We need to talk about Romania!

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I think most people agree that Romania has an image problem. The crudest perception is, of course, of dirty thieving antisocial Romanys looking to steal jobs in Western Europe countries. Clearly this is the perception the Farages and Le Pens of this world want to promote for their own ends.



We have had a tremendous time in Romania. Never once have we felt unsafe even at 4 or 5 am in the middle of Sigetu or at Brasov station. Everyone has been incredibly helpful even when they do not speak a word of English. That little old lady trying to find us the carver in Vaduz Izei comes to mind. We have met some interesting people, from visiting émigrés to an orphanage security guard and fellow tourists. When we did not have a way of buying a bus ticket at 6am a lady sold us two she had in hand at the going rate.



Apparently, there is corruption and wages are low by European standards. My perception is that one of Romania's biggest problems is that they do not know how to market themselves. Alex could give them a few lessons. It is a phenomenal country with great places to visit and interesting history. They just don't seem to want to shout about it.



In one example, I found that a couple of Western Europeans based in Romania were helping people with travel planning on well used internet blogs. This was lateral marketing because they had hostels, which they did not mention directly and which were easy to find out about. I contemplated staying with them. (I am not knocking these guys as their advice is excellent.) The Romanian hostel owner I talked to did not seem to want to do this for some reason.



The market is also getting more competitive. The Brasov hostel owner complained there were more hostels for the same number of travellers now. Most hostel/pensions were not focusing on what differentiated them from others and just seemed to be missing a trick.



I hope these Romania blogs have helped change, even just a little bit, readers views of this country. I found a great quote from Shirley McLaine before I left: "The more I travelled the more I realised that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends." No where is this more applicable in my mind in Europe than Romania......but then our next stop is Bulgaria.

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