Getting to Bath

Leaving London on November 1st was a bit tricky. There happened to me a lorrie turned over on the 25 (the road on the outer ring of London). Here's how my day started:

I pack up after staying a few nights at my couchsurfing host's place, and beginning my walk of uncertainty to the nearest road towards the road out of town (at this point, I am in Orpington, London). I walk through the rain puddles and come upon an enormous green field, were I take a bit of video and a photo or two!

As I am dragging my horrid pack I bought in Barcelona down the road, a woman pulls over, and offers a ride to the nearest road headed where I am headed. Wow, didnt even stick out my thumb, and someone pulled over! This is where I spot my first badger...All I could remember about badgers were what my friend Maja from Slovakia had told me...pretty freaky stuff! So, scared shitless (I have no idea how aggressive badgers are..I only know from the honey badger videos on youtube at this point) I am put at a bus stop on the side of the road. I wait here until a driver pulls up in a van, a tyre delivery guy.

Immediatly, the tyre guy makes it known to me that I musn't worry about him...he likes "lady boys." Okay, so what, live your life the way you want. He takes me to a hamberger joint, where I basically scarf down a cheeseburger with a fried egg on it (omg yum!) and this is where we discovered, I'm not getting out of town today, thank you, lorrie driver.

So the old man invites me home, where three Latvians live as well. He orders me pizza at the house, then goes back to work, yet again shocking me about how trustworthy people are. I finish the night eating pizza (the sunlight ended quick, lots of rain, so technically, its only 5 pm) and watching a British game show, which I have easily become addicted to.

The next morning, I am awoken at 5 am to go to the old man's work with him, there is a Latvian driver there who will take me to the right spot, and drop me off at a gas station. At the station, I load up on coffee and a muffin...feeling pretty in love with my life at this point, even though I know at any moment, a badger may come at me (is my thinking).

I sit with my coffee and muffing, awaiting my next ride, who turns out to be a young guy in his 20s, he takes me to another gas station further down the road, in my direction. My next ride: a really awesome Welshman who gives me 10 quid and a couple packs of frozen fish (in case I get somewhere with a stove that night). He drops me at the main turnoff to Bath. Next driver: a college professor (the second one to pick me up! The first was in Italy) He takes me all the way in to Bath, where I take the bus up to the hostel I was supposed to be volunteering at.

Long story short, the old guy trying to be trendy at the Backpacker's hostel was a douche to say the least. He had no idea what I was talking about, couldn't be bothered to offer any help, and kept changing his stories...after standing by the road with a sign for Bristol for over 4 hours in the freezing rain, a kid approaches me, and in a weird way attempts to help, by asking me to lie to his parents, telling them I was a foreign exchange student he went to school with...needless to say, I was uncomfortable with this so I stayed elsewhere for the next few nights.



On November 5th, Guy Fawkes Day, I headed out towards Fishguard.