Package Tour Hung-O-Rama: On the Bus from Budapest to Les Sybelles

Go skiing for a week in the French Alps for only Ft 67222, which includes transportation, lodging and a weeklong ski pass? Sounds like a great deal. And it is, but the fact that you’re reading about it here means there was a catch. Or more than one. The location? Les Sybelles, where if the picture on their website is to be believed, you can ski off rooftops. After finding a package deal with TravelLines.hu and through their dedicated ski package site Skilines.hu (in Hungarian), we were stoked. One of my friends visited the office, and everything seemed on the up and up. And while I wouldn't use the word dodgy, organizational skills were either not a priority or just entirely absent. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First off, the transportation was by bus, but as Andi, our bubbly tour guide back at Heroes' Square informed us, these were new Scania buses which cost Ft 60 million each. In fact, so brand-spanking new were these buses, that our chauffeurs, two of the sourest Hungarians I've ever met, (and excellent at the art of stalling the bus), didn't quite know how to use the climate control, meaning that while the people in the front of the bus were baking, those of us in the back were freezing and had to wear our ski jackets during the trip.

And of course, the advertised toilets on the buses could not be used, ostensibly because they would freeze. Andi informed us that it’s not because they’re cheap or don’t want to clean them, they just can’t be used in cold weather. The waste collection tanks, located in the middle of the bus, stood about as much chance of freezing as my being awarded a Nobel Prize while coming down the slopes for contributions to the understanding of quantum physics.

Add to this the in-ride entertainment, which consisted of a DVD player with the volume set to ear-piercing. Fortunately I had earplugs with me, which brought the volume down to still too loud to sleep. A Hungarian Sammy Hagar look-alike, (my guess is now that Dave's back in the band, Van Hagar cover bands aren't being booked as easily), kept throwing such classics in as "Indul a Bakterház," "Csak Szex és Más Semmi," a British film that was so bad it should never have been dubbed in the first place, and "Unshackled." Of course, when I politely asked one of the chauffeurs if the volume could be turned down, he insisted it had been, and that he couldn't turn it down anymore. (On the way back this resulted in a lengthy verbal argument between the Sammy Hagar look-alike and another passenger, ultimately achieving nothing).

Upon arriving in Saint Sorlin d'Arves twenty hours after leaving Budapest, we unpacked the bus and were told to wait for about an hour or two, since the travel agency we’d gone through wasn’t quite sure where our rooms would be, not to mention which buildings they were in. Considering the sun was going down and it was cold, this did not make for happy Hungarians, who expected this minimum would be solved, not to mention everything else that should have been taken care of was obviously not. After a bunch of angry Hungarians located Kornél, the main guy in charge, these two hours transformed into forty-five minutes, and we had a key.

Upon arriving in our "six person apartment," we realized they were being creative in how much space can accommodate six people, since when everyone is home, it is quite cramped, and once the foldout couch is opened, the kitchen/lounge is practically impassable. Also, told in advance to bring our own sheets, we also discovered that they didn’t have enough duvets for everyone nor pillows, so that my sweatshirt became what I rested my head on every night. Fortunately the rooms were so warm without heating that this did not pose a problem temperature-wise. We did, however, have seven people in our luxurious apartment, since the travel agency didn’t sort the seventh person’s lodging, and despite their promises, didn't take care of it later either.

What was also revealing was that we were staying in the slightly more expensive apartments, which we were assured were the better ones, although after one of our group got a peek at the other less expensive ones, he was convinced that the opposite was quite true. In that respect, it's fortunate that the skiing itself was fantastic, even if I'm not quite a fan of poma lifts. Some of the views were absolutely stunning and conditions great most days. Additionally, provided Les Sybelles' huge size, we rarely skied the same trails twice.

To be fair, I don't believe TravelLines was trying to screw us. Instead, I believe they were trying to maximize their take without really caring about how that impacted the paying customers, or taking into consideration that the customers they treated badly would tell their friends. Furthermore, in their zeal to organize extracurricular activities that the majority of people couldn't give a toss about, they neglected their duties in organizing the necessary things. Upon arrival at the resort, the organizer should have simply had to pick up the keys and handed them out, instead of asking us to wait for a couple hours while they figure things out. As one person on our bus said, if Hungary had a proper consumer protection agency, TravelLines would be out of business.

The lesson from this is that in the future, if a great deal comes along, bring your skepticism, and without a doubt provide your own transportation. And if you go to the International Party Bar in Saint Sorlin d'Arves at night, keep an eye out for the short French dude out to swipe your drink.