Odessa to Lviv

The Western part of Ukraine can be reached from the South by a nighly sleeper train which runs between Odessa on the Black Sea and Chop in the Northwest. Book in advance because it sells out, I learned this the hard way. On my second night in Odessa I took a trip to the train station to buy a ticket for the following night to be safe and was told (after working my way through about 5 different ticket agents who didn't speak English and refused to even try to understand my pronounciation of Lviv) that the only options were a first class ticket that night - in about 90 minutes - or August 7th - next week. With no other option to stay on schedule and get to Hungary this prompted an immediate audible to take that night's train and eat the night of hotel. 

After several confused conversations I found a taxi driver to take me round-trip to my hotel to quickly pack and return to the train station - Google Maps providing the directions which would have been otherwise impossible with the language barier. Taxis in Odessa are an experience Most of the aging Soviet-manuafatured cars are beat up to the point that it is impressive that they still drive. None have meters. The drivers tend to be old guys who are friendly enough but look like their cars in the same way that people look like their dogs, speak no English, and may or may not have had a shower in the past year. The requested round-trip rate of 150 UAH was expectedly high, the going rate seems to be no more than 50UAH anywhere in downtown, so I probably could have bargained him down to 100, but under the circumstances I wasn't all that concerned with getting $12 down to $8. 

The train departs Odessa at 6:26pm, and I made it with 15 minutes to spare. For someone who speaks English and no Ukrainian or Russian Ukraine is a tricky place to travel. Not only is finding an English speaker a rarity, even at train station information booths, but rather than to even attempt to understand a mispronounced city name, the common response by Ukranian ticket clerks is to send you to another window or simply to shrug and turn away. The only response to this is I found was to stand there and make clear that you're not leaving until you accomplish your transaction at which point, with people behind you irritatedly waiting they will be forced to try. Often someone in line will speak enough English to step in and help. 

A first class ticket from Odessa to Lviv costs 600 UAH (~$50). First class is worth it for the AC and a two person (rather than a 4 person) compartment. The conductor also offers tea, snacks and water which are paid for at the end of the trip - A bottle of water, a package of wafers and two glasses of tea were 20UAH. Around midnight the train stops in a town where locals sell baked goods and smoked fish - good place for a snack, and then proceeds onward overnight. Toward the end of the 13 hour trip the train is divided in two, some cars going to Uzhhorod, on the Slovakian border, the rest continuing to Chop on the Hungarian border passing through Lviv. The train is fast considering the distance it covers and there are relatively few stops. 

Odessa

Odessa is a great, old, charming city, reminiscent of New Orleans in some ways - the distinctive architecture, live music, the general raunchyness. In the downtown area, bars and strip clubs line every street, particularly on and around Deribasovska Street the main pedestrian thoroughfare in the city center - it's a party city. But like New Orleans, it has its own distinctive culture, class and romance. 

By Ukraine standards Odessa is pricey, dinner and drinks at a nice restauraunt can run $80 - $100 or more. It is unquestionably a tourist destination - primarily for Ukranians and Russians, and as a result of the current conflict the city while busy, is far quieter than it would typically be in the summer. Ukranian TV shows an endless stream of images of the fighting taking place in the East. Separatists in camo, smoking buildings with broken windows, bombed out buses. While Odessa is calm, the conflict is an unspoken constant which no doubt dims the party atmosphere.

There are two main areas of interest in Odessa - the city center close to the port, and the beach. The City Center is home to an impressively maintained old Opera House and streets lined by century old buildings in a mix of Classical Art Nouveau, and Renaissance architecture - more than 1,000 of which are monuments and historical buildings. Hostel Opera on Deribasovka Street is a great option, with a perfect location right in the downtown area, with dorm beds for around $15 and several private rooms for $30 per night. A few blocks to the North, past the Opera House and down the Potemkin Stairs to the Sea is the port. Worth a walk around but beware, at the top of the stairs is the main tourist info point in the city and where promoters of the Nature Park on the waterfront wait for tourists with Monkeys and enormous Falcons. They will try to put these animals on you if you don't stop them. ("it's nice monkey!")

Several beaches run along the eastern shore with the Black Sea, most notably Arcadia Beach about 2 kilometers south of the center. The number 5 tram from the city center goes to Arcadia, and almost free at 1.50UAH ($.12) but trams are slow and few and far between. Apparently the number 5 can be busy in the summer and pickpockets are prevalent, but perhaps because of the political climate this was not the case when I was there. 

If you speak enough Russian, Taxis may be a better bet, but if not it is almost impossible to communicate with them as few if any speak anything other than Russian. If you are able to get them to understand where you want to go the price will be high (by Ukraine standards at least), and good luck bargaining with them. Most places in town should be 50 UAH or less but they will ask 100+. 

I didn't bother with taxis other than a last minute round trip to the train station when in a surprise the day before I planned to leave, I learned that the only Odessa to Lviv train which had tickets available in the next week was the one leaving that night (rather than the following night when I intended to leave) - so I quickly recalibrated, paid a taxi 150 UAH round trip to my hostel (I didn't bother trying to bargain), and arrived back at the train station in under an hour, boarding with 15 minutes to spare.

Chinisau to Odessa

There is one daily train between Chisinau and Odessa at 7:20am. It takes its time, stopping for 20-30 minutes in several small towns before finally passing through Tiraspol in the breakaway region of Transdniestr and into Ukraine. Alltold the trip takes 5-6 hours. Despite passing through Transdniestr there is no noticible impact - no local officials checking passports etc. The train makes its stop at Tiraspol, moves on to the Ukrainian border and finally arrives in Odessa around

1pm

. 

Bucharest to Chinisau

There is one train a day to Chinisau, leaving Bucharest Nord at 19:35, arriving a little before 9am the next day. It is an incredibly slow 432 Kilometers on an overnight sleeper train, stopping repeatedly along the way, including two hour stop around 4:35am at the Moldovian border to change the train wheels, a cool, surreal experience wherin as (most) passengers sleep every car in the train is separated, raised on hydraulic lifts, as an eerie steam whistle blairs constantly. There is really no way to describe it, though it's not necessarily an experience that needs to be had. The cost for a second class ticket (in a 4-bed sleeper compartment) is ~125 RON or ~$40. The train conductor will take your ticket after showing you to your cabin and hold it for the duration of the trip. For future reference pay for first class. Second class has no AC and only a few of the windowns open which makes the first half of the ride nearly unbearable. Beer (which they do sell to those willing to walk all the way to the end of the train) helps. 

There isn't much in Chisinau. The poorest country in the EU and one of the poorest in the entire region, Moldova can feel like a forgotten place - the slow pace of daily life continuing nonetheless. The city itself is large and spread out, but it has its charms, there are nice parks, a huge open air market which sells everything. But otherwise it is a tricky place to travel. Public transportation is nearly non-existant. What there is to see is not easily found. Being in Chisinau was a bit like being in Los Angeles - sure there is some stuff there, but it's spread out and you need to find it. The country is supposed to have some great wineries, and some nature worth seeing and these are likely better destinations to head to on the next trip to Moldova, skipping Chisinau entirely. I had a great steak and some good Moldovan wine at ___ but Chisinau offers little other than a hub between other destinations.

Brasov to Bucharest

I was warned a number of times by other travelers in Romania that Bucharest is not a good place. It's sketchy was the common theme - there are many poor people, the gap between rich and poor is huge, it's a rough, run down city. I don't really know what they were talking about. The subway is great, the city runs pretty well, in 24 hours I had a pretty good experience. 

Bucharest is a interesting city, but it seems unsure of what it wants to be. It is a European city, but with a legacy of Ottoman influence which continues to hold value - to a large extent it seems as a rejection of more modern failures in socialist and now democratic governance. So much of the city was transformed by the socialist dictator Ceausescu during what is considered a dark time by most in the capital, yet times have also been hard since his overthrow. Romania remains a relatively poor country, and in Bucharest the gap between rich and poor is particularly evident. The old city area downtown is a beautiful place, but so much of this is the legacy of Ceausescu's ego. The city features the largest building in Europe (second in the world only to the Pentagon) and the longest boulevard (specifically designed to be longer than the Champs Elise,) But in the process, he singlehandedly allocated massive resources to his project at the expense of thousands of relocated people and others who provided the labor with little compensation. 

The National Palace of Parliament is a case in point The scale of the building is almost unimaginable. 3.7 million square feet in area, more than 1,000 room, more than 1 million cubic meters of marble, 900,000 cubic meters of wood, 3500 metric tons of crystal for its 2,300 chandeliers. All was built with Romanian labor and resources from around the country. As a result there is a tacit rejection of places created under his rule as outside the legacy of Romananian culture and history. Yet so much of the city is Chinascieus's doing. After the 1989 revolution plans to tear down the Palace of Parliament were scrapped when it was determined it would have cost more to destroy than to complete, so the decision was made to finish the building at minimal additional cost. Construction on the $3 billion building continues to this day. It is a bitter pill for Romanians to swallow. 

There is quite a bit to see in Bucharest, it's a big city with impressive architecture, but which with a few exceptions (such as Hanul Lui Manuc - or Manuc's home, the former Ottoman trading post, now a restaurant and former military entertainment venue which has remained intact) was built by the former socialist regime. The old city area in particualar - which full disclosure, was all I had time to see - tries to be European. It's a fun place for a bit, fancy restaurants and bars, but it lacks authenticity. Antique Hostel, located in a renovated old building right across from the National theater and right in the old city is a great place to stay, with good rooms with AC, a nice terrace, common room with TV, balcony with a great view, and free breakfast (make your own eggs). 

Timisaura to Sibiu to Brasov

A train departs Timisaura daily at 8:20am passing through in the center of the country, stopping at among smaller villages the towns of Sibiu (~6 hours) and then Brasov (~8 hours) the two main cities in Transylvania before it connects with the primary (and faster) North South train line between Budapest and Bucharest and turns South for the later (~12 hours).

A common dilemma for travelers is whether to stay in Sibiu or Brasov. Brasov is larger, more central and closer to Bram Castle - the dracula castle that everyone inevitable visits. Sibiu is smaller than Brasov and further from Budapest but a far more compact and charming town, with cobblestone streets, two squares named by their size (the big one and the little one) an enormous gothic church in the center and spectacular architecture all around. There are also some musums which are apparently worth visiting, though I didn't. The Ethnographic Museum is supposedly a highlight though I missed it. In any event, based on my less than 24 hours in both, Sibiu offers a more charming, less crowded experience than Brasov which is a rather large bustling city. 

The best way to see both cities, and the region - is to rent a car. While it's possible to stay in either place and travel to the other by rail this misses out on the best, most beautiful parts of Romania. Renting a car in Romania is easy, and extremely convenient if a bit pricey. Autonom will deliver the car to your hotel or hostel, and for an additional but not exorbitant fee it it is possible to return the car in another city. To rent in Sibiu and return in Brasov is an additonal E50 on top of the E80 I paid for an automatic. The car I had was a brand new superefficient Volkswagon which ran on Diesel. After driving it all over for the day and arriving in Brasov the total gas cost was ~90 Lei (~$27.)

More importantly, the best parts of Transylvania are its mountains and lakes and the countless small villages which appear to have been unchanged for decades if not centuries. Driving through these towns which rarely see foreigners in a new car with rental plactes will get you some looks - but it will also get you to some of the more remote places which are rarely visited by larger tours, and give you a sense of the real heartland of the country, farmers on horsecarts and tractors, old women in traditional clothing, everyone sitting on their front steps in the evening talking with their neighbors, and wondering who this outsider is in the rental car taking pictures of things. 

In a day, there is a lot to see between Sibiu and Brasov in a rental car. Two on the way that shouldn't be missed are Balea Lake, in the mountains reached by driving Transfagarasan (also known as Naional Road 7C, or Ceausescu's Folly after communist leader Nicholas Ceausescu who built the road as a strategic military route) as well as the highway iteself which winds its way casually over the spectacular greeness of th Fagaras Mountains. Top Gear traveled it in 2009. It has been called one of the most beautiful roads in the world and it's hard to argue. 

After winding through the mountains and plenty of photo stops (pull-offs are at virtually every turn in the road) stands near the sumit run by local villagers selling homemade cheese and cured meats signal arrival at Balea Lake. Here there are a number of lodge restraunts, and there is hiking and camping nearby. It is windy and can be cold at the top even in summer. A short distance past this through a tunnel to the other side of the mountain is what looks like an abandoned farmhouse and a police outpost. From here serious climb will bring you to Lake Capra. Unspoiled by lodges and far more rarely visited due to the difficulty in getting there, it is worth a trip but fair warning, it is a serious hike up a rocky cliffside. To get all the way to the lake (rather than to the summit from which it can be seen will take at least 3 hours roundtrip), but the climb is worth the reward. 2,250 meters up a well-marked but vertical rocky trail and at the summit it turns back to green meadow. On a good day the sun will come out just as you arrive and a short distance further around the bend the shimmering lake appears reflecting the sky above. People camp near the lake, though I didn't make it all the way down there. It took far longer and far more effort than I anticipated, it's probably not a hike that should be done alone, and I was hoping just to make it back down alive. 

Rather than continuing South on 7C I headed back North the way I came to the E68 connectng Sibiu and Brasov. E68 is a two lane road but a good one, and it weaves through many small villages, nearly all of them with a tourist sign promoting some local castle, church or monestary. Some of them are not worth visiting - one castle for instance appeared to be just a large renovated house - I didn't realize it was a "castle" until the road immediately after it turned to dirt. But each detour leads to a new rarely-visited village often with surprises of its own - an amazing vista, an incredible monestary, a storks nest! at the next turn.

There is far more to see, a week in a rental car in the middle of Romania is sure to be an incredible week, but a day between Sibiu and Brasov offers a pretty good taste. 

Belgrade to Timisaura

Timisoara is a stop-off for those on the Belgrade-Bucharest route. Because there is no direct train from Belgrade, the popular option is to take the four hour ride to Timisoara, and then take the 8:20am train which travels through the popular destinations of Sibiu (5 hours) and Brasov (7 hours) in Transylvania before turning South and continuing on to Bucharest (12 hours).

According to Wikitravel (as of July 2014) Timisoara is known as the most cosmopolitan city in Romania. I'm pretty sure this was written by the owner of one of Timisoars's two main hostels. It is a weird, kind of cool, sort of industrial place where once grand buildings with incredible architrecture sit in decay. According to the manager of the hostel at which I stayed, Timisoara is the first city in Europe to be fully electrified (the second in the world after New York), and the city in Romania with the most parks and the most bike lanes. 

Timisoara is currently in the midst of a large scale revitalization process, the result of which most streets and entire squares in the downtown area have been dug up. As the manager of Freeborn Hostel explained to me "If you don't know about Romanian construction, it is very slow." A bike ride around the outside of the city is a great way to see the parks along the canal running through the middle of the city which are really beautiful, the huge kids playground area which I missed but which is supposed to be incredible, with huge play structures, and to stop at the beer factory, not open for tours but has a nice outdoor bar which serves fresh unfiltered beer and Romanian food. 

At night there's a few options - Cuib d'arte is a cool bohemian bar with live music - on the night I went it was a band with string instruments I had never seen which sounded unlike anything I'd ever heard. Underground Bunker Bar caters to a younger crowd and reminded me of college. 

It may have just been the slowness of a college town in the summer but one afternoon in Timisoara was plenty to see it and move deeper into Romania.