Tag: Solo Travel

What about Belgrade
Itâ€™s barely 6 am when the train slowed down as it approaches Belgrade Glavna station (Beograd Glavna Å½elezniÄka Stanica). With that meant I have survived the infamous overnight train from Budapest to Belgrade with a tired body and nothing more. Yeah!
In return, I get to spend 14 hours in Belgrade before hopping on another overnight train. The next ride will take me to Podgorica in Montenegro. Probably more passport checks and uncomfortable bed in the freezing night await me? The temperature was 6-degree Celsius but it felt better here than Budapest as there wasn’t much wind.
I’m eager to check out the white city which was once the capital of Yugoslavia. The larger country of Yugoslavia has since parted way and become countries that we know today. Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia were once a country. Itâ€™s a rather complicated past if you read about their war-torn history but everyone seems good now except for Serbia and Kosovo. For me, I just canâ€™t wait to find out more about the present Belgrade.
Yet, I waited almost an hour for the stationâ€™s money changer to open. While I try to shake off the image of the trainâ€™s horrible toilet.
Bus and tram stop near the railway station seem to be rather busy, with Serbians going through their typical workday.
After loading up with Serbian dinar, breakfast was at an old-school-looking Restoran Romanija near to the station. The waiter, an elderly gentleman who speaks some English recommended ham omelette. He mentioned thatâ€™s the common localâ€™s breakfast.
I tipped the elderly waiter and moving on to St Sava. It is one of the worldâ€™s largest Eastern Orthodox churches and the main highlight among Belgrade attractions.
Scars of war in the former capital of Yugoslavia
What I didnâ€™t expect was a dramatic sight of two particular building ruins while walking towards St Sava. It’s something which I have not seen anywhere else in Europe. Both buildings are definitely not War memorial or museum. Or else they would have been mentioned in the official Belgrade Tourist Map (which I have gotten at the railway station).
Whatâ€™s more puzzling is they are centrally located along Nemanjina street in downtown Belgrade. And there are government buildings right next to them!
A quick check with Google later on explained those were former government buildings for Defence Ministry of Yugoslavia. The damages were inflicted during the bombing of Belgrade by NATO forces back in 1999 and have been left standing since.
Unmistakably, there were a few soldiers patrolling around the building ruins. One of them saw me taking the photo and tried crossing the busy street towards my direction. Thank goodness for the peak hour traffic, I quickly walked away and the soldier didnâ€™t pursue. I heaved a sigh of relief.
But I sneaked back later to take a couple more pictures – behind the trees. I guess discreet is the word since the soldiers donâ€™t seem to like people taking the photo of the bombed buildings. Whatever the reason.
Iâ€™m more curious about why the ruined buildings are left standing at such prominent location and not demolished. Do leave me a comment if you know the reason, thanks in advance!
Is it due to the lack of funds? A reminder of NATO aggression? I have no clueâ€¦ One thing for sure, it makes me wanna find out more about Belgrade and kinda regret that I am only here for a stopover. I also hope there are plans to turn them into a proper war museum. So people can get to learn about the past.
Building, buildings of Belgrade
Just down the street is a modern building where the National Bank of Serbia is located. And the modern structure looks totally out of place with the rest of its surrounding.
Perhaps the urban planning wasnâ€™t really well thought-through back then. The architecture mix of a European city with Communistâ€™s flair is quite a mess. But despite the dull fading colours and poor maintenance, I found the mess to be rather appealing. The crumbling condition shows plenty of character which a fresh coat of paint wonâ€™t. And that alone is already one plus point.
To me, the interesting architecture mix really makes Belgrade stands out among other European cities. Thatâ€™s one of the reasons I give when people asked why I even think of visiting Belgrade. The Serbian Capital city may be under the radar now but I am sure it will not remain in status quo for long.
[alert]
What are your thoughts about Belgrade? Leave a comment and share it with me.
[/alert]
December 2, 2015
The overnight train from Budapest to Belgrade
The scheduled time from Budapest to Belgrade reads departure at 22:29 and arrival at 06:06. Next phase of my solo travel begins upon boarding the train. Unlike the excitement that filled me when I arrived in Budapest, the departure was total opposite – anxiety ruled the night. On hindsight, perhaps I was being paranoid but a simple Google research will tell about many negative experiences of travellers who took the infamous overnight train between Budapest to Belgrade.
The overnight train has a shady reputation where stories of useless door locks, stolen luggage, missing passports, corrupt border officials, robbers, money scams are common. People from Travel forums advised me to board the day train instead.
But the little adventurer in me wanted it and I donâ€™t want to spend 8 hours on the train during the daytime.
So I decided to go ahead but immediately hit a roadblock – it seems that the ticket from Budapest to Belgrade can only be bought over the counter and not online via MAV-START. However, I would prefer to secure one of the limited single bed compartments before the trip. Thatâ€™s when I realised that the tickets can be purchased via RailEurope.
I tapped on their network and finally gotten my ticket amid paying much more. MAV-START price was EUR 80.50 (SGD 143.29) whereas I paid SGD 204.00 with the breakdown as such;
SGD 104.00 – 1st Class Train Seats
SGD 84.00 – Single Bed/ Own Compartment
SGD 16.00 – Admin Fee
The train definitely has seen better days and was nowhere near modern. My train conductor was a friendly old man who speaks some English and he showed me my compartment in the dimly lighted old train.
And thatâ€™s when I was presented to my 1st Class single Bedder compartment. Ok, wellâ€¦ itâ€™s not too bad though it was kinda dirty. The middle bed partition was folded up to convert into a single compartment. There wasnâ€™t any electricity until much later in the journey.
The toilet is forgettable – it was plain horrible. It’s also hard to rest well on the not-so-comfortable makeshift bed. For the price I paid, itâ€™s really expensive but I will just take this as an experience.
Border checks on Budapest Belgrade train
The Budapest Belgrade train reached Hungarian border at around 1am and I was woken up by the train operator whom had mumbled something at 1am when I was boarding the train. Now I know he had meant passport check.
Two Hungarian Passport Control officers came over and they looked rather surprised that mine’s a single cabin. Then when one saw my passport, he told his colleague in English – hey, a man from Singapour! We chatted a little bit more before he stamped my passport. Then I realized that the whole sleeper train car has got only 3 passengers, me and 2 other Caucasian lads.
Electricity! Finally!! But yet I couldn’t charge my phone because both charging points in my compartment were spoilt!! What rotten luck…
Another passport checks half an hour later when the train reached Serbian border. This time around were 3 stern-looking officers but they had the same expression as the Hungarian officers after seeing my passport.
The lady officer commented – hey, from Singapour! Both her colleagues then examined my passport very closely before breaking into laughter. I have no clue about the jokes but I canâ€™t be bothered as long my passport is stamped.
As such, the next time I get up from the stiff bed is when the train reaches Belgrade and ending the cold journey. So yeah! I live to tell the tale but with none of the previously mentioned nasty encounters – thank goodness LOL!! It’s more like a far-from ‘1st Class’ experience on board the Budapest Belgrade train.
[alert]
What are your thoughts about the overnight train from Budapest to Belgrade? Leave a comment and share it with me.
[/alert]
November 1, 2015