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I am a bit razzled at the moment after the last two days here, but having survived relatively unscathed I thought you might enjoy two fairly shady episodes I experienced here in Romania.

First some background. Romania is dirt poor (also unbelievably cheap for the traveler) and petty crime and theft is rampant, as are professional scams most notably by gypsies or unscrupulous taxi drivers. Having been forewarned well by the travel book (my trusty Lonely Planet guide), I was at first extremely cautious and conservative, which was quite difficult when I arrived into Bucharest at nearly midnight on a Saturday night and therefore had limited information and transportation options from the airport to a hotel (of which I had no reservations). I survived that hurdle quite successfully (I negotiated a taxi rate of $12 which was less than half the going rate – and I managed to get the driver to take me to the hotel I requested and not one which was owned by any potential shady associates). So, after a few uneventful days in the capital, I felt the cautious reputation was a bit overblown (though I did get nickel swindled nominal amounts of $1-2 a few times in restaurants) and my guard must have been lowered a bit as I thought I was aware of all the pitfalls (it seemed fairly easy to avoid the gypsies, though they worked in packs and tended to eye tourists a great deal).

Hello again.

I have had to change my plans and skip Russia on this journey, as the Visa was to have taken 2 weeks and I do not have that much longer here. The Russians diplomatic services are so beurocratic and archaic that they will not accept faxes like the rest of the world. You have to pay someone in Russia to courier a “letter of invitation”, then you have to go to the Embassy and fill out the Visa form with photos and the letter, which has to be couriered to Moscow and back. I am sure that if they could have found a way to make it slower, they would have (perhaps couriered by turtle back)… It would have been difficult to?get it before I left because the dates must be set in stone, but in hind sight that would be better than nothing. Oh, well. Next time…

The travels are all good, though Winter is very near. I was wearing shorts up until 8 or 9 days ago when I arrived in Prague. There has been a fair amount of fog and a bit of rain, but nothing too troublesome. I did not plan so well for cold weather, though, so will definitely have to buy a few essentials (hat, scarf, gloves, thermals) before going to Russia in a few days (provided I am ever able to get my Visa docs settled before then). I have developed a bit of a cold, but I’ll live, I’m sure. I had a couple of crazy-late nights (4-6AM) in Krakow with this American kid I was staying with and my body is clearly protesting with sickness…

I am in a trailer – down by the river. Of course, this river is in Krakow, Poland and a trailer might actually be a step up from the place I am staying in tonight. The landlord is a really creepy lurch-type-dude and I think that he lives in a coffin within a crypt, under the house.?A fellow American?and I?plan to buy some garlic and find some wooden stake before?we return after a few beers…Prague was killer, though it has become almost overbearingly touristy over the past 10 years since I was last there with Barf, Yunker and Sutton. Budapest is my new favorite city in Eastern Europe (actually, the new politically correct term is “Central Europe”, now). I took the hydrofoild out of Budapest up the Danube to Bratislava, Slovakia, which was interesting, but not nearly as comfortable as Prague or Budapest. I highly reccomend anyone going?near to Vienna to take this hydrofild down to see Budapest (Bratislava is 1 hour from Vienna). Unfortunately I got stuck in Budapest a bit longer than planned (my camera was stuck in customs for 1 week), so was not able to see some of the smaller, quant Medieval towns in Hungary and Czeck Rep., which I hear are awesome, but I will just have to come back some time. Now I will spend the next 8 or 9 days in Poland, before heading to Russia (hopefully my Visa will come through by then).

Surprisingly, the first internet cafes that I have found with the ability to download digital photos and write them to CD have been in former Eastern Europe (now the politically correct term is, “Central Europe”). At least now that my pictures are backed up to CD I am not so paranoid about the memory cards.