Showing posts with label Romania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romania. Show all posts
Monday, July 9, 2012
Day 106: Train to Budapest
My original plan was to spend the day in Sibiu and then do the night train to Budapest, but that didn't work out. Earlier in the trip, I was booking things almost a week in advance, but I've found in eastern Europe that it's just not possible. Trains are never on time (rarely even within an hour of being on time) and I don't have a firm plan on where I want to go until just before I leave, so there's a lot more winging it going on in recent weeks. Since I couldn't get a reservation for the night train I left in the morning for the ~10 hour ride and got into Budapest around 9pm. The train this time was a lot more comfortable than the one from Brasov to Sibiu, and while I wouldn't go so far as to call it relaxing it at least left me less stressed. I checked into a hostel near the train station for tonight, and then tomorrow am going to switch to the original accomodations I booked and start exploring Budapest.
Days 104-105: Why Cheap Alchohol Isn't Always a Good Thing
Been a somewhat frenzied few days in which I haven't had the chance to post anything, so I'll skip back a few days and try to catch things up.
My last day in Brasov was meant to be a quiet, relaxing one. There were more people staying in the hostel than on previous nights, and in the evening I agreed to go out drinking with a three Aussie travellers at the hostel. The convenience stores sell 2L plastic bottles of beer for what amounts to under $2, so we first sat around the living area chatting and drinking our big soda bottles of beer. Once out on the town I had a few more beer - to the point where I was drunk, but well within my safe, comfortable limits of being drunk. Somewhere along the way we started hanging out with three Romanian girls, and they took us to a bar with 25 cent shots, and that's when the night really began to unravel. Eventually we ended up at another bar, and while the others were still going I was not feeling very well and had a train to catch in the morning, so I slipped away and went back to the hostel around 3:30.
When I was younger, I never got hung over. The few times I've really drank a lot as I travel have demonstrated that that isn't the case anymore, and a 2nd class seat on a crowded regional train for 4 hours while hung over is a pretty horrible experience. I eventually got to the town of Sibiu, and after finding my hostel resisted the urge to go to sleep since I was only going to be there a single day and headed into town.
Sibiu is another picturesque and historic looking Translvanian town, but it apparently wasn't always so. Fairly recently it was just another decaying Romanian city, but in the last decade or so they have put a lot of effort into rebuilding and cleaning things up, and it's now considered a gem of the country.
My last day in Brasov was meant to be a quiet, relaxing one. There were more people staying in the hostel than on previous nights, and in the evening I agreed to go out drinking with a three Aussie travellers at the hostel. The convenience stores sell 2L plastic bottles of beer for what amounts to under $2, so we first sat around the living area chatting and drinking our big soda bottles of beer. Once out on the town I had a few more beer - to the point where I was drunk, but well within my safe, comfortable limits of being drunk. Somewhere along the way we started hanging out with three Romanian girls, and they took us to a bar with 25 cent shots, and that's when the night really began to unravel. Eventually we ended up at another bar, and while the others were still going I was not feeling very well and had a train to catch in the morning, so I slipped away and went back to the hostel around 3:30.
When I was younger, I never got hung over. The few times I've really drank a lot as I travel have demonstrated that that isn't the case anymore, and a 2nd class seat on a crowded regional train for 4 hours while hung over is a pretty horrible experience. I eventually got to the town of Sibiu, and after finding my hostel resisted the urge to go to sleep since I was only going to be there a single day and headed into town.
Sibiu is another picturesque and historic looking Translvanian town, but it apparently wasn't always so. Fairly recently it was just another decaying Romanian city, but in the last decade or so they have put a lot of effort into rebuilding and cleaning things up, and it's now considered a gem of the country.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Day 103: Bran and Rasnov
The plan for the day was to take a pretty straight forward bus ride out to Bran and stop at Rasnov (which is along the way) on the way back. I took a local bus from the city center to the regional bus station where buses do loops through nearby towns. Getting on the correct bus was pretty straight forward, but the bus wasn't terribly comfortable. Everything was covered in brown and maroon carpeting and their idea of environmental control wasn't air conditioning, but instead hanging 30 air fresheners from the bus ceiling to combat the inevitable smell of a carpeted bus without AC full of people.
I wasn't really sure what I was looking for to know when to get off the bus. My reason for going to Bran was to visit the castle there, but I didn't know if the bus went straight to the castle, or if it was tucked away somewhere. I knew Bran was the next town after Rasnov, so after Rasnov when we reached a cluster of buildings and about a quarter of the bus stood up to get off I figured that was it. Once off, I quickly realized that it definitely wasn't Bran, and the only reason so many people got off together is because they were all travelling together. I knew I was fairly close to Bran, but I wasn't sure if fairly close meant 2km or 20km, but not wanting to sit around for an hour waiting for the next bus I started walking. Luckily it was on the smaller side of that range, probably 3 or 4km to Bran and than another 1 or 2 of walking for me to finally find the castle. On the plus side, if you're going to have to walk along a highway in the heat in the middle of nowhere, a rural mountain valley in central Romania is a pretty nice nowhere to do it.
Bran Castle is marketed as "Dracula's Castle", but in reality it has a pretty loose connection to Vlad Tepes. It's still an interesting piece of gothic architecture from the 1400s and the inside is a sort of museum covering everything from Dracula to Romanian royalty. There isn't too much exploring to be done since ropes and locked doors lead people on a one way path through the building, but the "secret stairway" and balconies looking down into the courtyard were the most interesting bits for me.
Next it was off to Rasnov. The two things I'd been told were worth checking out were the fortifications on top of the overlooking hill and a cave a few kilometers out of town in the woods. I went to visit the fortifications first, and since I didn't know how long it would take and it was already getting into the afternoon I decided to take transportation up. Transportation up in Rasnov consists of a tractor with a big cart 5 times the size of the tractor tied to the back. Going up wasn't too bad, but going down a sleep slope behind a tractor when you're in a massive cart without independent steering or breaks is a bit tense.
The fortifications at the top weren't terribly exciting. Mostly it was just a wall with ruìns in it, and the buildings that were still standing were used for very touristy shops and snack bars. It did have a nice view of the town below and the surrounding forested hills though.
The cave was a few more km out of town, but in the same direction, so I just kept on walking once I was back down. From the parking there was another walk through the woods to get to the cave.
The cave itself consisted of a fairly long tunnel and then one big chamber at the end. We had to go in as a group with a guide who talked about the cave, but it was all in Romanian, so I didn't understand much of it. The central chamber was pretty impressive though, and you could see the stalagtite/stalagmites process in action.
After the cave I walked back to Rasnov. I waited for the bus for 20 minutes and ultimately ended up taking a ride from a local heading to Brasnov for the same price as the bus would have cost. Where he dropped me off wasn't the most convenient, but it wasn't too far to walk once I figured out a route over the hill between where I was and where I was going. I eventually made it back, but a lot of wear on my feet.
I wasn't really sure what I was looking for to know when to get off the bus. My reason for going to Bran was to visit the castle there, but I didn't know if the bus went straight to the castle, or if it was tucked away somewhere. I knew Bran was the next town after Rasnov, so after Rasnov when we reached a cluster of buildings and about a quarter of the bus stood up to get off I figured that was it. Once off, I quickly realized that it definitely wasn't Bran, and the only reason so many people got off together is because they were all travelling together. I knew I was fairly close to Bran, but I wasn't sure if fairly close meant 2km or 20km, but not wanting to sit around for an hour waiting for the next bus I started walking. Luckily it was on the smaller side of that range, probably 3 or 4km to Bran and than another 1 or 2 of walking for me to finally find the castle. On the plus side, if you're going to have to walk along a highway in the heat in the middle of nowhere, a rural mountain valley in central Romania is a pretty nice nowhere to do it.
Bran Castle is marketed as "Dracula's Castle", but in reality it has a pretty loose connection to Vlad Tepes. It's still an interesting piece of gothic architecture from the 1400s and the inside is a sort of museum covering everything from Dracula to Romanian royalty. There isn't too much exploring to be done since ropes and locked doors lead people on a one way path through the building, but the "secret stairway" and balconies looking down into the courtyard were the most interesting bits for me.
Next it was off to Rasnov. The two things I'd been told were worth checking out were the fortifications on top of the overlooking hill and a cave a few kilometers out of town in the woods. I went to visit the fortifications first, and since I didn't know how long it would take and it was already getting into the afternoon I decided to take transportation up. Transportation up in Rasnov consists of a tractor with a big cart 5 times the size of the tractor tied to the back. Going up wasn't too bad, but going down a sleep slope behind a tractor when you're in a massive cart without independent steering or breaks is a bit tense.
The fortifications at the top weren't terribly exciting. Mostly it was just a wall with ruìns in it, and the buildings that were still standing were used for very touristy shops and snack bars. It did have a nice view of the town below and the surrounding forested hills though.
The cave was a few more km out of town, but in the same direction, so I just kept on walking once I was back down. From the parking there was another walk through the woods to get to the cave.
The cave itself consisted of a fairly long tunnel and then one big chamber at the end. We had to go in as a group with a guide who talked about the cave, but it was all in Romanian, so I didn't understand much of it. The central chamber was pretty impressive though, and you could see the stalagtite/stalagmites process in action.
After the cave I walked back to Rasnov. I waited for the bus for 20 minutes and ultimately ended up taking a ride from a local heading to Brasnov for the same price as the bus would have cost. Where he dropped me off wasn't the most convenient, but it wasn't too far to walk once I figured out a route over the hill between where I was and where I was going. I eventually made it back, but a lot of wear on my feet.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Day 102: Brasov
I explored Brasov more thoroughly today, checking out shops, landmarks and just enjoying the day. I walked up a smaller nearby hill that has a tower on it (The Black Tower) and followed a series of paths through the forest on the hill to another tower (The White Tower).
The white tower is so named because it is white, but the black tower isn't quite so obvious. Apparently it's called the black tower because it was struck by lightning and the resulting charring left it black. That was back in the 1400/1500s, and apparently it has been burned by lightning strikes every 100 years or so. From the towers there is also a nice view down at the old city. It's not nearly as high as the vantage from yesterday, but it's a good angle to get more detail and show all the beautiful rooftops and architecture.
As you can see from those the city center has a very old world feel to it with crumbling tiled rooftops, rough coblestone roads, old walls and towers and narrow, winding streets and alleyways.
Tomorrow I'm going to try to figure out the regional bus system to visit some of the other interesting nearby Transylvania destinations.
The white tower is so named because it is white, but the black tower isn't quite so obvious. Apparently it's called the black tower because it was struck by lightning and the resulting charring left it black. That was back in the 1400/1500s, and apparently it has been burned by lightning strikes every 100 years or so. From the towers there is also a nice view down at the old city. It's not nearly as high as the vantage from yesterday, but it's a good angle to get more detail and show all the beautiful rooftops and architecture.
As you can see from those the city center has a very old world feel to it with crumbling tiled rooftops, rough coblestone roads, old walls and towers and narrow, winding streets and alleyways.
Tomorrow I'm going to try to figure out the regional bus system to visit some of the other interesting nearby Transylvania destinations.
Day 101: Entering Transylvania
The night train from Sofia to Bucharest wasn't as bad as I'd feared. At the beginning it was packed, hot and more than a little odorous and I was ready for the worst, but after the first couple of hours everybody got off at local stops and I was alone in my car (as all the other people going to Romania were smart enough to get beds). Despite what I would have thought was a more open border than Turkey/Bulgaria the border crossing took a ridiculous 4 hours, during which the sun rose.
By the time we finally pulled into Bucharest it was around 9:30am, which was more than 3 hours late. I had originally considered spending a few hours in Bucharest looking around, but I was tired and the train station was swarming with rather pushy people trying to sell/beg/scam, and so I reserved a seat on the next train to Brasov and continued on my way.
Brasov is a mid-sized city in the Transylvania region of central Romania. I picked it to visit mostly on the suggestions of other travellers who said it was a beautiful, historic city with lots of hiking and natural scenery around, all of which sounded good to me. A good starting point for hiking was obvious as I found my hostel.
The hostel itself is a bit interesting. There was only one other staying in it last night, and the place is run by one guy (and his mother, who comes in to cook breakfast for us). They do have a pretty amazing shower though. It has 7 nozzles around the outside, and various modes for the shower turn them jets or mists so that it feels a bit like going through a car wash.
After missing our on hiking in Bulgaria I was eager to start exploring around the hills surrounding Brasov. I did a quick walk through the historic city center first, then headed towards the hill with the Brasov sign and started looking for paths the hostel owner had told me about. There are 3 or 4 different paths that take different routes of different difficulty up. I couldn't read the sign anyway, so I just took the first path I found. It was a very steep, difficult one that gave me a good workout, but it was also very fast getting up because of how direct it was. I managed to somehow jab my toe with something thorny hard enough to make it bleed, but it wasn't hurting so after stopping long enough to clean it I carried on to the top.
The way down took much longer as the path this time was much gentler but longer, crossing back and forth all the way down in a zig-zag. Once back to the city I explored some more and had a pizza at one of the many restaurants near the central square. I spent a couple hours back at the hostel then went out with the other person staying there so he could get some dinner and I could drink. Prices are a bit deceptive because the value of the currency is so low. My dinner, for example, cost about 20 lei (including a beer), which sounds like quite a bit, but $1 is about 3 lei, so really it was only something like $6, which for a large meat ("carnivore") pizza, bowl of pretzels and pint of beer is pretty darn cheap.
I'll include pictures of the city with my next post. Trying to break things up a bit.
By the time we finally pulled into Bucharest it was around 9:30am, which was more than 3 hours late. I had originally considered spending a few hours in Bucharest looking around, but I was tired and the train station was swarming with rather pushy people trying to sell/beg/scam, and so I reserved a seat on the next train to Brasov and continued on my way.
Brasov is a mid-sized city in the Transylvania region of central Romania. I picked it to visit mostly on the suggestions of other travellers who said it was a beautiful, historic city with lots of hiking and natural scenery around, all of which sounded good to me. A good starting point for hiking was obvious as I found my hostel.
The hostel itself is a bit interesting. There was only one other staying in it last night, and the place is run by one guy (and his mother, who comes in to cook breakfast for us). They do have a pretty amazing shower though. It has 7 nozzles around the outside, and various modes for the shower turn them jets or mists so that it feels a bit like going through a car wash.
After missing our on hiking in Bulgaria I was eager to start exploring around the hills surrounding Brasov. I did a quick walk through the historic city center first, then headed towards the hill with the Brasov sign and started looking for paths the hostel owner had told me about. There are 3 or 4 different paths that take different routes of different difficulty up. I couldn't read the sign anyway, so I just took the first path I found. It was a very steep, difficult one that gave me a good workout, but it was also very fast getting up because of how direct it was. I managed to somehow jab my toe with something thorny hard enough to make it bleed, but it wasn't hurting so after stopping long enough to clean it I carried on to the top.
The way down took much longer as the path this time was much gentler but longer, crossing back and forth all the way down in a zig-zag. Once back to the city I explored some more and had a pizza at one of the many restaurants near the central square. I spent a couple hours back at the hostel then went out with the other person staying there so he could get some dinner and I could drink. Prices are a bit deceptive because the value of the currency is so low. My dinner, for example, cost about 20 lei (including a beer), which sounds like quite a bit, but $1 is about 3 lei, so really it was only something like $6, which for a large meat ("carnivore") pizza, bowl of pretzels and pint of beer is pretty darn cheap.
I'll include pictures of the city with my next post. Trying to break things up a bit.
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