A couple weekends ago I took the train to Timişoara, Romania. It was a different experience for me, even starting with the train ride. Apparently a USA American riding from Budapest to Timişoara is not your everyday occurrence. The border guards did not have the proper stamp for me and had to go find it.
And, note to travelers: MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR PASSPORT STAMPED when you enter a country! Apparently, the border patrol when I arrived in Amsterdam did not stamp my passport, so this caused a delay on this trip while they checked on why it appeared that my most recent international travel was to arrive INTO New York City! Whoops. I ended up lucky, but for about 15 minutes there, I thought they were going to send me back to NYC or something. And I'm not sure that I want to be anywhere near NYC or Wall Street these days. Not a pretty picture.
On the train, there was friendly curiosity about me, being American and traveling there. I was surprised at that. The ride itself was so peaceful. I even saw two separate people riding horses on dirt roads and plenty of old-school farming.
I had looked on trip advisor and done a few searches online to find an inexpensive hotel, but I didn't have any luck. I decided to wing it when I arrived. Good thing I packed light! I walked for THREE HOURS before finding a hotel. In the meantime, I had not yet changed out any money or found an ATM, so I was stuck being essentially penniless as well. That means no bus rides!
They spoke English at the hotel, and it was OK, but the room smelled like old smoke and I could tell they had cleaned with chemically cleaners. I usually have a nose like a dog, but on that day, it was more like a wolf! The smell knocked me out, and I was nauseated and unable sleep or to get out of bed until the following morning at about 6 am. I actually asked to have another hotel room that was smoke free, just to get a few zzz's.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
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