My initial experience of Romania - 02/08/04

Hi all,

This shall be the second entry in my mail to you guys as well as part of my online travellogue. As it turned out, Bucharest is not exactly a very interesting place, in my opinion. Buildings are generally quite dreary and run down. You can really see that people are generally not very well to do. Given that people here are generally not as well to do, many resort to trickery to make a fast buck out of you. On my first day there, I have encountered two cases of men masquerading as policemen and flash fake IDs, demanding that I show them my passport. Well, instinct told me they were just a bunch of fakes and I brushed them off physically and looked like I was ready for a fight.

On the less shady side of things, taxi drivers who own private cabs fix their metres so that they can charge you exorbitant prices. When you reach your destination, they will conveniently 'forget' to give you change till you ask them. Today, encountered a new scam. Was off to the train station to buy a train ticket with this Belgian gal from the hostel. Met this guy who demanded to see our train tickets. I showed him mine but the Belgian gal did not have any ticket as she had to go withdraw cash from the ATM first. At this juncture, the man with the fake train station inspector ID then asked that she pay him 4,000 lei (S$0.20) as a platform fee. The poor gal looked quite harassed and I just dragged her along with me and ignored the guy. Off we went and things were ok. So the rule of thumb when travelling in this country is: Ignore anyone who has a sob story and disbelieve everyone whom you see who claims to be someone in authority. That way, you will save yourself a heartache and tears with cash and passport still intact.

Having said that, I did meet a few honest, decent Romanians here. Was trying to rush to get a train ticket somewhere in town yesterday but was off at the village museum which was quite far off. Could not get a cab at all and being in a rush for time, asked a Romanian gal for directions. Being helpful, she was trying to do what she can but she pissed her dad off when she took longer than usual to meet him at a pre-arranged spot as he was picking her up with his car. When she finally went off with her mum to meet him, I was still lost not knowing where to go and no cab in sight. And just when I thought I had to trek the rest of the way back to the city, she came crying and told me that her dad was offering me a ride and that she had just quarrelled with him. Felt bad but at the same time, was very blessed. Didn't think anyone here would 'rescue' a hapless Chinese at all.

Today, met another Romanian gal who spoke English on the train to Brasov. Actually fished out a lot of details as to the nice places to go to in the country and the times to go. And she offered to bring me around the town. So there are decent folks in this country, but really have to be discerning. There are people here who hold two jobs and want to make an honest living to support their family and at the same time, try to finish their engineering degree, with the hope of a good job and a good life. On the other side of the spectrum are those bums who just want to steal, beg and cheat. Unfortunately, most of us tourists will only get to see the bad side it seems.

Anyway, this is getting too long. That's all for now. Till next time...

Jerry