Vlad, Drac... who cares? They're both undead!

Hey there!

So... we are now in Budapest... and need to update you all on our travels through Velicko Tarnovo (Blugaria) and into/through Transylvania (Romania).

Our new plan with blogs is to write far less, and post more pics, with longer captions. It may not work out that way this time though--we have been in some small towns with minimal internet access.

Velicko was great. Very pretty (although not many great pics to be honest). Quiet chillout uni town. Got lost trying to find the hostel when we first arrived which was particularly annoying cos Velicko is VERY hilly. Had a great meal at the fanciest restaurant in town for only about 20 USD total. Including a pretty decent bottle of dark red plonk. Mavrud... if you're into wine and varietals... it is only grown in Bulgaria apparently.

Went on to Brasov, Transylvania (Romania) after a couple of days. Pretty easy journey--very nice train ride at night into the mountains with a full moon (very fitting for Dracula land). First night in Brasov was bad... dodgy hostel with barebones mattresses laid out on the floor right next to one another. Brigid felt like little orphan Annie so we changed hostels the next day. At the new hostel we bumped into a couple we met back in Varna... apparently we are taking very similar routes. We hung out with them and saved a butt load of cash by taking public transport to Bran and Rasnov (fortified castle towns), rather than taking the 'arranged' trip which was at least 4 times the price that we paid. Almost got into a fight with an overly aggressive con artist taxi driver. His meter was ticking up at more than 3 times the going rate, so we immediately stopped him and got out. He still wanted to bill us for the 8 yards and 80 cents he'd already driven. I think that he'd have gone for any of us... but I was on the wrong side, and was pretty slow on the getting away I guess... Mary and Doug... it was similar to the whole 'eat it' moment when Hershey dumped on the neighbour's yard!

Every small town in Transylvania seems to lay claims as to their being the original home of Dracula (Vlad Tepes: Vlad the Impaler). It's ridiculous, and has resulted in some pretty tacky tourism gimicks, such as 'Brasov' and 'Rasnov' being displayed hollywood-style above each of the towns on the mountains. Ugh. It is at least VERY beautiful mountainous terrain though. The journeys have been very enjoyable because of the views, despite the trains that seem to be as old as the Industrial Age itself.

After doing the rounds here we moved on to a very small and VERY pretty little Romanian town called Sighisoara (pronounced Ciggy-schwara--great town name!). Stayed with a great middle aged couple called 'John Lennon' and Maria. John was very proud of his knowledge of American rock bands and his diverse CD collection. Maria cooked us a fabulous traditional meal with all homemade ingrediants and John plied us with all kinds of deadly home made booze from his fruit trees in the garden. Staying there was great and almost like staying at a relative's house. They also left us in charge of running the place for a day, taking reservations from Germans (communication issue...? German, calling Romania, and getting English... all very confusing), and (apparently very tall) Irish guys.

All Romanian people seem very friendly and always up for a conversation. It is amazing how extensive a conversation you can have between people who don't speak each other's language. Official documents and ID cards always seem to break the ice and generate a lot of interest. Actually, an amendment, MOST Romanians are friendly---the gypsies aren't! The ones we encountered were only begging and as soon as you say no, they put some curse on you. I think we've got some very bad times coming based on the amount of curses we got in Sighisoara!

In general, I think we got more of a view of Romania by traveling on the train. We've gone through some very undeveloped 'towns' in the country. Such country towns that people are still using horse and cart and manual farming techniques (scythes and hay bundling) and it seems they live a pretty hard life. However, no matter how small of a town it is, there is still a large church with a very shiny steeple--seem to be a very devout people. A very stark difference to the cities which have started to westernize and play up to their tourist potential. Not much more to say prior to our arrival here in Budapest.

Next blog entry will be funnier.... promise.

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