First Snow Fall in Brasov, Romania

So I definitely didn't move south fast enough, since today it snowed a little bit here in Brasov, Romania... but I'm having a good time here.

"Travel" usually seems to find an equilibrium. Bad days balance out good days. Nice places with... well... not-so-nice places. And friendly people with... you get the point.

The train from Iasi (BTW... pronounced "yash") wasn't that bad... I actually got some sleep... but Bucharest was not so nice. Arriving at around 5:30am in a train station full of people trying to scam or rob you doesn't help; I understand "taxi" in any language the first time it is said to me... repeating it is not necessary... especially when I know you are going to rip me off. The hostel I decided to go to was far from the train station... and buses are sometimes hard to figure out... but I managed. The hostel (Youth Hostel Villa Helga) had semi-comfortable beds, but that's it. The guests blast music at random hours of the night/morning and the staff doesn't do anything about it; the bathrooms have either broken doors or missing toilet seats, and the shower doors don't close... not a big deal, but the cleaning lady just always happens to be cleaning the showers when people are taking them. Again... not the biggest deal in the world, but makes you realize why their competitor - Butterfly Villa Hostel - which costs the same, is usually booked.

Bucharest as a city is not much better; the town feels very "gray"... the buildings and streets are plain dirty. It has crazy drivers with very few rules of the road and nobody enforcing them. The one day I spent there was too much. Also, while I'm on a tirade, I had the worst and most expensive Thai food in my life while I was there... I strongly do NOT recommend "Thai Moods" in Bucharest. But to end on a good note... the bakeries around town serve delicious pastries and breads.

So the next day I left for Brasov (in Transylvania)... two and a half hours north. At first, since I was in the metropolitan center of the town, I thought it would be another horrible congested town, but the old town here turned out to be quite peaceful. The hostel - Rolling Stone - is OK. Everything is basically in order, but they are a little too money-centric, and the tours they provide are a rip off... in comparison to doing it yourself. For example, I did Bran Castle today for a total of 7 lei for transportation costs while they charge you 40 lei. Granted... it's faster with their own private transport, but much more constrained... and most people that went with them didn't like that fact. (It makes sense if you are on a tight schedule, but that's it) But all that aside, I've had a couple of great days here, meeting and traveling with some great people. Igor and Eneko, two policemen from Basque region in Spain... along with their sidekick Koichi from Japan. Sarah and Maggie from Koln, Germany. And Isabelle and Chris from Quebec, Canada. They've made my time here in Brasov and surrounding areas very pleasant, and a very much needed place to relax for a couple of days. Hopefully I'll get to post more about this area soon... and hopefully post some photos too.

I wanted to visit the painted monasteries in the north, but this cold weather has turned me off to go northward... so tomorrow I'll start heading west... probably Sigisuara... making my way slowly toward Hungary.