This has been by far the strangest leg of the trip. We had hoped to book this train trip as an overnight trip to optimize time in Zagreb. Unfortunately the latest train was a 5:30pm-11:30pm one, so we took it. In a rush, I went online and attempted to book an additional night at the hostel in Zagreb.
We got to the train platform early in Budapest, and after some confused conversation with a few conductors, sat down in a car. Once the train got moving we found out this car was not bound for Zagreb, and the cars that were bound for Zagreb were all full. We had to sit on the floor in the section at the end of the car.
A few passengers got off at an intermediate station, so we claimed a few seats! And things were fine until we crossed the Hungary-Croatia border, where two sets of police (one from each country) came by and inspected everybody’s passports. Meanwhile, the lights had been flickering in our car, and when we stopped for the inspection, they were completely out.
After the inspection, everybody in this dark car was kicked out into the other cars, which by now were full, so we had to spend the last section of the trip on the floor again.
Once we arrived, we walked to the hostel (around 12am local time). I said we were here to check in, I had a reservation. The receptionist couldn’t find anything under my name, so I pulled out my confirmation email. Turns out in my rush that morning, I did book a night, but the wrong one. The hostel was full, so obviously we couldn’t stay there.
There were no other hostels in the area, but there was a hotel next door. Our other choice was to bum around at the train station. We ended up splurging on the hotel so now, after a long day, we at least have somewhere comfy to sleep.