Yesterday was rest day for me. I went out the first part of the morning to the old Fortress which was absolutely breathtaking!!! And they I came back to my private room (which was only $10) and watched tv and slept all day. Boy I needed a nice break.
Well I FINALLY made it to Romania, although things didn't go exactly how I planned. Got up this morning, got a taxi to the train station to catch a train to Bucharest, Romania (the capitol) where I would then catch a train to Brasov (up in the Transylvanian mountains). Turns out the train is 30 minutes late. Finally got on board and made it to Ruse, Bulgaria (right on the border of Bulgaria and Romania). Apparently the train wasn't the only train waiting at that station for the border patrol to board the train and check passports. So I ended up waiting there for two and a half hours (and that was just the Bulgarian side of the border). Lucky for me, 2 backpackers from Finland (real nice young people) got on who spoke english and I was finally able to talk to someone (because I was staying in a private room, the only guest at the guesthouse in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria). They had an interrail pass (equivalent to my eurail pass except for EU citizens), but didn't reserve a seat, so they had to bribe the train conductor 10 euros!!! Some of the Bulgarians even got kicked off of the train because they didn't have any money (If you are from any country in Eastern Europe traveling to another country, you have to have a certain amount of money with you to cross the border). The three of us met a nice Romanian man who is a US citizen living in NY, coming to visit family. He gave us lots of usefull info and helped translate with the train conductors.
After sitting forever, they came and stamped our passports and we were off....until we got to the Romanian side of the border where we had to go through the whole process again. Except it only took about 30 minutes this time. So by the time I got to Bucharest, it was 7pm and I was too tired to go on to Brasov, plus I wanted to avoid arriving in a new city after dark. So the three of us get off and I decide to get a cab to the Elvis' Hostel (supposed to be the best hostel in all eastern europe), so I part with the Finnish couple and after i arrive at the hostel, find out it is full, but there is another couple (English)that just arrived and were turned away so the three of us got another cab to another hostel, and they just had room for the 2 of them (who had called 5 min earlier), so I catch a cab with a guy from Singapore to a third Hostel, which finally has a place for me!!! I am going to leave tomorrow, this place is just like the guidebook said, the ugliest capitol in Europe!! Although things are way cheaper here than in Bulgaria. And the money is really funny here. $1= 30,000. Romanian Lei so right now I have a few 1,000,000 Romanian Lei in my pocket right now. Hahahahaha.
Next time i will be in Transylvania muwhahahahaha (hopefully)!
Well I FINALLY made it to Romania, although things didn't go exactly how I planned. Got up this morning, got a taxi to the train station to catch a train to Bucharest, Romania (the capitol) where I would then catch a train to Brasov (up in the Transylvanian mountains). Turns out the train is 30 minutes late. Finally got on board and made it to Ruse, Bulgaria (right on the border of Bulgaria and Romania). Apparently the train wasn't the only train waiting at that station for the border patrol to board the train and check passports. So I ended up waiting there for two and a half hours (and that was just the Bulgarian side of the border). Lucky for me, 2 backpackers from Finland (real nice young people) got on who spoke english and I was finally able to talk to someone (because I was staying in a private room, the only guest at the guesthouse in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria). They had an interrail pass (equivalent to my eurail pass except for EU citizens), but didn't reserve a seat, so they had to bribe the train conductor 10 euros!!! Some of the Bulgarians even got kicked off of the train because they didn't have any money (If you are from any country in Eastern Europe traveling to another country, you have to have a certain amount of money with you to cross the border). The three of us met a nice Romanian man who is a US citizen living in NY, coming to visit family. He gave us lots of usefull info and helped translate with the train conductors.
After sitting forever, they came and stamped our passports and we were off....until we got to the Romanian side of the border where we had to go through the whole process again. Except it only took about 30 minutes this time. So by the time I got to Bucharest, it was 7pm and I was too tired to go on to Brasov, plus I wanted to avoid arriving in a new city after dark. So the three of us get off and I decide to get a cab to the Elvis' Hostel (supposed to be the best hostel in all eastern europe), so I part with the Finnish couple and after i arrive at the hostel, find out it is full, but there is another couple (English)that just arrived and were turned away so the three of us got another cab to another hostel, and they just had room for the 2 of them (who had called 5 min earlier), so I catch a cab with a guy from Singapore to a third Hostel, which finally has a place for me!!! I am going to leave tomorrow, this place is just like the guidebook said, the ugliest capitol in Europe!! Although things are way cheaper here than in Bulgaria. And the money is really funny here. $1= 30,000. Romanian Lei so right now I have a few 1,000,000 Romanian Lei in my pocket right now. Hahahahaha.
Next time i will be in Transylvania muwhahahahaha (hopefully)!
I am so glad you are able to update so much. How are you connecting to the internet?
Say hi to Dracula for me.
You rock!