Through the Carpathian Mountains
Trip Start
Jun 01, 2007
1
4
8
Trip End
Aug 01, 2007
Bucharest, Romania
Thursday, July 5, 2007
We could see how society took a step down with in the first hours of us crossing the border. The hay harvesting and bailing is all done by hand here. Even Grandma is out there with a rather large scythe. They stack the dried hay around a pole and presto, you've got a haystack. Town residents are also collecting water from the town well in Romania. Although we see many people collecting water from the well, the usage doesn't convince me that they have no running water in the homes. The people drawing the water only get two gallons or so at a time, which after our experience of well watching in Africa, doesn't seem like enough for daily life. Anyway, they had wells and were using them.
Romania entered the EU seven months ago and the upgrades are in full swing. To enter the EU, the country needs to meet a long list of standards both humanitarian and economical. After being accepted into the EU the improvements continue. Sighisoara was bustling with improvements. Cobblestone roads were torn up everywhere and the dust was flying. It's a bit strange to be sightseeing and in a construction zone. But even with out the shovels and jack hammers, the churches and fortress are more interesting to look at from a far then from inside. The classic shot is the fortress on the hill circumferenced by the city wall of which we had good examples in Sighisoara and Rasnov.
We spent a few days in and around Brasov. Having found a clean and quiet hotel (all the barking dogs were somewhere else) we decided to do some day trips to the tourist spots. We liked Brasov because it has examples of historical architecture (more of like what we saw in Vienna or Munich, less Russian concrete block houses.) and it was small enough to walk around with out getting too fatigued. There was also a 1000ft hill right next to the town center which had some nice views from its top.
From Brasov we took a day trip loop to Rasnov, Bran and Sinaia. That area seems to have a high concentration of beautiful castles and city fortresses for Romania and of course the tourists that go with it. The castle at Bran, dating from 1378, is an architectural puzzle. It's the sort of building where it seems that the builders were the architects and just added a stairway or room where ever they felt like it. What a great place for hide and seek! A tall person (anything above, say, 5'-2") would definitely need to watch their heads for the random jetting stairway.
After playing in Transylvania for a few days (fueled by all the fresh raspberries that were for sale!) we headed down towards Bucharest. Our map scale was far too large for the finer points of bicycling into the city, so we spent a fair amount of time wandering on the lesser paved roads which were, sadly, just as crowded as the highways but the side roads had no place for bicycles. So, we ditched that plan and just took the highway into town. The drivers were exceptionally patient with us even through the construction. Having watched Romanians drive for a bit, I was worried.
Bucharest is a strange blend of western architecture and Ceausescu's architecture. Ceausescu's being the Stalinist dictator for the second half of the 20th century and was the reason for the '89 revelation. All of this I learned about by traveling, what a great way to learn history! Anyway, remember how I mused how Vienna had the resources to rebuild their beautiful buildings after WWII? Bucharest is a city that doesn't seem to have the money to polish their city for the tourists that are coming. There are some nice spots, including alarming colored water spiting from the fountains, but they are sprinkled in the middle of a huge and busy industrial town. We spent 1.5 days exploring and were ready to head out at the end of it.
Heading out to Istanbul Turkey via airplane because we couldn't finish the bicycle line in time to meet my parents and brother + wife who are flying in to meet us. A week of sightseeing with them awaits us!
Oh yes, and happy 34th birthday Matt! We celebrated with a 2300ft Carpathian Mountain climb and a fun sweet roll spiral roll thinger dusted in nuts.
