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.

Hotels in China and the Police: A Cautionary Tale

In mid-July I visited Li Shuai in his hometown of Changchun in Northeast China, and then took a two day trip down south back to Beijing. The first night I stayed in a youth hostel in Shenyang that was very cheap, only 60 RMB a night ($9). The following day, I visited two towns by bus before taking a train to Xingcheng, a walled historical town on the coast of the Bohai Sea. I arrived after 8PM, and was concerned about finding accommodation, so I asked a taxi to take me to a hotel that would cost in between 100 and 200 RMB. The taxi driver took me to a hotel that was in the right price range. I checked out a room and thought it was adequate (although overpriced for what it was at 150 RMB per night).

Next, I began the check in process. I handed over my passport and paid the fee. But, there seemed to be a problem. The hotel had a machine to register the guests, and my information wasn’t being accepted. One of the helpful girls suggested we go to the police station to sort things out. I reluctantly agreed. At the police station, I was informed that there was only one hotel that foreigners were allowed to stay in Xingcheng, an old hotel that would cost 300 RMB a night! I was not willing to spend that much money, so I complained to the police officers. After about half an hour of discussion between me, the hotel clerk and the police, they finally relented. I had convinced them that the foreigner-approved hotel was too expensive. They were making an exception for me and would let me stay in the cheaper hotel!

My second police encounter took place a few days ago in an obscure town in Henan called Sanmenxia. I arrived at about 4:30 and found a perfectly adequate hotel next to the train station for 80 RMB a night, including an internet connection. Of course, when I showed them my passport, the problems began. The receptionist had to talk to her boss, who ten called the police. I was informed that I could only stay in one foreigner approved hotel in town. I was very annoyed. I didn’t want to go to the hassle of going to another hotel. Some of the other people waiting in the lobby agreed with me, so I asked the receptionist to accompany me to the police station so I could have a talk with the police.

At the police station, I waited for a short while before the policeman in charge came out to talk to me. He was very friendly, and I explained that I didn’t want to spend a night in an expensive hotel. He seemed unwilling to compromise though, and told me that the foreigner hotel wasn’t actually that expensive, maybe only 150 RMB a night. For that price, I decided to give up. There was no point in arguing anymore. The police were nice enough to drive me to the hotel as well. It turns out the hotel was only 100 RMB a night for a very nice room. I’m not sure if the low price was because the police were there with me. Anyway, this story had a happy ending, but if I continue going to obscure towns in China, I’m sure that this won’t be my last run in with the police.

Chinese Hotels

I’ve travelled in China extensively and have had the opportunity to stay in hotels that range from ultra-luxurious to filthy and disgusting. China has a huge range of hotels available particularly in larger cities, where western amenities are commonplace. Most tourists to China will stay in these hotels. But as a careful observer will notice just driving around Beijing – there seems to be tons of hotels everywhere that have strange names, like Traffic Hotel or Petroleum hotel. What are these places like? What are Chinese-style hotels like?

I can answer both of these questions. In my view there are three types of ‘Chinese-style’ hotel: the dirt cheap, the tries to be nice but ends up strange, and the new breed of western-style hotels.

Let us begin with the dirt cheap. I have had the opportunity to stay in a few cheapies in China. These hotels are typically next to train stations and have no private bathroom. They have concrete floors, dirty linens and public bathrooms with no partitions between the stalls that may or may not have ever been cleaned. They are typically about $5 a night.

The second type, and most common, is the ‘tries to be nice but is strange’ type. These are often new hotels, perhaps only a few years old, but they still are badly designed. Most of the poor design decisions involve the bathroom. In a hotel in Shuozhou for instance, the bathroom actually had a shower stall, but there was no place to put any of the toiletries except on the floor! In a hotel in Xinzhou, the toilet was located to close to the sink so when I sat on the toilet one leg was pressed up against the sink. Hot water often seems to be an issue. In Datong, a hotel just had scalding hot water! There was no cold water at all! Toilets often don’t flush correctly, rarely is there a shower partition and cleanliness can be a problem. These kinds of places also like to have ‘ladies’ call you late at night offering ‘messages’. Is that a euphemism for something else? I don’t know because I have always turned them down. However, the sleeping area of these places is often quite reasonable, there is always air conditioning offered and they may even offer internet access. These places typically cost from about $10-25 a night

The third type is a new type of budget hotel that is increasingly being found in the large cities. Home Inn and Jinjiang Hotels are leading this model. These hotels all offer a similar standard of rooms. Basically, they would be the equivalent of a motel-type accommodation in the west. Basic, but clean and reasonably designed. Free internet access is available in all rooms. These are about $25-40 a night.

Linfen: The Most Polluted City in the World?

Today I am spending the night in a city called Linfen, just south of Pingyao. Why would I spend a night here? Well, it is in between Pingyao and Henan, my next destination, but that is not the primary reason I’m here. No, I’m here because of an article I read a few years ago in the Guardian that described Linfen as the ‘most polluted city in the world’ and that it ‘rained ash’ and it was ‘hell on earth’. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by these apocalyptic descriptions?

The sky was quite overcast and slightly rainy as the train approached Linfen. There were many heaps of coal next to the railway. When I arrived in Linfen, I found a city that looked like most other Chinese cities: unattractive, but mostly functional. A lot of construction was going on, and traffic was bad. Apart from it being quite smoggy, I could see no evidence of Linfen being any more polluted than other Chinese cities. I told my cab driver that I had heard about Linfen in the western press because of the pollution, and he laughed and said that was right. But, at least today it was not ‘raining ash’.