The end of polenta, potato, meat, meat and more meat

---

23 OCTOBER - SINAIA

Free day today so after getting up and grabbing some food a few of us headed up the mountains via cable car. I dont do well with heights and cable cars and the two rides were slightly interesting - like a giant ski lift. Scary...

The first cable car went up to 1400 metres and then the second one took us up to the very top of the mountain at 2000 metres. We were hoping to see snow, but while we could see it on other mountains it was always a little too far away to actually touch or feel.

Our initial plan was to walk across one of the trails to the other cable car and take that back down to the bottom but discovered that we couldnt do that with the return tickets we had bought. So instead decided to walk about an hour or so and see where we got too, making sure that we were back with plenty of time to get the last cable car down the mountain. Scenery was quite spectacular, lovely sunny day (slightly cold of course but nothing like what we had been expecting). Walked down an enormous mountain which took a bit of time and ran into a few others from the tour group. After walking about an hour we came across a massive hotel complete with running track. Seemed a bit odd in the middle of no where!! Stopped at the hotel to grab some snacks and use the toilet before heading back. The hill that we had walked down on the way was an absolute killer going back up, which we knew it would be. The photos just do not do it justice either.

After that had a pretty relaxed few hours recovering before dinner and an early night.

24 OCTOBER - SINAIA TO BUCHAREST

Left Sinaia relatively early in the morning and got the train to Bucharest. Arrived just after lunch and headed to the Palace of Parliament for a tour. Its apparently the secoind largest building behind the pentagon. The tour was a little disappointing though as we didnt get to see where parliament actually sits, we just got to look at a few rooms with carpet that you werent allowed to stand on (but some people were), 250kg drapes, a chandelier that weighs five tonne and all sorts of random stuff. Tour went for a little under an hour and we had to go through the usual metal detectors to get in.

After that we went for a quick walk before getting the metro back to the hotel. We had all been warned about Bucharest so no one was keen to see or do much. Dogs are vicious, lots of pick pockets and we were told not to go anywhere alone. So we all went back to the hotel and ate in the hotel restauarant (fantastic pasta) while watching Cool Runnings (the movie). No one had any problems at all!!

25 OCTOBER - BUCHAREST TO BULGARIA

Angela's birthday today from our tour group so while waiting for the train that we were getting from Bucharest to Veliko Turnovo we stocked up on snacks and booze. Was a five hour train ride during which we played uno while managing to squish about 10 people into a compartment that usually seats six. Good effort. We were all having a few drinks and eating chips and popcorn. And of course sung happy birthday and ate birthday cake (that happened during the first 10 minutes of the train trip though!!).

Despite the fact that I loved Romania, I think we were all glad to say goodbye to it. So sick of eating endless amounts of polenta and potato and massive servings of meat!!

The Romanians hopped on the train to check passports, then after another short trip over the border the Bulgarians hopped on to check our passports. Read out all our names over the radio thing and after what seemed like forever we continued on our way.

We then had an interesting experience with the train conductor person. We all had individual tickets which we are used to having checked regularly. At this stage there was only about five of us in the cabin and one of the men started (we think) asking for 10 euros because one of the girls had their feet on the seat. She was saying no, and we think after checking the rule book he then changed his mind and started asking for 10 euro because there was food on the floor (popcorn). The only English he spoke was 10 euro and we told him that we would clean it up ourself. Man was he annoyed. Think that he was corrupt and just wanted money and thought we would be easy targets. Not quite that way!! Not to mention most of us dont really have euros on us anyway...

We arrived at a station not far from where we were staying and got in some taxis to the guesthouse places. Most of us were staying at one place with two people staying at the other house. Had about an hour to kill before having dinner down the road at a little restaurant. Had to go via the ATM first as no one really had bulgarian currency. Also meant that no one had small notes which made paying for dinner later interesting.

After dinner a few people headed out for a drink at a bar around the corner. Weird place where you basically helped yourself to drinks out of the fridge and they just watched and charged you for it at the end. Sat on little midget chairs.

Some people went back to the hotel after that and a few of us decided to head out. Found a bulgarian nightclub which (despite most of us being in the backpacker uniform of jeans and runners) only had two rules - no guns and no knives. One of the guys always carries a pocket knife so one of the girls put that down her bra before we all went in. He got patted down but the four of us girls got waved through no problems. Great security!!

Had a few drinks and were pretty much keeping to ourselves and not causing any trouble when we got kicked out. And not just asked to leave since they didnt speak English but basically pushed out the door. We had just bought a round of drinks and me and another girl were trying to ask why we were getting thrown out but they were just not listening and/or understanding. When one of the rather large bouncers indicated a throat slash and said crazy we figured we should get out of there before we got locked up or something!! Interesting times...

---