Trip to Romania

We finally managed to go to Romania for the trip. We left Prague 16/07/07 and returned 27/07/07. We were 7 (Bzochi, Meldath, Hanka, Laupi, Irena, Maf and me). I liked it very much, almost every part of it; I just regret some quarrels in the group. Perhaps 7 is too many, but better than being just few, and then everyone withdrawing just before the beginning.
We went there and back by bus, of the company Eurolines. It was that some of us didn't want to hitchhike all the way to Romania... Next time, I won't agree on the bus option. There's a lot of hassle obtaining the tickets, it's expensive, the bus comes late and it's not that funny.
We slept outdoors, except for one night when we were invited to a house.
We were in the southwest part (Banat). I've created an imprecise itinerary in Google Maps.
Just a few random remarks (pity I don't have more time, to create a more thorough post).

• hitchhiking - just too easy in Romania; quite a few times, we got a hike in 7(!!!); drivers were carrying us even though we couldn't speak Romanian; most of times we divided into groups of 2, 3 or 4 people - and we usually caught a second or third car; it's said you have to pay for the hitchhiking, but actually we almost didn't (summed up some three times, counting all groups - once they stopped a bus)
  
• Romanians and foreign languages - some do speak German, some English, few Spanish; perhaps it's better in other areas of Romania
• ethnic minorities - there's a lot of them; Hungarians, Germans, Romas; in Banat a lot of Serbians (it was surprisingly easy to communicate with them in Czech-Serbian) and Czechs (mostly in the Czech villages)
• the Czech villages - our primary target when we set off to Romania; I liked the atmosphere, unfortunately, the continuous flow of the Czech tourists has spoiled quite a lot and the villages has quite some "commercial feeling"
• Romanian hospitality - a few times we got food (once a lunch), one time we were invited to sleep to their home; incredible! we at first pondered if it was some kind of a cheat, but we took the chance and it was wonderful; we just felt ashamed for being offered so much (apart from food and a place to sleep also some gifts - it was crazy!) and having little to give back
• alimentara - a small grocery, sometimes with limited self-service; apparently, locals do most of their food-shopping there (and in markets, when there are some); I was just amazed, when I (repeatedly, in a few towns) saw 3 or 4 alimentaras in an area of some 100 square meters
• Romanians and environment - the most beautiful parts of nature (if well known) are the most dirty ones; in towns, it sometimes seemed to me that throwing garbage in a bin was weird, while throwing it on a street - perfectly normal
• village and town design - usually one long main street, which stretches for kilometers; consequently, villages and towns are very long and it's quite time-consuming to go from one end to the other
• plums - plum trees are everywhere; to me it seemed they were mostly used to produce liquor (and, perhaps, jam)
• Timisoara - there are some nice buildings in the center, but the center is small and the buildings in a pretty bad state
• it was extremely hot - up to some 45 degrees! Last days, temperatures dropped a little.
• Cheile Nerei - a national park; the nature was wonderful (some of us think otherwise) in the southern part, but there was a lot of people in some parts -> a lot of garbage; also, the northern part was less interesting
• one night (in Cheile Nerei) we thought we'd heard a bear, so we were guarding all the night and we slept badly - unfortunately (we have nothing to boast about ;-) we didn't see it, though around the midnight, there was a little herd of cows going around (really!)
• Buzias - a spa, though it has probably lived through better times
• there's a lot of castle-like mansions; not very tasteful
  

see also: Meldath's point of view