Brasov: Additional Photos

I got some additional photos from my Serbian friend, Ernest.

Here I am in Bran Castle, which is advertised as Dracula’s castle.  Whatever.  It honestly wasn’t even that cool.  Nice in parts, but mostly just roped-off rooms.  Wow!

Here’s the motely crew that stayed in peace corps Jason’s place that night in Brasov.  Left to Right, Back to Front: Eoin with early days of the straw hat, Ernest (Serbian), Two FSU girls Sarah and Gina who wanted to get “tanked” all the time and were very “natural,” Frederico (Italian) cheapskate mooch, Jason peace corps, Austrialian guy who’s been traveling for four years and very proud of it, other Italian guy who’s also a cheapskate.  Two others stayed the night too but aren’t pictured.  9 on the floor of Jason’s place.  It was pretty good to get out of there.

Story: Bucharest Internet Cafe

I’ve forgotten a few good stories, so I’ll add these as I think of them.

During my 5 hours in Bucharest, I stopped in at an Internet cafe.  I asked the guy for a computer but he told me they were all taken.  But he pointed to two girls sitting on the side and said, “Do you like these girls?”  I said I did.  And then I realized.

As the old saying goes, “What happens in Bucharest stays in Bucharest.”

Best of Romania

Best:

• Turda: My day in Turda was probably more about the people I met then the place, but the hiking was beautiful, and the fish was great.
• People: Everyone I met in Transylvania was really generous, really wanting to help, and not looking for money or trying to scam me.
• Food: Romanian cuisine is really great.  Pimento is pretty important.  One thing I missed was the Tripe soup.

Worst:

• Walking around the towns: The towns of Cluj and Brasov were cool, but not an interesting experience.  Getting into some adventure was much more memorable.
• Bucharest: Pretty shitty place.  Big without much character.  Seeing where Ceausescu was overthrown was pretty cool though, and imagining all the rioting.
• This one sandwich: Really sucked.  I got it in Brasov and it was called “Crispy” and was supposed to come with a “special bread.”  It was soggy and came with untoasted shitty white bread.

The wall outside Bucharest’s Parliament building.

Bucharest’s wannabe Champs-Elysee.  Sad and shitty.

Brasov

I probably should have stayed in Cluj another day since I had such good company there, but I wanted to leave on a very high point.

I had met this Serbian guy named Ernest the night before in Cluj and we realized we’d be staying at the same CouchSurfer’s place in Brasov.  It was good traveling down with him since he spoke some Romanian.

Jason would be hosting us.  He’s a peace corps volunteer who’s been in Romania for a few years.  Really generous guy, very laid-back, and willing to help.  There were already two other girls staying with him.  Two Americans from FSU.  Oh man, it was like they just stepped out of a alternative frat party.  American Apparel, hairy legs and armpits, politics, and mostly talking about wanting to get “tanked” or how they were “tanked” in some other European city.  It was pretty embarrassing.

I started talking to them about how I was concerned for the safety of the US if Obama gets in power.  Their ears pricked up immediately: WHY?!  I told them that he’s Muslim … hello!!!  And that his name rhymes with Osama, and his middle name is Hussein.  He’s probably a terrorist.  I kept a straight face for a while.  They were getting charged up about it.  Really wanting to fight a political battle.  Then I busted and gave in.  It was great messing with them like that.

Ernest and I headed out early the next morning after those American girls had just gotten back at 7am from a night out getting tanked.  Party!!  We went to Bran Castle and Rasnov Castle.  The heart of Transylvania, and there was a good amount of Dracula merch.  Not all that memorable though.

Possibly the most memorable part was hitch-hiking from Bran to Rasnov.

And I picked up a hat.

We hung out in Brasnov for a while and saw the city.  Then we met up with Jason and the others.  Jason had picked up 5 more people to stay with us that night, a total of 9.  And his apartment was pretty small.  One disgusting bathroom with a toilet seat that wasn’t connected at all, and a permanent towel at the base of the shower, soaking up all kinds of wet and dirt for weeks, probably.

These other people that would be staying were all kind of annoying travelers, really feeling important about it.  Really open-minded and stuff.  And really cheap.  These Italians were hitch-hiking all over Romania and saying how 10 lei (~$4) lasts them about a week, really proud.  Then they were parasites the rest of the night, trying to get people to buy them drinks and promising to pay them back tomorrow.  Bullshit.

After a night with 10 people in a small, dirty apartment, I was ready to get out of there.  I left for Bucharest and Bulgaria.

Cluj

This has probably been the highlight of my trip so far. 

I walked around Cluj, not so interesting.  Then I met Adrian later that night, the CouchSurfer I would be staying with.  Awesome.  Really generous guy, we had a good talk about cultural differences, etc, and then he gave me a taste of homemade palinka, which is a strong alcohol with a fruit base that’s common in Hungary and Romania.  It was something I had wanted to try when I saw it in Budapest.  Seeing it in the reused 2L soda bottle, homemade, made it all the better, really authentic.  Adrian even gave me a half-litre to take with me.

Today I arrived at the tourist office in Cluj, and asked about visiting the salt mine.  There was a German named Sven in there and he was asking about going to the gorge nearby.  We decided to go together.  He had spent two weeks studying Romanian in Cluj and having him around was really helpful for me, since we met a lot of Romanians that didn’t speak English along the way.

We took a public bus to Turda, an hour away, for ~$2 each. We saw the saltmine. It was great, very dramatic. Although there were signs forbidding stealing pieces of salt, I couldn’t help myself; I got a souvenir.

Then got a minibus for ~$1 and dropped ~2km away from the gorge.  Sven and I met an Italian, Pietro, en route.  As we walked to the gorge, a guy in a Diaca (Romanian car) stopped and told us to hop in; he would take us to the gorge.  His name was Bali.

The Romanians I’ve met have been extremely generous.  The landscape here in Transylvania is beautiful, but the people, who are awesome, have made the experience so much better.

Bali basically became our guide, but wasn’t looking for money.  He walked us through the beautiful gorge, and then brought us to a quaint bar/restaurant at the other end.  It was run by an old Romania couple, and they only had fish to offer us. Some trout.  But it was perfect, and we were starving.

Bali then took us up the 300-meter mountain.  It was exhausting.  It was a really hot day.  Sweaty.  Excellent views from the top. 

Then we hung out with some Romanians.  One guy had a watermelon and gave us each a big slice.  It was beautiful.

Then Bali offered to take us to meet the bus.  He only asked for a few dollars for gas money.  We tried to give him more but he refused.  Great guy.  A Hungarian born in Romania.

We got the minibus back to Turda, and then as we waited for the bus back to Cluj, a guy with a car sold us a spot in his car for the same price as the bus.  Free enterprise.  It was much quicker, although not totally legit.

Then I met up with Adrian who had arranged a meeting with some local CouchSurfers at a bar.  It was a blast, and I met some great people there.