10 - The Rainy Horror Picture Show (Warsaw, Krakow, Zakopane)

Warsaw, POLAND - 07 august 2002

I did not sleep well because I kept imagining the border guards would come banging on the train compartment door any moment. But the first knocks came only at 5am, more than 12 hours after we left Moscow. Yeah, one needed to think BIG in Russia.

Hot-looking Red-head had helped me earlier with her ‘little’ English to fill up the customs declaration form, which was naturally printed entirely in Russian. So, through her help, I accurately ticked ‘NYET’ in the section which asked if I was in possession of firearms, drugs, antiques, bombs, ballet tutus… I should not have any problems leaving Russia.

The Belarussian border guards, however, took a long time to try and match my gorgeous photograph against my 5am face. He even gestured at me to tuck my 5am hair behind my ears for easier comparison. He gave up and handed my passport over to his colleague. This one, hopefully with a less stringent eye, eyeballed me for a long time, eyes flickering up-down-up-down. They must be thinking, “Darn, these Asians all look alike!! This could be Jackie Chan!” I decided to put on my dazzling smile much like what I did in the photo. That somehow did the trick and my passport was handed back.

The Polish border guard had to radio back to check whether I needed a visa to enter Poland. Again, I was eyed sternly with suspicion. After interrogating me and establishing that I only wanted to visit Warsaw and Krakow, in other words, I was not going to stay more than 30 days… I was released. Phew.

After Russia, Warsaw looked modern, civilised, efficient and smart. The streets looked clean, the trams looked new, the atmosphere felt friendlier. And then, I went and sprained my ankle on one of those cobbled-stoned streets. Great.

I had arranged to meet a friend whom I met over the internet, Kasia. Surprisingly, she could sneak out of her office during the day. She met up with me to show me a wee bit of Warsaw. Apparently, she said it had been raining for days before and today, I had brought sunshine. Oh, how lucky.

We wandered down to the Old Square of Warsaw. I was very impressed with the square, actually. It had a wonderful atmosphere and looked really pretty. I always love charming little lanes and cozy alleyways that twist and turn. I guess my impression of places was always better when the sun was shining and the day was beautiful. But still, to think the entire city of Warsaw was bombed to the ground during WWII and all these ‘old’ buildings were reconstructed based on paintings by an artist because the original floor-plans were all destroyed (naturally, Kasia filled me in on this), the whole town square looked pretty authentic.

Throughout the spin, I kept my eyes occasionally on the chests of Polish women and realised the Nipple-mania I had observed in Russia was apparently non-existent here. So, what I had thought was a European phenomenon was actually just a Russian one. Well, you could not say I was NOT being observant of the cultural differences between countries.

We skipped south to Łazienki Gardens. Well, I hobbled painfully because my ankle had swollen to the size of a pregnant ankle. There was a breathtaking photo exhibition called EARTH FROM ABOVE by aerial photographer Yann-Arthus Bertrand. The unbelievably stunning photos taken from around the world were lined around the entire park. The photographer had published a book recently. Please visit www.yannarthusbertrand.com to see what I mean. The photos are spectacular.



Warsaw to Krakow, POLAND - 08 august 2002

I left for Krakow with a room-mate, Doris from London. Once again, like Warsaw, there was a stupid hostel rule where one could not check-in when the hostel was ‘closed from 10am - 5pm’. We had to coax the receptionist to get out of her room, give us the luggage-room key so that we could store our backpacks in there. I bet she got rustled into action during the entire 10am - 5pm period as travellers came streaming in at all hours. So, one wondered why not just let us check-in during this period.

Krakow was even more charming and prettier than Warsaw. It was raining just slightly. Krakow had never been destroyed so most building and streets were the original ones. The Old Town was set in the town centre, encircled by a park called Planty. The square was very busy and, if one could believe the guide-book I borrowed from Doris, this square is the second-largest pigeon rearing farm after San Marco’s Square in Venice, Italy.

Yes, the pigeons were everywhere and I kept wondering when I would step on one of them and crrruush their tiny bones under my boot, or send one tumbling with a kick (preferably from my one good foot). Hmmm… actually, we were at risk as well. I should watch out for when to duck when they flew en masse blindly towards me and pray that they did not mistake me for the statue in the middle of the square where their favourite toilet appeared to be.

There was also Pope John Paul II mania going on here. He would be returning to his home town next week for a visit and everybody was looking forward to it. Well, many feared this might be his last chance to visit Krakow. There were posters and books about the Pope on sale everywhere. Penguin-like nuns, some wearing the stiff cardboard head-gears, had flocked to Krakow as well to await his visit.

I stumbled upon a cinema screening ‘Gosford Park’. I wanted to watch this. I had not watched a movie since the Mongollywood experience in Ulaan Baator. Sure, that left me panting for more. I bought the ticket for 8:30pm tonight. Then, I remembered the stupid hostel had a curfew at 11pm. I could not get used to these rules. I was not a party animal so I did not need to be out at night most of the time, but still, this was an annoyance.

Thankfully, I caught the last tram just when it was about to leave but I had risked my life dashing across the road to catch it. And I just slipped in before the clock struck 11pm.


Auschwitz, POLAND - 09 august 2002

Doris and I went to the Auschwitz Museum today because it would be her birthday tomorrow and she did not fancy visiting Auschwitz on her birthday. Auschwitz was one of the group of concentration camps set up during WWII by the Nazis.

We arrived just in time to watch the introductory movie and then, we went on the organised tour. As befitting the solemn mood, it started to drizzle. I would certainly recommend going on a tour here. The images and exhibits you see in the rooms of this ex-concentration camp will leave deeper impressions on you with explanations from the excellent tour-guide. Her for-you-to-ponder pauses, her grim descriptions, her drawing your attention to the details of the exhibits, left us thoughtful, sad and horrified.

I could not begin to explain this… but, one wonders about the extremely thin line between humans and monsters. Why? How? What went through their minds? How could they become like that? No answers, then or now. But the worst were the victims condemned to the camps. How they had suffered.

The lump of spectacles were not just a lump of twisted metal and broken glass. Each had belonged to an individual. The mountain of hair was not just a mountain of lopped-off curls. Each lock was shorn from a lady. The wall of suitcases was not just bags and luggage stacked up one on top of another. Each had belonged to a person, old or young, who had written his or her name, date of birth and address, meaning to retrieve it.

While the images and stories left us horrified, visiting Auschwitz was essential to me. One could attribute the practices of ‘those Aztec barbarians’, for example, who sacrificed thousands of people to their Gods, pierced into their chests to yank out their pumping hearts, etc… to ‘myths’ and ‘ancient practices’. Whatever. But the Holocaust had occurred in the 20th century. One could not turn a blind eye to it.


Wieliczka, POLAND - 10 august 2002

On a more cheerful note, in view of Doris’ birthday today, we visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Judging from the patient queue standing in the rain, it must be a very popular spot with the locals.

Descending 200+ steps down to 90+ metres below brought us to a series of tunnels and chambers. There were sculptures, mostly on the history, practices, even legends of salt-mining, carved out of salt. The salt was 90% pure, mixed with gravel and sand, giving it a greenish tinge. One section even had tacky gnomes!

The timber used to construct the shafts, stairs and tunnel-supports, were dated from 300+ years ago. The salt in the air had preserved the wood. Ironically, some of the salt sculptures themselves were ‘eroded’ away either by itchy fingers from tourists or moisture from the air. We were, however, allowed to touch the ceiling of a particular tunnel which had ‘cauliflower’ salt and scratch some out for a taste. Here, it was 100% salt.

The most impressive sight was the huge chamber-church which looked as big as a regular church. In fact, weddings could be held here. Everything was carved from salt. The chandeliers dangled 100% salt crystals. There was even a ‘The Last Supper’ 3-dimensional ‘painting’. It was only 10 cm thick but looked like the table was set in front of a deep room. A Pope John Paul II statue was there as well. I hope this time, he would have the chance to see it. This was apparently constructed for him before his last visit to Krakow but in the end, he had to cancel the trip, much to everyone’s disappointment.



Krakow to Zakopane, POLAND - 11 august 2002

Doris and I journeyed south to Zakopane, a mountain resort near the Tatra Mountains. We stayed in a charming hotel with wooden floor-boards and high beams and ceilings. Yes, finally, we could pop in and out of our room any time we liked.

The main thoroughfare had been pedestrianised and was filled with touristy stores. Another very obvious thing here in Poland was the large number of ice-cream and waffle stalls. The Polish seem to love sweets and desserts. In Warsaw and Krakow as well, there were signs for ‘LODY’ (‘ice-cream’ in Polish) at every other street. And they were not just any ice-cream. They were Poland’s own brands. I had the most phenomenal ice-cream here in Poland ever in my life. The Polish are so lucky! I am very sorry I had forgotten the name of the most delicious, heavenly brand but it was sold from ice-boxes with green letterings, starting with ‘Z’. Anyway, you would not miss it if you come to Poland. It is the best, the creamiest I had ever tasted. Despite my miserly ways, I willingly forked out money for lodys. My best memories of Poland were ice-cream-related.



Lake Morsie Oko, POLAND - 12 august 2002

It was drizzling miserably when we woke up. The weather had been rainy on and off these few days. Doris and I still wanted to go for a walk in the mountains and we prayed for good weather later. We took a bus to the Tatra Mountains region near the Slovakian border. There was a trek, we read, 9km long, that would take us to Lake Morsie Oko in the mountains.

This was not quite a trek in the mountains. It was a well-paved road meandering along the mountains and climbing gently to the lake. Kids and old people could do this trek without problems.

Misguided about how to treat a sprained ankle, I figured I should walk more in order to keep it flexible and get the blood circulating. The surrounding area was alpine and occasionally when the clouds broke, we could see the distant mountain peaks. Still, It was a lovely walk in the rain, though the trek was not quite what I had imagined.

However, by the time we arrived at the lake, the heavy clouds had closed in and rain starting to pelt down on us incessantly. Everyone hurried into the restaurant by the lake. What a shame. Instead of enjoying walks around the lake, everyone was cooped up in there. I refused to let this happen and when the sky seemed to clear a wee bit, I told Doris I wanted to circle the lake. She, however, preferred to stay in the stuffy restaurant.

It rained harder and harder as I walked around the lake. I did not care after a while. The scenery was mystical and serene. I walked right to the bottom of two waterfalls. My sprained ankle hurt every time I landed on it, but I still had a pleasant time.

The restaurant was packed to the max when I returned. More people had arrived at the lake and with no other shelter from the rain, everyone crammed in there. It was a miracle Doris even spotted me. But the trek back was tortuous. The rain was relentless. I am a flat-footer and after walking long distances, I tend to suffer desperately. Those darn arches… or rather, lack of arches. And now, coupled with a bad ankle that complained at every step, I was a wreck.

Somehow, although we took a shorter time to return, it felt much longer, like an eternity. “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” I chanted in my mind. I figured I had walked a little less than 20km today. There better be no cellulite left on my thighs. We were thoroughly soaked, extremely miserable and exhausted when we arrived at the bus-stop. Everything was WET! Argh!!

That evening, after a nice hot shower and a nap, I had a good laugh while watching Polish TV. Movies screened in Poland were left in their original languages, with Polish subtitles added. But TV series suffered a terrible fate. They had their original language tuned to a lower volume and a guy… the most dead-panned, expressionless guy whose day job was probably doing make-up for the dearly-departed at the morgues, would do voice-overs for every single character in the programme - male or female, young or old. He actually just READ the script. No feelings, no exclamations, no surprises, nothing! Imagine when he did a love scene… It would sound like two humourless men making out. Eeeww!


Zakopane to Krakow, POLAND - 13 august 2002

I am sorry to report it was yet another wretchedly wet day today. I returned to Krakow and it rained for the rest of the day. I had no place to go during the 10am - 5pm lock-out period. I told you it was a stupid rule. So, I sat at the train station with homeless drunks milling around me, and wrote postcards.

Poland uses Latin alphabets. It was a nice change after the Cyrillic alphabets I had to mind-map while in Russia. Although I missed the good feeling I got when I could pronounce the Russian Cyrillic words, I was mighty pleased to be able to attempt to pronounce words at a glance now in Poland. Yet, my mind was still working overtime in this area.

I had known about the Polish alphabet which was an ‘l’ with a slanted line across – ‘ł’. Then, one day, I saw another new character and thought to myself, “Oh, they have another new ‘l’ that was similar to the ‘l’ with the slanted line. This one has a straight line across. OK, remember that.”

Stupid me. It took me 24 hours to realise a ‘l’ with a straight line across is good old ‘t’!!


Krakow, POLAND to Vienna, AUSTRIA - 14 august 2002

I had read from the guidebook that the Wawel Castle was free on a Wednesday. Well, it was not. With not enough złoty and unwilling to withdraw more, I simply walked around the castle grounds. The weather remained atrocious.

I would be taking the night train tonight to Vienna. Once again, I had nowhere to hide from the rain except at the train station and then, a quick dash to the Cloth Hall at the main square which had some seats. I spent the entire day, reading, updating my journal and freezing my butt off.

After dinner, I allowed myself a final ice-cream treat. But, of course.

Later, with 2.94zł left, I decided to head to the grocery shop and buy up the item that was priced at exactly 2.94zł. It would be fate, I told myself. I hunted high and low, and did not find fate. I decided to buy a few items that added up to 2.94zł or thereabouts. I must have looked really suspicious. I picked up a few items, did mental sums, walked around, returned them to the shelves, hesitated at the corner, could not decide what to buy, picked up other items, stopped by the cash register, decided not to buy these, went back to the shelves, etc… I noticed a staff member eyeing at me keenly. She was waiting for the chance to catch me red-handed at shop-lifting, I bet. Well, I had money… 2.94zł of it!