Travel | Getting Lost is One of The Biggest Gifts of Travel

© 2015 Wazari Wazir | Art House Hotel in Irkutsk | Russia

© 2015 Google Map | Direction To Art House Hotel In Irkutsk | Russia

Getting lost is one of the scariest and most rewarding aspects of travel but it depend on situation. For an example if you are getting lost finding or locating your hotel after visiting some interesting in the city and then while walking along the alley, you stumble upon a beautiful sight or you stumble upon a classic or vintage  looking coffee shop and have a cup coffee there and take the opportunity to ask around the people there and makes new friend along the way or better if some of them invite you to visit their home or recommend it to you some other interesting place that not mention in your travel guide book.

But it can be scary if you just have one or two hour left and after you arrived at the Airport terminal on your way to another destination, upon checkin in the counter they told you that you are at the wrong terminal, the flight that you were supposed to take is at the other terminal, located fifty kilometre away and you just have an hour to get there, and you don’t have any idea on how to get there, that can be a scary situation.

Same goes to if you wanted to catch a train and you are at the wrong terminal where the right station is about half an hour away by taxi and you just have about half an hour to get there, that can be scary also. You might miss the train and might have to buy another train ticket and have to spend another night at the city that you are not really enjoyed.

My point is that not all “lost” is rewarding depending on the situation. When I was in Irkutsk, I’m losing my way locating the hotel that I’ve pre-book earlier, actually I’m not really lost, it is just that I couldn’t find the hotel. I was supposed to check in at Baikaler Hostel Lenin Street in the centre of Irkutsk but just could not locate it.

This is my first time in Irkutsk and getting lost is something to be expected but then I did not expect to get lost or I’m not ready just yet to get lost here in Irkutsk.

I was arriving in the early morning at Irkutsk Train Station from Kazan and spending few hours at the train station because it was too dark and too cold to get out, after I get out of the train station I get a taxi to take me to the city centre (actually there was a story on why I took a taxi, but I keep it for another entry). I show to the taxi driver my hostel booking document and told him to drop me nearby the hotel at Lenin Street.

Just less than fifteen minutes in the taxi, he drop me in the middle of nowhere, I mean in the middle of the city next to the bus stop. I’ve no idea where I was. But after awhile I saw the Lenin Street or maybe Lenin Building, I’m not so sure about that, I did ask few passes by including some of the security guard who are on duty taking care of the parking lot, he took the map and show it to his other friend and just pointed it to somewhere.

To cut the story short, I did not manage to locate the hotel and I no longer have the energy to carry my backpack all over the city, it is no fun getting lost with a heavy backpack and it is no fun getting lost where the temperature is below zero, at the moment the temperature in Irkutsk is somewhere around -20 or -25 celcious, it is freezing cold and it does not help that I haven’t take a breakfast to keep my body warm just yet.

Finally I give up because I no longer have the energy to carry my backpack around and I give up due to the “Cold Burn,” I’m afraid at every moment I would die freezing, well maybe I was just exaggerating but it was really terribly cold. And then I stumble upon this beautiful cute looking hostel and walk inside and asked the reception whether they still have a room and lucky for me they have one and it cost me a little bit expensive than Baikaler Hostel but I really need to get some rest and a hot shower.

That’s how I end up at the Art House Hotel, actually one of the most important for me to take into consideration when choosing a hotel or hostel is that, it must be close to the train station or airport but in this Trans-Siberian Railway journey where I’m traveling with a train, the hotel or hostel must be closer to the train station. And this hotel is just 1.7 Km from the train station and if I take the tram, it will be just less than ten minutes to get there and the nearest tram stop is just a stone away from the hotel.

After I check-in at the hotel, put my backpack, take some hot shower, rest a little , then only I was ready to “Get Lost”, and while getting lost, I found a supermarket just in front of my hotel, this is important because I can easily get my food without walking too far in the harsh cold and after getting lost for awhile I found where Baikaler Hostel is located but I choose to stay at Art House Hotel because of Its proximity to the train station and I like the environment here compared to the area where Baikaler Hostel is located.

The next few days while I was in Irkutsk, I really enjoyed “Getting Lost,”  there is so many interesting place that I stumble upon while walking aimlessly without any particular place in my mind but I just take note where the tram line is, so while getting lost, the tram line, where the tram is moving around is my guide to get my trace to my hotel. I like getting lost when I’m not in a hurry and I don’t mind getting lost if I didn’t carry a heavy backpack around. It’s no fun getting lost with a heavy burden on your shoulder and it is no fun getting lost if you’re in a hurry.