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You need two things to have an inexpensive and fun foreign experience - a sense of adventure and a guidebook like "Lonely Planet." Last year Rita and I spent 20 days exploring Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary on less than $1400 each (including medical travel insurance; air fare was frequent flyer miles from credit card purchases). We survived entirely on our own; used local transportation; and ate with the common people. Why did we select these countries? Because we hadn't been there. Because they are not yet on the Euro and thus less expensive than other parts of Europe. And because they are less developed and, therefore, more interesting. I liked Bulgaria best - least developed, fewest English speakers, and inexpensive. Rita enjoyed Romania - more developed, easier to understand the people, great castles. We traveled by airplane, train, bus, minibus, taxi, private vehicle, trolley, and tram. But mostly we walked and walked and walked. We had reservations only for the first three nights in Bucharest, Romania. After that, we made decisions on where to go and how to get there on the spur of the moment after checking "Lonely Planet" - two or three nights in each place. It worked out well. Many restaurants have picture menus with descriptions in several languages (sometimes even English) so it is not difficult to select what you want. Buying a ticket at a bus or train station is only a minor challenge. First I write down where I want to go and show it to the agent; the agent then writes the departure times on my paper. I circle the desired departure time; the agent then puts the fare on a calculator and shows it to me. I pay, receive a ticket, and then sit down and try to figure out if we have an assigned seat or not. We always ended up where we wanted to go, often to Rita's surprise. We travel light. I have a small suitcase which turns into a backpack. Rita has a small suitcase with wheels. She pulls; I sling it over my shoulder. A good guidebook is essential when you travel on your own. The guide instructs you how to get from airport to town, how to get around when you get to the city, where to stay (high end, mid range, and budget), how to find decent and affordable food, what to see and how much it might cost. The guide is full of helpful tips and provides useful local language words and phrases. "Lonely Planet" has an individual book for each of the three countries (with Moldova added to the Romania book). Our books gave us the confidence necessary to both survive and thrive. Bucharest was our starting point. After three days in the Romanian capital, we took the train to Bulgaria. Bulgarian overnights were Veliko Tarnova (medieval capital), Balchek (Black Sea resort), and Ruse (border town). Back through Romania and the castles of the Transylvanian Alps. Romanian cities visited included Sinaia (castle), Sighisoara (walled citadel), and Cluj-Napoca (university town). Hungary was one night in Kecskemet and four in Budapest, our city of departure. In Budapest we stayed in a delightful hotel on Margaret Island between Buda and Pest; freshly baked bread every morning. It was an adventure right from the start. We couldn't believe how many people were "stuffed" on the bus from the airport to city center Bucharest! Both of us were pushed toward the front, and I became the "ticket man" given my proximity to the ticket validation machine. The Carpati Hotel provided us with a very nice room, like a little apartment. We had a sitting room with TV, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Breakfast included fresh bread, cheeses, meats, and good European coffee. It was delicious! We had almost no Bulgarian money upon arrival so our first hotel in Veliko Tarnova, Bulgaria kept our passports until we could exchange money in the morning. We were permitted one night only in a tiny room with a spectacular view of cliff-hugging homes. Early next morning we hiked to the tourist information center where friendly English-speaking staff referred us to wonderful apartment hidden behind the main part of town. The Hostel Pashov, at $37, became the trip's favorite hotel. It was quiet, air-conditioned, and had a small kitchen and patio. The landlady was so sweet - she gave us ripe tomatoes. The very quaint town was crisscrossed with old, narrow cobblestone streets. People were exceptionally friendly, but few spoke English. Cats were everywhere in Bulgaria (stray dogs frequented Bucharest). On the Black Sea in Bulgaria, a taxi driver upon discovering we were from the United States said, "We've been waiting for you since the 1940's, where have you been?" Our biggest travel surprise was the difficulty in moving from one country to another. Trains and buses seem to leave only in the very early morning hours. We opted for minibuses which left at more reasonable times, but presented their own unique challenges. Returning to Romania from Bulgaria, our minibus driver (who we called Vlad, the real name of Count Dracula) got tired of the traffic in Bucharest and just told us to get off in the middle of town. We were familiar with the city so we walked to the nearby metro stop and took the underground to the train station. One of our bus mates was Turkish, traveling to Germany. We can only hope he eventually found his way. As we departed the train upon arrival in Sighisoara, Romania, a polite middle-aged lady asked if we would like to stay at her "nice apartment with bathroom," plus she had a car to take us to the hill top old city. I generally do not respond to those who meet trains, but she had pictures and testimonials so we said we'd take a look. We liked what we saw and spent two pleasant nights at Christina's Guesthouse. A highlight was watching Christina's family cook eggplant over a makeshift backyard grill; the recipe: cook whole eggplants for 2 hours, mash, add paprika, onion and tomatoes, and a little oil. Can the mixture; spread it on your bread in the wintertime. "It's delicious!" We hired Paul, Christina's husband, to take us for a tour in his private auto to neighboring villages to photograph "men working." These old villages were built in medieval times, 12th century, by Saxon Germans, most of whom left when the communists took over. We stopped in an ancient town with a church-like monastery where the people were working the land by hand tools. They still take their vegetables and hay by donkey or horse cart to sell in local markets on Saturdays. Best travel decision: buying a three-day pass on the Budapest transportation system; it was good for buses, trains, trams and trolleys. Best restaurant: "Poco Loco" in Budapest; I had the goulash. Best language to try: Cyrillic in Bulgaria, so we could identify the right bus to board. Best walled city: Sighisoara, Romania. Best European spa: Szechenyi baths in Budapest, indoor and outdoor pools. Best night scene: Danube River in Budapest with Parliament and Castle Hill bathed in soft light. Best thing to remember: When you travel abroad, you are the foreigner. People were friendly and helpful, especially in Bulgaria and Romania. Rita asked several about the U.S. election, McCain or Obama? The replies were interesting - Obama came out ahead six votes to two. Here is my money report: 21 days at $132 per day total for the two of us (Romania $150 per day; Bulgaria $79; Hungary $168; several days on airplanes at minimal cost). I purchased $500 worth of Romanian and Hungarian currency prior to departure; we used Rita's 1% transaction fee credit card on occasion; and we exchanged dollars for local currency when we ran short. We did not need the traveler's checks held in reserve. Lesson learned is to take a smaller amount of local currency purchased in the U.S (bad rate), use the credit card more (good rate), and take additional US dollars to exchange (also good rate). Exchange rates in the summer of 2009 are much more favorable to Americans than they were last year. For $1 last year, we purchased 150 forint (Hungarian money). Today that dollar buys 207 forint. All in all, it was a great adventure. We returned with wonderful memories and great pictures which we made into a coffee table book. And this once-in-a-lifetime experience did not cost us that much. MoneyCoachBill@aol.com |
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