I was too quick to praise that train. I was heading back in a seat car because there were no other tickets available. "What could go wrong?" I thought, and agreed to it. Well, pretty much everything went wrong.

The train arrived 40 minutes late, and it turned out my seat was already taken. The girl occupying it said that seats in this car aren't reserved—it's first come, first served. Besides, she was in the same situation and wasn't at fault.

The conductor didn't confirm her story, but complained that they oversell tickets and there's nothing he can do to help me. He suggested I find an empty seat on my own. Problem was, there were no free seats anywhere, and I really didn't want to stand all night.

Fortunately, after one stop, I managed to find an empty seat. But it turned out that in the vestibule, people were drinking, smoking, and blasting local pop music at full volume. There was constant foot traffic through there, so the car was just as smoky and noisy. It got better toward morning.

Don't make my mistake: don't agree to a seat car. Better to book a ticket for another date, but in a compartment instead. It's much better there.