Simferopol to Odessa, how not to travel #2

It is well recommended, in peak season, that you book transport in and out of the Crimea well in advance. That kind of thing doesn't really work, though, when you are travelling on a whim - who knows when you'll want to leave somewhere?

We needed to get out so we thought we'd try our luck by heading to Simferopol train station to see if we could somehow get a night train that night to Odessa. The signs weren't great when we turned up to see people sprawled all over the train station area. Needless to say, it was fully booked for three days... Our last resort was to head to the bus station (via MacDonalds - gotta be done) to try our luck there.

We managed to get something illegibly scribbled on a scrap of paper by a burly, bristly-lipped, ticket woman who pointed in the general direction of outside. We were sat outside, with little idea of what was going on, when a huge, green bus going to Chisinau, via Nondescriptville, Bloctown, Industrialovich and ODESSA! The bus was to leave at 1630 ish so we calculated that we should arrive at round 5am. Which gave us loads of time to find an internet café and book a hostel for the night.

We slept well enough (as well as you can on a hot night bus) but were rudely awoken by the driver shouting "ODYESSA!!!". I opened my eyes and tried to focus on the the red clock at the front of the bus. 02:00." 2am! But it should be 5am! What the hell are we going to do? We stumbled off the bus, laughing at the absurdity of our situation. We would have to hang around Odessa, which has some notoriety for danger, until it gets light.

We walked around the front of the station when a familiar and comforting sound cut the night air - English. Two, shadowy figures, one slightly taller than the other, bending over rucksacks talking English. What a relief. We approached them.
- "Hey are you guys English?"
- "Yeah"
- "Do you have a hostel?"
-"Sort of, for tomorrow but we're going to go now"
-"Amazing, can we follow you?"

This is how we were saved by Jack and Jamie. The four of us walked into the town (the wrong way first - it wouldn't ever be too straight forward), getting a sense of direction from tram maps, the salty scent in the air and an out of date Eastern European Lonely Planet guide. The streets were quiet, aside from the stray dogs who only seem to bark at night.

We got to Jack and Jamie's hostel at around 4am and managed to finally get in after ringing the bell for 10 minutes. I will be forever grateful to the laid back staff here who proceeded to put us up on the sofas free of charge. A perfect end to a less then perfect day.

(This is a shot of the Potemkin steps in Odessa)