Sorry for the delay in contact. Can be hard to find the internet and the time to update my blog. Today I am in a smashing Bulgarian campsite ready to tell you about my adventures in Hungary and Romania.
First of all, here is a link that will show you my route on a map. Its a bit behind and maybe not be 100% accurate but its good:
So anyway.. arrived at our campsite in Budapest late afternoon. Being kind it wasn't the best one we've been to. More like a driveway full of wrinkly Italians with weird dogs. We camped up in the trees but it looks like a taster of whats to come.
We had a few drinks before bed staying up till after 12 to see in Jen's birthday.
The next day we headed into town. Took the bus into the city centre. About an hour in, rain.. DISASTER in fliup flops!! Yok! Decided to take a bus tour around as the weather was dodgy. This was a bad idea as it was windowless which made it cold.
Aside from the bad weather which cleared up in the afternon Budapest can only be described as a beautiful city. From the top of the hill over looking the city, the views were breathtaking.
We had traditional Goulash soup for lunch which was good. Waitor came up with the best joke of the country:
Paul: "Does the soup come with some bread?"
Waitior: "No, I come with the bread"
Genius..
We headed back to the campsite and had dinner in the bar with the wrinkly Italians followed by a few bevvies.. We headed back to the truck for an after party which serves as an excellent bad weather drinking tent!
The following day saw a 12 hour drive to Romania where we bushcamped near Turda Gorge. Crossing the border from Hungary was a real shock. Hungary was flat agricultural land, Romania was huge derelict Communist buildings, Prostitutes on the side of the road and random people sitting there staring at you with no place to go. Romania feels like the first proper "foreign" country we've been to. When we crossed the border we saw a frickin sheperd herding his frickin sheep.. a sheperd?? Now I'm foreign!
Turda Gorge is a magnificent example of unspoilt natural beauty that has yet to be discovered by tourists. We had a local guide take us around for a trek that took a good 5 hours. We're talking savage views here people.Take note.
The evening was spent making as much noise as possible as there were no neighbours for miles. Singsongs were had.. Club Calypso was born.. (Calypso is the name of our truck)
Next moring, with talks of "are we alcoholics?" we headed for our first Hotel in Sigisoara. This was bliss! First shower in 3 days felt fantastic. Also, me and Denis shared a bed! We looked around the town which was the birth place of Vlad Dracul who was the influence of the Dracula stories. We had a look around and visited the church where he was buried.
Another hot shower the following day and we arrived in a lovely campsite in Bucharest. I always like to see a city by night and day so we headed into town in the evening. It was great because my fellow Irish compatriot Aoife had a friend in Bucharest so she showed us around. We all met up with her the following day as well and she showed us all the sights. I had positive impressions of the city. It was a strange atmosphere. The people didn't seem the friendlist but the whole place gives the impression that they are still recovering from Communism. The city is full of beautiful buildings mixed with ugly Communist ones. Its also full of what can only be described as "random" churches. Apparently the Communists hated religion so they would keep moving them. Therefore you get churches down small alleys and any random place you might find. Aoife's friend Christina told us all sorts of storis about how she used to get ice on her homework because the Communists banned central heating in the winter to save money.
I feel like I've caught Romania and especially Bucharest in a transitionary period. There is a huge amount of construction going on and the country seems to be determined to move on from its difficult past. Give it 10 years and it will rival Prague for its beauty.
Currently in Bulgaria heading to Istanbul next week. Its starting to get interetsing!
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