Hi there! I'm still in Romania, presently enjoying a rest day on account of all the wonderous things I've been doing lately. I flew here from Brussels on Blue Air - a discount carrier that I hadn't really heard of before. Their slogan - and I swear this is/was true: "Your destination. Our way". I don't know whether I'm reading it wrong, but to me that sounds something akin to: "Alright, alright we know you want to go to Bucharest. Now strap yourself in, shut the hell up and quit yer complainin'".

But that seems to fit with my impressions of the Romanian people: in many respects they seem a self-centered, miserable bunch. According to one local who's travelled outside the country (which seems to cure their misery), it's a hangover from the communist days where if they mixed socially with a lot of people it was looked upon with suspicion. Communist rule ended in the last 80s/early 90s (depending upon your take on the matter) so, who knows? I do know that they seem to especially appreciate, or are suprised by perhaps, a "thank you" - moreso than just the amusement caused by travellers murdering their language. Apart from that they push in, they litter, they smoke everywhere (with packs for only $2, why wouldn't you?), they like standing in fields in their underwear and they're experts in not only talking in monotone, but in "mono-being".

Perhaps the easiest way to learn something about them is to watch them drive. For your own safety's sake: from as far away as possible. You know in train's how they have the deadman's switch, that the driver has to press every once in a while to prove they haven't toppled over from a heart attack? I reckon they have them installed in the cars here....and have it connected to their car horn. Alternatively, they seem to have a very large vocabulary that may be 'beeped': "Hello", "Does this thing still work?", "You idiot", "You f***ING idiot", "Hey baby", "My hopes and goals regarding my present automotive journey are not being realised and I would like to express my general frustration", "I almost crashed into you, but if I sound my horn, to everybody else it looks like it was your fault", "Hey pedestrian! It's called a roadway, not a walkway. I don't care whether the little green man says Go!"

And they seem to maintain the attitude whilst being entirely stationary - I've never seen parking as bad. There are NO signs whatsoever, so anything goes. I can't even explain it using words...

Anyway: Bucharest. That's where I flew into and, as I'd been well looked after for the preceding 3 weeks and hadn't needed to engage my travel brain at all, as much for a test as a cost-saving measure I decided to get the local bus into town. Three laps of the airport terminal later I found a cash machine that only spat out 100 lei notes. They made the bus ticket lady very sad: a ticket was only 1.5 lei (about 60c Australian). Either my mimed disappointment (think "My dog's just died - and I had nothing to do with it") or my obvious physical discomfort (I was only a degree or two away from combustion) worked and, given the language divide, I got a ticket, the correct change and a mime right back at me: "You suck". The mime include a vague wave meant to indicate where the bus stopped, so I dutifully boarded the bus there - only in entirely the wrong direction. Luckily the route was just a back-and-forth one and I was pretty close to the end of it. Given the lack of interest from the bus driver regarding the marooned sweat-soaked backpacker remaining aboard, I gathered we'd be on our way again shortly. From there it was all smooth sailing, and I made it straight to the hostel.

Bucharest isn't too bad. It's very scruffy, but it has it's monumental buildings and it has it's historic quarter (which was largely being dug up as they spent their EU grant money). It also has a far closer proximity to the sun than it's position on Earth (or Venus perhaps?) indicates. It was hot. Damn hot. I saw a thermometer saying 47 degrees one day, but I'm more inclined to believe the one that was saying 39.

I was there for only 2 full days, and I think that's plenty.

There was a good crowd in the place I was staying at. We all dined out together most nights, most notably at a place called "The Harbour". That probably should've been the first cause of concern: Bucharest is nowhere near a harbour of any sort. But, according to the menu, "every story has a harbour" - whatever the hell that means - so, if Bucharest has a story I guess... It seemed like the bulk of the menu was cooked "harbour-style" or "sailor-style", the latter naturally causing much mirth. "It takes 25 minutes" the waiter warned of the sailor-style potatoes. "What's the difference between that and the harbour-style ones?" "Faster", he replied.

Funnily enough there was a local (Wollongong) connection. On the menu was a non-alcoholic drink called the "Cocktail Kembla (harbour in Australia)". It was lime, raw sugar and apple juice - if you want to give it a try.

That'll do about Bucharest, you're not going to go there anyway, so we'll just be wasting each other's time.

You might be better off in my present location though: Brasov, Transylvania. Much nicer, fully restored, greater variety of activities, and home to a whole heap of hotties. Romanian women may be miserable, but they look _fine_. Not quite sure what happens to them though 'cause all the older women are ugly hags - it might be called "marriage".

I'm staying 6 nights here, using it as a base to see the surrounding towns. Thus far I've seen "Dracula's Castle" at Bran (it actually has not much at all to do with the historical figure whom Dracula is based upon, Vlad Tepes - impaling Champion of the World), ..... oh, other stuff too. I've been doing some hiking the last couple of days (and ignoring the "Danger - Bears frequent this area" signs) and the walking has been spectacular.

I'm not really enthusiastic about this blog, is that coming across? I probably should've written it first and not preceded it with a couple of hours of internet-based travel plotting and fiddling about. Just be reassured that I have been enjoying myself a whole lot, meeting some cool people, and leering at some good looking female ones.

I've only a week left! Then the journey home begins.... I hope the plane gets lost.... Well, I will be flying Blue Air. Anything's possible.

That's it. I trust everyone is doing wonderfully well. Yay team!