Travel tips. Cash for the Road. Complex Astoria. Dog Precautions; Eating

Precautions.

1.  Take some cash.

Do not assume that there will be ATM's immediately outside the main city where you land.  Use the airport rather than wait.  For more speed, take some cash in the local currency with you, despite the cost of doing that in the US, just in case.  Heading north toward Snagov, we were suddenly beyond urbanity, and there was no immediately visible place and no banks outside Bucharest for
ATM's that we could see.

Cash was vital.  The next largest town, Brasov, of course had ATM's, but we needed our ready cash for eating and spending the first night.

We got to the Snagov area in late afternoon, got ourselves well lost among little, poverty-overwhelmed villages and dirt-rutted roads. When we found the Complex Astoria to spend the night, we found out why the signs were down. It was closed for the season.  They opened a room for us, and luckily we had cash to pay. No credit card option there.\

2.  Pocket your hands. Stray dogs.

Hand safety can be an issue for the careless, walking around.  Ask before being friendly with dogs, and if noone is around, pocket your hands.  There are homeless dogs everywhere, in packs, and by themselves.

Why? We understand that Ceaucescu would not let people take their pets when they were moved wholesale in Bucharest and elsewhere out of neighborhoods that were then razed for big government buildings and boulevards, into high rises.  This is a huge issue, not only for humane treatment of all living, but for public safety.  See http://www.koirienystavat.com/en/dogs-in-romania/.   Puppies, show dogs, all were set loose. Thousands upon thousands are out there now.

These are often identifiable specific breeds, cockers covered in burrs, little doggies, even still.  New parliament buildings were needed.  Was that necessary, to forbid the pets, given the public health and other nuisance now?  By way of update, see http://www.ibtimes.com/romanian-stray-dogs-slaughtered-streets-red-card-romania-spreads-facebook-1505630

We were told to keep our hands in our pockets, so we did. The dogs trot along with you, just don't pet. Others not so friendly. We were told not to experiment.

3.  Food when there are no restaurants

Dinner when there is no dinner.  Magazin Mixt.
.
Magazin Mixt means convenience store. At Lake Snagov, we had a fine meal from a general deli (dried sausage, rolls, cheese), a kind of bodega, at a village. People and especially children came around to stare, but we felt welcome and safe.
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Politics. EU Membership Romania - What it Means (European Union)

European Union Issues - Romania

Romania has been in the news lately, as hosting the big NATO conference April 2008.

1. The site of the conference:

Parliament stands alone.

A large area was demolished for this purpose, cleared of traditional Bucharest neighborhoods, by Former President Nicolae Ceaucescu, see http://www.ceausescu.org/.  He was later executed by firing squad 12/25/1989. There are many sites with negative coverage as to Ceaucescu at http://www.dictatorofthemonth.com/Ceaucescu/May2007CeaucescuEN.htm.  However, we noted special shrines to him at his grave at Ghenciu Military Cemetery; and in the lower floors of the Peasants' Museum.  That one is like a shrine.

In an effort to look more European, Ceaucescu modeled Bucharest according to Parisian style -- an Arch of Triumph and radiating roadways, and broad boulevards lead to isolated huge Parliamentary buildings. That Parliamentary area is where the conference was held.

The urban clearance area is still largely vacant. Acre after acre.

2. Feral dogs dogs dogs.

People forced from their homes could not take their pets into the new housing offered.

In clearing the old city neighborhoods, and moving people to government housing, we understand that the people could take no pets - thus the thousands upon thousands (by now) of stray dogs, including cockers, pekingese, shelties, beagles and poodles, as well as the large yellow mixes, many Heinz 57 by now, but still many identifiable as essentially specific breeds. Foraging.

Dogs, dogs. Even up in the mountains now. Chasing cars, looking for food.

They tell you never to put your hand down to pet, offer no kind words, even to the cute. Is there no solution here, no humane help to be given without slaughter.

3. European Union.  Separatist interests.

We like the Financial Times for balanced, neutral accounts of our world, so this is from that UK publication's March 7, 2008, Special Report: Find it at  http://www.ft.com/intl/reports/romania2008

Romania joined the EU in January 2007, after our visit, and when the horsecarts were still a norm. With EU membership, Romania qualifies for, but is not guaranteed unless it shows it can draw up and execute enough projects to qualify:

• infrastructure (roads and what else?),
  
• social and environmental purposes (what is that? horrible industrial smog south of Cluj Napoca,
• farm sector "taking them on" whatever that means. The peasants? a living wage? or assimilation of The Roma or Gypsies -- but their tradition is non-assimilation, working in a transient way. Is there a future in merely offering self-employment, having been cast off regular work for so long, see Gypsies, Roma .
  

The economy apparently is soaring, nonetheless.

Yet, political factions are warring - as is expected when cash is around. As in the US, with our ubiquitous political pork. No claim of superiority here.

In Romania, as perhaps here if there is no clear direction after the 2008 election, paralysis politically is around the bend, with warring groups squaring off. Like here. Lack of experience in "project design and management," coping with new conditions - sounds like us, here, all parties, all candidates - the world is marching on despite our misinterpretations and corruptions. Is there any real difference between east and west..

4.  Separatism.  Romania on Kosovo: 
Unilateralism in separatism.

Teodor Melescanu, defense minister, see http://untreaty.un.org/unts/144078_158780/5/8/1317.pdf is dismayed about Kosovo as departing from the tried-and-true process of changing borders through negotiation; and turning instead to unilateralism, and with approval from the United States, much as President Bush used unilateralism as a tool to get what he wanted.

Romania also has other reason for concern if groups succeed in separation out unilaterally - separatist interests - there is a large Hungarian population in Romania. What if they want to reunite with Hungary? See a review of the Hungarian minority, also known as the Magyar, in Romania at http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/assessment.asp?groupId=36002.

Positives for Romania: It has indeed weathered Communism, Fascism,

Travel Tips. Driving. Sharing the road; hints and cautions

Driving in Romania

Horse cart, Romania


1.  Sharing the road.

Expect to share it with horse carts, ox carts. The transportation for rural people in the east is animal, and animals also do the plow/farm work.

 I understand that a law now prevents the horse carts from the major roads.  How do rural poor people now get around?


Horse carts are everywhere but the high mountain passes.  Towns, cities, countryside. also in the towns and cities. Does the prohibition further marginalize the poor, without providing an alternative.

In the industrialized west, there were tractors pulling the wagons of produce and hay - it was 10 days, however, in  Romania before we moved out of the agricultural east and center, and saw a tractor.


Oxen are usually not on the major roads. We were there at harvest time, October, so the loads on wagons were huge.



Ox team wagon, Romania

2.  Driving rules

See Romanian driving rules at http://www.enzia.com/Pages/Car5.  The car of choice is the practical Dacia. See it new at http://www.daciaclub.eu/romanian_carmaker_manufacturer_dacia.php, and old everywhere else. They go with duct tape and fit a dozen people at once. The Dacians occupied Romanian land in the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, see http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/dacia.htm.

The Roman Emperor Trajan finally conquered this powerful kingdom in about 105 AD -- that late, and after fierce warfare.  See Dacian culture at YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S61vFE8swUk



Check the US government info on any country where you plan to drive. For example, go to travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1004. The Romanian tourism people are also helpful. See www.romaniatourism.com/while.

Afterpost- 1/2/07 - with Romania now in the European Union, what will change? Not sure.

I saw no accidents. People are courteous, but go very fast. Just watch for everyone else on the road, on foot or with animals, and pass fast in and out yourself. Other drivers will slide over and make room, I found. There are people carrying firewood and other necessaries on their backs on the roads. We just went slow and did fine, even on back roads.

Avoid night driving. If dark comes upon you, creep. All bets are off. The horsecarts and some of the older cars do not have lights or reflectors. Fog settled in one day (very fitting - at the Hotel Castel Dracula, Transylvania, east of Bistrita at Piatra Fantanele). We stayed at the hotel, reading and chatting until noon, as did most everyone else.

Drive on the right. Drivers are on the right side of the road, and very skillful.

1.  Driving in Romania

It is easy to drive in Romania.  Their alphabet is Roman, as ours, so names are easy to read, easy to find.  Roads may end unexpectedly, so build in extra time for the turn around and finding another way.

Dim Transfagarasan Pass, dusk. Roman

Passing. In passing, the customs are different.
The passer tailgates. The slower vehicle immediately pulls over halfway on the burm or as far as possible. The passer whizzes out over half the center line, looks, then keeps whizzing past or pulls back in. The slower one meanwhile leaves plenty of room. The passer seldom has to go entirely into the oncoming traffic lane -- I did not see one accident caused by passing. I only saw one fenderbender in a town, a usual rearender.

Roundabouts. Most sites on driving in Romania are alarmist. Not so. Just keep going around the roundabout until you can slither off, and watch who is ahead and beside you first, then look behind.

Dogs. Watch out for the stray dogs. They are quick, but all over. Some estimates are 2,000,000. Just go slow, and keep your hands in your pockets. The situation is tragic. Dog hell, says this site : Dog hell. Horrible to read about, but if you are going there, you will see them. During a Ceaucescu relocation period when entire neighborhoods parts of great cities were being torn down and enormous public buildings put up, the government did not permit people to take their pets. So they were set loose, many survived and are all over as feral cockers and feral pekingese and everything else huge and little. No neutering program until too late. Now the government is just trying to get rid of them. Many beautiful dogs there, many sick. Many. I did not see dogs run over, though. Drivers are careful. But the news accounts say worse, things a passer-by does not see.