Budapest

We caught the overnight train from Krakow. We had heard of various dangers associated with train travel from Poland. According to our guide book, some passengers had claimed of being gassed while sleeping and then having all their baggage stolen. The sleeper itself was very dusty and pretty dirty. We strengthened the lock on the cabin door with Sarahs belt but still didnt sleep much. We were woken twice in the night to have our passports stamped. It felt like more times than that though since we had to be stamped for exiting Poland, entering Slovakia, exiting Slovakia and entering Hungary. The passport control guards just kept on coming. It was an enormous relief to finally arrive in Budapest. We are staying in a comfortable and well equipped apartment in the centre of Pest, near the river bank. The city is very vibrant and my initial impression is of a city on the crossroads between East and West but more oriented towards Europe. Today we are going to check out Pest and its sights. Its pretty rainy and cold out.