Istanbul to Bucharest

Tuesday 3 May 2011

I'm on my own! Yesssssss! Enjoying a bit of quiet time. Ventured out by myself to explore Istanbul. Got wifi from Maccas, skyped a few people over my cheeseburger. Trekked about 2 km down the road to the tram to struggle with the token machine, then tram across the river to Sirkeci Station to buy my ticket to Bucharest. zero problems! 5 hours to kill, strolled around the spice markets, which i enjoyed much more than grand bazaar. wandered for ages In my thongs resulting in very sore foots. walked back over the bridge to look for an iPad charger, the helpful man then told me to go back to a shop next to the train station! So after a lot of walking, friendly customers acting as translators and some good hand signals I have a charger that will work here in Europe! great success!! Some guy selling Bosphorus cruises baled me up, told me I was beautiful, told me that if I wasn't leaving turkey today he'd definitely make me his girlfriend, and gave me his card and a dodgy plastic flower headband. Despite all this persistent courting i had to let him down gently, he was very sad :)
then a quiet relax on level 14 of the Conrad, sipping Pinot grigio (had to get rid of the last of my Turkish lira) waiting for the traffic to die down so I can get a cab over to the train with my big bag! Woohoooooo!
Sharing my sleeper car with Carmen from America, she caught the train all the way from London to Istanbul so she helped me a lot. It was a bit scary, got off the train at 4am in a misty Bulgarian town to get passport stamped, then more officials checked us out once we passed into Romania. It's a bit intimidating having 4 officious looking men standing in the doorway to your car poking around in all your stuff and radioing off to HQ to check your passport number! EEEEP!!

Wednesday 4 May 2011
The last time I travelled for 22 hours I flew all the way from Brisbane to Istanbul. This time i only managed to go the distance from Brisbane to Sydney. Got a top bunk so saw virtually none of the countryside as we puffed along. It was all pretty bleak and horrible anyway. Arrived in Bucharest at 9pm, it was scary! Dark and dingy, but Carmen was staying at the hotel right next door to mine so got home safe and sound. No local money = no dinner... 

Thursday 5 May 2011
Today is much nicer, had brekky in the lobby, sussed out wifi down there too. Got a good map of the city and some underground train tips from the guy on reception, then set out for the day!! Got my train ticket to Budapest sorted, phew! Got a metro ticket, took 2 separate lines out to the Village Museum. A large area on the river is set aside as a museum with heaps of different historical houses relocated from their original placements throughout Romania. Some dating back to 1775. The interiors are all decked out with the furnishings and tools of the time. I especially liked the church, and the table and stools about 30cm off the ground. There was a cool mud brick hut half built into the ground. There were windmills, a hydraulic felting machine, seed press, boat house, an inn, barns, etc. Now my shoes are soaking wet, wind is up and I am freezing and miserable. Going to retreat to the warmth and safety of my room. More exploring tomorrow.

P.s. EVERYONE smokes here, there are no restrictions, it's even allowed in the breakfast area. I can't breathe!!