Volume 2, Day 53-54
The mysterious roommate woke up at the crack of dawn, packed silently and left, as if it was a normal thing to only spend the hours of 12-7am in a hostel. Of course, the worse part, which I failed to mention previously is that the windows had been shut all night. The room has a tendency to get really stuffy and the air quality is downright bad. But, if the windows remain open, the loud conversations of the all hours bar immediately below waft in as if on a PA system. That’s why I carry earplugs, but the sleeping figure got to determine the standard without discussion.
Since it wasn’t raining any more and even looked like the streets had dried out a bit, I decided to get in a morning run — a 9 km route circling the city via the main waterways. It was good and the other couple had also checked out by the time I returned from the exercise. I showered, packed up, and was eager to get out of the room and somewhere else.
I dragged my suitcase over to a bus stop and rode to the same train station I had passed on my morning jog. It took longer to wait for and ride a bus than it would have been to just walk (with a backpack), but such are the tradeoffs for this giant suitcase. I had to queue at the ticket window in order to buy a train ticket in cash, but I was pleasantly surprised by the reasonableness of the price (6.6 euros, no extra charges). There was a train about once an hour and I decided to wait for the next train and get a coffee.
It was a pleasant ride to Gent-Sint-Pieter on the local train. The train was clean and I had an entire car to myself. The station looked unfinished as I got off the train and the area in front of the station was somewhat deserted. It was also surprisingly chilly. I had been researching the costs/benefits of springing for a Ghent City Pass in order to see a couple of the sights and get free rides on buses/trams, but I couldn’t find a tourist information point anywhere in or near the station. So, I simply followed the directions of Google Maps and waited for the bus which would drop me off about a block away from my target hostel on the opposite side of the city (again!). It was also 3 euros for a fair short bus ride.
I was dropped much closer than I expected and found the hostel to be very nice. The owner was full of tips and after lugging my suitcase up two flights of narrow stairs, I found a spacious, clean, modern looking 6-bed dorm with a fire escape/balcony. After chatting a few minutes with my Indonesian roommate, who was also helping out at the hostel, I popped over to a supermarket to grab some lunch, including some snacks and a cold beer.
I ate, took a nap, had a coffee and a snack, then finally got ready to go out exploring the city.
It was the last day of a 10-day long festival that is held every summer. It is apparently a big deal, with the entire city center being included in the festival. I set off to explore and saw more things than I can describe, but overall it reminded me of the Carnival of Cultures in Berlin. There were stages of various sizes scattered about town with live music, squares converted into dance floors, food trucks selling overpriced junk food outnumbered by beer sellers 4-1 using “regional” refillable glasses (i.e. have to return to the right part of town to get deposit on glass back). All the bars and street side cafes were packed to the rafters while street performers squatted on every corner and one plaza was turned into a full-on carnival with bumper cars and other amusement park rides. I poked my head into a Carrefour Express next to the carnival and saw that their fridge was understocked and overpriced.
I popped into a church to find it converted into a beer hall with a “Last Supper” platter of bar snacks. The alcoves of the church were filled with grotesque sculptures juxtaposed with objects of worship through a separate ongoing art exhibit.
In another corner of town, I took a turn and found myself in front of a medieval castle and another plaza with a stage of music. I ducked into a corner store to get some liquid courage to get me through this nightmarish acid trip of a festival. Along a major canal, I found what I would call the main stage 30 ft tall scaffolding with big screens, a narrow band of a mosh pit between the stage and the canal with a bar area opposite the canal.
As interesting as the festival was, I definitely needed to get in touch with some other people to make the experience more memorable. So, I pulled out Couchsurfing to check on who was available for the “Hangout” feature. It actually worked and I met up with one guy from Pakistan who lived in the outskirts of Ghent. After walking around a bit we camped out in front of the McDonald’s as one after another couchsurfer coalesced into a group. It took a while and there were a few aimless loops around to kill time as people made their way to the rendezvous point. The whole process was quite torturous as I had finished my beer and was tapping my foot to get another one.
Eventually, the group was complete and I wasn’t the only person down to get a drink. We worked our way from Nachtwinkel (Night Shop, a.k.a. Belgium’s version of convenience stores) grabbing their overpriced (but still more affordable than from the stalls) drinks. It was a motley group covering a few continents and much of the time was spent making introductions and coordinating with more people joining in. One of the girls, a recent PhD graduate, was hungry and we spent a while looking for food, even once going into a church that was converted into a food court. The food prices were still unreasonably and I was grateful for my late and filling lunch.
Altogether, there were three people locally based, but all transplants from different countries and four proper travelers (myself included). That local knowledge was useful in knowing where the next nachtwinkel would be, but we did spring for a drink at a proper cafe once so that we could sit down a while.
The group split up as some people wanted to stay for a circus-like musical performance at one stage, while the “place to be” at that hour was a different stage. After going to the canal-side stage, I realized I had hit my limits on beer as a glass of beer was placed into my hands. After downing it quickly, I slipped away to get a big bottle of water and something more energetic to keep the party going. I was barely paying attention to the performance, but noting the time, I reminded our diminutive tour guide of the mardi gras party. It was a mardi gras experience with an effectively naked master of ceremonies standing on a stage tossing beads out into the crowd while shouting “show us your titties” into the mike. We seemed to have missed the most of it, and my age was catching up with me. When one later member of the group bowed out with the excuse of having to catch an early train the next day, I also peaced out and took a roundabout way back to the hostel.
The good thing about Ghent is that it is pretty small and difficult to get lost. I gave a wide birth to the park in the corner, closest to the hostel because that is supposedly where the late night DJs do their thing and I was ready to get out of the crowds.
| Bus | 3 |
| Starbucks | 3* |
| Train | 6.6 |
| Bus | 3 |
| Hostel (2 nights) | 54 |
| Lunch | 11.39 |
| Leffe brun (50cl) | 3.5 |
| Leffe blond (50cl) | 3.5 |
| Jupiler (50cl) | 2 |
| IPA (25cl) | 3.8 |
| Rum, coke, Evian | 12.9 |
| Cherry coke | 1.5 |
| Total: | 108.19 EUR (843.9 RMB) (USD 122.64) |
Running Total: 20148.7 RMB (USD 2928.08)
Daily Average: 380.2 RMB (USD 55.25)
*The Starbucks was less than 3 euros, but I neglected to make a proper note of the cost