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Lazy morning. I finally leave the hostel just before 11, for a walk towards the station, with a detour through the old town and a delicious wok.

The train I’m taking today, bringing me all the way to Warszawa [Warsaw], is not registered in the Interrail database. Or more precisely, the Lithuanian part isn’t. I checked on the Lithuanian railways website, and it says that a change of train is required in Mockava. To be sure that there’s no fuck up, as my good friend Duha is joining me tomorrow in Kraków (on her birthday, so I need to arrive before and nothing else matters), I went to the ticket office at Vilnius station. The woman at the desk didn’t speak english, and made me pay five euros for a seat, that I’m pretty sure I didn’t need. Oh well, it’s not much and if I don’t mess with the train change, I’ll be on my way to Kraków in time.

The train went through Kaunas (and it’s UNESCO-listed modern center, more about that tomorrow, maybe). A world of bad french puns opportunities opened up to me, but sadly I’m not stopping here. There’s only one train to Poland each day.

We changed train at the small village station of Mockava. When I say « we », I was actually alone in the carriage, which was slightly worrying, as the fact that check in at the hostel apparently closes three hours before I arrive. But a quick phone call and all good.

Eventually, I saw the Polish border sign. Lithuania, you were not as good as your Baltics sisters, but if I come back, I’ll gladly give you a second chance!

Witaj Polska!

I’m now back to my home timezone (having been an hour ahead since entering Finland), but out of the Eurozone. It’s also the only country to border Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, all at the same time. We even stopped in Sokółka, just about 10 km from the Belarusian border…

The scenery is definitely more hilly than in Lithuania, ondulating in beautiful waves covered with fields and pine trees. Then it became flatter and swampier, but that didn’t make the train any faster. It took about 6.5 h to reach our destination. Good thing I like long train rides!

In Warszawa, I directly took the tram to the hostel, where I got chatting with Philippe, the hyper stylish receptionist from Paris. I wanted to see the old city, but I’m too tired for a hasty visit. Another time.

Before I go to sleep, it’s that time of the month again: One and a half month on the road! I can’t believe it’s been that long already, with almost a third of the journey done. I have now just entered country number 15, which means I’m way ahead of the forecast 12, mostly because I had to rush things a bit between Alex’s departure in Sweden on the 7th and Duha’s arrival on the 16th. But that’s all good, it means the rythm in the foreseeable future will be much more relaxed.

When March started, I was decidely awake in the Bergen-Oslo sleeper train in Norway, and here I am now in Warszawa in Poland, through Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Seven countries and 11 different cities where I slept (plus another night train) in just 15 d, that’s quite a roaring start for this month.

I saw many great things already, from the Northern Lights to the Norwegain fjords and the Baltics castles, had a friend with me for almost a week, met with a TrackMania friend in person, and the rest of the month is already promising, with another TM meet up programmed, and mostly with Duha being there for over a week.

I hope there are still a few people reading this, and if you are, thank you so much! Again, don’t hesitate to leave me messages, it puts a spring in my boots!