.We were on our way to Kiev!

(PS- We still don't know where Zahony is!)