BECOMING POIROT: Interail
By Rebecca Quin
Monday 28th September 2009
Monday 28th September 2009
Travelling is all about detective work; Rebecca Quin describes her own investigation into the travel phenomenon of Interrailing.
Unfortunately, my little grey cells were allowed to remain idle since I didn’t happen by strange coincidence to witness any murders on even one of the eight trains that took me and two friends on a whirlwind loop of, in map-speak, just a little patch of Europe. Beginning in Prague, we travelled southwards to Budapest then turned east to head to Zagreb and after Verona and Trento before finally stopping at Lake Constance. Two nights in each place, pounding the city pavements visiting, eating and taking in as much as possible we felt like distance cousins of Jason Bourne. It wasn’t a holiday (I’d never been so exhausted) but the experience of a lifetime that I’ll inevitably always use as my annoying party conversation piece. In short; it was epic. Deciding to go InterRailing took around five minutes, booking ten and trying not to wet myself with excitement roughly three weeks. STA Travel, a company specialising in young, independent travel have a special InterRail booking service on-line and via the phone, unlike the official website which only allows contact through e-mail. There are two main types of ticket: a Global Pass with which you can visit up to thirty countries or a dedicated One Country Pass. A pass is much like a city travel card on a grander scale, allowing flexible travel within a certain period of time. Our pass of choice was the Flexi which allows a certain number of travel days within a period: five days within ten days or ten days within twenty two days. A la Jason Bourne, we managed to see five countries for just £139, second class, of course, so the possibility of slumming it was always very high - but if you elbow your way onto the train first you can hijack your own compartment and hang around in your knickers, to the enduring bemusement of passport control.
Once you’ve chosen your pass it’s very important to plan your route carefully. You have pretty much the whole of the EU to choose from but you have to take into account journey times; we really wanted to visit Montenegro but getting there meant travelling around Bosnia rather than through it and there wasn’t enough perspiration between us. You can get discounted Eurostar tickets to get across to the continent or a cheap flight to an obscure province much like St Andrews. And then you’re off; pack light in a durable back pack, don’t forget the mini-board games – I missed Ludo terribly - and a secret identity for emergencies. Your first country will mark the beginning of your trip, so make it small and northerly so you don’t need to rest immediately. Prague was perfect; beautiful and intimate but well-known enough to only mildly disapprove of our nationality. The accommodation was great; we stayed in our very own apartment in the centre of town for 15 Euros a night. We pre-booked all of our accommodation which diminishes the earthy, spontaneous vibe backpackers usually go for but we saved a lot of time, energy and money. A lot of countries on the InterRail trail are aware of the vulnerability of backpackers and self-professed tourist guides will take you to a hostel that turns out to be above a brothel; and not one those nice brothels either. Two days in Prague and we were ready to move on. Once again, the Girl Guide’s motto helped us as we knew which trains and where to catch them beforehand. Reservation is generally unnecessary but it’s always best to check at the station. Travelling by train is the best way to get an impression of a landscape and you do feel your face taking on a contemplative expression as you stare longingly out the window. Whilst I have always wished to be in an Agatha Christie novel, the trains were always safe and a great environment to meet people going to the same destination. The number of backpackers was astounding when we arrived at Budapest; hundreds of dirty faced hunchbacks heading to the centre of the city. And so on to Croatia, as the cities and train journeys began to merge into one feeling of awe and excitement. Visiting so many places so briefly could have felt soulless and mercenary but the people that we met made each place tangible; for some reason, being in a foreign country meant nobody really had anything to prove and we were all united by a love of exploring, and drinking. It was like living out every adventure fantasy you’d had as a child, or still have in my case, and experiencing other cultures so intensively forces you to look at your own and even on a smaller scale to look at yourself as an individual... and all without going on Jeremy Kyle. Preaching on I realise I’m attempting to make the merits of interrailing sound equivalent to saving Tibetan monks caught in a Himalayan avalanche, with only a wristwatch for help, yet it should be known that it is an awesome way to spend some of that copious time off we have. Travelling about Eastern Europe especially grants a palpable impression of the Soviet Period with the memories of communism either being hushed up or exploited; Memento Park in Budapest has an overwhelming collection of the communist statues that were erected throughout the city to remind the population of the power of the authority. As Mills & Boon readers though, we were romance starved by the time we left Zagreb, so stumbling upon an open-air Mendelssohn concert in the mountain town of Trento and passing through the sombre Alpine region to Germany was an almost ridiculously perfect way to finish our little expedition. Whilst I did end up looking like Poirot, if not sweatier, I didn’t feel threatened at any point during the trip; the hostels were consistently helpful and all the sensible travel precautions sufficed. There’s nothing to stop you, not even the Belgians, so go forth and experience the journey of a lifetime.
Unfortunately, my little grey cells were allowed to remain idle since I didn’t happen by strange coincidence to witness any murders on even one of the eight trains that took me and two friends on a whirlwind loop of, in map-speak, just a little patch of Europe. Beginning in Prague, we travelled southwards to Budapest then turned east to head to Zagreb and after Verona and Trento before finally stopping at Lake Constance. Two nights in each place, pounding the city pavements visiting, eating and taking in as much as possible we felt like distance cousins of Jason Bourne. It wasn’t a holiday (I’d never been so exhausted) but the experience of a lifetime that I’ll inevitably always use as my annoying party conversation piece. In short; it was epic. Deciding to go InterRailing took around five minutes, booking ten and trying not to wet myself with excitement roughly three weeks. STA Travel, a company specialising in young, independent travel have a special InterRail booking service on-line and via the phone, unlike the official website which only allows contact through e-mail. There are two main types of ticket: a Global Pass with which you can visit up to thirty countries or a dedicated One Country Pass. A pass is much like a city travel card on a grander scale, allowing flexible travel within a certain period of time. Our pass of choice was the Flexi which allows a certain number of travel days within a period: five days within ten days or ten days within twenty two days. A la Jason Bourne, we managed to see five countries for just £139, second class, of course, so the possibility of slumming it was always very high - but if you elbow your way onto the train first you can hijack your own compartment and hang around in your knickers, to the enduring bemusement of passport control.
Once you’ve chosen your pass it’s very important to plan your route carefully. You have pretty much the whole of the EU to choose from but you have to take into account journey times; we really wanted to visit Montenegro but getting there meant travelling around Bosnia rather than through it and there wasn’t enough perspiration between us. You can get discounted Eurostar tickets to get across to the continent or a cheap flight to an obscure province much like St Andrews. And then you’re off; pack light in a durable back pack, don’t forget the mini-board games – I missed Ludo terribly - and a secret identity for emergencies. Your first country will mark the beginning of your trip, so make it small and northerly so you don’t need to rest immediately. Prague was perfect; beautiful and intimate but well-known enough to only mildly disapprove of our nationality. The accommodation was great; we stayed in our very own apartment in the centre of town for 15 Euros a night. We pre-booked all of our accommodation which diminishes the earthy, spontaneous vibe backpackers usually go for but we saved a lot of time, energy and money. A lot of countries on the InterRail trail are aware of the vulnerability of backpackers and self-professed tourist guides will take you to a hostel that turns out to be above a brothel; and not one those nice brothels either. Two days in Prague and we were ready to move on. Once again, the Girl Guide’s motto helped us as we knew which trains and where to catch them beforehand. Reservation is generally unnecessary but it’s always best to check at the station. Travelling by train is the best way to get an impression of a landscape and you do feel your face taking on a contemplative expression as you stare longingly out the window. Whilst I have always wished to be in an Agatha Christie novel, the trains were always safe and a great environment to meet people going to the same destination. The number of backpackers was astounding when we arrived at Budapest; hundreds of dirty faced hunchbacks heading to the centre of the city. And so on to Croatia, as the cities and train journeys began to merge into one feeling of awe and excitement. Visiting so many places so briefly could have felt soulless and mercenary but the people that we met made each place tangible; for some reason, being in a foreign country meant nobody really had anything to prove and we were all united by a love of exploring, and drinking. It was like living out every adventure fantasy you’d had as a child, or still have in my case, and experiencing other cultures so intensively forces you to look at your own and even on a smaller scale to look at yourself as an individual... and all without going on Jeremy Kyle. Preaching on I realise I’m attempting to make the merits of interrailing sound equivalent to saving Tibetan monks caught in a Himalayan avalanche, with only a wristwatch for help, yet it should be known that it is an awesome way to spend some of that copious time off we have. Travelling about Eastern Europe especially grants a palpable impression of the Soviet Period with the memories of communism either being hushed up or exploited; Memento Park in Budapest has an overwhelming collection of the communist statues that were erected throughout the city to remind the population of the power of the authority. As Mills & Boon readers though, we were romance starved by the time we left Zagreb, so stumbling upon an open-air Mendelssohn concert in the mountain town of Trento and passing through the sombre Alpine region to Germany was an almost ridiculously perfect way to finish our little expedition. Whilst I did end up looking like Poirot, if not sweatier, I didn’t feel threatened at any point during the trip; the hostels were consistently helpful and all the sensible travel precautions sufficed. There’s nothing to stop you, not even the Belgians, so go forth and experience the journey of a lifetime.
