Storyline: Vidin to Ruse Bulgaria via Romania by train Jul – Aug, 2017
Upon arrival at Sibiu and before venturing the city we bought tickets for our next leg to Braşov. We would try an international train this time. And, I had to check: yes, you guessed it, the toilets at the station. I was prepared, but didn’t think it would be so bad. One enters a really small space, squeezes by a woman who collects the money, then brushes by the table behind which she sits on one side and the wall on the other. She gives you a symbolic small piece of what is supposed to be toilet paper and off you go. Could have used the toilet on train but after the experience with the clean WC in Craiova I though it was safe to use the station’s. There was a sink dripping on the floor and a bucket below the drain behind the money collector. A Norwegian girl was fighting to put her luggage as close to the toilet stall as possible. Good luck with this one! At the end she gave up, left the suitcases under my observation and went. Inside the stall was beyond description… I had my toilet paper and my little towel I carry around, just in case. Glad I did. I can definitely write a chapter on the Romanian public toilets or the lack of such. Not sure why they collect the money if they don’t even bother cleaning.
As much as we loved Sibiu, its train station was not up to par. And its public WC was the worst I’ve ever seen.
So, I did not make the same mistake on our departure. All was calculated. We bought our food and drinks for the train on the way to the station. Again, there was nothing anywhere near the station. No kiosk, no café or fast food booth. There were many little booths in the town centre, which we had to cross to get to the station. These are really small spaces with tiny windows. One points to something resembling filo pastry or pizza slice if one is lucky to find such, takes it from this small window and if you are like me, wraps it in a napkin and puts it in the food bag. Not much of wrapping at the booth either. We got Alex’s coke from a store the previous day. And so, we were all set to go.
We boarded the international Vienna to Bucharest train. This sleeper train has been on my planned itinerary for a longer journey, so it was actually nice to experience it on a shorter distance. The train and especially the toilets were no cleaner than the previous 2 trains we had already taken. I took some photos of the 2-berth compartments. They looked quite nice and comfortable. There was a sink in every compartment, but at the end of the carriage there was only one toilet and a shower, which was broken. The toilet had seen better days too (not sure what qualifies as a good day for a toilet: Alex).
The train was faster and the travel time much shorter than the previous two. The last part of the trip to Sibiu from Craiova was along the Cibin River, a tributary to River Olt. The railway to Braşov swung down the Cibin River and then followed the valley of River Olt north of the Carpathians for some time, alongside the only road connecting Sibiu with Braşov, which was one lane each way. There were fewer ruins and slums than had dominated the previous two routes we had taken. Villages in the distance looked much nicer. Perhaps because of the new red or green metal roofs on some of the houses. Or perhaps because we were in Transylvania, and the Germanic culture was more attuned to order and cleanliness. However, one could still see lots of deserted farm houses. Photography again wasn’t great. We spent our time observing the country life from our windows.
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