Eastern Europe 2005

Been spending the last two nights in Brasov and we’re off to Sighisoara this arvo.

Got here very early in the morning and had to tackle some random people who tried to offer us accommodations and taxis etc. I was absolutely knackered and wasn’t in the best mood. And it was COLD. Anyway we caught a cab to the hostel and just crashed there. They said we were lucky because it wasn’t full. Just a couple of days earlier people had to sleep on the floor because there were no free beds.

Brasov is interesting. It’s quite pretty.. not stunning pretty like Prague or Cesky Krumlov, but it’s.. nice. Just have to be careful when you walk down the streets because at any moment you may step on a dog poo. Yuck.

The currency here is confusing the hell out of everyone. They just had a new currency in July where they cut down 4 zeros out of their money and now they still use both currencies and it’s so bloody confusing. I think even the locals are confused. It sounds scary sometimes to pay 250000 for a meal where in fact it’s worth nothing. Takes a while to get used to.

Met a great bunch of people at the hostel. Been having dinners together in a big group for the past two nights. There are like 8-10 beds in a dorm room so it’s a bit cramped. But it’s ok, I suppose. They have a big living area and cable, so we’ve been hanging out in the living room watching A LOT of MTV (or Discovery Channel, or National Geographic….).

We went to Rasnov and the Dracula castle in Bran yesterday. As expected, it wasn’t too impressive or "draculaey" but it’s something that you have to do when you’re here. The rain was pouring in the arvo when we were waiting to catch a bus to the train station to book our tickets. I was drenched, and not happy. The bus was jampacked full of people and it was so stuffy.. no wonder people get jacked all the time on the bus. I have to put a padlock on my backpack all the time here, which is kind of a pain, but necessary.

Sighisoara is supposed to be a tiny town (with only 4 streets!) so we might have made a mistake booking a hostel for 2 nights, but oh well. Just gonna chill I suppose.

Well, not much time left so I better go. Will write more when we get to Sighisoara, if we can find an internet cafe.

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