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Welcome to Transylvania.
I couldn't have dreamt a better reception, other than a swarm of bats and a lightning strike. My Path of Destruction
Thomas Hughes I planned to stay here, in Bucharest, for two days. When I leave, it will have been twenty. On the days of my arrival, I had an urge for a little rest before I shifted gears towards Sofia, then Istanbul and Beyond. The landscape into Romania was idyllic fields and pastures, with horse carts and scythes being the weapons of choice. As Bucharest drew closer, there was a sudden and very distinct change as a blot of power stations claimed the beginning of the big city. It's a common cliche here, but with each mile towards cities, you can see the advancement in years flash by. Carts get miniature engines, then a frame, then a skoda. Fields drop to dust, then slum towns, then satellites and so on until you're in the stinking hot mess of Bucharest.
My first impressions weren't good. The heat, first of all, was the most intense so far. It was deceptive because there was the occasional tug of breeze and only after a few minutes do you realise that you're sweating over your whole body. Hauling a backpack around seemed like a bad idea, so jumped in a taxi.
The driver attempted to
charge me 1,200
lei for a five minute ride. That's a solid 400 Euros. Well, lets just say my minimal-research-into-the-next-location paid off and my knowledge covered the exchange rate. The cheeky bastard laughed it away as a joke as I dug for the 10
lei it should be. But the sad thing is, after being in the hostel for a while, two swedish girls turned up who had paid and one mexican guy. So, when you all come to Bucharest for the cheap shopping (and yes it is filthy cheap, certainly compared to home), I wave you away from the taxis. The trams and buses are unbelievably cheap and reliable enough.
So, after a swift hostel beer (of which I can easily advise Ursus, Ciuc, Tuborg and Skol... and as many as possible), I was in the Butterfly Villa. The Butterfly is small and about 40 minutes walk from the old town. It seemed a world away from the dust and dirt of the centre.
I'm painting a bad picture of the city, but to be honest, it's fair. The good places are small and hard to find. Walking the city, bundles of wires hang incessantly overhead, gypsies
Romanian Lowland
The first glimpses of Romania were of expansive farmlands. Every inch was a mesh of colours and crops. eye up your pockets and the Eastern European advertising boom takes up the rest of the space. There are moments of calm however and given the amount of time that I've had here, my first few days seemed quite a harsh view. Perhaps the city doesn't have the spires of Vienna, or the monuments of Lviv, but it does have a very real charm carried by the people here. To summarise, everyone is really nice.
I began the process of deciding whether to leave every morning. I had a rough grasp of the train times and it would be easy enough to get up and go at any time. But then again, the heat of the city combined with the oasis of the Butterfly, came together to provide a great many days of beers, cigarettes and some truly heavyweight discussions. The mix of nationalities and personalities here make a very interesting place for those into-the-wee-hours "no you're wrong, listen to me . . . " "oh come on, how can you believe that??" type debates.
In retrospect, a great deal happened in the first week, made some firm friends and had a great time. I made the decision
Bucharest Looms
The sky decided to up the budget and bathe the surrounding land in a beautiful lightshow. to head into the Transylvanian Alps for a couple of days, to the great little city of Brasov. It has it's own miniature hollywood type sign on the hill, proudly shouting it's identity across the valley. Now, with Transylvania, you might have images of wolves, castles and tavern wenches... and.. well... it's all true. Brasov is a really wonderful place, helped along by a 3 degree temperature drop from Bucharest and more breeze.
Bran Castle is the premier Romanian tourist attraction (until Dracula World is built.. no joke.. it's being planned - Lee Daniels, I think you might have just found a future holiday destination). After a ruggedly bumpy 45 minute bus ride out of Brasov, the base of the castle is swarming with ragged little stalls selling awful vampire masks, replica swords (actually, I thought of you Ben, lol you legend), gypsy CDs and quite the collection of plastic guns. God knows who the target audience was for all this... but I had a good long browse anyway.
Bran is set up on the hill. It looks good, but once inside, its the same as we've all seen before. There was a cheeky secret tunnel, and that
was the highlight for me. The interior courtyard was great and the black and white photos dotted about were very interesting. But then again Vlad the Impaler only stayed here one night in his whole life. So there you go. The real Vlad castle is ruins and further out.
Another castle is Peles castle (everyone argues that Peles is the best, but I stick up for Bran because its the only one i've seen... and ignorance is bliss), which, at the moment of writing this, I hope to go to in the next few days.
ANYWAY Back from Brasov to the Butterfly, plan to leave and don't. Then a further plan to leave including a booked flight, and don't. Rescheduled flight later and a missed train and I'll be leaving on the 10th of July to Singapore.
Until then, I plan to continue as per Butterfly usual. Drinking Ursus, teaching anyone who is awake after midnight Texas Hold Em, learning
other card games *gasp*, going to the pool, harshly beating down anyone who challenges me at Tekken 5 or Worms, watching people come and go, arguing/debating and rolling eyes, getting sunburnt, eating lots of food (oh, lol,
From Dusk Till Dawn...
this house, stuck on the centre of a dusty junction, reminded me of the bar from the film - no neon lights though. I have a little belly now!!!! woo hoo. it's so cool. That's my birthday present to myself)... and leeching people for information on Asia which has changed my maps into a spidery constellation of recommendations.
And so on... all in all, I really am having the time of my life. Which explains the ease of me saying "is there a bed available tonight?" for the past two weeks. I'll be coming back to Romania in the not so distant future, I'm sure of that. It's become one of
those places.
Well, listen to me blabbing on.
Istanbul soon, then the big leap to Singapore (which everyone keeps telling me is just boring. too clean. too much concrete etc etc) - does anyone have a good story?
Okay, time to stop typing. Miss you all.
Tommy
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Benjaminicus
non-member comment
In answer to your quiz
Quiz 2 - Bird type - could you have a more fuzzy far away shot. if i had to guess i'd say starlings (common throughout europe) and they have a tendancy to fill evening skies and fly in weird formations. otherwise i would say they are a type of dove/pidgeon. Glad your having a good time man. Hope the flights ok. Still not sure why you sent me a texty with my flight details but cheers anyway.