Cluj

After a short ride I arrived in Cluj Napoca. Soon I found out that there was the Transylvania Film Festival that will start the next day. It lasts for 12 days and features low budget movies from throughout the world. There were playing maybe 20 different movies in one day in the many cinemas/ rooms with projector in the university city. I decided to take a holiday from the holiday and do something else than the usual stuff. In the 12 days I watched about 40 different movies and documentaries.

There were many students out in the streets and good concerts and parties in the evenings. Cinema culture during the day and concerts in the evening. I got to know many people who were travelling, but also very polite Romanians. The attitude of the locals is different from the capitol, most evident in the amount of smiles you get.

I got to know a delightful lady which is studying psychology in Cluj and we met every evening to go out. Sadly she was in the middle of exams, but I still very much enjoyed her company. She made me feel like a teenager again. We went to several concerts together which were very different from what mainstream culture in Switzerland has to offer. Once we went to a gig of the Turkish band called "Babazula". The energy of the singer sweating, singing and playing some odd looking guitar was overwhelming.

Some other time we went to the "Hungarian Theater" where a friend of her was performing in art mix between video, live classical music with a DJ mixing in the beats. Probably should be best observed with some kind of influence. Truly great stuff.

Apart from others I met one other guy that sticks out. He was claiming to be from Jordan and now being a fashion designer in London. He was gay and unorthodoxly dressed so it made sense. He slept in our hostel without checking in, he had a tab at my favoured bar that he never paid, so the poor student behind the bar had to work a day without salary, he burrowed 800 USD from a South Korean (apparently the SK was not aware of how much he actually gave to this guy) and many more free cigarettes and beers while going out. Eventually the South Korean got suspicious and confronted him outside a club, where the "fashion designer" was arguing with some locals about a separate money issue. Afterwards he claimed that he doesn't have any money left and the South Korean snapped and hit him several times and found 400 USD in his pocket. The police later on explained that he is a famous Roma, who goes from city to city and scamming people. Not even the Romanians noticed that he was Romanian. I am sightly impressed by his performance that lasted several days involving about a dozen people.

Finally my camera broke again (this time the lens) and I bought my 6th camera of my trip. Then I was on to Hungary.

Sighisoara

I arrived in the afternoon, I supposed to leave in the morning, but I had to wait 4 hours at the train station. The waiting part is a pattern in Europe. Especially if you don't have a smart phone. Sighisoara is a small town with an elevated old town. I was the only guest in the Burg Hostel and enjoyed the privacy. To walk around the old part you need about 3 hours. The church and the cemetery at top offer the best views. The narrow streets of the old town have some nice angles and are overgrown by bushes. Many American tourists were there during my stay. I also had a lengthy chat with a Romanian Film Artist who is making a video for tourism about Sighisoara. He comes here at least every second day to take some new shots. Apparently he wishes to go to Hungary where salaries are slightly higher. Sadly for him the EU has not yet granted Schengen status to Romania. People often speak German and the town is very relaxed. The food is very good.

Brasov

To be found in the south of the Carpathian mountains. Hilly, green landscape gives you the feeling of being on the countryside. It is in the Transylvania region. The duke Dracula used to live in castle near by. It is just rubble nowadays. But a different castle is now promoted as the original residence of Dracula. The cute little Bran castle gives the impression of being in a fairy tail.

Even though it is just a small village they have a 3D cinema that plays the same Dracula movie 24/7. Later on I visited with a Japanese cannabis farmer the Rasnov fortress. As a structure not impressive, but the location on top of a steep hill makes it special.

Brasov itself has no castle, but a nice old town with various defences and gates. Bears come down from the hills every evening to feast from the garbage residents leave in their containers outside their homes.

Bucharest

Another very soviet style city. Here they built the second biggest house in the world. Only second to - surprisingly non soviet - the Pentagon. It is used as the Parliament and Chaucescus home. He ruled here after the fall of the Iron Curtain. The road in front of the Parliament is exactly one meter longer than the Champs de Ellises - not a coincidence. 

Bucharest is not really popular throughout Romania. The revolution that brought down the dictator, didn't start here, but further west. Huge buildings dominate and a make up the impression tourists take with them. I went out with a Bulgarian couple - the guy turned out to be a Racist who sympathies with Adolf Hitler. I couldn't help him because he would not even listen to his embarrassed girlfriend. So I helped myself by ordering more liquids. 

Beautiful monasteries and golden roofed churches are to be found behind the main avenues.

I didn't enjoy my stay here too much and left after 2 days with the train to Brasov.

Chisinau

Moldova is not famous, nore is Chisinau. This is for a good reason. Moldavians are not allowed to travel to the Schengen countries. The only places in the neighbourhood where it is easy to get in is Turkey, Ukraine and Belarus. Not the usual tourist destinations. Moldova is isolated and offers little job opportunities. I got the impression that there is a common feeling of depression - of have given up. There are two big obstacles for them to enter the EU: They have a reputation of illegal activities such as human trafficking, drug smuggling, money laundering and a generally corrupt society.

Second: The breakaway region of Transnistria is effectively a separate country within the borders of Moldova. Transnistria is strongly pro Russian. They have suspended all trains with exception of a daily train to Moscow. With a dispute like that looming they wont get any approval by the EU. 

I established that they are not proud people, with one exception. The Soviets have build vast tunnels, which would function as a bunker for the elite during war. High ceiling salon await the visitor. The entrance door is camouflaged and looks like Batman's Cave. Nowadays it is a vast wine cellar. I tried a wine supposedly from 1987. It was very sweet and not so good. I stayed at a hostel near the MALLdova. The staff spoke good English and all spend some time in the US because they have won a National English contest. But now that they are back they shouldnt be around tourists telling stories of  other countries all time. Its not healthy.

I met the funniest Japanese person till date and had a lot of fun drinking wine with ang getting on the Buchaerst bus together.

The city consist of two main roads - make that one - that is lined with a few too big buildings and exchange booths. No hustle, no bustle.

Odessa

The market is a busy sprawl with a slightly concerning odor. Some sort of Feta cheese seems to be their main product. Odessa seems to be a place where life quality is still high. Even though prices have apparently sharply risen in recent years.

The background of the James Bond movie "From Russia with love" always sounded appealing to me. I arrived after a smooth night train from Kiev. 

I checked into "Babushka Grand Hostel" which turned out be very wise. The manager is from California and is on the run from the US Government. He used to supply famous people in California with electronic equipment - for example Clint Eastwood. He got caught leaving the US with 800000 USD in a suitcase. His assets (several million) in a Swiss bank got frozen recently after a successful request by the US Government. He now has less money than backpackers, but is quite happy with his situation in the Ukraine. Is girlfriend is 25. He is now suing the US Government because they are withholding his money.

The night life in Odessa is extraordinary and most people at the hostel were cool. In one club we got in trouble with the Russian Mafia. A Scottish friend decided to go on stage after he took off his clothes. We got shown to the door.

Occasionally cruise ships stop in the still busy Black Sea port and the tourist descend into the city. The city itself is ok - the parks are run down. But it has a lot of charm. At the seaside Ukrainians go sunbathing and occasionally into the still rather cold water.

Kiev

The capitol of the Ukraine is very much Russian. A statue called by expats the "iron tits" is a huge structure dominating the skyline. It is the main feature of whole park dedicated to mother Russia. Propaganda music is played over loudspeakers. Soviet weaponry is permanently displayed - everything from MIGS, tanks, helicopters and so on. Dotted all over the place are monuments that commemorate the Workers Partys struggle.
The main square in the heart of the city is were the non successful orange revolution took place. People are sunbathing happily after the rather harsh winters that besiege Kiev annually. Women show up in the shortest skirts possible and let there tits hang out. Almost no fat women are visible. The constant beauty is a bid intimidating and eventually annoying. President Janukovic once famously invited investors attending the WEF in Davos that they should come to Kiev during summer and fall in love with the women and country.

I walked to much, because I underestimated the size of the city. There countless places worth visiting. Mostly because of the size. But there are also monasteries with sarcophagus, countless gold roofed churches, Ladas passing by and good vistas over the surrounding area since Kiev is slightly elevated.
I also visited the Tschernobyl museum. I rather small shrine to commemorate the poor guys who had to clean the mess. The aftermath is still swallowing 5% of there annual GDP. I wanted to visit Tschernobyl, but the prices are over a hundred dollars.
Kiev is good fun - it is different: its a small time warp.