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Before the trip to Poland, we were pretty excited about it. Poland is very different from others. Here are 6 things you need to know before heading over. Read my adventures here if you have miss out! 

1. The official currency is Zloty.
It is advisable to change sufficient Zloty for your trip. Try not to over change your Zolty back to Euro as you will lose out in the currency exchange rates with a hefty transaction fee incurred - (8euro at some money changer I think). Use credit card if you intend to shop for luxury stuff. If required, head over to Post office to change as they do not charge a transaction fee.

2. SIM card is cheap but doesn't work 
We bought 4 SIM card in total and none of it work more than a day So it is best if you pre-plan the route or ask the locals. They will be Glad to help.

3. Polish doesn't like to smile. 

As much as we love to smile and greet people when we travel, the response we got wasn't great. We smile to the cashier, smile to the waitress and ... They stare at us. Don't be offended by this because it doesn't mean that they are not friendly. In fact deepdown they are quite nice! There are occasions where they help us when we were lost 

4. Warsaw Chopin Airport to Central Railway Station
Taxi from airport to central railway station cost us 50 zlote. We read online stating that the rate should be by meter and estimate around 35-50. Since we were worn out, we didn’t bother to bargain. There are numerous way one can travel from airport to city by bus 175. However we read a lot of articles in trip advisor reporting on gang robbery so we decided to give it a miss.

5. Public Transport 
Public transport in Warsaw is efficient. Tickets are sold by the “time”. There are 20 minutes ticket (single trip) - 3.40 Zlote, 75 minutes ticket  - 4.40 Zlote. We bought the day pass for 15 Zlote as we will be travelling quite often. Check out here for price list.

Keep change on you cause the ticket machine beside bus stop only accept coins. We had to buy 1 mineral water, chocolates, sandwiches and etc to get our hands on the coins. If not head to the nearest sub station or newsagent called “Ruch”. After purchasing the ticket, you have to validate the ticket on board.

6. Accommodations in Poland
The accommodations are affordable in Poland. We stayed in AB Hostel for around 20 - 25 euro per night and it was pretty good.  The owner is very friendly and location is near to central railway station and accessible to many bus. The only negative point is the flight of stairs required to walk up. Lucky for us, we were carrying our backpack.
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