Flixbus in Europe was a priceless gift to me when I was backpacking there. It allowed me to travel on a budget, within cities in Europe and its inter city connections were such that I could plan my trips just a few days (sometimes a few hours) before my actual journey. However, the closer you get to the journey date, the higher the prices tend to be. The buses were quite comfortable and most of the routes were pretty scenic. Even if the Wi-Fi service was patchy on many buses, I was quite keen to keep my eyes outside the window rather than on my mobile screen - the reason I always prefer to have a window seat. I met some really friendly people while travelling and all in all, it was a positive experience taking their buses throughout Europe. The only issue I faced was their pickup and drop points in many places were outside the city limits (sometimes, in the middle of nowhere) and in case of crazy bus timings around midnight (or even after midnight), you faced a long lonely walk to/from the hostels located in the city. I always preferred choosing hostels close to the Flixbus points (within a radius of 4-5 kms), so that the walk with my backpack is not long.
But, the craziest experience I had with Flixbus was when I took the bus from Monaco to Freiburg via Savona in Italy. It was the first time I realised the problems that can arise while taking Flixbus. My idea was to stay in Monaco for a day or two but since I had been invited by a friend to visit her family in Germany, I had to change my plan. I arrived in Monaco early morning and was loitering around on the streets with my backpack wondering what to do. I did not find any luggage storage facilities and was forced to wander around (public transport as well as lots of walking) with my backpack.
Anyways, I had a bus from Monaco at 3.30pm and I reached at the pickup spot an hour earlier. After confirming with the driver that I had got the right bus (it was not Flixbus but another company, with which they had a tie up) he asked me for directions for a place to eat. My wandering around came in handy and I could advise him where he could get a bite to eat. As the clock ticked by, I was fervently hoping we would start on time since I had a connecting bus to take from Savona in the evening.
Monaco to Savona is around 130kms and takes around 2 hours by car and 3.30 hours by bus, because of the stoppages. I still had an hour or so for my connecting bus from Savona to Freiburg, scheduled at 8.30pm. We left 10-15 minutes late from Monaco and for the initial couple of hours into the journey, I was enjoying the countryside and the scenery (quite a contrasting sight to one of the richest cities in the world, which I had left behind).
The stunning highway navigating through the mountains is built high above the towns and villages, which were passing below us. It felt like we were travelling on a bridge throughout the journey.
In the distance, I could see the sunlight shimmering on the glorious Mediterranean Sea. I have heard so much about the French Riviera and looking at it from close quarters, I could now understand its pull and no wonder, it is such a powerful attraction for the tourists.
As the clock ticked by, I was getting anxious whether we are on track or not. The route involved detours to bus stations in small towns and every stop took around 20-25 mins, as we had to exit the highway and proceed through narrow streets to reach the station, where we waited to drop/pick passengers. I was very close to panic mode by 6.30pm, as I could sense that we are nowhere near to Savona & my worst fears were confirmed when I saw a road sign mentioning that it was still 50 kms away.
Once I realised it is going to be touch and go, the next problem arose - how to communicate with the Italian driver, who did not know English. I did not have cellular data to track the progress or send an email to Flixbus (as I wanted to do my entire Europe trip without interruptions from friends or family except while using Wi-Fi in the hostels), I did not have a local number to call Flixbus customer care and ask for a solution, I could not communicate with the bus driver or my fellow passengers to explain my problem - in short, I was nervous wondering what to do as I would be stranded in a small town without any transport or a place to stay. Luckily, I found 2 girls who were sympathetic to my plight and used their phones to check with Flixbus on what could be done. Those attempts were futile when we could not get through to the customer support team. One of the girls spoke to the driver in Italian, who said he will try to take us to Savona as fast as he could. He also told her that he will try to speak to the connecting bus driver asking him to wait for me. And finally, when we got through to Flixbus support team, I thought my problem is close to a resolution but alas, they said they cannot do anything since there is only one bus from Savona and we had to try and rush to take that bus. Maybe it will be a bit late and I could still take it. Close to 8pm, we reached Savona and as we rounded the corner to the bus station, I could see my bus to Freiburg passing us in the opposite direction. One of those moments in life where I have acutely felt the meaning of the phrase - so near yet so far. The girl asked the driver why he did not call the other driver and ask him to stop, but all he said was he tried but the call did not go through. At the station, I was confused what should be my next step - should u wait for any other bus going to Germany or should I stay at a hostel and take the next day's bus, should I travel somewhere else and try my luck.
Since train services were not working and the girl (who was helping me) got down at Savona, I felt even more desperate. To this day, I cannot forget the sympathetic look that she gave me while bidding goodbye. And to compound matters, the Italians were complaining to the driver about the delay in leaving. I was unsure and stuck on what should be my next step but I had a wild card up my sleeve which I did not realize at that point of time - my "knowledge of Italian football". All those years of following the Serie A would come in handy at such a moment, I could never have imagined such a scenario. The driver told me that the final destination of the bus was Genoa and since I had heard about their football club, I made an assumption that if Genoa has a football club, it will definitely be a bigger city than Savona and I can try my luck there to find connections to Freiburg. So, I hopped back on to the bus and made the hour long journey in complete silence. The only time I regretted not having a mobile connection during my entire trip was that bus journey - I could not check what connections I could get from Genoa and I was kind of flying blind without knowing what will happen when I get there.
Once I reached the Genoa bus station, I was thankful that the drop point was close to the city centre. It was close to 9pm and I was frantically asking people for directions to the train station - a stylish lady was the only one who knew enough English to guide me but she warned me that I will not be finding any trains going to Germany from Genoa. Finding no other way out, I headed to the station anyways and checked the train schedules. The lady was right and there were trains going only to other Italian cities. I now started hunting for free Wi-Fi to look at Flixbus departures from Genoa and I couldn't believe my luck when I logged into the station Wi-Fi service to find a bus to Freiburg at 9.45pm. However, the Wi-Fi was too weak and I could not proceed to the payment page. There was one silver lining though - the website showed me the boarding address and I showed it to the cab driver standing outside the station, asking him to take me there as soon as possible. I had less than 30 minutes to reach the pick-up point and in the 10 minute cab ride, I tried to explain my problem to the driver and requested him for his mobile so that I can book my bus ticket.
However, he did not understand English and my sign language scared him a bit as he feared why is a stranger asking for his mobile phone. I left it at that and thought of reasons I could use for boarding the bus. I discarded them one by one - marriage (last minute trip and poor planning made it an unconvincing excuse), becoming a father (again, last minute trip makes it look dicey), urgent office trip (not with a backpack), medical emergency or family emergency (sounded plausible, I guess) etc. When I reached the pick-up point, I got out in a hurry, paid the cab driver (one of the very few cabs I took during my solo trip) and found 4 or 5 buses parked in a line. Before I proceeded to check which bus was the one to Freiburg, I heard 2 guys talking in English and decided to ask them for help. I explained my predicament and told them I am in a rush as my wife is expecting a kid (weird, I don't know why I used this reason among all the reasons I had conjured up) in the next couple of days and I need to reach Germany tomorrow. After my initial explanation, I requested them for their mobile or cellular data, so that I could book my bus ticket.
Lo and behold, they said yes and I booked my ticket in a jiffy - at 9.40, just 5 minutes prior to the departure. I thanked them profusely and they asked me if I knew how long the journey to Belgium would take. The conversation is so clear in my mind after all these days and it brings a smile to me even today. After a couple of minutes, I rushed towards the buses and found my bus at the back of the line. I asked the driver and once he confirmed everything was good to go, I heaved a sigh of relief after 4-5 hours of anxiety. After storing my backpack, I asked the driver to give me a couple of minutes as I wanted to thank the Belgian boys again. The driver told me to rush it, as he had only 2 minutes before he left, with or without me. I could not help smiling at that - he did not know how close I was to missing the bus in the first place and there was no way I was gonna miss another bus. Not now, not even for a thank you !! I found the guys and thanked them again for their help and rushed back to the bus. I found a very sweet Moroccan girl who was studying in Genoa and when we started exchanging our stories, she told me that I was lucky to get the bus because the area was not quite safe and I had a vision of Italian mafia, as they depict in the movies. For the first time I realized the potential impact of missing this bus - stuck in the middle of nowhere without any transport back to the city, no hostel booking, no mobile data to check my whereabouts etc. I would have just kept walking in the dark (in more ways than one) hoping to find my way back to the city. It was not a pleasant thought to entertain and I shifted the conversation to more pleasant topics - travel, movies, music etc.
I reached Freiburg the next day via Geneva (only 1 hour later than the original bus I missed from Savona). I contacted Flixbus after a few days to explain the issue in detail and asked if there is a chance for a refund - they checked my travel history and agreed to a refund for the bus I missed. I got the refund after a couple of months, once I was back in India. All's well that ends well - one of the many examples of issues sorting themselves out for me when I am on the road. Long may it continue !
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