Romania, Day 4

Day 4 began at 1:45am, when 10 of us took taxis to Gara (train station) for the 2:46am train to Brasov. While standing on the platform, an older guy with a sparkley shirt and ridiculous alligator shoes kept shaking hands with the two guys of our group, and making kissing faces and weird hand gestures at the group. We finally figured out that he was trying to buy us!! The train was really very comfortable, and I managed to sleep for quite a bit of the way. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the train car. The absurd incident at the train station really reminded me of home, especially of your typical obnoxious drunk at 3am in NY Penn.

After sunrise, the scenery was absolutely gorgeous - apparently the countryside of Transylvania is the most beautiful in the country.

It was so nice to see that Romanians make such use of their garden. All of the back gardens had neat rows of vegetables and fruits waiting for the harvest. The most interesting farming technique was in large fields. Plants which grew upward grew up string attached to a network of overhead wires or string, with support wooden structures infrequently erected in the field. Such an unique way of growing.

We arrived in Brasov at 9:30am. The Rough Guide to Romania is lacking in details. We discovered that we had to take bus #23 six stops to Aramanco in order to catch the bus to Bran. It shortly began to downpour, and the group decided to take a taxi to Autogara 2. Well, the taxi driver convinced us to take two taxis of five people directly to Bran. We decided it would be the best and most convenient way to travel. Our driver quoted us 65 lei, and we thought it would be cheaper than taking two buses. Upon arrival in Bran, our driver informed us that he would charge us 130 round trip and was willing to wait for us. We weren't so sure about the idea, so we offered to pay him 65 lei and give him a call when we were done. The conversation resulted in the second threat of involving the police. We decided to just pay him the money. He turned out to be a really great guy and very helpful in getting the other members of the group a good deal upon return to Brasov. I'm slowly learning that when a Romanian taxi driver quotes you a price, most likely it will be higher, or to expect something else. I'm starting to wonder if Romanians, especially taxi drivers and tram inspectors just to name a few, take advantage of the language barrier and extort money from Americans. I'm really learning that you just have to go with the flow here and not let it get to you. It really is quite a corrupt country.

I witnessed the most heartbreaking event at Brasov train station. Maureen went to purchase a cup of cafe from a machine (most coffee is dispensed here in a giant automatic espresso machine). When her change was dispensed, a little boy barely 5 years old dressed in torn and dirty clothing grabbed the change and ran off with it. I have never before seen anything like that in my life. It was absolutely horrible and shocking to me.

I really enjoyed Dracula's Castle, although I was a little disappointed that so much of the castle was inaccessible to visitors. I thought it was quite magical with all its winding passages and mini-doorways.

After exploring the castle, we headed back to Brasov and had lunch at Pizza Roma. Mallory and I were in absolute heaven with amazing salads:

We spent the rest of the day exploring Brasov, shopping, and bar hopping. We met two amazing individuals at Cerbul Carpatin - Klaus and Katy. Klaus is originally German and is writing a book on his experience managing a mining operation in North Korea. Katy is a professional mountain climber and has climbed K2 three times. It was really wonderful to feel so welcome by the locals. Typically, we get stares from the locals. It often makes me feel really unwelcome and uncomfortable, but I am getting used to it. We found a great bar with beer on draft (hard to find here), called Il Caffe, Caffe Qualita Bar. I had the most amazing wine, called degarcea. I am now desperately attempting to find some in a store and have been unsuccessful. Maureen had the best ridiculous phrase of the evening when describing the bar's hi-tech way of rinsing glasses, "It's like a bidet for a beer glass." We were incredibly surprised to find ourselves having drinks at the local Mexican restaurant, Los Amigos. I felt a little homesick because there's a Los Amigos back home that I have visited with K&C. I miss you guys!

Here are some pictures from Brasov. I'm not quite sure what's what because I was a bit drunk (we started at 2pm). Did I mention that several men tried to buy us again? Though, I suppose it wasn't in our best interest to loiter outside a sex shop.

Our trip back to Cluj was eventful. Upon arrival to the train station, we discovered that our train was rather late, although trying to figure that out from an announcement in Romanesta is quite challenging. We attempted to wait in the train station, but the waiting area smelt worse than a manure pile on a farm. I definitely missed the somewhat cleanliness of US train stations. I also considered that it really is quite challenging to travel when you don't know the language or your surroundings.

You'll be happy to know that we arrived safely back in Cluj-Napoca Gara at approximately 5am.