RE-EXAMINING ROMANIA- A summing up of the state of affairs

.......previously, our last blog post from Romania, featuring the towns of Turda and Oradea, and our train journey through Hungary to get back to Serbia........

Considering Romania was a brand new country for us to travel around in, we thought we would take a minute to record some practicalities of the country. 1 GBP=5.70 RON

Breb village- our favourite place in Romania

Train travel in Romania was every bit as terrific as we had hoped. The Romanian Railway website was available as an English version and was easy to use. We would find out routes, times and prices online, and then buy a ticket directly from the station just before our trip. It also appeared that tickets could be bought on the train at the same cost. Most of the time we were able to travel where we wanted to via a direct train. Although not as cheap as in, say, neighbouring Serbia, the train price to service ratio was acceptable. The state run service CFR (!!) competed with private companies, but we found them all to be of comparable quality. Most of the trains we took were practically empty- Romanian people prefer the buses due to time restraints.

Romanian train at station

Romanian train inside

Speaking of buses, this was a common transport in Maramures. There are some trains in the region, but they didn't match up with our destination preferences and times. Mostly minibuses, they were fine- comfortable, direct, reasonably priced and the drivers didn't speed.

Hitch-hiking, however, was our main mode of transport in Maramures. It is a very acceptable way of travel in Romania, locals also partake. Sometimes money is exchanged, sometimes not. Mostly we were picked up by people curious to meet us, and the offer of money was refused. One exception to this was the main road between Sighetu and Sapanta, which seemed to be solely serviced by shared taxis. It was, perhaps, slightly more pricey than a bus, but as we paid the same as the locals, we couldn't complain. 

Accommodation was the biggest strain on our budget whilst travelling in Romania. Again, we had the issue of a unwanted and unnecessarily high standard of rooms- we are most happy with a cheap and cheerful basic room, but there are not too many of those in this part of the world. We were able to get over it, however, and enjoy the luxury! Rooms varied between wee studios, proper big apartments, hostel rooms, a shared Air B and B flat, a village cottage and small guesthouses. Regardless of the type of digs, we were paying on average around 110 RON/20GBP per night. Obviously, the accommodation with kitchens were better value, as we had the advantage of cooking for ourselves. We have found hostels in Europe to be overpriced in general, and although we sometimes stay in them for the social aspect, there are much better value for money options out there travelling as a couple. 

Fancy studio in Sibiu, Romania

Part of our apartment in Oradea, Romania

As people who know us, or read our blog will know, we love second hand clothes shopping, and Romania was a perfect place to restock our falling apart wardrobes for the coming summer. All the towns we visited had many small op shops, with fine prices and items often imported from Germany. We also visited a few big second hand clothing markets, but these didn't seem as common as, for instance, in the Balkans.

At the beginning of our visit, as we had chosen to travel in spring, there wasn't a particularly great range of fresh produce around, and many items were imported from Greece or Spain until the season got underway in Romania. As summer began in earnest, more local items such as tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, spring onion and herbs, and eventually some stone fruit started to appear on market stalls. Best of all was when the amazing strawberry season began- big, juicy and flavoursome. All the big European supermarkets were represented in Romania, and most stocked a good range of local foods and drinks. Markets were predictably fantastic. As well as offering mostly regional produce, they were great places to people watch, and see the peculiarities of a particular town. 

Yummy strawberries at Romanian market stall

Travelling on a budget, we mostly tried to cut costs by cooking ourselves and eating simply. When we sussed out the lunch special many restaurants had for the equivalent of 15 RON/2.50GPB, we ate a few meals out in traditional restaurants to try different dishes.

Fabulous food at home, Romania

Restaurant feast, with snitel, cabbage, mamaliga and pork with horseradish

We noticed many influences from the Balkan and Ottoman worlds in the Romanian cuisine- ciorba soup (the tripe version was the most popular), chiftele (kofta), fasole (bean casserole) and stuffed cabbage leaves/peppers. Austria and Hungary were represented with snitel (schnitzel) and gulas (goulash). Mamaliga (polenta) was a staple, and garlic, dill and pork appeared in a great many dishes. Rich loved the alcohol soaked "chocolate salami", a moist cake log. 

Every kind of sausage in pastry, Bucharest

Beans and sausage

Chocolate salami log

Booze was everywhere and some quite cheap and delicious local wines and beers could be found in the supermarkets. Interestingly, we didn't try the local tipple palinca (or horinca as it's known in the north) until we arrived in Maramures region, and then we had the delicious plum spirit almost every day. Another cherry flavoured liqueur we never got the name of, was also popular in this region, but it was too sweet for us. We were informed it was a ladies drink! Draft beer and palinca at a cheap bar were 4 RON/0.70GBP.

Two of the most popular beers in Romania

Romanian people could not be described as having a specific look, more of a homogenous "European" presence (whatever that means, these days). Fair-haired Saxon descendants and the odd red head, mingled with very dark, Indian-looking Roma people. The was also a relatively high presence of other ethnicities in the bigger towns, eg. Asian. We were often asked for directions etc in Romanian, indicating that if we could pass for locals, the look of the population was indeed very diverse! Roma people, although a minority, stood out in their often brilliant coloured clothes. Women went for sparkly shirts and aprons with scarves in their hair, and men often wore large brimmed black hats and waistcoats. 

Romanis dressed up for market day, Romania

The all important scarf, Romania

As we've said previously, Romanian men really do love a hat. Almost all older gentlemen wore them, as well as many younger members of the population. In particular in Maramures, men seem to stick just about anything on their head and call it a hat!

Common hat look in Romania

Saxons, Romani and Hungarians are the largest minorities in Romania today. Saxon culture remains strong, particularly in Transylvania, and Hungarians the same in the Banat region (western Romania). Numbers are less these days after the Romanian Revolution, when masses left to return to their homelands of Germany and Hungary. The Jewish community also greatly diminished after World War II when huge migration to Israel and the USA occurred.  

We noticed the difference distinctly moving from region to region, visually, but also in the attitude of people, especially when we entered the region of Maramures (populated mostly with Romanians). In the bigger towns of Transylvania and Banat people were pleasant enough, smiley and helpful if we needed it. But from Baia Mare northwards, locals showed us real kindness, and were genuinely welcoming, usually with smiles and sign language as less people spoke English in this area.

One cannot write about the Romania without mentioning how quiet the country is. Even in the bigger towns, we were rarely disturbed by any kind of noise whatsoever. Occasionally in country areas, dogs barking in the distance could get slightly annoying, but generally Romanians are subdued and calm people. This was especially amazing for us after spending the six previous months in Egypt, which is the exact opposite!!

They are a patriotic people, with Romanian flags on the streets, houses and businesses, as well as plastered on their clothes and even hats. They seem proud of the culture and heritage, and not ashamed to visually proclaim as much.

We've been reproved for our lack of maps in these Romanian blogs, sorry for that, George! Here's our movements for the last couple of months below........

A rough idea of our route through Romania, starting in Bucharest, and exiting into Hungary in the west

And that's all for Romania! We loved the country, and would definitely return for a visit, especially to the north. For now, however, we move on to new countries, and find somewhere to spend the summer.

Classic old Romanian made Dacia car

......further summer travels to Northern Serbia and Bosnia...........