Hiking the Carpathians around Magura

Days 278-282, September 1-5, 2011

It had never really occurred to me to go hiking in the mountains of Romania for some reason. I think I just assumed that it would be difficult to reach the solitude that I was so craving. My assumption was so wrong! I did some quick checking up on Hostel World for hostels near the town of Brasov where it’s just a short bus ride to Bran and Dracula’s Castle. The first hostel that popped up was a farm villa near Bran, in the tiny village of Magura. It didn’t take me too long to make a decision on that.

For five days, I was going to be staying in the Carpathian mountains. No cities. No internet. No crowds.

I’m Going to be Famous! [In Romania]

Day 276-278,283-285, August 30-31/September 6-8, 2011

I’m not sure what it was that caused my change of mood between Belgrade and Bucharest. All I know is that when I woke up on the train as it pulled into the Bucharest train station, I was suddenly excited about traveling again. I still had no plans beyond seeing the Romanian capital city, and yet I felt a renewed sense of joy in what I was doing.

In my time in Romania, Bucharest became one of the few cities on my trip that I’ve visited more than once. First when I came from Belgrade, and again when I came back from the Carpathian Mountains. And both times can be connected with a single connection: being interviewed by a Romanian news magazine. In fact, the biggest and most popular news magazine(both on and off line) in the entire country.