保加利亞遊後感想

這是上個月中人在保加利亞的時候寫的. 現在才有空整理上來~~


人在保加利亞待了四天四夜了, 明天就要離開了, 很奇怪的....沒有什麼依依不捨的心情...
到達Sofia機場之前, 我是懷抱著非常期待的心情....因為這是個玫瑰之國. 全世界品質最好的玫瑰就是保加利亞所產. 讓我想像中的保加利亞是個充滿了粉紅浪漫的美麗國家.
可是到了之後....真的蠻失望的. 冷淡的機場工作人員, 簡陋的機場大廳, 動作很慢的行李輸送帶(100人的小飛機, 行李等了30分鐘), 然後....一出機場看到的是雜草叢生的荒地一片....幻想頓時破滅! 玫瑰呢? 古典建築呢? 所有稱得上浪漫的元素都跑到哪裡去了?

10分鐘的車程就到了Sofia市中心. 先經過主要的大道, 佈滿了美美的古典建築, 可惜交通狀況雜亂, 路邊環境髒亂, 行人隨意穿越馬路, 然後最最最可惡的...就是道路狀況非常差勁! 慢慢開像是吉普車, 開快點就像是要飛起來了一樣>_<



--Sofia市中心夜景






市區裡的單行道非常多....多到我們把旅館地址給當地計程車司機看, 他也明知道旅館在哪, 就是無法開車到達....我們迷路了約30分鐘後, 憑著我的直覺與運氣, 終於找到旅館了. 位於市區最熱鬧步行商業街旁邊的小巷子裡. 終於可以安頓下來...

接下來的幾天, 我們都要開車到不同的鄉鎮去拜訪客戶. 每天都要開3個小時以上的山路. 除了高速公路之外, 即使是市區的主要道路, 道路狀況依然是很差. 如果不小心注意, 隨時有可能開車進去大坑裡.....超危險的! 山路太多, 一路上我們要不停的轉換收聽的廣播電臺. 因為每段路能夠接收到的訊號不一. 很多地方是接收不到任何訊號的, 如果在那種地方出事, 真的是叫天天不應, 叫地地不靈.


還有....我們手上的地圖路名都是拉丁文字. 可偏偏他們路上的標示都是保加利亞文(類似俄文). 真的讓你猜都猜不懂.
舉例來說;
HOUR = yaca
Sofia (首都名) =
COфИЯ

這這這....怎麼看的懂?

我哥他跟另一位同事去年冬天來遇到過更危險的事:
那時候他們也是開車去拜訪客戶, 從a 到 b, 有兩條路, 山路比較近, 高速公路比較遠. 他們就決定開山路. 進山之前, 看到一個告示牌, 因為沒有任何圖示, 其餘都是保加利亞文, 看不懂....所以就不于理會. 沒想到開上山後, 車子整個卡在雪堆裡 ....那個位置還完全收不到手機訊號. 他們只好冒著大風雪, 走路下山約3個小時, 才能打通手機. 打到救難中心, 對方一問清地點, 拒絕派拖吊車過來. 後來還是打電話請我們客戶開著四輪傳動的吉普車來救人....

雜亂的公共交通設施....雖然我們迷路的時間除了剛到第一天的30分鐘就沒了....可是那真的是因為我們每天花非常多的時間研究地圖. 而且每天開車都是很小心的注意路邊每塊路牌....這實在不是個traveler-friendly的國家..

紫南宮-發財金

今天陪外婆和家人去南投紫南宮. 這應該是近年來台灣最受歡迎的土地公廟之一了....周圍擠滿了大大小小的小吃, 土產, 飲料商店等, 前往祭拜的信徒越多, 弄得這裡越來越像個觀光勝地.
廟方還斥巨資(三千多萬台幣)蓋了一棟竹筍外表的七星級廁所. 是不是很觀光?

為什麼這座土地公廟這麼出名? 因為在這裡, 信徒可以跟土地公公借錢. 早在民國伍拾年代, 紫南宮就有借錢給信徒度過難關的經驗. 那時最高甚至單次借出兩千台幣. (約當時兩個月的薪水) 後來借了錢的信徒都有求必應, 所以聞名而來的信徒越來越多....開始限制了出借發財金的金額大小.

現在單次以600/400/200為限. 能借多少要看土地公公的意思. 一年內還. 因為借了發財金的民眾一般都能夠感受到土地公公的保佑, 很多人在還金的時候會同時捐出一些善款. 所以廟方的資金充裕. 會不會有人不還呢? 聽說如果有人逾期不還, 土地公工會托夢去催款哦!

我沒有借發財金. 可是今天我看到了台灣人民對現狀的無力感....只見每個都手拈著香, 很虔誠的對著神像念念有詞....似乎將他們對未來的所有期許都交託在土地公公的手上了. 聽到我外婆把所有孫字輩的名字都唸上一遍, 為我們求取土地公公的保佑, 心裡好感動.
雖然我是基督教的, 但我很高興今天去了紫南宮....台灣的民俗宗教讓台灣民眾藉著宗教的團聚向心力互相幫助, 而且也讓很多人的心靈有所寄託.

改天, 大家一起相約去跟土地公公借錢吧??

http://www.landgod.org.tw/index.asp official website

Toilet Story

Yes, you didn't read it wrong....I am going to tell a story about toilet~

toilet, is something you cannot miss out in your daily life. You can build a house without a room, or living room, or kitchen or balcony....but can you imagine it without a toilet?

In China, I see some toilet simply means....3 walls. Maybe the owner would be kind enough to dig a hold on the ground....so you know where "to do" it. But worst case is.....you see where the pioneers did their share, and you do it at the same "spot", along with long-time accumulated smell and millions of fly around you.
Of course, many cities of China are a lot more moderlized now. They have clean toilets. But they don't really take the door lock matter seriously. I see many public toilet are luxury enough to use Toto appliances, but the door locks are broken. (Even in every sense, you feel the toilet is just newly built) It just shows how much they do NOT care if the toilet door can be lock up or not...

During my Europe trip last month, i have experienced a different kind of toilet culture.
"User pays". It is very deeply rooted in Europeans' mind. Even with toilet.
1. If you want to use the toilet in the gas station, you must purchase something first, so you can borrow the key from the cashier. (This is normal....a lot of them in NA too.)
2. In Swiss, many toilets are equipped with door lock, which can only be opened with a 0.50 Swiss franc coin. (about 15 NT). The first time I tried to go to such toilet in a small train station, I had to go get the change first. Later found out the machine is broken. So I had to find the service person (a man) to come open the door....in all took me 10 mins.
The next time was even worse......I didn't have any swiss franc with me. I had to purchase with Euro bill, got euro change, then change them into swiss franc coins. (by machine) then found out half of the toilet door locks were broken....overall took me about 12 mins.

3. In Germany, I still have to pay to use the toilet. But it's easier. It's like a gate door....you pay 0.5 Euro (about 21NT), then you can enter. After you enter, it's just as a normal washroom.....but a man walking around in the women's side. (he is doing the cleaning job....but he really TAKES his time.) The special part is....you get a voucher of the 0.5 Euro, and can be used on your purchse in this building. I think that's nice....

So.....I prefere the clean toilet in Europe, even I have to pay. But if I can choose, the clean and FREE toilet in Japan and Taiwan are more attractive to me....hahaha