Hungary and Romania

Night Trains

After Munich, I had to head back through Salzburg in order to go east toward Turkey. Spent the afternoon hanging out in this town and I gave Midori the two-cent tour of what sights I knew about. The trip was worth it because I picked up another letter waiting at the American Express office. We ate dinner at some fast seafood place and then sat at a hostel and watched the shoot-out at the US Capitol on CNN. The train was on time and we actually managed to get a little sleep. I think that many people got off at Vienna or something, because by morning we were able to lie down across the seats in our compartment. Still, we were tired when we arrived in Budapest, so we checked into the Yellow Submarine and went to sleep till noon.

Budapest

I was a little surprised at how Westernized this slightly Eastern country looked. Prices were not much cheaper and amenities were still as good as ever. Given, this is the capital and the Austro- Hungarian Empire used to rule over this whole region, but the country still straddles the line between East and West. Anyway, Midori and I met a couple nice guys from the States and the Netherlands and a girl from Canada. We spent a couple days together walking throughout the city and discussing the politics and life issues that wandering backpackers seem concerned with.

Caving and Bathing

We topped off our final full day with a morning of spelunking. Every Monday and Wednesday the hostel folks organize an outing to one of the many limestone caves found in Hungary. Nine of us rode the bus out to the hills in order to crawl through this wacky cave. It was more crawling, climbing, scraping, and sliding than I thought it would be. I guess you could say it was a good challenge. After that adventure, I was happy to relax in one of the famous thermal baths. These are a holdover from Roman and Ottoman times when people would congregate at these huge public baths to enjoy the various water temps (cool 28, warm 36, and hot 38).

Oradea

Skipping some story about entering into Romania, we arrived in this border town in early evening. Not a very touristy place, but we did manage to run into a fellow backpacker, Dave, would had come across China, Mongolia, and Russia from Hong Kong. We shared a room for two nights at the Hotel Black Vulture. Things still didn't seem too bad off considering that this country was communist only ten years ago. The transition to capitalism is not complete, but there are plenty of consumer goods stores and fine restaurants to please anyone.

Brasov

Continuing on the rail toward Istanbul, we stopped next in Transylvania. Found only expensive hotels, but were able to get a real good private room in a house. Everything was going cool as we walked around and did more relaxing. There is not much to see here aside from the cheesy Dracula castle, which the guy never lived in. We were just taking time to relax. I went to the post office a couple hours ago to send off some postcards AND... someone stole my wallet right out of my backpack.

Shucks

I guess being taken advantage of by thiefs twice (see Thailand story) makes me a bit of a glutton. I consider myself to be pretty safe, but I figure if people wanna steal, they will steal. I chased the two young guys for a bit, but it was no use. I lost about $150 in marks, dollars, and lei, not to mention my IDs and whatnot. The show must go on though. Like before, I still have my passport, some travelers checks, and my plane ticket. Things could be worse. I am trying to take it in stride, but it really leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Anyway, like Thailand, I still recommend a visit to this country despite the possibility of lost items. Happy Trails.