'I am going to take you to my friend's studio. It's quite unusual,' says Jarek, my unofficial guide to Kraków, in one of the biggest understatements of the trip. He leads me to an old cottage. It looks abandoned, but then we are greeted by a man who, with his grey beard and sheepskin waistcoat, looks like an ageing pop star. Outside there's a two-metre-high carved totem pole and the remains of a bonfire are still burning.

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As a couch surfer I am used to finding golden opportunities through strangers, but the unusual thing about this connection is that it came about after I tried to reconstruct a tourism project that was, in many ways, the precursor to modern social networking. Back in the 1980s, US-born Jim Haynes, a renowned supporter of alternative arts, had an idea. Convinced that the best travel experiences come from the people you meet, he set himself a goal: he would match inquisitive travellers with gracious hosts by creating an alternative guidebook, in a country he loved. Poland: People to People finally hit the bookshelves in 1991.

[42]______________________________] 

Eventually enough people came forward with their contact details and a willingness to participate in the scheme. Jim assembled all the names in what read like a personal address book. The cover price of £6 bought you the contact details of 1,000 strangers.

[43]______________________________] 

Intrigued by the idea of taking modern networking back to its roots, I wondered whether, many years

later, Jim's hosts would still be willing to greet an unknown visitor from overseas. But first I would have to track them down.

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At first I planned to communicate only by post and sent several letters before realising I lacked the patience. Feeling a little guilty, I opted for the 21st-century solution: searching for the names on the Internet. Many were dead ends; others simply never responded. But gradually people did come forward and I received various slightly stunned replies. Before long I had meetings arranged in Kraków and Gdansk.

[45]______________________________] 

I skip the organised tours, though, and head off to meet Wladek, a 50-year-old academic. We meet in a 19th-century café, where an ultra-polite waitress sets down a massive plate of Polish dumplings before us. It is too much for any tourist to eat.

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I'm charmed by Kraków and reluctant to leave Wladek, who proves to be excellent company, and the café, but I already have my next meeting arranged a 10-hour train ride away. Gdansk, with its immaculately renovated buildings and little boutiques, is clearly a world away from the city it was in the 1990s. I have arranged to meet kitesurfing enthusiast Mariusz at a restaurant there. Poland: People to People lives on, it seems. I know Jim will be delighted.

A Peer to peer websites are common now, but turning the idea into a book back then was a challenge. Jim sent out hundreds of letters through his already extensive network of friends and placed small ads in various Polish publications.

B My new acquaintance has hazy memories of the people he met through the book, but says he enjoys the company of visitors, as they are curious and interested in others. He shows me old photos and speaks of how life has changed here.

C What follows is one of those surreal travel experiences, where one new friend introduces you to another and another. Before long we've set off on a tour of Krakow's artistic community.

D That was easier said than done. Details were sparse; just contact details and a very short profile. 'I live in Kraków and I am a man of Kraków,' read one rather unhelpful entry.

E Jim gave me an out-of-print edition at one of the open-house dinners he runs every Sunday at his Paris home. It was like opening a little time capsule and from that moment I knew what I had to do.

F The next morning is the occasion of my impromptu adventure with Jarek, an artist I found after contacting various local galleries. He invites me for dinner and even finds the original typewritten letter Jim sent in 1989 to introduce the project.

G It is my first time in Poland, and the former is undeniably impressive. The picture-perfect main square is lined with Renaissance buildings, lively street cafés and golf carts waiting to take tourists around town.