Amusing story. We%26#39;re not usually the type to %26quot;rough it.%26quot; We%26#39;re not young, and we%26#39;re not exactly budget minded when it comes to travel.
For some reason, we decided that rather than take a guided tour bus to Terezin, we struck out on our own and just take a regular intercity bus. We purchased the ticket at the Florenc Bus station and we assumed the bus left from there. The ticket agent who sold me the ticket didn%26#39;t say it left from a different station. But we finally figured it out and jumped on a Metro to the correct bus station, just in time to get on the bus.
We were so naive. We had purchased reserved seats, and I guess we thought it would be like a coach bus. You know, clean, and with air conditioning. Not the way it is, however.
Apparently, there is no such thing as overselling a bus. Every seat (including ours) was sold out, and it was standing room only. There were people in our seats. But, we had the driver intervene. The people in our seats were kind of squatting until someone who had paid more, forced them out -- which was us.
The bus made several stops along the route to Terezin to pick up more people -- somehow they all managed to squeeze onto the bus, standing in the aisle. No air conditioning, and apparently nobody showered that day in the Czech Repbulic. The aroma was not one of delicate flowers.
When the overly crowded, overly heated bus arrived in Terezin, it just pulled over to the side of the road and most people got off. No announcement of any sort.
Terezin was fascinating.
The return trip to Prague was not as pleasant as the trip to Terezin. When the bus arrived at our stop, there were two buses, not one -- both completely packed to the gills. This driver wasn%26#39;t willing to intervene and make the people in our seats give them to us. So, we had to stand the entire way back to Prague, even though we had paid for reserved seats. The driver didn%26#39;t care, and he wasn%26#39;t in the mood to help us. So, we figured that rather than cause a scene, we would stand. After all, how bad could it be?
Well, of course, at each additional stop, more people got on, even though we were packed like sardines in the aisle. Again, no air conditioning, and the same lovely fragrance of sweaty, stale cigarette body odor.
When we got back to our hotel, we had a good laugh about the whole experience. When we were younger, this would have been our style. But not how.
So, lesson learned. We%26#39;re not young, and we%26#39;re not on a budget, and in the past we%26#39;ve always spent the money needed for guides and comforts. Why we decided to save some money this time is beyond me.
But, no harm done.
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Welcome to the Czech Republic! Nobody reserves on local buses - it is extremely unusual to do so, for reasons of which you are now probably aware:) And no, there is no need to make announcements as the vast majority of people know exactly where they are going; these buses, as you found out, are not really designed for tourist purposes. Even when they are packed to the gills people miraculously manage to find their way to the front with a minimum of bother ...
At least it is not far from Terezin to Prague - I have been on a bus in the height of summer where people stood from Brno to Banská Bystrica in Slovakia in a bus otherwise full of inebriated (and highly fragrant) Ukrainians on their way home, so you were lucky :) Also in the winter on many of the country roads instead of de-icing them a layer of fly-ash (I think) is put on top of the ice and the buses run as usual, also packed to the ceiling with people and their skis and with the windows completely steamed up (you wouldn%26#39;t be able to see out anyway as the outsides are caked in grime). Some of the manoeuvres they manage to pull off are quite spectacular, but you don%26#39;t hear of (m)any accidents ...
On a related note, I have also been on a six-hour night bus journey through the desert in Jordan where the driver preferred to use the light of the moon, rather than the headlights, only putting them on full beam when an oil tanker came the other way. Such are the delights of travel :)
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HI Paul.
Sorry you did not like your first go a %26quot;roughing it%26quot;.
Some of us like to too do it and go with the flow.
I think you will find you can not book seats on servive buses.
The best part about roughing it, is sometimes you are out of your comfort zone. But that is why we do your own thing on holiday insn%26#39;t it.
If you click on my name and them on reviews you will see I have been to Terezin on the service bus.
Anyhow it will give you something to talk about back home on how you %26quot;roughed it%26quot; in Europe.
ian480.
PS I think we are older then you, but maybe younger at heart.
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You *can* book seats on these buses, but it is highly unusual and it is really only a service that exists in theory, although they will be happy to take your money for the reservation...
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Thanks for sharing this with us Paul!
TORII
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Re booking seats. Same on the jet boat from Phnom Penn to Siem Reap. On your ticket is your seat #.
You try asking somebody to move when they do not speak English.
I spent 5 hours stood on the roof of the boat as it went flat out down the river.
A boat trip of a lifetime.
ian480.
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We enjoyed the experience and had a good laugh at how naive we were. It made for an interesting day. I guess we weren%26#39;t expecting a surprise, but whenever you travel in a foreign country, you should expect little surprises. Everyone should go to Terezin, but perhaps a guided tour would have been better for us.
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It all makes for a more interesting experience :) At least you weren%26#39;t in a hermetically-sealed tour bus paying through the nose for the pleasure of being rushed around from one place to another without getting to see how the vast majority of people live and get around.
I know which option I would choose!
But good for you for going off the beaten track a bit - more people should do so.
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I agree 100%. Alway better to DIY.
ian480.
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I always don%26#39;t understand enough why the trains are considered not to be an option on that route. Or at least they tend to be a little underestimated on this forum. The bus is a bit faster (not counting the time to get to Holesovice) and cheaper, and that%26#39;s why most commuting people do use it. Above all those %26quot;smelly%26quot; peple. For a relaxing trip, and especially for the scenery, much better option (to be honest, still not an excellent one, but far less unpleasant) is to take the train from Masarykovo station in the centre to Bohusovice nad Ohri, which is about a mile from Terezin.
For that small part of the way a local bus (2 minutes or so) is really no problem, there might be some taxi or even to walk could be an option in a sunny day. There are so-called fast trains every 2 hours (every hour on peak times), it takes slightly less than one hour and it is very unlikely to be full. The whoule journey takes about the same time from the centre of Prague. What%26#39;s wrong with it...?
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I agree the train is a good option, specially on a good day, maybe the distance is a bit more than a mile to Mala Pevnost, but at least you would not have to put up with %26#39;smelly people%26#39; a comment to which I object.
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