Train Ride to Bucharest, Romania

I boarded the train from Sofia to Bucharest, as I took a seat in one of the train carts, I can still remember me standing at the train window outside the door that leads to my cart and waving goodbye to a dear friend of mine as the train left Sofia’s Bulgaria train station. Yes, like something out of the movies!
In my train cart, I had two other passengers sitting in front of my seat, an old man reading a newspaper by the window and a woman looking at her phone.
After taking a look around, I decided to lay back on my seat and rest a little, after all the train ride is 8 hours long.
I suddenly woke up from the noise the old man was making trying to pull his luggage from the upper shelf above the seats in front of me, the train was still in motion.
The train suddenly breaks to stop at one of the stations on the way to Bucharest, and all I saw was the old man leaning on me slowly as he falls with his back facing me. Although I had my feet hidden underneath my seat, but usually when you fall you try to prevent the fall by mounting your feet into something to stop it, and that is exactly what the old man did, but when he tried to stop himself from falling on me, he stomped his metal and leather heavy vintage shoe into the edge of my shoe and on my toes.
I instantly woke up as if a rush of caffeine had taken effect, there was no caffeine included, but the pain that was slowly increasing as the old man departed the train.
In situations like those, I am usually good at controlling the pain or even my tears, but not this one! I started shaking my hands up and down trying to stop the pain; as if that ever works! The other passenger can see me waving my hands and silently crying, but none of us spoke each other languages! I didn’t speak Russian, and she didn’t speak English.
I wanted to get help but saw that I wasn’t heard or understood, and trust me that was the worst feeling anyone can ever feel.
I literally closed my eyes and prayed in pain, after that the train conductor came by to my train cart and asked me if I was going to Russia, I answered her, “No, I’m going to Bucharest!” She waived for me to move to the second cart.
I picked up my bag and started sweeping my foot across the floor heading in the direction of the second cart.
I swear to god heading to that second cart felt like I was slowly walking a hundred miles with a shot foot, I was internally screaming, but my face and pace weren’t hiding that at all.
Finally, after 15 minutes of half crawling through the moving train, I made it to the first cart with one open seat, I throw myself on the seat as if it’s a million dollars seat, I even left my bag on the floor.
I looked at the surprised girl sitting next to me, and the first thing I said “ Do you speak English?” she said “Yes!”
Although I can’t physically see my face, but I was able to feel that it was glowing with the Biggest smile and relief expression I ever had.
I started telling her how an old man stepped on my toe in the other cart and that it is swollen, how I wasn’t able to walk from the pain, as tears effortlessly started falling towards my chin.
The two girls immediately jumped off their seats and said that they heard an assistant doctor was riding this cart two rooms down.
One of the girls left the small room and started looking left and right, trying to find the guy that she heard from, that one of the passengers was an assistant doctor.
As that passenger passed by our room after using the restroom, she immediately stopped him and told him about my toe, somehow put him on a quest to find that assistant doctor that was riding the train with us.
The girl went back into the room and started opening her luggage trying to find any type of pain reliever that she can give me, by that time a guy with glasses came by our room and said “what’s the problem, I can help.”
From the pain, I wasn’t able to retell the story all over again, so the girls helped out in doing that part for me, as they told the doctor what had happened to my toe, the doctor asked to be excused and ran out of the room.
By the time I turned around to look at the girls with confusion, he was back.
He told us that he was looking for things he can use, as he holds a white wrap and a bottle with some black liquid.
He asked me to place my foot on his lap, and he started taking a look at the injury, “Does it hurt here?” He asked. “What about here?” He asked again.
Other passengers started coming up to our room and offering whatever medicines or prescriptions they had.
The Assistant Doctor was telling me as he wrapped my foot with the mixture of anti-inflammatory, iodized, oils with the white wrap bandage; that he was from Greece and he works as an assistant to a doctor there.

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Slowly, other passengers started coming into my room and offering me their prayers, healing oil from their churches, their personal picture of the Virgin Mary, telling me that this will make me feel better.
I instantly felt better not because of all those things that I was given, but because of the sense of relief that I had developed from all the love I was given from total strangers, I somehow had hope, that I never lost, in humanity, but in a different way than thinking about it.

After the assistant doctor was able to help, the effect of the painkillers started to take effect, but all I was thinking about was what will happen after I get off the train? I had nothing booked, no hostel, have no idea how to take the public transportation, no cash to exchange the currency, or even speak the language, all those worries started to rise up just because of my non-existent internet service and my lack of mobility, the two things that I depend on the most to live my unplanned travel adventures.
It felt as if the guy sitting in front of me had read my mind, but he asked me where I will be going off next? I said, “ I have no idea, I don’t have internet to check!”
The next thing you see is him offering me to use his hotspot, I fixed my posture and instantly thanked him, because if you think about it, he kinda saved my life at this point!
I used his hotspot and was able to book the closest hostel to the train station, of course, it had to fit my general requirements of hostel qualifications. Lol
That hostel was perfect, very high rating, great price, great location, within a walkable distance for my poor toe.
I downloaded it’s address into my offline map and remembered how to get there from the train station.
I got to the train station; It was one of the very few extremely packed and full of restaurants, shops, and they even had a pharmacy in the train station.
I headed to the first green sign I saw in front of me, I was starving! So I headed to Subway, I knew that they will accept my credit card and have something I can eat as a vegan.
After having a good, fulfilling meal and was refreshed, washed my face from all the sweat and pain that was in it; I gave my mother a call.

And to my hostel, I headed.

At the hostel I got there within a five minutes walk, it was called Bicycle Hostel, I thought if I can’t walk I can ride a bike, right?

I got to the front desk, and the girl at the front desk was the nicest receptionist I had ever met; We immediately became friends.

Ten minutes later she took me to the hospital and stayed with me the whole time.
I ended up staying at that hostel for 3 days, with a very long lasting new friendships that I will never forget.

Did I mention that my worry about not having international insurance, was a waste of energy! Yeah.. Emergency rooms in Romania are free!! I just showed my ID.

Note to Self: extend your International Travel Insurance next time you leave the country!!

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