Marco's Travels

Ever since the dawn of time it has been the ardent wish of every human being to travel and discover the unknown. Travels comes to me naturally as I work for an airline. I did make the most of my travel privilages and I am glad that I had lots of support from my family, my well wishers and my superiors. Initially it was a very daunting task but as time went by I became more used to the nitty gritty of travel life. All travellers do suffer from Dromomania that is the urge to travel frequently. They are never happy at one place. When I started my travels it was to the East Bloc countries. I just wanted to find out for myself how the life was beyond the iron countries in the early 1980's rather than read it from the Westerners. Being an Indian I had to face lots of difficulties in procuring the VISA’s of European countries. There were no International Credit Card in the early 1980’s and this was a very big hindrance for my travels initially. I spent lot of time thinking in which Hostel I would be staying. As the aircraft winged its way across continents I thought about my survival where I would stay what I would eat and how would I travel.
Today when I think about my trip to Germany and the East Bloc countries so many thoughs assail me and I feel that I have managed to go around the world many times in search of adventure. I have to date logged about 1.4 million miles and been abroad 107 times. I had never gone more than 50 miles from my home ground from my residence and here I was winging my way over Continents and very soon I would be in Germany and then the East Bloc countries. Czechoslovakia. At that time it was one country. I felt on top of the world and I was worried too as there were no Internet those days at least I did not have an internet. I knew on board that flight I was the poorest guy. Everybody had someone waiting for them or else they had hotel bookings and here I was on my own. I felt like baby superman coming from Krypton planet and making Earth his home. I brushed aside these worries and thought of what next. I was young and healthy and though I had little money I could rough it out and nobody forced me to travel did they? I did that on my own free will and I would make the most of my free tickets which I got from my airline.
As soon as I cleared Immigration in Frankfurt I made a beeline for the CSA counter (Czechoslovak Airline) and managed to get a seat to Prague. I was the only coloured guy going to Prague and they all looked at me with wonder and awe. It was a short flight by Tupulov aircraft to Prague the capital of Czechoslvakia. I took a cab from the airport to Wenceles Square which cost me 90 kroner and later on I realised that had I gone by bus it would have been 1 kroner. I was going to Martin Vrutky to meet my penfriend and it was 11 hour train journey. I got my tickets and amused myself and soon I boarded the train to Martin Vrutky. There were girls and boys who were smooching in public and this was something which really amused me as I did come from a different culture and I had never seen such things before in my life. I could not sleep on the train as I had not got any sleeper seats. I just sat down and dozed off a little and after a long night I was in Martin Vrutky. I had made friends with a local lady and his mum who helped me get a cab and they gave instructions to the driver where I was to be dropped off. I thanked them profusely and off I was to my penfriends place. When I reached her place I found out that she had gone somewhere on a picnic and her mother who spoke no English welcomed me to her place. I knew I had come to the right place as I found the calender which I had sent to her was hanging in her drawing room . She gave me a bed and soon I hit the sack as I had not slept for the last 36 hours. I got up in the evening and was pleasantly surprised to meet my penfriend and her friend Maria. They were glad to see me as they had never seen a colored guy in flesh and blood. During the Communist regime nobody other than diginataries or aircrews ever went to the Soviet Bloc countries.
We went out for a walk and then to a local police station as I had to register myself to the police because I was a foreigner. The Police officer was courteous and kind but he was bit surprised that why I chose East Bloc countries when I could have gone to any western countries. I told him I wanted to meet my penfriend and get to know the Communist people first hand rather than read about it from some western magazine. The next few days we spent going to different parts of Czechoslovakia like Banska Bystrica, Zvolen, Poprad, Tatra mountains, Ostrava. It was fun and I was free as a bird. That could not be said about my friend because she could not go to any country other than countries in the Soviet Bloc. There was an invisible barrier. Strange are the ways of life. I did go to many museums and everywhere my penfriend acted as an interpreter. I went by funicular up the high Tatra mountains and then tasted the national Czech dish. I forget the name. It was wonderful.
After a few days we went to Bratislava the second capital of Czechoslovakia. It was a quaint little city much smaller than Praha but had lots of Castles and Museums. I used to get up early in the morning and go to sleep late in the night. The next stop was Praha from where I would be heading back home. We did go to the the wonderful Castle and took the cheap tram and ventured all over the city. I did see the place where the movie " Operation Daybreak " was shot. Wenceles Square was real wonderful and I just liked the place. There were lots of girls and boys there and they just ogled at me as though I had descended from another planet. I was there just for a day and the next morning I went Ruzyne airport along with my friend and she wished me goodbye for the last time. Little did I know I was never to see her again. She did write to me a few times and I know she was married to Pavol and they had a son by name of David. Not much is know about her later life. She did write to me once many years ago that she was in serious problems but she never told me what problem she was facing. Those were not the days of internet and so I could not contact her.
Soon I was in Frankfurt and with my smattering knowledge of Deutsch I managed to find my way to the Hostel at Frankensteiner Platz. Once I got a bunk bed I just lay down thinking of the chain of events. I was happy with myself. I was filled with fear and trepidition but at last I was on my own. It was evening and I walked down the Rhein River and made my way to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. It was a different enviorment altogether and like a small child I was filled with wonder and awe about this great country. I had seen all these places in movies but now here I was in flesh and blood. I had to pinch myself to make sure I was not dreaming. Right from the begining I had a very strange habit of sitting down in the city centre and watch the world go by. I would never belive in maps and the information given by the information kiosk. I would generally ask for direction from the people around me. I would talk to them and get to know their problems firsthand. I know many of my friends would spend hours and hours memorizing maps and going to touristic places. I can never do that.
At that time I did not know that things would all change in a few years. It was summer of 1982 and when I went there again with my son after completing my 100 trips abroad it was 2010 it was a different scenario altogether. Now it was a free Economy the prices of food and things had gone up exponentially. It was no longer funded by the State. It was every body had to fend for himself or herself. Now it was teeming with foreigners of all races and creed. Wenceles Square was still there but it has now become a hive of bootleggers and other anti social elements. There were so many people of different nationalities and I just sat down and was reminscing of the days gone by. Mickey my son a young lad of 18 summers did not like to sit down like me and ponder about things. I was thinking of so many things that has happened in my life since the first time I visited Czechoslovakia and now. I had gone to so many countries gained lots of experience about travel and seen and met people and had first hand information of the cultures and traditions.I had gained so much and lost so much. I had lost my wife and now trying to bring up my son on my own. I dont know what happened to my penfriend wheather she was dead or alive. I just did not have any inkling. I was overhelmed with nostalgia and I just could not comprehend how 28 years had gone by and I was back to the same place in Wenceles Square. I had come a full circle I guess.
I spent a day in Frankfurt and then when I came to the airport I found out that the flight to Mumbai was full and being a standby passenger has its own drawbacks. I was told by the duty officer that I would never be able to make it on todays flight better I should try tommorow. So I did but the flight was a circutious one but who cared I was a standby passenger and not paying any money to be on board neither did I have to attend any meeting way back home. I arrived home with lots of happy memories of my foreign sojourn. I only wished that I could do it more often and God was really kind to me and heard my prayers. There was no looking back after that amidst lots of problems at home I did manage to go abroad with impunity at the drop of a hat.
I have travelled a lot but I come back to an empty home filled with solitude and loneliness. The saddest part is that nobody misses me. My son is growing up but there is a big chasm between us which we can never bridge. I have no complaints against him as I know in this world there are infinite number of people and everybody is different. The only problem is that when I am Old and still alive I will learn to die without howling. Strange are the way of life