(click to navigate)
MY TRIP
HOBO ADVICE
KISMET DAO HOSTEL
BRASOV
BUCHAREST
Greatest Mural Ever.
Romania Is an amazing place but the capital Bucharest is not too interesting. Spend more time in the country or smaller cities. If you get a chance to go to the Carpathia Mountains, definitely do so. They may not be as high or numerous as the Alps, but there are virtually no tourists and the scenery is incredible. Also, people seem to be much more relaxed than most of Europe and the society as a whole came across as helpful and welcoming. On top of that, everything is very cheap, so it's a great place to go out for a nice dinner or a night out without bankrupting yourself.
July 2015
My trip to this country was unfortunately a short one, but incredibly memorable. I arrived in Bucharest in early July of 2015 to meet my friend Blake. We spent a couple days there and had one pretty exciting night out with a group of Australians from our hostel before traveling to the smaller city of Brasov in the Transylvania region. I didn't particularly care for Bucharest so much, but I do admit it had a pretty nice old town. It's not like it was a bad city by any means, it just did not seem to have anything particularly unique or exciting. It was kind of lacking that spark of character you hope to find in a place. But Brazov, on the other hand was amazing! It felt like something directly out of a story book. If you do go to Romania, absolutely make sure you go there, it had that amazing feel of cultural authenticity, and it will be the focus of my writings below.
Although Bucharest was the starting city for Blake and I in Romania, we soon realized it would be more fun to see other parts of the country, and were recommended this small Transylvanian city. Bucharest had a nice old town center, but it did not have a particularly welcoming feel, but when we stepped off the train into this city, things immediately seemed better in all the best ways. Green trees lined the roads, the buildings appeared far more cultural and rustic, rolling hills surrounded from every side, and the hustle and bustle of the big city was replaced by calm residents and fresh air.
But there was something that particularly stood out about Brasov. Maybe it was the architecture, maybe it was the surrounding nature, or maybe it was the fact that everyone seemed to be tall and thin with pale skin and dark hair. But for some reason, Brasov looked and felt exactly as I had imagined Transylvania. It just had a certain lore to it, and it was amazing. Whether it was walking down the quiet city streets with the baroque architectures or climbing through the forests on the outskirts of the city, this feeling seemed everpresent. Except for one feature.
Overlooking the city on a green mountain covered in trees was a large sign that read BRASOV in large white block letters, similar to that of the HOLLYWOOD sign in Los Angeles. It seemed very out of place, but none the less, I thought it was hilarious, and on our first day there, Blake and I decided to climb up to it. We thought it would be awesome to get as close as we can (which apparently turned out to being on it), and it was. But we didn't consider the views that we would see on the way up. About twenty minutes into our climb, I decided to look out over the city and was mesmerized by what I saw.
Down below, in every direction, little red roofs covering the old city buildings turned hear and there in interwoven spirals and patterns, cobblestone roads crawled here and there like snakes through the grass, and green trees sprouted up from the ground nearly everywhere. And it got even better. Every step further up, more and more was visible, and soon, the open country, beyond the city confines, came into view as well. The only downside of this whole experience though happened to be the existence of a cable car that went from the city to the top of the mountain, which to me was cheating. It was an affront to nature, getting a chance to see the views without putting in any of the work.
But regardless, the city and surrounding country are both incredible and worth a several day visit. The mini old town is so picturesque and the restaurants there are delicious and very very very affordable. Plus, being in Transylvania, the city is pretty close to Bran Castle (the inspiration for the novel Dracula) which is definitely worth a visit, even though the actual man, Vladislav Dracul/Vlad the Impaler, did not actually live there.
Stay here!
Entrance to Kismet Dao
Hostel Dog!
While staying in Romania, one thing that took me by surprise was how nice the hostels were, and of these, Kismet Dao in Brasov stood out in particular. It was a bit tricky to find at first, all nestled away up a hill on a small quiet neighborhood street (as seen in the picture), but like the city itself, the hostel is nothing short of amazing and has a character quite unlike any place I've stayed at before.
The building may not call too much attention to itself from the outside, but once you step in and are greeted by a giant mural of Vlad the Impaler riding a bicycle, it instantly becomes apparent that there is something special about the place. The rooms were all colorful and artistic, but not in a too flashy way, and everything was set up in a way that seemed to maximize comfort, which included numerous couches, a large and welcoming common room and even a garden and patio if you (like me) often feel the need to go outside, such as when you eat the free breakfast provided, which here happened to be pretty extensive.
But accommodations aside, it was the little quirks of this place that truly made it stand out. For example, it is, to this day, the only hostel I've ever stayed at that gives you a free beer or other drink if you prefer every single day. And if you'd like another, it's less than $1/less than 1 euro. But if that's not amazing enough, there's even a hostel dog! Yes, among the guests resided a big, friendly dog, always there to give you a nice welcome. Still the only one I've come across so far.
And the staff was super helpful too. Blake and I, for example, had a Wizz Air flight to Hungary from a different city called Targu Mures and never bothered to check how to get there from Brasov. Turns out, there is no direct bus or train... or pretty much anything. When we realized this, we thought we were royally screwed, but the woman at the front desk stepped into action and within minutes had a car ready to take us to our destination for a pretty inexpensive fare (despite a 3 hour drive). So yeah, this place was great.
July 2017
Although Bucharest wasn't the most interesting of cities, it did produce one pretty good story. Please enjoy:
My friend Blake had just arrived in Bucharest, his first ever foreign country. I had already been traveling for a little bit, but had recently been stricken by a violent stomach bug after having the "brilliant" idea of drinking from the tap in an Istanbul airport bathroom (if you ever find yourself in such a place, just buy the bottles water. Believe me, it's worth it). Anyway, this was the first first day of our trip together and, jet lag and possible intestinal parasite aside, we wanted to make it exciting. For this, we needed a crew, so we decided to ask around the hostel. Like a pair of hungry dogs in search of food, we scoured all four floors of the building to join us in our quest to explore Romanian nightlife. Unfortunately, despite our valiant effort, we we only able to get two other people on board. One guy was another American and the other was from Britain. We did also mention our plans to a group of Australians who were just checking in as we were heading out, but they needed time to unpack, get dinner and everything. 'Oh well,' I though, 'small groups can still be fun.'
We sat down at the first bar of the night, eager to get to know our new companions, but unfortunately we soon realized the folly in our initial optimism. The American guy remained transfixed to his cell phone, completely oblivious to the world around him. Meanwhile, the British guy just complained about everything. And I mean everything. He complained that Romania sucked, Britain sucked, his job sucked, that he hadn't gotten laid in a long time, and Romanian girls wouldn't respond to his pick up attempts. In short, this wasn't a good start to the night, and we soon took the first chance to separate ourselves from these two (something that turned out to be very easy).
Determined to salvage the night, Blake and I feverishly wandered the old town, but by 2:00am, we reluctantly decided it was about time to head back and try our luck tomorrow. With our heads hung low, we walked towards the door, when suddenly, as if some sort of divine intervention, the doors flung open and in entered the group of Aussies from our hostel. "Hey!" One shouted. "It's the guys from earlier!" "This round's on me!" Exclaimed another. And just like that, as we were ready to give in to despair, the night sprung up out of the wreckage and soared into the air. From this point on, it was clear, never give up hope on the night!