So we caught our train from Budapest without incident, except from the station being in the grottiest part of town, much like Paris's Gare du Nord. We found our wagon and then our cabin and were some what confused by the extra bed that was within, did this mean we would be sharing with a random??? We sat in the station nervously waiting for a knock on the door which never came, amazingly we had asked for the right thing and got ourselves a private cabin (couchette, not sure of the correct terminology). Shortly after leaving the station at around 17:30 the guard came and took our tickets and disappeared. Then for the first time really on our trip I got a little bit apprehensive, thinking that we were going to get scammed into buying another ticket or just dumped in the middle of Hungary or Romania. After a few hours this fear subsided as I realised the guard had taken everyone's tickets. We spent the first few hours playing cards until passport control attempted to knock our door down (they just knocked really, but they meant it!). Just as we had settled down 40 minutes later again our door almost splintered as passport control mark 2 wanted to check things out.
At around midnight we thought it would be best to try and get some kip, then we started wondering whether we would get woken by the guard at our stop or not. Just in case we thought it best to set an alarm, then we got confused by the time difference. Firstly whether there was one (yes there was) and whether the ticket showed the arrival in Romanian or Hungarian Time (Romanian time). Anyway after about 3 hours of restless sleep my alarm woke us up, and an hour later the guard did indeed give us a knock and informed us we arriving into Brasov ( his knock was nothing compared to the passport control (1 and 2) so probably would not have woken us).
Arriving in Brasov at 6 in the morning we got to watch the sun rise over the nearby mountains, a moment somewhat lost by our sheer tiredness and aimless wondering. Luckily my spidey senses were in good order and the Lonely Planet had good directions so after catching the correct bus (assisted by a really kind taxi driver) and a 40 minute march and a bit more help from the locals we found our hostel (The Rolling Stone). We buzzed the buzzer and were greeted by a very sleepy hostess. She was so nice considering we had woken her at about 7:20 in the morning and she really wasn't a morning person. Paper work was filled in quickly and she located two spare mattresses and told us that we needed to sleep and that she would see us in 3 or 4 hours. She was right and 4 hours later the world seemed a brighter warmer place again and the chances of me and Nina killing each other had somewhat subsided.
Brasov is regarded as Romania's most popular city and given its small size compared to many of the cities we have visited thus far it is a reputation they have done well to gain. Within the city there are two squares the Piata Stafslui which is surrounded by a mixture of bars, restaurants and banks. There is a helpful tourist information centre, housed in a 15th century building which was once a torture house for prisoners, slap bang in the middle of the square. The second square (Piata Teatrului) is a fraction of the size and can quite easily be missed. However off it you will find what was advised to as the 'First Romanian Primary School'. We took a look - it seemed to look more like a church, but regardless of what it was it was still gorgeous. Also off the smaller square was our hostel.
Other notable sites in Brasov are the black and white towers which again we only saw from the outside (although it is tricky to tell which was the black and which was the white tower). They also have what is billed as one of Europe's narrowest streets 'Str Sforii'. We hunted this down with relative anticipation but rather than finding a 'Shingles (York)' style street we actually found an alleyway. That's right people no house, no shops, no quaint sticky out windows from which you can shake hands with the residence opposite, just an alleyway, pah! However a bit further along is the stairway to the Tampa Cable Car which for a couple of quid takes you up Mount Tampa upon which you will find awesome views over the city, a restaurant (which incidentally we ordered two beers at and are still waiting for them) and also the Hollywood-esque Brasov sign.
One thing we did notice about Brasov however was a distinct lack of bars and traditional restaurants. There were some but not as many as expected. However our hostel had its own basement bar run by a brilliant dutch guy with a habit of offering absinthe to anyone that walked in the door. We politely declined and Nina stuck with 'Dracula Vodka and Orange' and I alternated between beer from the biggest selection I've seen and his special cocktails one relatively harmless green, mint flavour one called 'Vampire' and one deadly red, Campari and Vodka based cocktail he called 'Dracula', so we felt our needs catered for. The great thing about this bar though were the people we met within, a German guy who spent an evening telling us about his many travels including to England in the 1970's (sleeping in the middle of Stone Henge and all that) and motor bike trips to Norway with his son. Two Finnish girls who were slowly getting wasted whilst writing about 20 post cards to friends and family and bunch of London lads (now residence of East Sussex Uni who were driving around Eastern Europe - we were to meet them again later in our trip).
Brasov is a really nice city but you do find yourself wondering what else the city has to offer other than that already discussed. Well the answer is not much however nearby are two tempting little villages, the first we visited was Bran. Bran is home to the supposed castle within which Dracula resided according to Bram Stoker. Obviously we couldn't miss the chance to visit this so we checked out bus timetables and headed to the bus station. After 30 minutes in the rain our bus turned up. However this simply was to take us to the main bus station 15 minutes away, where we had to wait much longer once again in the teeming rain. Eventually however we got our bus and after a 45 minute drive got off at what we assumed was Bran (not many signs anywhere). We were right (luckily), the rain however had got even harder (really building up a nice authentic feel). We dived into the nearest shop and managed to acquire two umbrellas (Nina is rubbish at sharing an umbrella) using impressive charades-style miming.
After finally taking the plunge back into the rain we manage to catch a good view of the castle and to be honest we were pretty disappointed. Not as many spires as expected and no real sense of anything sinister. We paid our 1 pound to look around hoping to find something a bit more 'Dracularish' but instead we got to see loads of pictures of an old princess, pretty dull to be honest. However the castle itself was really a pretty cool building. After an hour or so we decided it would be best to head back to Brasov, the hostel and dryness but not after having a quick drink and a look at a few of the stands and stalls. At the back of one of the buildings we came across a walk through a ghost house (proper fun fair style) with grisly looking ghoul patrolling the entrance gate, on the sign we were advised of a 10 - 15 minute horror trip within which we will face Dracula, Werewolves, the undead in general and Satan himself. Feeling some what let down we decided we might as well give it a shot get the knees knocking a little bit at least, so we paid our entrance fee and started our stroll. Expecting mechanical ghosts to pop our every now and again we were totally freaked out when the first live actor rose from a grave. This did indeed begin for Nina what was quarter of an hour of hell as from room to room people jumped out at us. I did my best with the no jumping be brave malarchy whilst Nina used the tried and tested method of screaming, swearing, say no (firmly but politely) and then hitting them with an umbrella. This seem to work pretty well for most but not for Mr Satan as he had his pitch fork, which was much longer than Nina's umbrella. Me being keen to get back to normality strolled on ahead, quickly releasing my hand from Nina's bone crushing grip when she decided to freeze with fear. She did politely request that I stopped Mr Satan from jabbing at her with his trusty pitch fork but I thought it would be better just to stand and laugh. Eventually we did get out and quickly order two beers to calm the nerves, sadly the bar man misunderstood and we ended up sharing a pint off of a table shaped as a coffin.
The second near by village was Rasnov, this was about half the distance from Brasov as Bran was and on the day we chose to go there the weather was much nicer which was great for two real reasons. Firstly being a Sunday we hadn't realise that once we had got to the main bus station we would have to wait 2 hours for a bus (we spent this winding up the stray dogs by discretely whistling, probably not wise really) and secondly Rasnov is a citadel based on top of what would certainly become a very slippery (Durbrovnikesque style) hill/mountain. Rasnov also had its own Hollywood style mountain decoration so this time we new for sure we had the right stop (kind of). I didn't realise Nina needed a ten minute warning that we needed to get off the bus and so we did miss our first stop. The Citadel itself was really worth seeing, the views from the battlements were amazing and also within the walls were an impressive medieval museum, a second museum which seemed to just house sketches of various tortures and a semi covered real human skeleton. There was also a 169 metre (apparently) well which they had got two Turkish prisons to build with a promise of release once they had completed the task....it took 17 years.
We had really enjoyed our time in Brasov however the true highlight didn't come until the last night when the hostel organised a trip bear watching. Basically Brasov is encircled by mountains and forests and on the outskirts there a few large housing estates with communal bins from which the bears have decided to feed from. So we all bundled into the back of a people carriers hoping to catch site of a few real life wild bears, the first few spots we went to all we saw were bear behinds (he he). However eventually the driver found a great spot where there was a whole family feeding (what we assumed was a mother bear and 3 cubs of varying size). The police were there ensuring the bears were not disturbed and that no one took photos with flashes at all. We stood for about an hour a matter of 5 metres from the feeding bears and were chuffed to bits.
In all we had spent 3 and a bit days in Brasov and in truth that was probably about right what with the trips to Rasnov and Bran, when it came time to move on our plans altered again slightly and instead of heading to Bucharest we decided to head back up the same track we had already come down to go to Sighisoara (check the map, we really are rubbish at route planning). What laid ahead was a 4 hour train journey through rural Romanian in daylight, absolutely stunning tiny villages in the middle of nowhere, whole families travelling by horse and cart and, worryingly, plenty of train stops with no signs whatsoever. How on Earth were we going to know when and where to get off the train???
TTFN
Daz
At around midnight we thought it would be best to try and get some kip, then we started wondering whether we would get woken by the guard at our stop or not. Just in case we thought it best to set an alarm, then we got confused by the time difference. Firstly whether there was one (yes there was) and whether the ticket showed the arrival in Romanian or Hungarian Time (Romanian time). Anyway after about 3 hours of restless sleep my alarm woke us up, and an hour later the guard did indeed give us a knock and informed us we arriving into Brasov ( his knock was nothing compared to the passport control (1 and 2) so probably would not have woken us).
Arriving in Brasov at 6 in the morning we got to watch the sun rise over the nearby mountains, a moment somewhat lost by our sheer tiredness and aimless wondering. Luckily my spidey senses were in good order and the Lonely Planet had good directions so after catching the correct bus (assisted by a really kind taxi driver) and a 40 minute march and a bit more help from the locals we found our hostel (The Rolling Stone). We buzzed the buzzer and were greeted by a very sleepy hostess. She was so nice considering we had woken her at about 7:20 in the morning and she really wasn't a morning person. Paper work was filled in quickly and she located two spare mattresses and told us that we needed to sleep and that she would see us in 3 or 4 hours. She was right and 4 hours later the world seemed a brighter warmer place again and the chances of me and Nina killing each other had somewhat subsided.
Brasov is regarded as Romania's most popular city and given its small size compared to many of the cities we have visited thus far it is a reputation they have done well to gain. Within the city there are two squares the Piata Stafslui which is surrounded by a mixture of bars, restaurants and banks. There is a helpful tourist information centre, housed in a 15th century building which was once a torture house for prisoners, slap bang in the middle of the square. The second square (Piata Teatrului) is a fraction of the size and can quite easily be missed. However off it you will find what was advised to as the 'First Romanian Primary School'. We took a look - it seemed to look more like a church, but regardless of what it was it was still gorgeous. Also off the smaller square was our hostel.
Other notable sites in Brasov are the black and white towers which again we only saw from the outside (although it is tricky to tell which was the black and which was the white tower). They also have what is billed as one of Europe's narrowest streets 'Str Sforii'. We hunted this down with relative anticipation but rather than finding a 'Shingles (York)' style street we actually found an alleyway. That's right people no house, no shops, no quaint sticky out windows from which you can shake hands with the residence opposite, just an alleyway, pah! However a bit further along is the stairway to the Tampa Cable Car which for a couple of quid takes you up Mount Tampa upon which you will find awesome views over the city, a restaurant (which incidentally we ordered two beers at and are still waiting for them) and also the Hollywood-esque Brasov sign.One thing we did notice about Brasov however was a distinct lack of bars and traditional restaurants. There were some but not as many as expected. However our hostel had its own basement bar run by a brilliant dutch guy with a habit of offering absinthe to anyone that walked in the door. We politely declined and Nina stuck with 'Dracula Vodka and Orange' and I alternated between beer from the biggest selection I've seen and his special cocktails one relatively harmless green, mint flavour one called 'Vampire' and one deadly red, Campari and Vodka based cocktail he called 'Dracula', so we felt our needs catered for. The great thing about this bar though were the people we met within, a German guy who spent an evening telling us about his many travels including to England in the 1970's (sleeping in the middle of Stone Henge and all that) and motor bike trips to Norway with his son. Two Finnish girls who were slowly getting wasted whilst writing about 20 post cards to friends and family and bunch of London lads (now residence of East Sussex Uni who were driving around Eastern Europe - we were to meet them again later in our trip).
Brasov is a really nice city but you do find yourself wondering what else the city has to offer other than that already discussed. Well the answer is not much however nearby are two tempting little villages, the first we visited was Bran. Bran is home to the supposed castle within which Dracula resided according to Bram Stoker. Obviously we couldn't miss the chance to visit this so we checked out bus timetables and headed to the bus station. After 30 minutes in the rain our bus turned up. However this simply was to take us to the main bus station 15 minutes away, where we had to wait much longer once again in the teeming rain. Eventually however we got our bus and after a 45 minute drive got off at what we assumed was Bran (not many signs anywhere). We were right (luckily), the rain however had got even harder (really building up a nice authentic feel). We dived into the nearest shop and managed to acquire two umbrellas (Nina is rubbish at sharing an umbrella) using impressive charades-style miming.
After finally taking the plunge back into the rain we manage to catch a good view of the castle and to be honest we were pretty disappointed. Not as many spires as expected and no real sense of anything sinister. We paid our 1 pound to look around hoping to find something a bit more 'Dracularish' but instead we got to see loads of pictures of an old princess, pretty dull to be honest. However the castle itself was really a pretty cool building. After an hour or so we decided it would be best to head back to Brasov, the hostel and dryness but not after having a quick drink and a look at a few of the stands and stalls. At the back of one of the buildings we came across a walk through a ghost house (proper fun fair style) with grisly looking ghoul patrolling the entrance gate, on the sign we were advised of a 10 - 15 minute horror trip within which we will face Dracula, Werewolves, the undead in general and Satan himself. Feeling some what let down we decided we might as well give it a shot get the knees knocking a little bit at least, so we paid our entrance fee and started our stroll. Expecting mechanical ghosts to pop our every now and again we were totally freaked out when the first live actor rose from a grave. This did indeed begin for Nina what was quarter of an hour of hell as from room to room people jumped out at us. I did my best with the no jumping be brave malarchy whilst Nina used the tried and tested method of screaming, swearing, say no (firmly but politely) and then hitting them with an umbrella. This seem to work pretty well for most but not for Mr Satan as he had his pitch fork, which was much longer than Nina's umbrella. Me being keen to get back to normality strolled on ahead, quickly releasing my hand from Nina's bone crushing grip when she decided to freeze with fear. She did politely request that I stopped Mr Satan from jabbing at her with his trusty pitch fork but I thought it would be better just to stand and laugh. Eventually we did get out and quickly order two beers to calm the nerves, sadly the bar man misunderstood and we ended up sharing a pint off of a table shaped as a coffin.The second near by village was Rasnov, this was about half the distance from Brasov as Bran was and on the day we chose to go there the weather was much nicer which was great for two real reasons. Firstly being a Sunday we hadn't realise that once we had got to the main bus station we would have to wait 2 hours for a bus (we spent this winding up the stray dogs by discretely whistling, probably not wise really) and secondly Rasnov is a citadel based on top of what would certainly become a very slippery (Durbrovnikesque style) hill/mountain. Rasnov also had its own Hollywood style mountain decoration so this time we new for sure we had the right stop (kind of). I didn't realise Nina needed a ten minute warning that we needed to get off the bus and so we did miss our first stop. The Citadel itself was really worth seeing, the views from the battlements were amazing and also within the walls were an impressive medieval museum, a second museum which seemed to just house sketches of various tortures and a semi covered real human skeleton. There was also a 169 metre (apparently) well which they had got two Turkish prisons to build with a promise of release once they had completed the task....it took 17 years.
We had really enjoyed our time in Brasov however the true highlight didn't come until the last night when the hostel organised a trip bear watching. Basically Brasov is encircled by mountains and forests and on the outskirts there a few large housing estates with communal bins from which the bears have decided to feed from. So we all bundled into the back of a people carriers hoping to catch site of a few real life wild bears, the first few spots we went to all we saw were bear behinds (he he). However eventually the driver found a great spot where there was a whole family feeding (what we assumed was a mother bear and 3 cubs of varying size). The police were there ensuring the bears were not disturbed and that no one took photos with flashes at all. We stood for about an hour a matter of 5 metres from the feeding bears and were chuffed to bits.
In all we had spent 3 and a bit days in Brasov and in truth that was probably about right what with the trips to Rasnov and Bran, when it came time to move on our plans altered again slightly and instead of heading to Bucharest we decided to head back up the same track we had already come down to go to Sighisoara (check the map, we really are rubbish at route planning). What laid ahead was a 4 hour train journey through rural Romanian in daylight, absolutely stunning tiny villages in the middle of nowhere, whole families travelling by horse and cart and, worryingly, plenty of train stops with no signs whatsoever. How on Earth were we going to know when and where to get off the train???
TTFN
Daz
