Believe me - never again will I fall into the trap of the many who describe literally everything as awkward (ok maybe a few turtle motions are allowed) as I have now found a situation that truely warranted the word - the night bus from Munich to Sarajevo. At the time of booking, the 15 hour night bus journey seemed an amusing and exciting prospect but getting on the bus at 7pm the reality of sitting in a seat for over half a day sinks in a bit.
This was made worse by the fact I was the only Brit and definitely the only person who didn't speak German or Bosnian resulting in conversational problems and many an awkward glance. The first communication issue was when the bus stopped (with Bosnians on board this meant every hour as they seem to live on coffee and cigarettes) as the driver announced in some language how long the bus would stop for. I therefore just had to guess and hope I made it back on time, unreasuringly the driver also didn't seem that keen on counting who was on board.
This awkwardness reached its peak at the 7am breakfast stop - sitting alone in a cafe with a coffee you had somehow motioned for while shoving Euros in the waiter's face as Bosnians stared was particularly memorable. Maybe writing this as I sit is maybe not a good plan either, I am going to be accused of being a spy soon.
The other factor I had not considered was that Bosnians sure do love their traditional music, so much so that even on an overnight bus it is played constantly. Now a day off that bus if I try really hard I can still just about hear it!
Of course being me, embarrassment on this bus was almost certain and occurred about 9am (14 hours in) when I attempted to use the toilet (failed to lock it) and had a Bosnian walk in on me and allow me to flash the whole bus. They laughed and shouted 'engleski', to be honest I was most upset that they considered me English ;-).
So all in all I saved some money and maybe was a little safer travelling by bus but did lose my dignity....
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