bus

I needed to step foot in Tallinn. 2 years ago while staying with Neil I booked a flight to Tallinn and even research a little bit about it. Then we were not able to get a return flight so I went to Budapest instead.
The fact that I had bought a ticket to Tallinn opened up that little part of my brain and when every I thought of any backpacking trip it was there.
I managed to spend a total of maybe 30 minutes in Tallinn, but I think this will be enough for now.

So I arrive on coach from Riga, changed my lats to Estonia kron? Then rushed to the taxi as that was the only way I could figure to get the 5km from bus station to the ferry. There must be a bus that does it but I was really pushed for time.
The taxi driver was the best I had ever had in any country. Initially he was a little reluctant with his english, then when I flashed him my cash and asked him if it was enough to get to the airport he was suddenly a lot more confident.

I arrived in Riga a little later than scheduled due to delays from Lithuania.
All I relay wanted was to get onto the next bus to Tallinn. This was not to be though as I was told the next bus was at 6 oclock in the afternoon, I then found a bus at 4 oclock felt little happier then tried to work out what to do for 4 hours.

As I had traveled for nearly 48 hours now without a wash or change of clothes I was feeling pretty rank.
I had to draw some cash from the ATM to use the bathroom. This is always a tricky operation for me. I still had my Złoty from Poland and would preferred to change them but being unable to find a Forex shop I used the ATM. The main thing that worried me about using the ATM, besides the fear of it swallowing my card for ever, is how much money to draw. At this stage I barely knew which country I was in let alone how the currency was doing with regard to the Euro.

In Warsaw I splashed out and got a taxi from the bus station where I collected my baggage. On the side of the taxis it said 2 zloty per a km which I reckon was rather cheap. So I got in the taxi pointed to where I wanted to go on the map then proceeded to get ripped of with a 80 zloty bill for a 5km journey. I have no idea how that worked or if I was ripped off.
I got to the bus station and then tried to book my ticket to Tallinn. To find out that they were all sold out. The best they could do was get me to Riga, a little later than i had planned to get there. This was ok, it was not like I had any other option and at least I was heading in the correct direction.

Waiting for the bus I bumped into a cute little Irish girl, small world hey? So we
chatted and watched the sun set as our bus headed toward Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. She was spending a couple of days in Vilnius and I had 2 minutes to get onto my connecting bus to Riga.

From Windhoek, Romy and I packed a backpack and head off on a 4 hour bus drive to Swakopmund. Ekonolux buses where the cheapest at $120 each one way, well actually the train was cheaper at $85, but would have taken 12 hours overnight and without beds. So we left the train for next time.
As our luck was going, the bus "broke" down within the first hour outside Windhoek. A dodgy fuel hoses was leaking diesel all over the trailer behind the bus, and giving us a nice diesel smell at the back of the bus.
Within an hour our handy driver emerged from the bowels of the bus and we where once again on our way. Mrs Romy G, who made it clear before heading to Windhoek that there was no way at all she could possibly sleep in a moving vehicle, car, bus or plane. Spread herself out put her head in my lap and went straight to sleep, as she had on the drive up from Cape Town.
I blasted my ipod with Plain White T's and watched the desert go by.