Our third night in Romania was the first night we had to set up camp for the night. At Sofia and Bucharest we stayed in hotels...albeit slightly dodgy hotels!! I was amazed at how much crap is stored on that bus and how quickly the campsite is put together. You have to remember that there's 50 people on the bus. Thats: 25 tents; Nearly 100 mattresses (you get through them quickly); The Cook tent; All the food and drink for the next few days; all the cooking gear (stoves, water containers etc); All the food; plus all the shit owned by [View Full Entry]

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Before leaving Romania, we had two more stops to make to see a bit more of what the country was like when free of tourists. Cluj-Napoca is on the edge of Transylvania, pretty scenery on the way there of course, and a nice town when we got there. Despite the taxi driver who 'misunderstood' where we wanted to go (and made some extra money) it was a nice stop. A good hostel for the night, lovely buildings of course, and green parks. It cost to go into the botanical gardens, go figure, so we enjoyed the other parks for free, eating [View Full Entry]

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Cumpleanos Feliz 27 - Visita al Parque Herastrau, Bucharest ....Un cumpleanos mas...que se va a hacer hehehe....bueno decidi pasarlo a mi mejor estilo: CAMINANDO ....y asi que camine, camine y camine....empeze por la manana visitando dos museos bastante interesantes, uno se llama Peasant's museum (Museo de campesinos Rumanos), con muchos trajes tipicos puestos en maniquis mostrando las diferentes tradiciones de Rumania, muy interesante tambien como metieron un molino de madera enorme dentro del museo y una casita tipica....Luego me fui para el "Village Museum", un museo como al que fui en Sibiu, Transilvanya pero mucho mas pequeno....es como un barrio al [View Full Entry]

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Well, it was quite the Sunday! In the morning we lost the keys for one of the vehicles and some of us got to Centre of Hope were we met in the morning rather late; transporting twenty-five people has taxed the mission's organization to the max as it is! Then when we all arrived safe and sound (in mind :)) and all of us had left for church in Lunca, Peter and Hailey's vehicle broke down. Regrettably, the driver of our van had not heeded my advice to drive behind them as the vehicle had been giving them trouble for a [View Full Entry]

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Another place that was on my list of must visits - Brasov for Bran Castle, home of Dracula. But there's heaps more to Brasov than just Bran Castle. We stayed at a cool hostel about 10 minutes walk from the main square, arrived on Sunday night and managed to find it without any issues which is always an achievement! The weather had turned cloudy for the first time in a while, which suited the Dracula atmosphere quite nicely. Not so spooky were the five loud, stereotypical Italian guys who were also staying in our dorm. Gestures and accents and quite full [View Full Entry]

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Hey everyone! Just a quick little note from Joni to say I'm having an awesome time...can't believe we're headed out of Romania tomorrow! What a wonderful experience...and so saddening! Just to see the sights and smells and to feel the poverty is an incredible experience. Houses that are falling apart. Families of seven living in a one room house. Walls made of straw and manure with some sort of plaster overtop. It's just increidible. Ministering to the Gypsy kids has been the highlight for me...their love for us is just amazing! They just grin at you and clutch your hand...just cling [View Full Entry]

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The last week we had a small holiday so I had some time to pend it with my family and friends. Friday I was with some good friends at Valea Draganului a very nice place in Muntii Apuseni (the West Mountains). There was a nice dam and very nice places but the weather wasn't really great. anyway I will ell you about that some other time. The next day, Saturday I was with my sis, my mom and her husband at the Rachitele cascade also in that area and at a mountain called White Stones. The morning started very sunny and [View Full Entry]

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After being in small places for the last wee while, Bucharest was a definite contrast. It's a sizeable city, complete with traffic, dirt and stray dogs - yes, Bucharest is known for it's 'community dog' problem. Our train journey to get there turned a wee bit complicated, as the train was late arriving by two hours, then after 20 mins travelling it stopped for another 2 1/2 hours in the middle of nowhere! Grrr. Arriving at the border town of Ruse, I jumped off to get the onward tickets as we'd been instructed by the train people in VT. However, we [View Full Entry]

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Today we visited Sighisoara, home of Dracula, a Romanian folk hero. NOT the Disney Dracula! The castle dates back to the middle ages, although the settlement is probably older. Dracula pushed back the Turks who continually invaded Romania. We went there via train; a forty minute ride. Today was Peter's birthday, although we celebrated last night already with Peter, Hailey, Gerrit, Jane, Ed and I while the young people were at the youth group in Lunca. Tonight we had children's ministry in Cenade again. They are meeting with about twenty-five kids in a tiny home made out of cow dung and [View Full Entry]

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So we leave Bulgaria after a couple of large nights...and I've hardly spent anything. On the road to Bucharest, the Paris of the east and the capital of Romania. An hour and a bit to get across the border and we're on the horse and cart road to the City. These eastern european countries don't seem to have any direct roads across the borders, it's as if they build roads only for their country and don't really car about people crossing the border. We also have our next currency change...from the lev to the lei (we had the lira in Turkey [View Full Entry]

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