Heeeyho Readers! Coming by to share memories of cold crazy days.
One day I got in trouble. The circumstances of how I got in that butt-freezing situation are blurry. Well... to be honest, as most of that insane winter cycling expedition through Europe. Anyway. I remember the days before becoming a popsicle in the middle of someone’s land, and those are worth going back to.
I’d just left the Wild Elephants Hostel. The Wild Elephants was a low-key two-story hostel just around an impossible-to-spell street (Františkánske námestie) in Bratislava. A bomber of a place. There were fourteen volunteers—travelers like myself, dreamers, free spirits, and sorts of yolo minds. They entitled themselves a family and, indeed, there was a family atmosphere.
Every day a volunteer cooked massive amounts of food for a modest price of one Euro, just to reunite everybody around the table. The breakfast was the time to catch on with the early risers to see who had survived the night. We knew each other by name; we missed each other. There was for sure a family vibe. The place was neat. Not for least, with so many volunteers—bathrooms were always clean, bedrooms organized, and the kitchen didn’t have rotten food in the sink. There was the positive vibe. And there were also bras hanging at the reception, psychedelic paintings, a wall to draw whatever came to mind, and muffed sex noises late at night (happened one day).
We reunited at the attic for drinking games before parties. Not a single drop of noise escaped to the rooms, despite the drunken laughs of young travelers playing truth or dare. I recall a British girl who’d done everything in life you can imagine; she was unafraid to disclose her deep-most secrets. Everybody got wasted day in and out. However, nobody could follow a mysterious young German dude. That fella used to pop a beer at nine in the morning. I have no idea how that fella ended up in the Elephants. Apparently, he was traveling with his mom; she was in a hotel somewhere else. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that one day he crossed the line.
“German dude went crazy,” worried a guest while I chatted to the receptionist one night. The others had gone to a party; the hostel was quiet.
“Not again,” responded Rafa.
We both ran to check what the fuck was going on. German dude was in the grand living room with his pants down his knees. What a vision, I’ll tell you. A half-eaten salami was on the sofa, near a bottle of beer. His wallet was on the table together with cigarettes. And there was a spill of something we hoped was not piss. The guy couldn't walk and talked gibberish. After much diplomacy, we manage to throw him in a cold bath. Those were the days in the Wild Elephants.
I departed from the Elephants a couple days later to head south. Patches of snow had accompanied me since Czech Republic, across Austria and beyond; coldness was not new to me. Without any worries, I followed the Iron Curtain trail into Hungary down to the Austria-Hungary-Slovakia Tripoint, where the three countries meet. Somewhere along the line I decided to camp near a creek on a farm, where I found a rotten leather wallet—there was nothing but documents inside, an ID of someone born in the 80’s— that crept me a bit. I kept the docs to find the person. Perhaps the corpse was just below me? Who knows.
Finally, we get to the picture of my freezing butt. When I woke up the next morning, early, at least I thought so. The wristwatch marked 08:00 o’clock. Why is it so dark?—I thought. I opened the tent; the door was heavy. I punched the fabric to the side; snow fell down. Turns out the snow had covered the tent overnight. From that day down to Slovenia, I knew the ride would be harsh. The rest is history to write about later. Thanks for reading and don't forget to have fun.
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~Love ya all,
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
Interesting story, I would like to continue reading, I was left wanting to know more. Take care buddy @mrprofessor
Thank you for the comment, @cryptoxicate. There'll be plenty of stories coming out from that trip, as long as I remember them all \o\
It must have been an interesting adventure, será agradable leer tus anecdotas @mrprofessor
Super story. Greetings from the Czech Republic, and take care, dude.
Thank you for the comment, @pavelsku. It makes me glad you enjoyed. You live in a great country, I've been there two times and loved both.
Oh wow! As much as I love camping and going outdoors, I never tried the experience during snow. It looks like a crazy adventure! :)
Yoo Gabs, you should try! It's a different experience and with the right equipment it's quite cozy. The only problem is: everytime the sleeping bag warms up an urge to pee arises.
Cool story man, I guess they called the place Wild Elephants for a reason :D I need to check it out next time I am in Bratislava...
Do check! It was pretty cheap in 2018 (8 Euros). Not gonna lie, in the first glance the house seemed kinda wild, but the atmosphere was fantastic. It's a party hostel, but there's no noise at all in the rooms.