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Errands
I woke up before eight and made a half-hearted effort to get on the 9am train to Romania. It turns out it was leaving from a different station, so I just purchased a ticket for the noon train. Went back and had some breakfast at the hostel. Next I
mailed some postcards and tried to make some phone calls. I wanted to reserve a bed in Oradia, since I wouldn't be getting in till about 6pm. Not much luck with that, though. At the same time, Midori was trying to decide if she was going to come along to the east. Just when she decided she would, someone pointed out that she needed visas for Romania and Bulgaria before she could get into Turkey, where her flight leaves from. While she contemplated, I changed some money with the guy at the desk. Sold him my Lets Go book and got some dollars, Romanian lei, and Bulgarian stuff too. Then there was a girl who sold me 10million Turkish lira for only 40marks. Ready to leave.
MAV International #305
The four-car train was not especially new or clean, but the synthetic leather seats still had some spring to them. We
sat in a compartment with three older Hungarian women, one with a granddaughter. After a couple hours, they all got off, and we were left with a Polish guy. Marek is studying to be a Jesuit priest. This being his summer vacation from theology studies, he was headed to Romania to volunteer at a sort of orphanage. Evidently he speaks Romania well and has visited a few times. He filled us in on a few things and told us that we might find trouble at the border.
Crossing
Until 1989 Romania was a communist country. Like most of the eastern block, there was a revolution during that year, and a new
government formed. However the communists were only replaced by different communists who weren't really sure how to reform the system. The old-school style can still be seen in some of the paperwork and inefficiency. However, judging by our border crossing, perhaps there is some progress. Sure there were armed soldiers who searched the train for bombs and spies. They kept guard while the immigration officials came onboard. The officials spoke an interesting brand of English and were not at all pushy. When they saw that Midori didn't have a visa, they simply asked us to wait for a minute. Another man came and sold her the proper stamp for US20 (important to have the hard currency here) and wished us a good trip. My first impression was very good.
Oradea
Just over the border we got off at the first stop. Not many tourists around. Not even a change shop. I didn't even have enough Romanian money to get a good map. Ran into an Australian
with similar problems. His guidebook did have a map, though, so we were able to find the downtown. Nobody seemed to want Hungarian florints, but we did manage to change some. Found the Black Vulture Hotel where we are sharing a triple with Dave. Went out for dinner in the middle of a huge rainstorm and then came back for a little reading. So far things seem a little cheaper, life a little slower, and the weather a little cooler. I hope our good luck continues.
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