Dodging Vampires in Romania

8.21.06, Trip to ROMANIA

Mike and I got up early to begin our journey through the rest of Eastern Europe and eventually back to Germany for Oktoberfest 2006. Our next destination was Romania. We had to catch a 9am train back to Budapest and then from there to Sighisoara, Romania. We walked to the train station and with my luck, they didn’t accept credit cards, so I had 15 minutes to run all the way into town to the ATM and back. I ran my ass off and barely made it back, 1 minute before the train left.

One thing that I’ve become fairly good at is ending up with as little amount of cash before crossing over into another country. This way I don’t have to bother with exchange rates. So I bought a gyro at the train station and will be leaving Hungary with only 80Ft, about 75 cents.

Most of the day Mike and I read through a few guidebooks and decided waht we were going to do for the next two months. I decided to spend the majority of my time in Croatia because it sounds unbelievable. A saltwater paradise.

We met this french guy on the train to Romania who told us that he and his friend rented a boat and trekked from island to island for a few days. I really, really, liked the sound of that. We arrived at 4am. When we crossed the border from Hungary to Romania, the staff and guards switched. Our French friend had to bribe the Romanian guard because he said his ticket was invalid. A total lye, but what can you do?? You either pay him money, or get thrown off in the middle of God knows where. It was foggy and raining... and we had just entered the true Vampire Country... Transylvania. OOOOOOOOOh! We walked to our hostle down the creepy cobblestone streets to our hostle Nathan’s Villa. Luckily, the front door was unlocked and nobody was around except a few passed out people on a couch. We walked down into the bar and crashed on some wooden bar benches.

That morning an old lady came down tapped us on the shoulder and led us to a bunkroom to allow us to sleep in some beds. How nice. When I woke up, I was in a room full of sleeping travelers. But one in particular had black semi-curly hair and a goatee. Aaron had somehow ended up in the same village and hostel as Mike and I had, unplanned! What a coinsidence!

8.22.06, Sighisoara, Transylvania

I am writing this entry from a park on the hillside in the center of Sighisoara. It is a small town settled in the tree-covered mountains of Transylvania. It is stunning. I get the feeling now that I am out of tourist countries… I mean, who goes to Romania for their summer vacation?? There are old citadel spires rising up from the old but colorful buildings. I walked into a small open area where children were singing and playing. I sat on a nearby bench and listened in. I was taking photos and I showed them to the children. They laughed and I soon had a small crowd around me. A lot of them surprisingly spoke English very well. They were very interested in where I came from and how long I was staying. I told them I didn’t know how long. One little boy said…Total freedom, wow… He told me they were singing and dancing tonight at 6pm in the village square. I will definitely be there; I promised I would come to see what they have obviously put a lot of time into preparing for their performance.

This place is amazing. Untouched by tourism. It seems like I’ve walked back in time to the middle ages. The streets are dirt roads with rugged cobblestone. The buildings are old and multicolored through years of weathering. They seemed stained, but beautiful greens, pinks, and reds spread across the facades like watercolor. The buildings are crooked and un-even, with twisting and beautiful iron lamps that stick out overhead.

I was standing at the edge of some back alley, right on the side of a cliff overlooking the Transylvanian landscape and this old blind woman approached me from the darkness out of a tunnel. She was asking for money, but instead, I tried to give her a conversation. I showed her the notes I wrote down on how to say some Romanian words. She pulled out a Legally Blind card, which proves and identifies her as being a blind person. It showed her disfigured eye in a close-up. It was disturbing, but I did not physically show that. I understand that she wanted money, but I literally had none to give her. So I gave her some left over Hungarian change and asked if I could take her photo. She said thank you and headed off.

I was writing in my book there on the steps and a little kid came up the stairs ascending up the wall beneath me. He was smoking a cigarette! He said something to me; I think he was asking me for a cig. I said no. He motioned for me to follow him and he led me back behind the castle wall into some trees and sat down. This must have been his hang out. It was a trash dump along the city walls, hidden from view. He pulled out an old, wet half used box of soggy cigarettes that he must have found in the trash from the waistband of his shorts and lit one from the current cig he had. I asked him his name and he said Noah. I asked if I could take a photo of him. I did and he seemed proud and cool to be smoking a cig. Then he asked if he could take one of me. I was thinking in the back of my head that I’d better watch him in case he took off, but I trusted him though. I figure he trusted me enough to bring me to his hiding place, so I could show a little trust in return. He took a photo of me and laughed. I don’t know if he’s ever seen a digital camera before. I asked how old he is and Noah said 9 years old. He was not scared or intimidated of me whatsoever. He talked to me like I was one of his little friends. This must be a very peaceful, safe place with all these children running around all the time. I gave him some Hungarian money. He tried to grab my 10 piece, because it was the largest coin, but I told him that one is for me. I said salut and he shook my hand, and I left him there to enjoy his cigarette.

So I continued walking and it starts to pour rain. Most people would be like… damn, but I’m like… this is freaking awesome! I’m in Transylvania and it is pouring rain! The rain blew over and the sun cam out, leaving light streaks beaming down onto the old red rooftops. I climbed to the top of a clock tower to take in the view. There was this really cool egg holder with this neat winged lion on it. There was a guy there who got pissed when I took a picture, so I drew it instead.

I hung around a little until the dance festival started. Now this was a pretty cool thing to see. In the main square, high in the old city on the mountaintop, was a concert stage set up and a lot of tents selling meat and beer. The children were standing around waiting for the event to start. It reminded me of the same thing I had to do in Elementary School. Basically there were about six different age groups who were dressed in various cultural garments. You know, I’m kind of jealous. These young kids were dressed up in all kinds of flashy dresses and sparkly hats. When I had to do traditional dances, I was wearing my neon green sweat pants and spotted Nickelodeon T-shirt! Gotta love the 80’s…Thanks Mom. Anyway, the kids that I met at the park earlier saw me and I waved and said hi. I think they were glad that I showed up to see them dance. It eve started to pour rain, but I told those kids that I would stay and watch their dancing. It was so beautiful to see hundreds of years of Romanian culture through these dances, and how they spread it and continue the tradition through their children. These dances have been passed down for generations. Beautiful.

I ran into some 17 year olds on the Cliffside overlooking the lower city. Two of them spoke broken English. Their names are Tihi and Levi (Levee). I heard about a big graveyard up above behind the citadel and I asked them if they would take me there. They looked a little scared, but then finally agreed. So, the group of Americans, Canadians, and Romanians walked up to the graveyard. Once we entered through the creaky metal gates it started pouring rain again. I could just barely make out the names on the grey and black tombstones. There were paths that stretched out everywhere. IJ could get completely lost if I wasn’t paying attention. So, Tihi and Levi were telling me about how they usually have guard dogs roaming the graveyard at night. Well, in the distance we start to hear dogs barking and Tihi was like “RUN!” We all ran through the graveyard and up onto the porch of this mausoleum out of the rain and away from the dogs. I couldn’t help to think how insane this is. Here I am, in the middle of Transylvania, in Vlad Tepes (Dracula’s) birthplace and hometown, in a graveyard where the vampire myth originated! I guess it would be convenient now to tell you the story of Vlad Tepes.

Vlad Tepes was the son of the reigning King Dragul, who was feared for his unkindness and brutality. Vlad was named Dragula, the son of Dragul. The King sent Vlad away when he was a boy because he was too soft hearted and not mean enough to be a future King. He sent Vlad to be tortured somewhere in the East. This is where Vlad learned a method of torture that he would use to drive fear into his future enemies. Vlad returned and became King. He became known as Vlad the Impaler when an invading army of modern day Bulgaria failed at attacking Vlad’s Empire. He impaled 20,000 men on the battlefields surrounding his castle in Bran on 10 foot spears and left them dangling there to die. The next wave of attackers saw the rotting bodies and skeletons of their former colleagues and fled back to their home country in fear. This man was born in a house just down the road from where I am standing, and I’m standing in his graveyard… cool!

On the walk back down from the old city to the hostel, I was talking to Levi and Tihi. Levi taught himself English in two years. I know they wanted to speak to me for practice. They told me that I’m lucky to be able to travel. Most of them haven’t even been out of Romania. They thought we were rich. I explained to them that I worked hard to make money to travel. They explained to me that it is very hard to make money here because their currency is not strong. It is 3 Leu to 1 USD. Even though we might have the same amount of money and worked just as hard for it, the value of it is different. It is easier to generate money in the US. They would have to work 3 times the amount I did to gain the same value of what I have earned.

I exchanged emails and cell numbers and said goodbye when I reached the hostel. I went inside and hung out for a while before going to sleep. Maybe I’ll wake up as a vampire, you never know.

8.23.06

Mike and I went to get a haircut in town. This little old lady in her barbershop didn’t speak a word of English. I was going off of chance here. Mike went first. He said, “just a little shorter please,” She practically completely buzzed his head. I tried to hold my laughter and realized that I was next. When I got up there, I tried to do some hand motions and describe a little more in detail so I didn’t end up like Mike. I was lucky. She did a great job.

We walked around the village and stopped to get some food. I was recommended a dish by some Romanians I met in Prague, the Ciorba de Burta, AKA Cow Stomach Soup. When I got it, it looked like a nice yellow broth. I put my spoon in and brought up some of the meat from the bottom of the bowl. It was shredded cow stomach. It looked God-awful. It was white and very chewy with a texture similar to squid. The meat was tough and elastic like. I guess it didn’t taste too bad, but the thought of knowing that I was eating a cow gut kind of grossed me out a bit. But I didn’t want to be rude and I ate the whole thing. Yum.

I ran into the old blind lady on the street and she seemed so happy to see me! She gave me a big warm smile and took my hand and kissed it. I smiled back and said thank you as I was walking away. I realized I could’ve said more but oh well. Now that made me feel so good inside to know that I made a small difference in her life and she was so thankful and happy to see me. I love connecting with people on an emotional level like that, no matter who you are.

Well, the Nathan’s Hostel apparently didn’t receive our reservation for the next night, so Mike, Aaron and the two Canadians and I had to leave. Fortunately, we only had to walk 5 doors down and we all stayed in this old lady’s house. We rented the basement from her. Mike and I headed out to walk around the village again and headed to the graveyard to see in the daytime. It was at the very top and was on the tallest point of the hill. The gates were open and the sun was shining. It was a wonderful overlook out into the dense forested hills. After meandering for a while, we met Aaron, the two Canadians, three German girls, and two British girls for dinner at this place called The Rustic. I tried the next thing on my “Romanian Foods to Eat” list, and the Sarmale was next. It was delicious. They are minced meat rolled in cabbage. It tasted like my moms croc pot stew she used to make me as a kid. For dessert, I had ice cream wrapped in a crepe with chocolate sauce.

That night things got a little crazy and I hope that whatever photos were developed instantly burn up the second they see light. We all walked back to Nathan’s Villa to hang out with the rest of the youths and I had no idea what I was walking into. They were having a cross dressing party. The girls were wearing the guy’s clothes and the guys were dressed in the girl’s clothes. After a while of feeling like an outcast, I was like “Screw it”…and told Pippa, the British girl, to follow me towards the bar and asked her to switch clothes with me. I walked out, reaching a new low in my life as a MAN, and one of the Romanian girls ran up to me with makeup and just went to town on my face. I walked out of there wearing barely fitting girls pant and a blouse with eyeliner and lipstick on. If anyone ever sees the photos of that night and tries to laugh or use them as blackmail, it will not faze me. My response will be… Dude, I was in ROMANIA! That should set things straight.

8.24.06 To Brasov (pronounced Brashov)

Mike and I decided to head to Brasov today and see Dracula’s Castle. We bought our train tickets, got on the train, and started to relax for our 2.5-hour train ride to Brasov. The conductor comes around and we give him our tickets. He looks at us funny and says, “Brasov is that way,” pointing the opposite direction. So, we were heading off into the yonder, not knowing where the hell we were. We got off the train at a small, small village. Nobody was there except for some guys repairing the train tracks. We figured out that the next train to get back to Sighisoara didn’t come for 3 hours. We sat and waited.

Two kids, age 12, sat down next to us on the busted train station bench. Mike said, “Hey, what are you guys doing here?” and one kid said, “This is OUR place.” Well they were on summer break and they pretty much just came to the train station everyday to hang out. When I say train station, I mean a busted up, paint peeling ticket booth, 2 benches, and a train track. The village behind me had only a few houses, some tractors, and a hell of a lot of chickens. There wasn’t much for these kids to do around here. I think they were excited to see two foreigners sitting in their usually empty hangout spot. We started talking, they were asking more about us than we were of them. I had my IPod out, watching Top Gun and they thought it was amazing. One kid asked if I had any 50 Cent or Eminem. It is amazing that Eminem and 50 once grew up on the streets of urban America and now their names are known in the smallest of towns around the globe… and representing America as well. So I trusted them and gave them my IPod so he and his friends could listen to their gangsta rap. One even asked me if I had any Porn on it!! I was sorry to disappoint him. One hour later there were about 6 kids surrounding us. Only one of them spoke English, so he would translate for us. I decided this would be a good time to show off one of my magic tricks because no matter who you are, everyone can relate to magic. I put one quarter in the palm of both my hands. Then, palms up, I folded down my fingers over them and asked the kids to place on more quarter on each one on the tops of my now covered fists. I asked them if they believe in the laws of gravity and say that I’m about to break them. I “swallow” the coins resting on the tops of my fist in through the cracks of my between my fingers so they all can see that all the quarters are now in my hand. I asked them if they are prepared to be amazed. When I opened my hands, there was only one quarter in my left hand and three in my right! I transported one quarter to the other hand miraculously. All of the kids gasped and went “WHOOOOOAA!” They were all so amazed that they wanted me to do another trick, but honestly, I didn’t know any more!

I had a half loaf of bread and some jam that I didn’t want so I offered it to the kids. The said, “No thanks, but they will,” and pointed to these three little boys, probably about five or six years old. They were picking berries off the ground on the other side of the tracks and eating them. They were filthy dirty. They didn’t have any shoes, messy hair, dirty faces and hands. It was a very sad sight for me. One of the kids we were sitting with yelled something in Romanian to them and all three raced over to me and snatched the bread out of my hands. Then the boy who spoke English took off his sandal and chased them away, threatening to hit them with his sandal. I asked him why do you chase them away? “Because they are stupid. They have bugs on them and they are dirty.” This amazed me how little affection these kids had for the homeless. He said, “they don’t really have a home, so they go from town to town sneaking on to trains to ask for money or just to find food. They can’t return home without money because their father will beat them.”

Our train came and we waved goodbye to the kids. They all wanted to shake our hands. We arrived back in Sighisoara and we had 2 more hours to burn, so we walked back into town to get some pizza. The train to Brasov was amazing. The scenery was like something out of a movie. There were lush green fields with farmers working on their crops. Children were running up to the train and waving as we cruised by. I spent most of the time standing up with my arms and head resting out the window frame, allowing the clean breeze to blow through my hair. The mountains grew larger and larger as we approached Brasov.

A man approached us right when we got off and offered us accommodation. Any time somebody approaches us we are cautious right off the bat. He seemed genuine and he offered to let us stay at his place. His name is Florin and he was so helpful to us. He even gave us a map that he drew on to tell us the major destinations to see in Brasov. He warned us that all the professional pickpockets in Romania come to Brasov because it is the main tourist destination.

We walked down to the main town square for dinner. The mountains just tower right at the edge of the city. At the top of one peak there is a no so attractive “Hollywood” sign that says BRASOV in large bold white letters. We ate at a recommended restaurant by Florin. I had the “Romanian Special” which I was worried was an excuse for the cooks to put something in my food that didn’t belong there, but it turned out fine. It was minced meat on potato wedges. We enjoyed our meal and walked back to Florins apartment to watch some telly and pass out.

8.25.06 Brasov

I slept in until 1pm, something I haven’t done in a long time, and it felt great! Mike and I walked down to the supermarket to buy some sandwiches and brought back to the house to eat. One thing that I’ve seen here in Romania more than anywhere else is the amount of people limping, or is crippled in some way. It is sad because most of them can’t afford any kind of help for whatever illness or injury is dealt to them. So they just have to deal with it.

We walked into the city looking for some shopping street and instead ran into the base of the mountains. So, I said, “Why not?” Mike and I started climbing up the slope. We had no idea where the trail would take us, but we just kept going up anyway. It got very steep. I would say that the mountains here are the closest comparison the Rockies. They aren’t as highly elevated, but the trees and landscape looks somewhat similar. We met a guy on the trail who pointed us to the summit. I asked him if it was dangerous at all. He said, “Just watch out for the bears.” I explained to Mike as we were hiking what to do if we run into a Bear. I have extensive knowledge on this topic thanks to my Mother reading my Brother and I Bear attack stories on our road trips throughout America and Canada when we were kids. If we were to ever run into a Bear, she would have us well prepared for it.

We made it to the summit, which happened to be right where the giant BRASOV sign was. There was a beautiful look out over the entire city nitched into the base of the mountains below us. It was so steep, the city looked to be directly below us. We met a guy from Vancouver named Marco. He was pretty much doing the same thing we were doing and is taking a year off of his Chemical Engineering job to travel and get some life experience. The only thing is he is traveling the World in the opposite direction. He gave me some great advice about China, like hiking to the top of Hua Shan Mountain in Xian to see the sun rise. We offered Marco to come back to our place to eat some pasta and headed back after another stroll around the town square. Marco told us all about his time wandering around China and Tibet. He actually got sick in China and had to go to a hospital for a week. We agreed to meet Marco tomorrow to go to Bran Castle and he took off. Mike and I headed to the internet café for a few hours before going to bed.

8.26.06 Brasov +3

Well, first thing I learned about Bran Castle is that it IS NOT Dracula’s Castle. Dracula actually had nothing to do with this castle, and he probably has never been there at all. It is simply a tourist stunt to bring in the crowds. The castle was very cool to see though. I think the film Bram Stokers Dracula was filmed here, which would explain the hordes of Vampire and Dracula T-shirts and accessories available for purchase outside the gates in the tourist shacks. It was perched upon the top of a piney hill, with a central spire and very triangular pointy, steep rooftops, which is typical for the Transylvania area. The castle was neat looking on the outside, boring old photos on the inside.

On the way back, Mike, Marco and I had to literally jump on to the moving bus to get back to Brasov. The driver didn’t wait and we weren’t going to wait for the next bus, so we jumped in through the open front door. Oddly, the driver was completely OK with this. Marco had to catch a train so we told him to meet us at Oktoberfest in a few months.

Our next destination was to get to the tourist office to find out if we could catch a train to Belgrade, Serbia. It started pouring rain and we got 100% soaking wet. We found out how to get there and walked home, made dinner and slept for a few.

That evening, Florin woke us up. He said it is traditional in Romania to give his guests a homemade shot. He poured us three shots of some clear liquor that he made in the country with his Grandfather. He warned us that it was strong and it was… very, very strong. Probably the strongest drink I’ve had the entire trip. After that we all headed to the billiard down the street to play some table tennis and pool. Now Florin is quite the athlete. He used to play professional soccer for Romania and he claims to be very good at table tennis, which is a very popular sport here. I always thought of table tennis as a fun game you’d play as a kid, but this dude was serious! He has been playing for 30 years. We get to the table to play and I bend down to tie my shoe. When I came back up I see Florin cracking his neck, jumping up and down, and stretching his arms out. He gave me a few pointers before he brutally destroyed me. He did however show me some really cool tricks. He was also really good at pool. After a good three hours and a beer, we walked back in the pouring rain.

8.27.06 To Bucharest, Timosaura, and then Serbia.

Today is yet another travel day, as we head over to the Croatian Coast. We woke up and Florin said us off. He truly is a great guy and I’ll recommend him to anyone heading this way. He gave us some ramen noodles on our way out as well.

This time we made sure we got on the right train. Yet again, the scenery was stunning. It was a foggy day along the forest and mountaintops. We had about six hours to burn in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. This place is a hole. From my experience there is nothing to do here, it is just an endless city. So to buy some time, we found a movie theater and walked 2 miles in the hot sun with all our gear. We piled our gear into the theater with us. We saw “Over the Hedge,” in English. We took the metro back and bought some food at a grocery store to load up before our night train to Beograd…Belgrade, Serbia.

I was stunned when I walked by a shop in the train station and a John Elway #7 Denver Broncos jersey was hanging in the window. I stopped to pay homage to the quarterback god and rubbed it in Mikes face that even Romania supports the Broncos. I even made him take a photo of it with me in it…hahaha. Another extremely uncomfortable night train ride later and we were in the Serbian city of Belgrade.