It took four hours to exit Ukraine. A young guy on the coach was on his way to Dubrovnik. His girlfriend had already been there several days; he’d been sent back twice, for extra paperwork. His friend had escaped a few years ago but he chose to stay. Bless him, he just wanted a holiday – a taste of normality. They called him in for an interview. 30 minutes later, he collected his bags and set off back to Kyiv for yet more paperwork. It then took four hours to enter Hungary (Schengen). Our train had already left Budapest. We’d have to wing it.
The rest of the journey home was a blur. I remember finally getting to sleep, across two seats, somewhere in Germany… and being woken by a dog licking my face! Spaced out adrenaline rush: “What the fuck?!” No apology, just a hasty retreat to the next carriage.
Leave a Reply