Day 98: Confusion in Beirut - Beirut, Lebanon

(Him: Charlie)

Lebanon is bonus. It was never on the list of countries to visit due to the Syria situation, which prevents any land border crossing. However, when booking the flight from Istanbul to Amman, we found out that we could have a stopover in Beirut for a low cost, so we decide to spend 4 days here to explore the country.

The expectation for Beirut was high – chic, modern, and developed, so I have heard before arrival. But what met us on the ground was completely different picture – hassling taxi drivers, chaotic (super aggressive) cars, derelict buildings and littering problems, all made me wonder if I’d been reading about a different country.

After walking for a whole afternoon, the confusion didn't go away. Instead, it got worse. While buses are cheap, other necessities in daily life are quite expensive (food for instance). It appears that there are a lot of rich people in Lebanon, and there is a large proportion of poor as well. There is a small pocket of luxurious buildings and shops in downtown Beirut, but it could hardly be any representation to the city. So what’s the city really like?

(Building relics close to the city centre - probably damaged 2006 Israeli invasion.) 

(Mosque in centre and stop sign in Arabic) 

Day 94: A land of difference - Bucharest, Romania

(Him: Charlie)

Romania is one of those countries that offer you a wide variety of tourist attractions. From grandiose monumental buildings in Bucharest to rustic remote villages; from spooky Transylvania castles (think Dracula!)to delicately crafted wooden churches. We had an ambitious plan to visit them all, and the only answer to that is renting a car.

The good thing about having our own transportation was that we could stay at pensions in small villages (we are used to calling settlements “town”, but our proud host in Saschiz (near Sighisoara) insisted it’s a village).

The rustic rural area of Romania is fascinating. We came across a monthly market place, where cattle and horses are traded and local delicacies are served. Apparently, Asians are rare in this part of the world. When Jo and I walked among the horse carriages and food tents, we felt like we were aliens descended on earth, as we attracted a great deal of curious stares on every move we made. Though the staring was intense, people were actually very friendly. In the northern city of Sighetu Marmatiei, Joanna received a bag-full of apples from a local old lady, probably as a gesture of welcoming.

The thing we didn’t know about driving in Romania is how treacherous the roads are in northern Romania. We had to drive really slowly on most of the roads due to winding and narrow roads. We estimated 3 days for the road trip, but by day 2, we knew we wouldn’t make it back to Bucharest by Day 3. So, as usual, the plan was changed again. Unfortunately, in order to spend a bit more time in Romania, we had to forego the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria.

Highlights in Romania:

 (local farmer on a horse-drawn wagon, on his way to the market place)

  (Fascinating wooden churches in Maramures, Romania)

(Spooky Dracula Castel)

Day 94: Powering Through Romania

(Her: Joanna)

Like Charlie said, we definitely underestimated the size of Romania and the quality of the roads.  Wanting to travel from Southern Romania to Northern Romania within 3 days, we later learned that it is impossible unless all you do is just driving.  Since we had heard that the places we wanted to visit in the Northern part of Romania is not easily accessible by public transportation.  Without the luxury of time, we decided to rent a car to drive around ourselves.  What we did not expect is how rush and tiring it would be.  

Scenery that we had seen were just spectacular.  Transylvania lives up to its reputation of beauty.  Driving through the winy roads up and down mountains with crisply green trees and misty air is something different.  May be it is the foggy and chill air making this place more mysterious and attractive (after all, from legends, it is where vampire lives).  I will definitely come back to spend some time to explore this place more.  

Travelling north of Transylvania was painstaking.  The beautiful highways in Southern Romania up to Transylvania deceived us.  There’s only country roads that passes through a town every a few kilometer.  We dare not driving pass the speed limit as we got caught speeding at a “school zone’ (yes…dead in the center of summer holiday, the school zone is in effect) and on the way, we saw a lot of police catching people speeding.  

(P.S. We had a close call when we drove through Transylvania where an old pick-up truck lost control at a turn and drifted/slid side-way toward us.  I felt my stomach was coming out of my mouth.) 

It seems like that the whole Romania is revamping their roads and building highways.  We drove through 30+ kilometer of construction.  Though the drive was long and painful, it was all worth it after we saw the villages in the country Maramures.  It was a whole different world.  

We saw people especially older ladies dressing in traditional costumes – for the ladies, they dressed in black puffy dress, long sleeves pull over shirt or sweater, and a bandanna; for the men, they dressed in a light color long sleeve shirt with a darker color vest and a dress pants, and a cowboy like hat but with a round top.  

There are cars but wagon seems to be a preferred way for the locals to transport goods and travel.  There are also wooden churches in each town we passed.  A lot of homes have this wooden gate with fine crafting on it.  There are also a few homes with their exterior wall decorated with colorful tiles.  There was just so much for the eyes to see in this area.  I’m glad that we decided to drive, there doesn’t seems to have frequent bus, if there is, passing by these towns.  Local usually hitchhike.  Then, we later found that it is a common practice for the hitchhiker to pay the driver, which is very different from everywhere else we’ve been to where hitchhiking is free.  

To return the favors we enjoyed hitching rides from other kind drivers, we picked up a Polish couple to give them a lift to town on our way.

Day 92: Overcoming My Stereotype

(Her: Joanna)

Interacting with Romanian in Romania definitely surprised me.  From the interaction with the few Romanian I experienced in Canada, my impression of Romanian is that they are not the friendliest type, are strong characters and express their opinion very boldly and bluntly.  Gosh! Am I wrong!  We have met some friendliest people in Romania who reached out to help us when we look lost on the street multiple times; we were welcomed at the pensions we stayed with great hosts; greet with curious Romanian in Northern Romania who tried to speak and communicate with us; and random old couples who are street vendors warm-heartedly gave me half a dozen of apples because I am a foreigner visiting their home town.  This experience taught me a lesson in what prejudice is.  A few bad apples can create erroneous prejudice and misunderstanding.  Hence, keeping an open mind especially to a culture, a nation and a country is important to avoid unnecessary conflict.  

(the old lady who gave me a bag-full of apples)

Day 90: Celebrate Death?

(Her: Joanna)

In the village of Săpânţ (Maramureş county), there is a “Merry Cemetery” (Romanian: Cimitirul Vesel).  All the gravestones are colored blue and on the gravestones written a funny summary of the life of the person buried there along with a craved picture that illustrate the character of the person.  If the person died in a tragic death, at the back of the gravestone will also have a summary of how they die with a funny twist.  I quite like the idea.  

 

(the happy cemetery - funny stories are written on graves to commemorate the departed)

Here is a sample of what’s on the gravestone:

"Here I rest. Manaila Ion Mahumesc is my name and I have been the boy of Nani. There are few people like me. I was a nice guy and handsome. But I have not been lucky because I died as a young guy and my body is now destroyed in the earth. Dear mother and wife, God should take care of you and my children, because I loved all of you very much. And I wait that we will meet again."

End of a life should be celebrated.  It should be the life of the person and what they did or achieved we shall remember.  Death is a normal stage of life.  If a person spent a colorful and well lived life, their departure should be celebrated in a happy note. 

For more translation of the gravestone, visit to this page http://papillontravels.net/sapantaindex.htm

Day 88: A quick glimpse into Bulgaria - Sofia, Bulgaria

(Him: Charlie)
Lion is everywhere in Bulgaria. This national symbol appears on every bank note, significant monuments, and statues. Even the currency, “Lev”, means “lion” in Bulgaria (Romania is the same for that matter with their “Lei”).

Bulgaria is an ancient land. With inhabitants first settled thousands of years ago, the country is rich in historical sites and religious monuments.

Unfortunately, time is not on our side. We have committed to be in Istanbul by August 6 to meet up with our friends, Aarthi and Kedar, from India. This means we have about 10 days to travel both Bulgaria and Romania.

So as a starter, we packed 3 days of action in Sofia. The plan is to go to Romania on the north after Sofia, spend 4 days in Romania, and then return to Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, and then finally enter Turkey by Aug 6. Wishful thinking! As we know all along, planning far ahead on a backpacking trip rarely works out. Things are about to be reshuffled when we get to Romania.

Some highlights in and around Sofia.

Sofia: Apparently, Sofia was built upon a natural thermal spring. People in the city continue to fetch the spring water to drink to this date. The interesting thing is the only thermal bath in the city, housed in a grandiose building (in photo), has not been used for decades. The City is considering to convert it for other use. My question is, why not just renovate it and re-open it as it was designed for??

Rila Monastery: Simply one of the finest monasteries we have seen. Tucked away in the mountains, the monastery is ideal for reflection and meditation (though not during the day, thanks to herds of tourists, but tourists are welcome to stay overnight).

 

 

Kroprivshtitsa: An old and rustic rural town that preserves buildings from the Ottoman era. Aside from a few museum, most buildings continue to be used by the local community to this date.  

Day 85: Home town of Mother Teresa - Skopje, Macedonia

(Him: Charlie)

I am in Skopje, Mother Teresa’s home town, to pay pilgrimage to one of the greatest person ever lived on earth. Most people associate Mother Teresa with Calcutta, India, but she was actually born and raised in Skopje, where she spent 18 years before devoting her life to the “poorest of the poor”.

It’s a shame that I didn’t know who Mother Teresa was until she passed away in 1997; and I didn’t know what she had done until the visit to Skopje. Her altruism and dedicated soon garnered my utmost respect, and right away she became one of the persons I respect the most.

Take a look at the vow she wrote when founding the Missionary Sisters of Charity.

"I, sister Mary Teresa, vow and promise to Almighty God and to the blessed Virgin Mary in the hands of your grace, the archbishop of Calcutta, for life. Poverty, chastity, obedience and also to devote myself to the service to the poor." 

The devotion of being poor and dedication of helping the poor for the entire life is an accomplishment that is unmatched by any regular people.

Salute, Mother Teresa!