The Wild East

"Everyone else's little green Slovak passports remain unchecked."

Train en-route to Kosice, Slovakia
The train is extremely modern, and is like a British train (one single carriage with an aisle in the centre, unlike European coaches). In fact it is better than most UK trains (like everywhere else in Europe!). We pay a small supplement intending to go to another town, Ostrava, in Czech Rep. The Czech countryside rolls by.
MT goes to meal car, and returns over 50 mins later. I was wondering where he had got to, and thought he'd been kidnapped.

We decide to stay on train to Kosice, as Ostrava isn't in guidebook and might be terrible- it looks very industrial. I was expecting very light border checks at Slovakia as they used to be 1 country (Czechoslovakia) until 1993.
I am wrong.
Our passports are whisked away, and inspected thoroughly by a group of guards. The enire carriage is staring at us.
After 2 rigorous checks (with machine) they are tossed back onto the table. Everyone else's' little green Slovak passport remain unchecked.

At about 3.00 I go to the meal car, leaving Taylor to guard the bags. A new ticket collector comes onto the train. She keeps tapping her finger on the table and speaking Slovak to me. I feel rather stupid.
Eventually I realise she wants another supplement (another country). I hand over a 200Kc note. "Ne, Ne, Ne" I think she wants something smaller, but it's all I've got. She gets some change from the restaurant car.
The poor girl had another frustrating experience at the hands of another stupid Englishmen further down the train- guess who?! who didn't understand what was expected of him either, and then attempted to pass on a 1000Kc note!
He explained that his friend was in the restaurant car, and she rolled her eyes as if to say "I've already met your friend!"...we swapped notes, and it meant I didn't have enough money to pay for the meal....it was sorted out- eventually!

The scenery has changed. It is much more mountainous, with more rivers and trees. We pass through Poprad Tatry- a stereotypical E. European town- looks fairly poor, very industrial, and has block after block of concrete buildings. Slovakia is much more off the beaten track than Prague- there are horse drawn carts at level crossings. We seem to be the only foreigners on the train. If you smile at anyone, they look at you strangely.
Taylor has been performing card tricks for the past half hour, and there is an old couple sitting across the aisle who take an interest in him. Unfortunately they get off suddenly before Taylor builds up the confidence to try a trick out on them.

We are the last ones on the train when we get to Kosice at 8.30. Man Utd played here in 97/98. The station platform is virtually deserted. I change 60DM (after we admire the girl behind the counter).
We step outside- the air smells of coal/pollution, but after a while you don't notice it. I buy some cokes, and we walk towards a Neon sign in the distance which says "Slovan".
A bus rumbles past belching out filthy diesel fumes....

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