On Wednesday Morning, we woke up early (around 6:30) because other people from our hostel room got up at the same time. We got dressed because we were up and then ended up at the train station at 8:30, much earlier than we needed to be for our 3:00 reservation to Linz. So instead of sitting around at the Salzburg train station all day, we ended up hopping on the next train to Linz at 9:30 and upon arrival around 11, we stuck around there instead. It's a nice train station, very large, air conditioning, and a grocery store right there. So, we waited. Gord had a laptop with us, so we used the free wireless and ate on our food purchased from the grocery store and read and wandered. I had to use the bathroom twice, so I paid 50 eurocents twice to get in. Darn pay public restrooms. Oh well. I'm glad it hasn't picked up over here. I would revolt if it did.
After our many hours of waiting and probably having hundreds of people pass by on their way to and from their trains, we got onto our train at 4:55 to Prague. Thinking it would be an easy 4.5 hour journey, we settled into our car and sat back to enjoy the ride.
Around 5:45, I heard a conversation between two gentlemen in English outside of our compartment that went something like this: "Soon we transfer to a bus and then back to a train." Confused, I went out and sure enough we were coming to a point where there was construction on the line, so we needed to take a bus ride from the Czech border to Ceske Budejovske. So, we stopped at a station, went over to a bus and then sat back for a ride. It turned out to be about 45 minutes, getting us to the station around 7. But there was no one at the station to tell us where to go, so I went in and looked at the departures board to realize that our train was leaving within 2 minutes of our arrival time, so we RAN through the station to get to the furthest platform to hop on our train.
This train was less comfortable than the first one, but whatever, it would take us to Prague. So we got into a compartment with a girl who was reading a dental brochure and then waited to leave. But we didn't leave right away. We waited, and waited, and waited some more. It was 40 minutes before we left. During that time, a large group of kids with bikes had to load their bikes into the baggage car of the train and we needed to get an engine attached to our train.
Finally, we got moving around 7:45 and then made a few stops along the way, read some, and ate a bit of meat and crackers. Around 9:00, we stopped for about 30 minutes randomly. I figured they were pulling a Via and had to wait for a train to pass. Sure enough 2 trains passed, but we weren't given the green light to go for another 10 minutes after the 2nd one went by. About 10 minutes later, we stopped again at a town called Hermanicky. And we waited. After about 30 minutes, I was getting nervous, and then people started to get off the train. Not everyone, only a few. The kids with the bikes got off and rode away. Then I asked a girl if she spoke English in my very limited Czech: "Mluvite Anglisky?" She said yes and then told me that we were waiting, but a bus was taking some people to the next stop so they could get there, but for Prague, we had to wait on the train.
About 11:00, Gord went searching to try and figure out what was happeneing. He found a few Canadians and some girls from Austria who spoke English, so we moved up a car or two to spend time with them instead. The conductors put across the impression that there could potentially be a tree on the track. When asked how long we were going to be, they only shrugged.
Around 12:30, we lay down to spend the night, figuring it would probably take that long before we started moving again. Then at 1:15, a conductor popped in to say there was a bus for Prague here and we could go get on it. But it was full by the time Gord and I got there. So when it left at 1:30, we were left and the Austrians and Canadians were gone.
Finally, around 2:30 a second bus came and we got on, expecting to take it all the way to Prague. It was looking up, but then about 45 minutes into the ride, it stopped at Benesov u Prahy and we were told to get off to get on another train. So we did. But there was no train waiting for us. We just sat on the platform for about 45 minutes waiting for this supposed train to show up. It never came.
It was during this time we met the American and the 2 koreans and all of us were confused together. Some people told us there was a normal bus separate from the rail lines coming at 5, others were just standing around wondering what the heck was happening. The staff at the train station didn't seem to be very helpful.
Then at 4:00, a bus came and we got on it. It was the same driver as took the first group from the original train station, so we were hopeful that we would get to Prague on the bus. So we settled in hoping to get some sleep, but we stopped about 10 minutes later and were told to get off. So we did, and then walked through a train station and got onto a train waiting there at 4:15. This train didn't leave til 5:00ish, but it took us directly to Prague, arriving at 6:00 AM, just a few hours later than the 9:30 PM expected arrival time from the schedule.
The train station was full of people sleeping, like their trains were delayed.
At this point, Gord and I went to get some money and figure out the metro system and then we and the American guy parted ways with a handshake and a thanks, and we were off to our respective accommodations. We finally got to our hotel at 6:45 and then went to a well-deserved sleep.
Turns out there was a huge windstorm the night before with power outages and trees blown down all over the place. They knew there were trees on the tracks, but they didn't know where, so we had to stop in case the train hit them. One person was telling me there was a train from Croatia that was delayed 20 hours, so our 8.5 hours seems like nothing in comparison.
Here's a news story from a Prague Newspaper
Prague, June 25 (CTK) - Thunderstorms, torrential rains and a strong wind complicate people's life mainly in the western, central and eastern parts of Bohemia this evening, but no fatalities and injuries have been reported as yet.
The elements left over fallen trees, cut electricity supply and flooded out houses, garages and other buildings.
Some flights at Prague's Ruzyne airport were delayed about half an hour.
Czech Rail (CD) had to completely stop or partially suspend operation along many lines.
Material damage inflicted has not yet been evaluated.
It was an experience, and we made it ok in the long run. But it's not one I'd like to repeat any time soon. Without the Austrians or the American, it could have been much worse, as we would have been stuck without anyone who spoke English to talk to. That was a comforting factor in the night.
