Words

I’ve slowed down on the blogging recently because I haven’t been travelling much. Also, haven’t had much inspiration for photography, but here are some pictures of the Black Sea, a gold-domed cathedral and some salad:

I spent three nights in Varna with my new companions (and some old ones): Paul (Ireland), Kate, Tash, Barney and Ben (various parts of southern Australia). Hayley and Bridget were also there, but they’ve moved on to Braşov now.

Last night we made the rather tiring journey from Varna to Bucharest. The journey comes a close second to the Hue-to-Hoi An piggy-back ride (160km in nine slow hours) for fatigue/distance ratio. First, a four-hour train from Варна to Русе, then a six-hour, early-morning stopover in Русе station (we broke this up by going out to a restaurant for a late dinner), then a three hour train to Bucharest, an hour of which consisted of sitting on tracks just on the Romanian side of the Danube, waiting to get our passports back. The wait in the Русе station would have been tolerable were it not for the Bulgarian police who woke us up every time we looked like we were dozing (“Not hotel!”).

Oh well. Another day, another stamp. The Danube is pretty impressive, even at 4am. Apparently I kept saying “That’s a really big river,” every twenty seconds or so for the four minutes it took to cross it.

I’ve been sick, so cooking duties have landed on somebody else tonight. I’m way, way under budget at the moment – something I love about Eastern Europe. Cooking for a group makes things super cheap, as well. Most days are under $30AUD for food, accommodation and transport.

The plan is to travel to Braşov on Tuesday morning, and spend a few days exploring Transylvania from there. From all reports, Braşov is a much nicer place than Bucharest, which hasn’t been very impressive so far (although the taxi from the train station to the hostel was one of the best thrill-rides I’ve had in quite while). After Braşov, I’m going to start my dash west to the Prague Spring Festival, starting with Sighişoara, then Budapest. I think I have a little over a thousand kilometres to cover in the next two weeks. Awesome.

Finished Life of Pi this morning. In my two-and-a-bit months away, I’ve read (in chronological order): From a Buick 8 by Stephen King, Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson, The Beach by Alex Garland, The Green Mile by Stephen King, Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, On Beauty by Zadie Smith and Life of Pi by Yann Martel. There are one or two more that I can’t remember at the moment. It’s nice to have time to read, but I wish my choices were a little more literate! Must pick something hard soon. This hostel has a book exchange.

I’ve got a destination for the beginning of the end of this trip: Edinburgh in summer. Looks like I’ve signed myself up for a bed in a share-house for August, the festival season. I really can’t wait. I’ll be sharing with Paul, Tash, Kate and probably Barney. I think I’ll have some cash reserves left by then, but the plan is to find work as soon as I can, and really enjoy the festivals – the Edinburgh Fringe, Comedy Festival, and Tattoo.

Travelling in a group is fantastic, but I think I’m going to break away after Braşov. I get along with everyone, and conversation makes the hours fly, but I travel a little faster and more spontaneously when I’m alone. Still, I’m having a great time – I just have a lot of ground to cover.