Belgian budget travellers.

One night whilst sat at the bar in walked two soaked youths having got caught in the rain. They were from Belgium and had travelled from Poznan in the west of Poland. On alighting in Lodz they followed some people into the town centre and the nearest pub. They were planning to journey all over Poland for a month, sleeping rough or in their tent. Their funds stretched to under 3 pounds a day.

We chatted and I plied them with vodka seeing as even to buy a drink would cut deep into their budget. Surely it would be better to stay half the time and have a little more money to spend? They shrugged off that notion telling me that they do this every year in different countries and always get by. They had been unable to get a lift on their first day so ended up getting the train. I told them that the only way to hitchhike in Poland is to hold out money. An agreeable pair, although not particularly engaging, I offered to put them up for the night as it was late and wet. It occurred to me that they were reliant on the kindness of strangers as it really is impossible to travel anywhere in Europe on 3 quid a day. They were also painfully unaware of the harsh realities of Eastern Europe.

In their early twenties, the first character, who never took his baseball cap off, did most of the talking and was basically a bum with no work or ambition of any kind. The second was toying with the thought of starting a gardening company on his return home but his pal pooh-poohed the idea. They had known each other since school.

I invited them to stay the following night too as I was cooking for friends. On the third day I set them on the road to Warsaw, they had refused to take the train. I had found a Belgian travel guide on Poland which I gave them and they were pleased to have (they hadn't even invested in a travel guide!) and wished them well. It's a long walk to Warsaw but doubtless they arrived in one piece.