I was walking in the underground of Paris Metro, connecting
one station to another and I saw those men and women in uniform with arrogance
written all over their faces, halting passerby to check their tickets. It reminded
me of the horrible time when a friend of mine got into trouble, for simply not
speaking French. What? Of course I am joking! However, she was fined for not
adhering to the rules of signing over her photo on the metro pass and raising
her voice speaking English absolutely did not help. Ridiculous stuff, I know.
Having been in Europe for almost 3 months, I get it. Its expensive to travel in
Europe. You want to get through the villages, the towns, the cities, the
countries in the cheapest possible manner. Every penny counts.
Being a backpacker myself, this is some information I have
gathered and trust me, I have paid a fortune for it.
Voyages SNCF
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| Gare du Nord, Paris |
It has been my main source of travel planning until recently
when I was stuffed spending nearly 100euro on a one way train and bus
connection from centre of France to Barcelona while my sweet little friend
bought a bus ticket for 5euro for the same route. I am sure you can imagine how
annoyed I was with myself. Anyhow, for travel within France, this website will
unfortunately be your bible, I think.
If you are under 26 years old, bare in mind that SNCF does
provide 25% discount. Now, I look pretty young, or some might even say I look
wickedly kiddish in real life. Although I thought the “age is a sensitive topic
for women” is kind of rubbish, but still, I like to stay mysterious. Haha. I
went to the Gare in Annecy before departure to get my connection train to Lyon
and the guy over the counter gave me a 25% discount without as much as a
question. It was a two hour journey and I was lucky as no officer came onboard
to check my ticket. I heard the penalty is quite hefty.
Bla-Bla Car
Another cheap way to get on the road is via car sharing. Bla-Bla Car might be the most active site for hitching a ride safely. It is very much like hitch hiking, except you arranged it and pay a minimal fee. Sharing the fuel cost. Bla-Bla Car gets you on an adventure, fresh faces and fresh topics to talk about. I love talking to people and meeting new people, don’t get me wrong, but somehow when I get on the road, I prefer some peace and quiet time for myself.
I signed up for short journeys with Bla-Bla Car so far and I
have good and bad reviews about it. I shared a ride with a French guy from
Chamonix to Genève and 1 hour flew by because we clicked. He did what I am
doing and took a year after his college to travel in Asia. He has beautiful and
ugly stories to tell about Asia and I listened with amusement, fiddled through
the memory boxes, trying to match the past with the relatively fresh present in
my head.
Another ride was from Genève to Annecy. It was a Spanish
teacher and he was commuting back and forth between France and Switzerland like
many other white collars. The cost of living in Genève is skiving through the
roof that most people moved to nearby towns such as Annecy where they could
afford bigger square meter with their pay checks. I knew there was something
about Spanishthat I dislike. We didn’t have a heart to heart, mostly because
he was pegging away to kill me with the heat in his car, oh someone please
teach this Spanish bloke how to operate the air condition in his Volkswagen!
Also, he has an underlying tone of cynicism that I detest. Thank god it was
just 30 minutes.
Bla-Bla Cardoes get you cheap rides (80% off the official
price with bus or train), but you will have to put up with the talking and odds
of riding with people that might not share the same interest as you. Some like
yapping, go ahead. Some said, “Ah well, you are not picking a husband, who
cares?” In that case, by all means, be my guests.
Megabus
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| Megabus parked at Porte Maillot Coach Park, Paris |
It is really a life saver with this website. I’ll give you
an example, Barcelona - Paris, I paid 15pounds whereas if I have gone by the
book with SNCF, I’d ended up paying 170euros for the train. A word of advise
booking with this company? Weekdays travel cost at least 50% less than weekends
travel. They are not the best long distance travel options, but it save you heaps
that you can probably splurge on a massage later.
Hitch-Hiking
Another more traditional travel option for backpackers is
none other than hitch-hiking. I am not a big fan of it, but tried it out of
desperation when I was hiking in the bother of France and Switzerland. I got
lost and under time constrain so I did the hand gesture. Yes, I know. I
remembered talking to a girl in a hostel in China. She left home with very little savings
but she has been to so many places in China, all by hitch-hiking.
In the beginning I thought she was a drunk. Then I realised
it was her signature story-telling face, with one eye bigger than the other in
sort of a half-squinting and half expressing-disgust way. Then again, it was
China. How it works in Europe, I have no idea. Although I have heard it is
generally safe to hitch-hike in Europe.
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| Traffic in Beijing, China |
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