Bon Voyage

‘Bon Voyage’, ‘Have a pleasant journey’ or ‘Yat lou soon foong’(literally ‘smooth wind all the way') are the usual ways we wish those who are travelling. It has to do with so many unexpected situations that can happen which can derail one’s best of plans. It is definitely not for the faint-hearted nor the pessimists.

Beng had his fair share of anxiety in his recent trip to look up his research-minded sister in Maastricht and his friend in Milan:

Knowing that the first train to Waterloo East was at 5.13am from Lewisham Station, I got out of bed at 4am to get ready and waited for the bus around 4.30am... One hour later, I was still waiting for the delayed train, and with 13 minutes to arrive Waterloo East, 5 minutes to walk over to the Eurostar check in counter and given 30 minutes check in time, there really was not much time. It sums up the inefficiencies of the British Rails and when I finally checked in (just) and got on the Eurostar, it was five minutes to take off, I mean chug off.

So then it was such a relief to reach Brussels Zuid and get in the Belgian train thinking whether it’s the spirit of nationalism that actually serves the european countires better compared to the British National Rail companies... However, I was pretty confused to be honest upon arrival in Brussels, as I was told on my train ticket that I would be arriving at Bruxxelles Midi and checking the Dutch rail itinerary, I was supposed to get on the Brussels Zuid train station to get to Maastricht. Little did I know that Brussels Zuid = Bruxxelles Midi. The reason behind this was seeing Midi I was thinking Middle, right? And god knows what Zuid meant! According to my sister, Zuid actually means South since 'ui' in Dutch is pronounced 'ou' thus, Zuid = Z'ou'd.

Complaining about the inefficiencies of the trains in the UK, throughout the trip I was given an insight to the relative comparisons as the Dutch national rail service does not really fare as well too! There was this one trip as I was going back to Maastricht from Eindhoven when I reached the last stop (Sittard) before Maastricht. An announcement was made in Dutch and the next thing you know, I was off course and going to an entirely different destination. Then of course there were the rail strikes in France and Germany that almost crippled the entire economy. There is nothing like coming out of your country of residence to appreciate what we have eh?

Just a food for thought about transportation prices, the Eurostar to Brussels and back cost me £60 (e 84) which is a 2 hour train ride. For the train to Eindhoven and back to Maastricht, which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes, it cost me e 30 (£21). Then the train ride to Roermond from Maastricht which is about 40 minutes cost about e 15 return (£10.5). Now this may not be the most enticing way of travel, but in Europe it really is essential as it brings us around through different borders. Comparatively a 25 minute train ride from Lewisham to Dartford used to cost me £4.10 which when you think about it, really isn’t that expensive. And my sister was telling me that rail travel in Holland was cheap.

However in Milan, a 30 minute train ride from Bergamo to Milan central for a day would cost around e 3 (£2.10). Now that is what I call a bargain!

Beng