Pompeii was not in my plans when I decided to go to Naples, but the first question I was asked once I arrived at the hostel was "Are you going to Pompeii? You have to go!", and it made me wonder If I should go.
My only idea of day trips from Naples were the Amalfi Coast (which I missed, because I'm a huge trol and I managed to get lost in Sorrento looking for the bus. I'll tell you this story some other time), and to go up the Mount Vesuvius - I mean, climbing to the top of a Vulcano sounds AWESOME!).
The weather was horrible, and after spending my first day closed in the hostel of Naples, I had to do something. I was still too scared to go to the center (stupid me), and the Amalfi Coast was not na option with bad weather, and because everybody told me to go to Pompeii, and after finding out it would stay a lot cheaper than going to the Vesuvius, I decided to go for it.
My only idea of day trips from Naples were the Amalfi Coast (which I missed, because I'm a huge trol and I managed to get lost in Sorrento looking for the bus. I'll tell you this story some other time), and to go up the Mount Vesuvius - I mean, climbing to the top of a Vulcano sounds AWESOME!).
The weather was horrible, and after spending my first day closed in the hostel of Naples, I had to do something. I was still too scared to go to the center (stupid me), and the Amalfi Coast was not na option with bad weather, and because everybody told me to go to Pompeii, and after finding out it would stay a lot cheaper than going to the Vesuvius, I decided to go for it.
I was incredibly lucky to make a friend at the hostel who was the nicest girl ever, and we went together to the ruins. And God am I happy I had someone to go with. We were both a little scared of Naples and going alone would've been overwelming, because like I said before, the train line that goes to Pompeii and Sorrento is not a very good one, since it makes stops all over very poor areas of Naples and it can get scary with all the graffities, gypsies and beggers.
Small tip: before rushing to get into the ruins, get the map! We didn't notice there was a stand right next to the ticket office that was selling maps and audio guides (I've heard the maps are for free). say this because wandering around huge ruins and not having a clue where you are or where you're suppose to go sucks. We were in Pompeii for around two hours and were lost the entire time. Normally I kinda love the idea of being lost in a place, but old ruins is not part of the list of cool places to get lost.
So we wandered around for quite a long time, and we couldn't manage to find the bodies. I thought they would be somewhere closed to the entrance or at least easy to find, but not really. So we passed by two old guys, I believe guards of the ruins, and the girl who was with me was like "is it too bad if we ask where the bodies are?" say no more! I went to the old guys and played the weirdo part and just asked "I'm sorry, where can we see the bodies?" Ok, see? It wasn't that bad! We moved fast to the place he directed us to and well, we found the bodies, made me jump when I first saw them, but then I counted: 1...2!
"Creppy!!! I want more!" This was were I got disappointed to discovered those where the only bodies at the ruins. Just two! And I'll be honest with you, I thought I would see the bodies sill on the ground on the place those people got hit by the lava, and not into some boxes. Sorry, but it was disappointing.
"Creppy!!! I want more!" This was were I got disappointed to discovered those where the only bodies at the ruins. Just two! And I'll be honest with you, I thought I would see the bodies sill on the ground on the place those people got hit by the lava, and not into some boxes. Sorry, but it was disappointing.
We still wandered around for quite a while, took a lot of pictures and tried our best not to fall on our asses - which was a very difficult task with the rain and all the holes everywhere!
Hop on the train back, after missing one for a few seconds, and got a funny ride as the two Italian guys in front of us were just way too entertaining. They looked like a couple of boyfriends, sharing the phones of their Mp3 and then having a fight in which one got very mad and the other was trying to apologize, it was hilarious! Ok, it doesn't sound that much funny now, but if you had seen the characters I'm speaking you'd be laughing right now. Just imagine a very Italian (Naples style) with his typical mustach and a shirt that was probably from when he was tem years-old - yes, we had a view of his belly the entire ride!
Eventually I said goodbye to my friend for the day, and I can say it made me feel a little lonely, because yes, I was again alone, and I was in Naples, but well, had to keep going and leave my fear behind or it would ruin my trip.
Hop on the train back, after missing one for a few seconds, and got a funny ride as the two Italian guys in front of us were just way too entertaining. They looked like a couple of boyfriends, sharing the phones of their Mp3 and then having a fight in which one got very mad and the other was trying to apologize, it was hilarious! Ok, it doesn't sound that much funny now, but if you had seen the characters I'm speaking you'd be laughing right now. Just imagine a very Italian (Naples style) with his typical mustach and a shirt that was probably from when he was tem years-old - yes, we had a view of his belly the entire ride!
Eventually I said goodbye to my friend for the day, and I can say it made me feel a little lonely, because yes, I was again alone, and I was in Naples, but well, had to keep going and leave my fear behind or it would ruin my trip.
This journey to Pompeii will cost you 2,6€ (so 5,2€ round-trip. Or, if you want to try save a little Money don't by the return ticket, you can just hop on the train back and you can totally get away with it. I did!
The entrance to the ruins is 11€ or if you're na European citzen under 25 you can just pay 5,5€ (pretty cheap!)
The entrance to the ruins is 11€ or if you're na European citzen under 25 you can just pay 5,5€ (pretty cheap!)