The Shanghai-Beijing High-speed train

Getting to the train station and on to the train was a bit of a nightmare due to the cumbersome bike that I was carting around. I had to drag the bag along the floor of the train station, and by the time I got onto the train, my hands were red and sore.

The train itself was a bit of a letdown. For some odd reason, they have the TVs at high volume for the entire trip! I was so irritated by this auditory intrusion that I complained to the attendant, who did nothing. I don’t understand why they bother. No one was watching the TV. Don’t they realize that they are just irritating people? It’s best to just mute the damn TVs and have head phone inserts. That’s what they do on planes after all.

Shanghai

After three weeks on the road, I finally made it to Shanghai. Towards the end of my trip, the biking became much easier. On the final leg, I made great time (five hours for 85 km), and could have gone much further. My legs no longer hurt, and I felt fine when I got off my bike. In order to avoid the problems I had on my first leg to Tianjin, I will have to train first next time I do a long distance trip like this.

Overall this was a valuable experience. I got to experience China at its most basic level, I got exercise every day, and I didn’t have to wait around for buses/trains all the time. Biking is the way to go on trip from now on!

Instant Cities

When I looked at the map book to confirm the location of my hotel in Dezhou, it seemed to be located in the countryside. On the internet, the map indicated a grid of streets. In between the publication of the map book (a year or two ago) and now, a new city has risen in Dezhou’s economic development zone.

In Changzhou, it was the same thing. My hotel seemed to be located very far away from the center of the city. As a biked through this new area, most of the buildings were recently built or under construction. There were lots of empty lots, a few people walking around. In a year or so, it would be full of people. In fact, once reaching Changzhou, the urban area never really reverted back to countryside for the remainder of my trip. All the way to Shanghai, was constant urban sprawl. In cities, it was apartment buildings. In the areas between, there was a lot of industry and even rural apartment buildings as well. With all the construction going in, I am really wondering how all these new housing projects can expect to find owners? I don’t think that poor peasants can afford them, and there is only a finite number of people. Perhaps people are buying them to rent out? I’d really like to know. Based on first-hand experience seeing all these new buildings, I can’t help but think it is unsustainable.

Anhui (~300 km)

The cities in Anhui do not merit their own individual posts. They are unattractive, underdeveloped and unpleasant. I had been warned about Bengbu from my dental hygienist, who had spent a summer there volunteering to fix people’s teeth. She did not enjoy it. I thought that it couldn’t have been that bad. On the map it looked like there were lots of parks. It was that bad. The parks were bad and the city half under construction. Dreadful.

The highlight of my time in Anhui was actually the route between Bengbu and Chuzhou. Unexpectedly, the road went through sparsely populated countryside that was heavily forested. Even many of the trees had clearly been recently planted, the countryside was beautiful. It was a pleasant change from the usual dusty countryside with people everywhere. Chuzhou was nicer than Bengbu, but really not very interesting. To be fair, I did not have time to visit Langya Shan (a mountain), the main tourist site in town. Perhaps had I visited I would have been more impressed.

In Chuzhou I stayed in five star white tile hotel for only $40 a night! Actually the rooms were quite nice, and very good value in my opinion, in spite of the ghastly exterior. The hotel was built in 1999, at the height of the white-tile craze that grabbed ahold of China for too long.

Dezhou - Again

Articles in the June issue of National Geographic and in a recent issue of the Economist both talk about the solar-powered hotel I stayed in Dezhou. The photo in the Economist article is of the bizarre-looking structure.

Xuzhou

I had never heard of Xuzhou prior to planning my trip. It does seem to be a pretty significant city though. The airport has international flights, there is a metro in the planning stages, and it even has a Starbucks (newly opened)! When I arrived at the hotel, I asked the receptionist about whether the hotel gets a lot of foreigners. She said that they did. They often had Koreans and Japanese and had an American a few days ago. She then lowered her voice and told me breathlessly that even had a black man stay there recently. I thought that I had it bad with the amount of attention I receive! I feel really sorry for any black person that travels around China.

Xuzhou actually was more cosmopolitan than I expected. At the Starbucks the next day, another foreigner was there, and later on when I went to the Carrefour, I saw a middle-aged white couple shopping in the imported goods section. If a no-name city in China is this cosmopolitan, think of what other places will be like in a few years. Previously horrible cities (like Suzhou), may become livable. While Xuzhou is somewhat cosmopolitan, it is still a very Chinese city at heart. Many ghastly white-tile buildings dot the skyline, although I did see a few which had been condemned. Massive new developments are rising in the city center. International hotel chains are moving in (Ramada). With a little bit of work, Xuzhou could be quite pleasant. It actually reminded me of Hangzhou, as it had a lot of hills rising above the urban area, offering patches of green.

On one of these green islands is located the Terracotta warrior museum. No, this is no the Xi’an museum of the same name, rather this is a Han Dynasty tomb with its own, smaller warriors. Unlike the warriors in Xi’an, you can actually go inside the tomb in Xuzhou, which is cut directly into the rock. The warriors are not as impressive as the ones in Xi’an as they are smaller and fewer. Nevertheless, in some ways I enjoyed these Terracotta warriors more. The natural setting was pleasant. There were fewer tourists, and there was no hype. In Xi’an, I was disappointed. The hype made me believe that what I was about to see would be incredible. But it really wasn’t. Sure, seeing legions of stone warriors in a big pit was impressive, but surely if the entire thing was excavated and you could walk next to the warriors it would be even better. Xuzhou is way off the tourist circuit, but for anyone adventurous, it is a worthy destination.

Qufu – Xuzhou (175 km)

That number (175 km) loomed in my mind as I set out extra early at 5 am from Qufu. Nevertheless, I set off with naïve optimism. Things went uneventfully until around 10 am when I stopped for a rest by the side of the road. Suddenly, I saw another biker stop by me. He also had panniers on his bike. Clearly he was also travelling a long distance. It turns out we were headed for the same place: Shanghai and had both come from Beijing. He was Chinese, and was planning to bike to Tibet after going to Shanghai. We decided to cycle together for the rest of the day to Xuzhou. We stopped for lunch near Weishan Lake where we had an excellent fish dish. Afterwards we continued on and arrived at the hotel at 5:00. Taking the lunch break into account, it took 11 hours of cycling to go 175 km! Strangely, I felt pretty good afterwards. It was certainly way better than the worst day so far, still the first to Tianjin.

The Cultural Sites of Qufu and its Surroundings

On my first day in Qufu, right after arriving from Tai’an, I set out to see the three Confucius sights spread around town. I had already seen these in 2005, but with the exception of the forest, had forgotten everything else. The temple was quite good, featuring a hall reminiscent of those built at the Forbidden City, and the mansions were also very interesting. The forest was as I remember it, but by then I was too tired to walk around much, and just went to see Confucius’ tomb.

The next day was perhaps more interesting, but rain put a bit of a damper on things. I biked the 25km to nearby Zoucheng, which was Mencius’ hometown. Mencius was another Chinese philosopher from around the time of Confucius, but his ideas did not gain the same traction. His temple was much smaller, and so were his mansions. I liked them better however, as I was the only person there and I had no blaring Chinese tour groups to contend with.

On the way back to Qufu, I stopped at Prince Lujian’s tomb. He was a Ming prince from the 15th century and his tomb is quite large impressive. Like the Ming and Qing tombs of Beijing, there is a large above ground portion of gates and other buildings. I was also able to actually go inside the tomb, which was very interesting. Alas, I would have liked to stop at Mencius’ forest on the way back as well, but there was no obvious sign indicating the turn-off and it was raining. Of course, the next day when I took the same route on my way to Xuzhou, I did locate the sign, which was minuscule. Oh well. Perhaps next time?

Tai’an – Qufu (75 km)

This was definitely the easiest day yet, and I arrived in Qufu at 11 am. On my way to Qufu, I met a hardcore cyclist who was going very fast. We chatted for a bit, and he told me he was going 170 km in one day, and that he expected it would take him six hours! Inspired by this distance, I’ve decided to challenge myself and rather than stopping in Zaozhuang for one night (and making a 20 km detour), that I will go directly to Xuzhou from Qufu. It is 165 km away, but I think it will be worth it in the end, because I will actually be riding less on the whole, and I will gain another day by skipping Zaozhuang.

Jinan – Tai’an (with a temple detour)

Although the distance was shorter than usual today, this was one of the most challenging days I had. The principal reason was that much today’s ride was uphill. Central Shandong is the only part of my route that is mountainous, and so the uphill was a new challenge for me. To make it worse, it was also very hot today. Everything was going reasonably well until I arrived at the turnoff for Lingyan Temple, an isolated temple that I wanted to visit enroute to Tai’an. The entire 5 km or so to the temple was uphill, and to make matters worse, I took the scenic route to the temple rather than the normal route. While the scenic route was indeed more scenic, it was also longer, and I walked much of the way covered in sweat. The temple was a welcome respite from the heat, and I enjoyed it. Especially interesting were the Arhat sculptures from the Ming Dynasty that survived the Cultural Revolution.

After leaving the temple, it took only about five minutes to get back to the highway since it was all downhill. The final leg of the trip to Tai’an was also a challenge, not because it was physically exhausting, but because I was having trouble with my eyes. My right eye continued to tear up and I had to blink constantly until I arrived in Tai’an. I wonder if there are special sunglasses one can get to avoid this problem? Mine don’t seem to work….

Antique Markets in China: A guide

Buying antiques in China can be very rewarding as long as you are aware of some of the risks involved. Firstly, most of the stuff for sale is fake. Even if something looks real, it’s probably fake. Unless you have some knowledge of the kind of item you wish to buy, you should assume that something is probably fake. Now this may be fine. If the item is pretty and has meaning to you, go ahead and get it. But when you bargain for it, make sure you pay the fake price for it, not the real price.

There are some easy ways to avoid buying fakes. One of the easiest is to buy from someone that has an actual shop rather than someone set up on the ground. But still be careful. Shops in tourist areas are still likely to be stocked with fakes. Go for the shops in actual antique markets as these are run by actual dealers. Once you’ve been around a few of these markets you get a sense of what the stuff is like. You often see the same stuff over and over again. That stuff is likely fake. The really unique stuff is more likely to be real.

On market days, you should look at what the person is selling and what the person is like. Some of the people are clearly peasants from the countryside and often have an eclectic selection of items. You can often get very good deals from these kinds of people, simply because they don’t know how much something should cost and they (in my opinion) are more likely to have real stuff than the city dwellers.

The best day to go to the antique market is on market day. Once a week, people without a permanent presence at the market will come and hawk their wares. For selection and deal-potential, this is the time to visit. Most markets are half-closed on other days. Also, some markets are better than others. For atmosphere, the Tianjin one is tops due to its location in the streets of an old neighborhood. For actual goods, the Xi’an market is by far the best. I was also quite impressed by the one in Xuzhou. Avoid Panjiayuan at all costs! Is now only for tourists. For a real experience in Beijing, go to Baoguang Temple.

Market Days (that I know of):
Beijing (Baoguang Temple): Thursday
Beijing (Panjiayuan): Saturday and Sunday
Changchun (Not sure what it's called): Sunday
Tianjin (Shenyang Dao): Thursday
Xi’an (Baxian Temple): Sunday
Xuzhou (Pubu Shan): Saturday

Other Antique Markets with unknown days:

Chengdu
Hangzhou
Suzhou

Dezhou – Jinan (125 km)

While I had seen a few other recreational cyclists the day before (about 5), today I actually spoke to one on my way out of Dezhou. He was a middle-aged Chinese man, cycling with his wife. They both had the exact same model of bike that I did and were both wearing helmets (only serious cyclists in China wear helmets). He told me he was from Dezhou, and seemed surprised when I told him that I intended to go to Shanghai, mainly because it was so far.

Later on in the morning, a young guy rode up next to me and began talking. He was going to visit his grandparents in a nearby village and invited me to join him. Intrigued at the idea of visiting a house in a rural village, I accepted. His name was Wu and he had just finished the university entrance exam and was waiting for his results. He hoped to study finance in Harbin. His village was pleasant enough. I first went with him to his uncle’s house, which had been modernized and had a fridge and nice white painted walls. His grandparents lived in an older building that had never been renovated and looked very peasant-like. A big jar on the table contained several gingko roots and a huge Kang bed was located in the dining room. Wu offered me lunch, and while I initially declined saying that it would be too inconvenient, he seemed insistent, so I had a simple lunch of fried ride and watermelon with him.
I didn’t stay too long, as I wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t arrive too late in Jinan. I gave him a US $1 bill as thanks for his hospitality.

About twenty minutes later, as I took a short break on the side of the road, I saw Wu ride up to me. He had come looking for me because he wanted to give me something. He took out five ancient Chinese coins. He said they were from the Tang and Qing dynasties and that his grandmother had given to him. I initially refused to take them, but he said that he felt I would value them more than him because I had studied history. I reluctantly took them, even though I did indeed really want them. The kindness of the Chinese people I have met continues to surprise and delight me.

Cangzhou – Dezhou (130km)

While not many people have heard of Dezhou, I had actually read an article in the Economist about a year ago about Dezhou. It seems that Dezhou is a center of the solar power industry and last year hosted an international convention about solar power. With this in mind, I decided to stay in the Solar Valley Micro E Hotel, a hotel that is entirely powered by solar energy and is part of the world’s largest solar-powered building.

As a city, Dezhou looked much like other Chinese cities on first glance. Ugly buildings and dusty streets did nothing to differentiate it from other places. However, as I went through the New Development zone, I was somewhat impressed. There is an almost completely new city being built adjacent to the original city of Dezhou. The streets are very wide and landscaped, and the area will soon be filled with fancy new apartment buildings undoubtedly. On the eastern fringe of this area was Solar Valley, as area with lots of solar powered buildings.

The Solar Valley Micro Powered E-hotel was like many Chinese hotels. On the outside everything looks great: nice lobby, nice room. But, once you look a little closer you will realize that this is a façade and in ten years the hotel will be falling apart due to cheap construction and poor maintenance. I got a very good deal on what is supposedly a five start hotel: $40 a night. There’s a reason why it was so cheap. Upon being shown to my room, I was initially impressed. It looked great! But then I noticed something was wrong with the windows. It looked like something was covering them. The window actually faced into the lobby and a huge sticker had been placed over the window advertising some fact of the hotel for people looking up in the lobby. The grouting in the bathroom was turning black, and in the morning my shower was lukewarm. No doubt because the sun hadn’t yet come out to make everything work properly. At breakfast there was a big pile of shit sitting on the floor in the middle of the restaurant. No, this is not a joke!

Tianjin – Cangzhou (115 km)

Cangzhou is a typical provincial Chinese town. On the outskirts were the typical signs of heavy industry, in this case what looked like an oil refinery. The town itself was unnatractive, filled with poorly designed low-rise buildings of recent vintage, empty construction areas and occasional pockets of old traditional housing. Despite the traditional housing being old, these areas were still not very nice.

Immediately after checking in, I went for a walk to see two sights: the Confucian Temple and large Mosque. However, my map was rather poor and I got lost. While wandering through an area of traditional housing after spying what looked like a temple in the distance, a woman asked me if I needed any help. I told her I was looking for the mosque. This woman was wearing headscarf, and was clearly a Muslim. In fact, many of Cangzhou’s residents were Muslim as evidenced by all the halal eateries and the caps worn by the men and woman. The woman offered to take me to the mosque on her bike. This woman was absolutely thrilled to make my acquaintance. I asked if I could go in the mosque, and she offered to give me tour. Of course, I didn’t understand much, but that didn’t stop the woman from jabbering away. I got the impression that she was quite pious. When she was talking about Islam her face lit up, and she seemed very happy. It was clearly very important to her.

After our tour, she invited me to have dinner with her friends! Of course I accepted and I met some of her friends and relatives all who were very nice. We went to a dumpling place where we first had sheep bones, a regional specialty (something I don’t need to eat again), followed by excellent dumplings. At the end of the meal, she told me not to thank her, but to thank Allah. In fact, all of her friends told that they wanted to give me a good impression towards Muslims. Well, they succeeded. I had a very special time in Cangzhou, and it was thanks to their hospitality.

Tianjin

The next day I woke up in considerable pain. In particular, my right hip was very sore and walking up stairs hurt very much. At this point I thought it prudent to take a two day rest in my journey. I will now continue to Cangzhou on Friday. At 115 km, it is 10 km shorter than the distance between Beijing and Tianjin, and so I hope that I won’t be completely exhausted after this segment of my trip.

Beijing to Tianjin (125 km)

Things started out well. I left shortly before 6 AM, before bad traffic and while it was still cool. I made good progress and finally left the built-up part of Beijing at around 8:00. I was on track to make it to Tianjin by about 14:00. Despite beginning to feel a bit tired over the next few hours, I soldiered on, stopping for lunch at 11:30, and still feeling pretty good. I was already two-thirds of the way there in about 5 hours, certainly I would have no problem completing the last third. Wishful thinking. As I arrived in the town of Wuqing, quite near Tianjin at about 13:00, I began to slow down considerably and feel more and more tired, taking frequent rests. By this time it was also very hot, and there was little shade. The next three hours of riding were very painful, and by the time I reached Tianjin proper I was on the first gear, down from six in the morning. The ride in Tianjin to my hotel was the most unpleasant of my trip, as the construction work taking place on the road left a fair bit of dust that blew into my mouth. By the time I arrived in my hotel at 16:15, I was filthy and exhausted. I went out for a quick dinner and was tired that I fell asleep at 18:30 and slept for 11 hours!

My big bike trip

I'm doing a bike trip this summer with the goal of reaching Shanghai from Beijing. Why this route? Well, I'd like to commemorate the imminent opening of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail service. I will travel the same route in one of the slowest ways possible and return back to Beijing on the train itself, going the fastest way. I view this as kind of a contrast between old and new. I will be able to experience China at its most primitive level (the countryside) and then at its most advanced on the train back. In between, I will stop at all the cities that have train stations on the route and spend the night in each one. How long will this take? I'm aiming for three weeks.

Transdniestria: The Country that Doesn’t Exist

While in Moldova I had the opportunity to visit Tiraspol, the capital of the self-proclaimed country of Transdniestria. After the breakup of the USSR, there was a brief civil war in Moldova in which Transdniestria declared its independence from Moldova.

While I had heard that crossing the border into the Transdniestria often involved confiscation of money and bribes, I was not too worried. I just brought a small amount of money with me, so there wouldn’t be much to take.

After a forty-five minute ride from Chisinau, we arrived at the border. First we were briefly stopped by a Moldovan guard, and then passed some soldiers and old fortifications. Finally we reached the Transdniestrian border post where we filled in an immigration form and stood in line to have our passports checked over by an unsmiling border guard. No bribes were taken and we were let through the border.

The first difference between Transdniestria and Moldova is in the language. Moldova uses Latin letters and its official language is Romanian. On the other hand, Transdniestria uses Cyrillic and the most used language is Russian. The landscape wasn’t much different from Moldova. Huge communist-era apartment building jostled for space with primitive looking houses.

The capital of Transdniestria, Tiraspol feels very provincial and sleepy. While there, I saw few people walking down the wide streets. Unfortunately due to a holiday, many of the stores were closed. However, I was able to change money into Transdniestrian rubles and bought some Cognac, a product that is supposedly famous in the ‘country’. For lunch, we went to restaurant that served sushi (I didn’t order that), something that was unexpected in a provincial place such as Tiraspol.


The Transdniestrian Ruble is completely useless outside the country – no other country recognizes the existence of the Transdniestrian Republic. It was quite amusing to see the place really trying to be a ‘real’ country. There were lots of flags, and signs, and there was even an Abkhazian embassy, another unrecognized ‘country’ in Georgia. The public buildings were small and ugly. There was a parliament building, a national theatre, a national bank and even a memorial from the ‘war of liberation’ form Moldova.

There was a significant military presence in the country, but if you look carefully at the soldiers you will note that they are actually Russian. Russia has a military base in Transdniestria and support its existence. There were various military checkpoints and poorly camouflaged military equipment in various places. I’m no quite sure why Russia supports the existence of Transdniestria, but it probably wants to project its power in a region that it used to control as the USSR.

After a few hours in Tiraspol, I had seen everything and was ready to leave. I don’t feel the need to return. While interesting due to the political situation, Tiraspol really has nothing interesting to see.

Moldova: The 'Bad' Country

Upon crossing the border from Romania into Moldova, I immediately noticed a change. There were fewer paved streets. The houses looked shabbier. Cars were older. The roads were appalling. The main highway to Chisinau, the capital, is full of potholes. No wonder Moldova is the poorest country in Europe.

Chisinau has a sleepy feel. There are few tall building and lots of shabby buildings the city center. Sidewalks are in poor maintenance. There is one mall in the entire country, built only a couple of years ago. There is not much to do in Chisinau except walk around, which I did. Like Romania, money changers are everywhere, indicating that much of the population has migrated.

While a democratic country, Moldovan voters have elected communist governments since the fall of the USSR. It doesn’t seem like the government has done much to lift the country of poverty. One a per-capita basis, Moldova is poorer than China and is at a similar level of development to some of the richer African countries.

When I took a taxi to the train station to catch my train returning to Bucharest, the taxi driver, who spoke some English, asked me what I thought of Moldova. I said I liked it. It was true, while boring, people were reasonably friendly, and visiting was a positive experience for me. The taxi driver told me he thought that Moldova was a ‘bad country’ and like many of his countrymen, he wanted to leave. I once read somewhere that Moldova was the least happy country on earth. I can now perhaps see why.

Fortified Churches: Biertan

I was disappointed to discover that the bike rental place was shut in Sighisoara when I went shortly after arriving. This forced me to take a roundabout route to Biertan (a fortified church, and supposedly the best) via train to Medias, followed by a bus.

When I arrived in Biertan at 12:45, I discovered that the next bus back to Medias left at 9:00 PM in the evening. This news was not unexpected, and so after viewing the church and having lunch, I decided to run the 10 KM to the nearest train station.

It is rather strange to see a cathedral-like building towering over a village of dirt roads and gypsies. As for the church in Biertan, it was lovely. Double-walls encircled the church, interspersed with imposing towers. Inside the church, there was a lovely altarpiece and a door with an unusual locking mechanism.

After finishing the church, I ran most of the ten kilometers to the train station. On the way, I went through an unusual village called Saros filled with gypsies who lived in a collection of shacks perched precariously along a hillside. The town also had a fortified church that was unfortunately closed.

The Saxon Cities of Transylvania: Medias

On the train ride into the city of Medias, my eyes were immediately assaulted by a number of unattractive factories and communist housing blocks. Deep within this architectural morass, I saw a lovely medieval tower emerge. Perhaps there was something attractive in this city after all. After leaving the train and exploring, I was able to find a well-preserved historical center. Unfortunately, none of the potential tourist sights was open (fortified church, fortifications, synagogue), and cars dominated the medieval center of town. Not a tourist was to be seen. I think that if the city cobbled some of the central streets and and if some restaurants in the center opened, Medias could be more welcoming to tourists. At the moment though, it is not that exciting.

Romanian Food

On the whole, the food in Romania has been disappointing. It seems to be primarily meat based, with a smattering of vegetables like cabbage and potato. A ubiquitous part of the cuisine is the accompaniment of polenta with many of the meat dishes. Some other particularities include the use of cheese. Romania’s cheese is very soft, much like feta, and is often sweet. A typical desert is deep-fried cheese with lemon.

Alongside the local Romanian restaurants in the cities are Italian restaurants. Pizza and pasta are very popular here, and Italian restaurants are fixtures of every city. This is good, because you can get some nice salads at these restaurants. Healthy food seems to be sorely lacking in the local cuisine.

The Saxon Cities of Transylvania: Sighisoara

The fortified citadel of Sighisoara is a UNESCO world heritage site, and is perhaps most famous for being Dracula’s birthplace. Coming on the train, it is a dramatic sight to see the citadel rise on a hill in a picturesque valley, with the spires of churches and a clock tower rising from within. However, compared to both Sibiu and Brasov, Sighisoara was just lacking something intangible. It lacked a certain energy, perhaps because of its small size. The hostel I stayed in was mostly empty and the town in the citadel was also quite empty. Really, I felt that an hour was sufficient to see all the sights in Sighisoara. While very pretty, it just didn’t have that magical draw for me that other cities did.

Fortified Churches: Sibiu

I also visited some fortified churches by bike while in Sibiu, another Transylvanian city. The first church I visited took me on a lovely bike rood through the forest to a small village called Cisnadioara. In the distance, I could see a stone structure at the top of a small hill at the edge of the village. The church certainly was in a dramatic setting. After the climbing the hill, I entered the simple church, which was largely bare inside. It was surrounded by a crumbling stone wall that ringed the hill. At the top of the hill I could see my next destination, the larger town of Cisnadie.

However, when I arrived at the massive church, it was closed and would not open for another hour. Hungry and impatient, I decided to return to Sibiu and also decided to tack on a third church to the day’s sightseeing. The third church was in a northern suburb of Sibiu. After a short lunch, I rode there and was disheartened to find that this church was closed as well. I don’t really think that many tourists would want to visit anyway. The town was primitive, with gravel roads and the stench of manure permeating the air.

The Saxon Cities of Transylvania: Sibiu

I was surprised that I liked Sibiu more than Brasov. While it does not have the dramatic natural scenery of Brasov, the city is grander and the three central squares are lovely. Like Brasov, the city had many tourists and many outdoor restaurants. But the city felt a little less like a theme park. There were parts of the old town that tourists did not even venture to.

Sibiu also had a surprisingly good museum, the Brukenthal Museum. Despite Sibiu’s small size, the painting had some great paintings by early Dutch and German masters All of these paintings are located in a former palace.

Apparently Sibiu was completely spruced up a few years ago when it was the ‘European Culture Capital’. The effort shows. Sibiu is one of the most attractive small cities I have been to in Europe, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

Fortified Churches: Brasov

Transylvania is filled with fortified churches. These are basically churches with a wall built around them to protect against attack. When these were built, there was a constant fear of invasion from the Ottomans and Tatars, thus the churches were built with protection in mind.

Yesterday I rented a bicycle and took a trip to two fortified churches just outside Brasov. The first one at Prejmer, is a world heritage site, and was very unusual. The church itself was pretty standard, but the fortifications were unique. On the inside, facing the church, the walls had many doors with small rooms. I also went into the roof where I saw how they could repel invasions by shooting arrows from small holes in the walls.

The second church at Harman was a little bit different. I liked the church better, but the fortifications were simpler. There were only a few of the rooms built into the wall, and no big room like in Prejmer. While I haven’t been to the Fujian Tulou in China, the photos I have seen of them really remind me of these churches.

The Weird People you Meet in Hostels: Bucharest

Generally, the people that stay in hostels are young. Sometimes, if the hostel also offers private rooms, older people will also stay there. However, it is rare for a mature person to stay in dorms. It is clear why this is. Usually an older person will have enough money to stay in nicer accommodation. Dorms offer no privacy or comfort, and I often sleep poorly when staying in one due to people going to be late, being noisy, leaving the light on etc. If money was not a factor, I would probably stay in a hotel.

But, there is another factor that needs to be considered. If you are a solo traveller, hostels offer the benefit of meeting other people. This intangible benefit makes the choice of staying in a hotel (if money is not a factor) a little more difficult. With this information in mind, let us return to the question of the old in hostels. Assuming these old people are there for the social reason, why would they want to associate with the young? Or do they just not have much money?’

This is question I asked myself while staying in Bucharest. At the hostel there, an elderly Chinese man attached himself to me and seemed impervious to the social signs I made indicating that I did not want him to accompany me. He was irritating and odd, and even though I mostly ignored him, still spent some time with me. He first invited himself to a tour of the Palace of Parliament with me. That was ok, because he found someone else to talk to during the tour. He expressed interest in accompanying me to the art gallery after the tour, something I emphatically did not want. Thankfully, he said he wanted to eat afterwards and did not ask me to join him. I went to the art gallery in splendid isolation. That evening, back at the hostel, I ran into him and asked if he had gone to the art gallery after his lunch. No, he said. He said that he had eaten too much for lunch and ‘didn’t have time’. This answer puzzled me. We had left the parliament at 1:00. Did his lunch take the whole afternoon? Very strange.

The next day, he invited himself along with me to take the train to Brasov. We talked a little bit, but I’m sorry I didn’t inquire about what he did for a living. He told me lived in Ohio, and that was all I got. I should’ve tried speaking Chinese to him. He only went to Brasov for the day, so as soon as we arrived, we separated. I thought that was the last of him.

I was wrong. Although, I didn’t see him again, I did hear of him secondhand. At the hostel in Brasov, I met an Australian guy and we began talking about Bucharest. When he mentioned an odd 60-sometihng person staying at his hostel there, I immediately asked if it was the Chinese guy. It was! Apparently, he had tried to invite himself to go clubbing with the Australian at an ‘Indy club’, thinking it was an ‘Indian restaurant’. Needless to say, he bailed when he discovered it was the truth. But is inviting yourself to something really appropriate given the age difference? I don’t really think it is. You should try and at least have a good rapport with someone before suggesting doing something social together.

The Saxon Cities of Transylvania: Brasov

Until recently, Transylvania was a land populated mostly by ethnic Germans. It was only after the war and the rise of communism that most of them left. But there legacy still lives on in the form of the beautiful cities they built. In Transylvania, there are three main cities that form a ‘Saxon Triangle’ that forms the hub of tourist activity in the region. These three cities are Brasov, Sibiu and Sighisoara. In addition to these three ‘tourist’ cities, I also visited Medias, a city not on most itineraries. These cities will all be discussed over my next few blog postings.

This is perhaps the most touristy of the Saxon cities of Transylvania. While surrounded by a suburbia of unattractive apartment blocks, the center of Brasov is beautifully preserved and tourist friendly. The historical center is in a narrow valley flanked by two hills, one with huge ‘Brasov’ sign at the top, in imitation of the more famous sign in Hollywood. Tourists wander through the main tourist street and square, occasionally stopping to eat at one of the various restaurants with outdoor seating.

I liked Brasov a great deal. It was touristy, but not overrun, and there is lots to do there, mostly in the form of day trips. Sights around the city itself are limited. There is nothing I enjoy more during travel than sitting outside and having a meal surrounded by lovely buildings. This is something I could do in Brasov, although in many cases the food was disappointing.

The day trips around Brasov all involve castles, including Bran castle, which some claim is Dracula’s castle. In reality, he had nothing to do with it. The castle itself was disappointing. While it looks great from a distance, inside are just a bunch of uncomfortable rooms that are poorly lit.

Easter

Easter in Romania seems to be a big deal. I found out today that basically everything will be shut on Sunday and Monday – a bit of a concern for me given my limited time. I don’t want tourist attractions and restaurants to be shut down.

While I was having lunch in the square on Good Friday, a great bunch of old people came walking in as part of a religious procession. At the head of the procession, several men were carrying a cross. They were followed by a group of youth in while and a priest as well as various other important looking people. While I initially thought that people are more ‘devout’ here than in Canada, the age of the people in the procession dispelled those thoughts. I think that Easter here is now more like a holiday than a religious event.

For Easter itself, Romanians have a tradition involving candles. When they go to midnight services on Easter, they also bring a candle with them. During the service, the candle is lit and is to be taken home following the service. The goal is to maintain the flame all the way home. Apparently if the candle stays lit all the way home, a wish will come true.

Romania: First Impressions

My first impressions of Romania come from what I saw on the bus ride from the airport. Strangely, the country I want to compare Romania to is China, at least architecturally. The buildings in Bucharest have a strange Chinese feel to them. I attribute this to their shred communist past. The large concrete buildings that are universal to communism seem to be a legacy in every single communist country.

After I arrived at my hostel and had a bit of time to explore the city, I was sad to see that many of the remaining old buildings were in a poor state of repair and nearly falling to the ground. In this case, I was most reminded of the buildings in Havana. Some of the buildings have been repaired (especially in the historic quarter), but most are still very decrepit.



Bucharest’s most famous architectural legacy is the monstrous parliament building that Ceausescu built in the 1980s. This gargantuan building (the second largest in the world, after the Pentagon) resulted in the destruction of 1/6th of Bucharest and a very diminished old town. I had the opportunity to go on a tour of the building, and it is gargantuan on the inside as well, featuring two ton chandeliers, marble everywhere and other stylings of an autocratic mind.

Overall, I’m not too thrilled with Bucharest. It is certainly one of the Europe’s least attractive capitals, While better than Minsk, Bucharest ranks below every single other capital I’ve been to in Europe on the ‘pretty’ scale. I’m looking forward to going to Transylvania to experience some well-preserved medieval cities.

Las Vegas All-you can eat buffets

One of the many things that are synonymous with Las Vegas are the buffets offered by each hotel. These buffets offer morbidly obese people a chance to fulfill their wildest desires and offer those of us who are thinner the opportunity to gain weight rapidly. Of course, this is assuming the food is good, and in that respect the situation is decidedly mixed.

I ate at four buffets in Las Vegas. One was excellent, two good and one terrible. My introduction to the Vegas all-you-can eat experience was at the Paris Hotel. I hoped that the theme of the hotel would translate into excellent French food. I was mostly right. It was wonderful to see such French staples as cassoulet and crème Brulee available, but at the same time disconcerting to see Latino waitresses dressed up in French peasant clothing.

At Caesar’s Palace, I hoped that there would be an Italian theme. Alas, it appears as though the Paris was an outlier. The food at this buffet was not as good, and the selection was much smaller. Some of the food items were also suspiciously similar to those offered at the Paris. However, the ambience was better here, and there were actually windows.

The worst buffet, but the most memorable one was at the Excalibur Hotel. It was also the cheapest. Basically this buffet had the food placed on a long counter in the middle of the room that resembles a trough for piggies to eat at. In fact, it was mostly pig-like people eating there. I have never seen more obese people in one spot stuffing poor quality food down their throats. While some of the food was passable – much of it was disgusting, including the pasta options. Strangely enough, the deserts were on par with those offered at the Paris. The best thing about this buffet was clearly not the food, but rather the people watching.