Entry #5 from June Travels.

Yep, I've been more than slack with writing these out... this next one is from Lublin.

28 June 210

I'm presently eating the last few raspberries from a 250g punnet that only cost me zl3.9 (about a euro). So cheap! So, I think the panic of arriving here has finally subsided. It's sort of the equivalent of ending up in Coober Pedy without intending to. Of course, I intended to end up here. I just didn't expect for it to be so dilapidated. My instructions on how to get to the hostel were terrible. I was told which number bus stop to get the bus from , but not that it wasn't actually the one in front of the station (I found it eventually), or which bus to actually catch. I took a gamble.
My instructions were to get off at the 5th stop, which left me planted in the middle of nowhere. So I crossed the road for the bus back, trying not to stress, wondering whether I'd gotten off the train in the right place. On the bus stop across the road, I looked at the list of stops, and voila! The stop I wanted was there. So I'd just caught the bus in the wrong direction (thanks, hostel). I caugh the #6 to the right stop, then had a good 10-minute walk ahead of me. Oh, and I didn't pay for any buses today. I love just sneaking on the back, instead of trying to work it out with a driver who'll probably hate me for speaking a foreign language.
Anyway, I finally got to the hostel. It's tiny - obviously just an old apartment or something. Walking in felt like stepping into someone's living room. But the old man was very friendly. Somehow, I don't think that this place gets too many visitors. There's only one toilet and one shower. I doubt that they've got wifi as claimed. But there's a free breakfast, and I think I'll even stick around for it. My other plan is to get the 6:12am train tomorrow (Tues) instead of Wednesday - there's even a 5:11am bus to get me to the station. But I don't think I'm in that much of a hurry now. My original panic had me thinking of calling Mi and having her pick me in Olomouc a day early, but I don't think I'll do that.
I might just catch the 4pm train tomorrow, arrive in Krakow at 9pm and stay in the same hostel for an extra night. I checked on Hostelworld and they've got beds free, so hopefully by emailing them, I won't have to move beds after one night. But that's getting too far ahead.
After setting my bags down (I'm the only one in the room) and discovering that there are no security lockers, I decided to head out. I forgot to refill my water, which is a pity, as it was really warm today. I was sweaty and smelly. I started to walk to the old town to get a map, because the guy at the hostel didn't have any. Then I saw on the bus stop the number 159, which I knew from my Lonely Planet notes to be the bus that goes to Majdanek. So I decided to get my one and only plan for Lublin accomplished. I caught the bus there, only to discover that large portions aren't open on Mondays, including the visitors' centre. My hopes for a drink of water perished. But the grounds were open, if not the museum, and a few of the buildings were still open, so I walked around. The grounds were huge, and in a few open buildings, bunks had been set up, but mostly they were locked. And one building, outside of the prisoners' compound, had thousands of shoes in wire cages... they were probably on the floor in piles when the camp was liberated.
The huts were stinking hot and airless inside, so the one with the shoes was revolting - I kept expecting something to move. It was really creepy, and the black grime all over the shoes, plus the stench of them, was disgusting.
I also saw a room used for gassing. The concrete walls were oddly stained blue in places, and I wondered whether it was chemical. I was feeling a bit angsty, half expecting something to jump out at me, so I left. There wasn't anything else open to see. And across the fields from the buildings, where strips had been mown into the grasses and wildflowers (clearly hay-making season), were hundreds of big black crows. Maybe ravens, actually. The younger ones were cawing with high voices, but the death-rattle of the older ones was especially unpleasant. I was expecting them to suddenly attack me. However, despite all the crows, there were thousands of butterflies there. Strange.
I went into the nearby Lidl before I caught the bus back, caving in to my thirst. I bought two rolls with onion baked on top, salad stuff, sandwich stuff, and a few drinks. Then a bus back - I got off to wander through the old town. The buildings were quaint and old, but mostly falling apart. No sign of repairs, or even of repainting, which is a pity because most needed some love quite badly.
On my way back to the hostel I walked through a tiny market, where I bought my raspberries. Then back here, where I asked to use the internet. The old guy (owner?) had to restart the computer to make it work, and the net was slow, but I was able to email my request to the next hostel, plus check the train times. So I think that tomorrow I'll poke around in the old town until my train in the afternoon. Museums and tourist stuff seem to be closed Monday and Tuesday, so my timing is pretty awful, but hopefully I can grab a couple of photos to prove that I was here. Though, if not for Majdanek, I know I'd never have come. Oh well.
This town is just so run down. Buses are in an awful state of repair and the roads are abysmal. Poland clearly has no money for maintenence. You can really tell that it used to be Communist...
I'm going to go. I've eaten dinner, am drinking a beer, and plan on having a shower - also so I can wash a tshirt for tomorrow. Mine are all dirty. Fingers crossed that one will be dry enough for me to wear!