Autumn Colours in Kamikochi

Today we left Tokyo for Matsumoto in the Japanese Alps. The easiest way to get there is by train, but I was hoping to visit the Fuji Five Lakes area on the way, so hired a car from Shinjuku. Driving in Tokyo was easier than expected and after a few turns our satnav delivered us onto an expressway heading straight to our destination. But when we got to the mountains it was cloudy, with no chance of seeing Fuji again, so we headed straight for Matsumoto and explored the city in the afternoon – more about this in a future post.

The next day we used our hire car to drive to one of Japan’s most popular attractions – Kamikochi. This is a protected area in the heart of the Japanese Alps, and the starting point for many pretty walks or more ambitious climbs of the surrounding mountains. Private cars are not allowed to drive all the way there, instead you have to use one of the many parking lots on the highway and take a bus for the last 10km to the national park.

On arrival there was a large reception area with restrooms, tourist information, ticket booth for the return buses and some snack stalls. We bought some coffee but immediately regretted it. The hot black liquid resembled dishwater and was hopelessly weak – coffee is the one food/drink that many Japanese establishments haven’t really mastered yet. What’s worse, there was nowhere to dispose of our paper cups, so we had to carefully throw away our drink and fold them into our backpacks. Japan is amazingly clean, maybe because there are almost no litter bins anywhere, and people are used to taking their rubbish home with them.

A short walk took us the popular Kappabashi bridge, with great views up and down the valley, including an iconic vista of the Hotaka peaks. It was crowded with tourists trying to take selfies, so we didn’t stay long and instead set off on our walk. It was a beautiful day, and the autumn leaf colours were spectacular, with all shades of green, yellow and gold – although we didn’t see much of the brilliant red colours that we had been expecting.

Our walk took us along the bank of the river. We met many other hikers coming the other way, most of whom were Japanese. They greeted us with a smile and a cheery “Konnichiwa” (hello). Many of them were wearing little bells that jangled as they walked, to deter bears. In my opinion no self-respecting wild bear would go anywhere near a path with so many humans passing along it, and the continual jangling annoyed me a bit. The obsession with bears seemed to be deeply felt, and the park authorities had also put up lots of warning signs and occasional bear bells along the path for additional protection.

At the end of the trail was a small restaurant, where we enjoyed another local culinary highlight – a tasty Japanese “katsu” curry.

The way back followed the other side of the river. At about halfway, there was a large, still pond (the Tashiro Pond), surrounded by trees with their autumn leaves. We sat down, breathed deeply and simply enjoyed nature’s beauty.

When we finally decided to move on from our idyllic spot, the path continued along a raised walkway through a green forest, where we met some monkeys. They ignored us as they strolled on, not even bothering to beg for food – they knew that in well-disciplined Japan, no one would feed them.

The sun was now beginning to set, and the autumn foliage offered yet more variants on gold and yellow in the evening light. We arrived back at the trailhead delighted with our day out, thinking that Kamikochi deserved its reputation as one of Japan’s top sights.

Back near Kappabashi at the end of the afternoon

Previous Post: At Home in Tokyo

Next Post: Off the Beaten Track in the Japanese Alps

24th October 2024 8

At home in Tokyo

The next two days we were busy in Tokyo, catching up with two different Japanese friends from our travels around the world. Each of them invited us to a series of uniquely Japanese experiences, some of which would be hard for a foreigner to do on their own. A big feature of our reunions was Japan’s excellent food.

Our first friend invited us to lunch in a sushi restaurant. It was in a residential neighbourhood, and from the outside looked like any other house in the road, with no sign telling you what it was. We ducked under a low door into a small room with four chairs lined up against a counter, behind which sat our chef. It was a private restaurant just for us, seating a maximum of six people, and the owner would be our personal sushi chef for the afternoon. As we had expected, the food was amazing:

After a couple of hours of indulging in sushi we went for a short walk to digest our feast, before tackling the next big event of the day – a kabuki performance in the historic Kabukiza theatre in the Ginza district. My friend directed me around the theatre, including the place where foreigners can rent a touchpad that displays the English text of the dialogue on stage. That afternoon’s show consisted of two different plays, with two intervals (for which our hosts had brought us a bento box to enjoy). I was worried about falling asleep after such a big lunch, but instead was fascinated by the performances. The sets and costumes were beautiful. Each play had a simple plot, and concentrated on expressing concepts like honour, duty, jealousy and revenge through dialogue.

Just before “curtains up” (or in Japan, “curtains left”)

The three- and half-hours in the theatre flew by, and by the early evening we were back in our comfortable Tokyo flat, which we finally had a bit more time to enjoy. It had taken us a while to get used to some of its particularities, like ultra-modern washer-drier which was already loaded with washing powder for us, but whose buttons were all in Japanese. The flat’s toilet was also space age – on opening the entrance door, its lid automatically raised itself and a little pipe sprayed warm water around the area. It flushed automatically when you closed the lid. It seemed that everything worked in a slightly different way to back home, and was set up to provide maximum comfort and convenience for the minimum possible use of space.

The next day we met a different friend, who was now in charge of a tiny temple in Tokyo, a responsibility his family has held for generations. First, he showed us the Zozoji Temple, where he trained in Buddhism. It was in central Tokyo, with a photogenic location behind the Tokyo Tower landmark.

Next, we went to the tiny temple where he lives for green tea and a chat, before heading on to explore the Ginza district. It was the weekend, so the main road there was closed to traffic, allowing the area to soak up the many visitors without feeling crowded. Our host told us that the Ginza is now mostly frequented by tourists, especially the Chinese, and few Japanese go there anymore. There were some fun shops selling upmarket souvenirs, and lots of department stores – of which I particularly like Ginza 6, with its huge “Big Cat Bang” sculpture suspended from its ceiling.

Soon it was time for dinner, in small tempura restaurant in a side street, a place my friend’s family has been visiting for three generations. We could see why – the food was again excellent. We have yet to have a bad meal in Japan.

Previous Post: Hakone

Next Post: Kamikochi

23rd October 2024 3

Fuji-san, where are you? – the Hakone Circuit

Today we took another excursion outside of Tokyo – this time to Hakone, a town on a lake near Mount Fuji. The weather forecast was good, and I had booked a rather expensive “Hakone pass” allowing free travel all around the area and made a reservation in the special “Romancecar”, an express train service that leaves from Shinjuku station. We arrived in good time, only to hear an announcement that our train had been cancelled – something that is not supposed to happen in Japan. We spent a stressful few minutes trying to figure out what to do. As we left the platform in search of information, the turnstile swallowed Aki’s Hakone Pass. In alarm we asked the staff for help, and to our surprise they spoke good English. One of them helpfully held back the masses of commuters trying to use the turnstile so that he could open the machine and retrieve our ticket, and then told us that regular, slower trains were still running to Hakone and would take about 30 minutes longer. We would also now need to change trains at the end of the line or take a bus to cover the last stretch to Hakone.

We boarded one of the slower trains and again experienced an hour of watching Tokyo’s bland suburbs, followed by an hour of progressively more interesting scenery. At the terminus of Odawara we took a very crowded local train on to Hakone Yumoto, which left from a platform number 11, confusingly located next to platform 7. On arrival, we found that we had lost an hour compared to our original plan, and that it was cloudy.

The enterprising Hakone Tourist Association has set up a fun system of travel around the area including trains, a cable car, a ropeway and even pirate ships. They all accept the Hakone pass and form a big loop connecting the area’s many attractions. This circuit is hugely popular with foreign and Japanese tourists alike, and even though it was not the weekend, it was very busy. We boarded a small train to do the first part of the route. On a different day this ride could have been fun, as the railway line makes a steep ascent of a mountain, squeezing through narrow valleys and tunnels. But the train was very crowded and although we got seats, they faced inwards into the mass of standing passengers.

At the end of the train line, we took a very slow cable car for another slow, cramped climb up a mountain. I was beginning to feel decidedly grumpy and rather regretted my whole Hakone plan. Next, came a ropeway, where at least we have more space and the possibility of some views. Over a Tannoy system it was announced that Mount Fuji was to our right….as indeed it might have been. We could see something big looming up behind dark clouds but were not sure that this was the iconic volcano.

Then things got more interesting, as our cabin flew over a valley filled with jets of steam emerging from vents in the ground. There was a strong smell of sulphur and in places the ground was bright yellow.

We arrived at an intermediary ropeway station called Owakudani from where we could admire this spectacle from closer up.

A local tradition is to boil eggs in the sulphur springs, which makes them go black. They claim that eating one extends your life by seven years….but I wonder if that is not another invention of the Hakone Tourist Board. There were several shops selling them, so I tried a couple – they tasted exactly like normal eggs.

I will live 14 years longer! (according to the Hakone Tourist Board)

Enterprising locals have extended the “black food” idea further and also offer black ice cream and black curry buns. We tried both – the ice cream was simply vanilla with bamboo charcoal added, and made our teeth go back. I am not sure how they make the black curry bun, but it was really delicious, and began to restore our mood, which had been a bit down. The emergence of the sun also helped cheer us up, as we could better appreciate the scenery. It also gave us hope that on the last section of our trip – the boat ride – we would finally see Mount Fuji.

We continued the rope way back down to Lake Ashi, where we queued up for the last part of the Hakone circuit – a boat ride across the lake on a pirate ship. Why a pirate ship? We have no idea, please ask the Hakone Tourist Board. The cruise was corny but fun, and we were now enjoying bright sunshine – but Mount Fuji remained stubbornly hidden behind clouds. We arrived at a small town called Motohakone with Fuji-san still refusing to appear and decided to visit one last thing in the area – the Hakone-Jinja Shrine. We headed back from there to join the long queue for the bus back to the train station; I had calculated that, queuing time included, we had just enough time to catch the “Romancecar” we had reserved for 17.00.

However, once we had regained the town, we had a pleasant surprise. The clouds had lifted and at the far end of the lake, there stood Fuji-san in all its glory.

We stayed for ten minutes, and decided that seeing Fuji at sunset was as once-in-a-lifetime experience that was well worth missing our train for. Instead of taking the bus, we walked along the shore of the lake to a pretty park, for yet more stunning views of Japan’s iconic volcano.

We watched as the shadow of one mountain slowly crept up to the summit of a higher mountain on the lake’s east shore, and when the sun finally dipped below the horizon, we started thinking about how to get home. Our return proved to be quite an odyssey. We walked to another small town from where there was supposed to be an express bus back to the main train station, and had been waiting ten minutes when a bus company employee arrived to tell us that the express would be full and advise us to take a local stopping service – which we did. This bus weaved its way around mountain roads for about half an hour, slowly working its way towards the main train station. Then there was an announcement – in Japanese and English – that there was a big traffic jam ahead, and that people in a hurry would be better off taking the small local train that we had used to climb into the mountains at the start of our Hakone circuit. We got off the bus just in time to catch a train to take us to the main station. On the way, I managed to use my phone to make a new online Romancecar booking and after a short stop at Hakone Yumato we were speeding back to Shinjuku in a fast and comfortable (but maybe not romantic) express. We reached Tokyo late – twelve hours after we set off – tired but happy. We had finally seen Fuji-san, and our earlier problems may have been a blessing in disguise – if we had arrived at Hakone on time, we would probably have left earlier and missed one of Japan’s iconic sights.

Previous Post: Nikko

Next Post: At Home in Tokyo

21st October 2024 3

Nikko – one of Japan’s highlights

Today I got up early to take the train to Nikko, home to some of Japan’s most beautiful shrines. First, I met my Japanese friend Aki, who is to be my companion for parts of my Japan trip. Shinjuku station was very busy and very confusing, and it took us some time dodging through the crowds of people to find the right platform. Unusually for Japan, our train was a few minutes late, but when it arrived we sat down in large comfortable seats for the two-hour trip. The first hour was dull – miles and miles of rectangular blocks of flats or offices. But then the city finally ended, and the concrete gave way to green rice fields and mountains.

On arrival, Aki and I made a short walk through the town to the forest where various shrines and temples are located. The entrance to this area is marked by the famous Shinkyo bridge, built in 1636.

Just after the bridge is the entrance to a beautiful cedar forest and the Nikko world heritage site.

Once inside the park, we made for the Rinnoji Temple, the most important in the area, and originally founded in the 8^th century by Shodo Shonin, a monk who brought Buddhism to Nikko.

The front (above) and back (below) of the Rinnoji Temple

After visiting the temple we took a few minutes to visit the pretty Shoyoen Garden next door.

Our next stop was the highlight of Nikko – the Toshogu Shrine. This is a memorial to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which ruled Japan for over 250 years until 1868. The shrine was at first a simple mausoleum, but was later transformed into a huge complex by Ieyasu’s grandson in the 17th century. There was a lot to see, and we spent about an hour wandering around and taking lots of photos. At the entrance there was an impressive five-story pagoda…..

…then inside the walls of the complex are a series of richly carved gates, shrines and temples….

Spectacular carvings at the Toshogu Shrine

More amazing woodwork, Toshogu Shrine Nikko

….and finally the relatively modest resting place of Tokugawa Ieyasu himself. The workmanship of this temple complex is incredible and it richly deserves its reputation as one of the highlights of any visit to Japan. Making the site even more remarkable is setting, surrounded by the towering trees of a beautiful cedar forest.

After the truly awesome Toshogu Shrine, our next stop was the more modest Futarasan Shrine, dedicated to Nikko’s sacred mountains. Indeed, the whole area around Nikko is a national park, famed for its beautiful November colours – but sadly we did not have time to spend the extra day that a visit there would have required. The Futarasan Shrine was more modest than the other places we had visited in Nikko, but less crowded, and still very pleasant.

From there we made a short walk to our last destination, the Tamozawa Imperial Villa. This was constructed in 1899, using parts on an older building already on site and parts of a house in Tokyo belonging to the Tokugawa family. It was used as a summer residence for the emperor and his family. The villa was quite different to Nikko’s other sites – its restrained, elegant architecture contrasted with the extravagant carvings of the shrines. We found it radiated a feeling of calm and contemplation and were very happy we had chosen to visit this place last, to provide a peaceful end to a busy day sightseeing.

We both had a snooze in the train on the way back to Shinjuku, to prepare us for another night of partying – this time in the nearby Shibuya district, which is also famed for its nightlife. Shibuya’s station was even more confusing than Shinjuku’s and we spent a frustrating half an hour wandering through construction work, underground tunnels and then along raised walkways, with our Google Maps navigator totally unable to find its way out of the mess. When we finally emerged, we didn’t have much time left to explore the area but did at least get to see this aspiring boy band performing on the street.

Dinner was at the rooftop Ce La Vi restaurant and was excellent. Aki and I indulged in some very good cocktails and a glass of sparkling sake. It was a great way to end the day, even if we started early and got back to our flat at midnight.

View over Tokyo’s skyscrapers at night

Previous Post: Tokyo – Shinjuku and Meiji Shrine

Next Post: Hakone Circuit

20th October 2024 3

Welcome to Japan! – Tokyo, Shinjuku and the Meiji Shrine

The bear is back! This trip is to a new destination for me, which has recently become very popular – Japan. As most bears do, my entry point was Tokyo. I chose to stay in an Airbnb flat in Shinjuku, a resolutely modern part of the city famous for its nightclub and skyscrapers.

I spent my first night quietly and set out mid-morning the next day to explore. My Airbnb was in one of the few low-rise parts of Shinjuku where people actually live, and had narrow lanes, small houses, and a few scattered restaurants and convenience shops (including the ubiquitous 7-11). I stumbled across a small temple and then many small pedestrianised streets lined with restaurants.

It was unusually quiet, with few people on the streets, until I reached Shinjuku station – the world’s busiest, seeing four million passengers pass through on a weekday. Despite the mass of humanity thronging around the station, the area was clean, tidy and orderly with people waiting patiently at the pedestrian crossings for the lights to turn green – not at all like the big stations in my hometown London. I stopped by at the Japan Rail (JR) ticket office to buy tickets for tomorrow’s destination, the town of Nikko.

To the west of the station was a business district with many skyscrapers. Two of the most distinctive buildings in the area are the twin towers of the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan government. They stand 243m tall and their observation platforms (202 metres up) offer brilliant views over the city, which I spent half an hour enjoying. They say that on a clear day you can see Mount Fuji from the top, but on my visit, the famous volcano was covered by clouds – I was to find out that this is often the case.

The HQ of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government

Near the twin towers is the SOMPO museum of art, famous for having bought one of four versions of Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” for $40 million in 1987 – shattering the previous record of just over $8 million for a painting. When I visited, the museum had an exhibition dedicated to Canaletto. Though not my favourite artist, I found his paintings of London interesting (I learnt that he spent 10 years there) and enjoyed scenes of Venice painted by the artists who came after him, including Matisse and Monet. Of course, I also stopped to admire the “Sunflowers”, which never leave the museum.

From the skyscrapers of Shinjuku, I walked a short distance to the Meiji Shrine, located in the large Yoyogi Park, and dedicated to Emperor Meiji, the emperor of modern Japan. He ruled from 1867 to 1912, a time when Japan evolved rapidly from a backward feudal society into one of the world’s leading powers. The main entrance to the park is in the south, but I was lucky, entering from the quieter northwest gate. This meant I could enjoy a peaceful stroll along a path lined by shady trees, before I reached the centre of the park, which was very busy.

The quiet northern entrance to Yoyogi Park

The shrine itself is one of the most important places of worship of Japan’s Shinto religion. It was crowded with tourists, worshippers, and a Japanese family celebrating a marriage. Though it is on the “must-see” list of things to do in Japan, for me the swarms of people made it one of the least interesting experiences of my Tokyo trip.

I headed away from the shrine towards the main Harajuku gate in the south, along a path with a constant stream of people heading both ways. To escape the crowds for a bit I ducked into a pretty garden with a pond.

Having rested for a bit, I continued my way to Harajuku metro station. It was now rush hour and it was very crowded, but still people queued patiently to get in, and then again on the platform to get on a train. I arrived back at Shinjuku station as night was falling to find the area completely transformed. The streets that had been quiet were now packed with people setting off for an evening of fun in the countless bars, restaurants and lounges of the area. Huge neon displays – some very original – shone down from the tall buildings.

The huge neon cat goes through one display…..

A short distance north of the station I came across a strange spectacle – attractive young people, some dressed stylishly, some suggestively, lined the road on either side, each carrying a sign with a price – usually 1000 to 2000 yen per hour or half hour. I was baffled, but later research on the internet revealed that these people are recruiting customers for the nearby lounge bars, where in addition to the (probably expensive) drinks, you pay for time spent with a pretty young girl or boy.

Next, I wandered by chance into a very different area with narrow alleyways and small, wooden buildings, from which sprouted dozens of signs advertising tiny bars. I had found the “Golden Gai”, an area infamous as a cheap place to have a lot to drink. Most of the bars had a single counter with several chairs squeezed up to it, creating a cramped, intimate space where strangers are almost forced to talk to one another. I picked one, and enjoyed trying Japanese whisky, which was excellent, whilst chatting to a young Japanese Oasis fan, who seemed to have already had a little too much to drink.

Not wanting to be too adventurous on only my second night in Tokyo, I limited myself to two drinks before heading back to my flat, which turned out to be very close by. It had been a promising introduction to Tokyo and its nightlife.

Next Post: Nikko

19th October 2024 2

Bucharest and Farewell to Romania

My final Romanian post is devoted to its capital, Bucharest. I had spent one night here on my arrival in the country, before heading off to Transylvania. My first impression was negative – the main road from the airport to the centre looked dirty and dilapidated, with many crumbling buildings. I wondered how the city could ever have been called “the Paris of the East” – as it was a century ago. On my return at the end of my trip, I spent a whole day here and formed a more favourable impression. Large parts of Bucharest are indeed poorly maintained – the city suffered badly in the second world war and during the 1989 revolution that deposed the communist dictator Nikolae Ceaușescu. However, there is a central area where some fine old buildings have been renovated and I had a very pleasant stroll exploring.

The Central Bank, one of the elegant old buildings in Bucharest that has been restored

Inside an old orthodox church in Bucharest

The city reminded me more of Moscow in the early 2000s than Paris, with a mix of grand impressive monuments and old churches interspersed with modern concrete constructions and once handsome but now crumbling buildings from Bucharest’s “Golden Age” at the beginning of the 20^th century. After taking in a few sights I stopped for a fancy coffee at one of Bucharest’s many excellent and very cheap cafés and restaurants.

After coffee, my next stop – and a particular highlight – was the Romanian Athenaeum, probably the most striking venue for classical music I have ever seen. I was lucky to stumble across music students practicing for the Enescu Competition, named after Romania’s only famous classical composer. I stayed for nearly an hour listening to his music, resolving to hear some more when got home.

The Romanian Athenaeum – small but beautiful

Another very different highlight was Romania’s Palace of Parliament, a huge complex dominating the surrounding area. It is the biggest building in Europe and the second biggest administrative building in the world (after the Pentagon). The palace was the idea of Ceaușescu, and work started in 1984 and lasted until 1997, long after the dictator’s fall and execution. Construction involved demolition of an existing neighbourhood, relocation of 40,000 people and huge expense – at a time when the country was already weighed down by the burden of huge international debts.

The Palace of Parliament – Big and Impressive

Suitably awed by the huge edifice, I headed off for lunch in Caru’cu Bere, a big restaurant in Bucharest’s historic centre. It was very busy with lots of tourists and waiters in local traditional costume – but it was also lots of fun, and the food was simple but good.

In Caru’cu Bere, a traditional restaurant

After lunch I explored the historic centre, which was popular with tour groups and stag parties and much less interesting than the centres of Sibui or Brasov. I took refuge from the crowds in an interesting set of galleries called “Art Safari”, housed in a beautiful old building.

A church in the Historic Centre of Bucharest

Historic centre – an old building now housing “Art Safari”

That evening, I had lobster risotto on the terrace of a chic restaurant near my hotel to celebrate the end of my short trip around Romania. I had very much enjoyed my time, even if it had not been what I had expected. I had thought the country would be poor, backward and maybe even a bit unsafe. Instead, the part I had visited was relaxed and seemed affluent, with well maintained roads and immaculately preserved towns and villages. Food and drink had also been a highlight – both were very good and very cheap compared to anywhere else in western Europe, and exploring some of the country’s unique wines had been great fun. Finally, Romania has around 9,000 bears living in the wild!

Probably my favourite highlight of Romania!

Some day I will return to Transylvania and maybe continue to explore Romania’s northern border with the Ukraine, to see if there are still some areas remaining that match my original vision of a remote and wild country. For the moment that is all – keep following me for my trip to Japan in a month’s time!

Next stop Japan (photo from my Berlin trip)

Previous Post – Sibiu, the Transfagarsan…and Wild Bears!

12th September 2024 2

Sibiu, the Transfagarsan…and Wild Bears!

Today I was in Sibiu, originally a Roman village called Cibinium, then becoming yet another Saxon town and later an administrative centre for the Austrian province of Transylvania under the Habsburgs. Sibiu is also called by its Saxon name of Hermannstadt, and signs in German are visible everywhere, even if the language is no longer spoken here. The city is also an artistic centre. In the 19^th century famous figures like Strauss, Brahms and Liszt performed here; today the city has become a sleepier backwater, but still hosts Romanian’s most important jazz festival.

Sibui — The elegant squares of Sibiu in the early morning

Sibiu has lots of beautiful buildings dating from different centuries and is a great place to simply stroll around, hopping from one outdoor café to another and occasionally visiting a pretty church – which is exactly what I did.

Sibiu Orthodox Cathedral — Outside and inside the orthodox church, Sibiu

After a relaxing day in Sibiu, it was time to head back to Bucharest. I chose to take the famous Transfagarsan Road, claimed by the UK TV show Top Gear to be the greatest drive in the world. The road snakes steeply up a mountain, with lots of hairpin bends. It might be a great place for testing out a sports car, but in my opinion, it is far from being the world’s most scenic or most difficult route. The views were impressive, but I have seen better in the Central Asia, Alps, the US or Scotland.

After Top Gear’s endorsement, the Transfagarsan road became very popular; fortunately, I got there early and was visiting outside of the main tourist season, but there was still a steady stream of traffic. This included a few idiots in supercar Porches and Lamborghinis, who overtook on blind corners. The best view of the road is from the top, where nearly all the hairpins can be seen at once, but the parking area there was overflowing so I settled for photos I had taken further down.

Transfagarsan Scenery — More pretty scenery

Transfagarsan Hairpin Bends — Transfagarsan Hairpin bends

Descending back down from the mountain, the road plunged into a dense forest beside a large lake. I was driving along carefully when suddenly I had a very pleasant surprise – in a lay-by there was a young, friendly fellow bear – one of roughly 9,000 that live in the wild in Romania. I pulled over; he was unperturbed by my presence and let me stop to take photos from a few metres away (from the safety of my car – unlike teddies, wild bears can be unpredictable).

A few kilometres further along the road, I met another bear. He was older and looked rather tired and sad. Maybe he would be a good candidate for the “Libearty Sanctuary”…..

Meeting fellow bears in the wild more than made up for the slight disappointment of the Transfagarsan road, and after leaving the mountains I drove the remaining rather dull three hour stretch to Bucharest in excellent spirits.

Next Post: Bucharest

Previous Post: Sighisoara and Alba Iulia

11th September 2024 3

Sighisoara and Alba Iulia

I arrived at my destination – Sighisoara – in the evening, and immediately went out for dinner. On the way back to my hotel I admired the spectacular old town, sitting on top of a steep hill.

The next day I had breakfast in the small courtyard of my hotel with a great view of the castle, before setting off to explore.

Sighisoara was – inevitably – founded by Saxon settlers in the 12th century and grew to become an important trade centre in the Middle Ages. Today it is one of the best preserved and prettiest fortified towns in the world and is very popular with Romanian tourists in the summer. I climbed up some steep steps to the old town and spent a very pleasant morning strolling around and taking in the relaxed atmosphere.

A peaceful square in the Sighisoara backstreets

One curious sight was a long, covered staircase, built in 1652, to give children protection on their walk to the school right on top of the hill.

The school still functions to this day. I ended my tour at the central square, where, of course, I had coffee at one of the cafés.

…which is hard to photo without other tourists getting in the way!

It was time to move on. I checked out of my hotel and continued driving west. My first stop was yet another Saxon village, called Biertan, which of course had a fortified church.

One original feature of the church was a prison for unhappy couples. The local priest kept squabbling spouses locked up there in a small room, until they resolved their differences.

A prison for unhappy couples, Biertan Church

From Biertan I drove to the city of Alba Iulia in the centre of Romania. This had been the largest Roman settlement in the Dacian province of their empire, and housed an important fort, some of whose ruins are still visible. Centuries later, the city was a major hub of the eastern part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, whose rulers built the impressive citadel that is the main tourist attraction of today.

A defensive gate at the entrance to the citadel of Alba Iulia

Later, churches and monuments were added inside the defensive walls. At the end of the first world war, the citadel was where the union of Transylvania with the rest of Romania was signed, creating the modern-day Romanian state, and a few years later in 1922 Ferdinand and Maria were crowned here as king and queen of all Romania in the newly constructed Coronation Cathedral.

I found Alba Iulia to be a pleasant change to visiting Transylvania’s charming Saxon villages and towns, and to be well worth the ninety minutes detour to get there. My next destination was yet another former Saxon stronghold, the city of Sibiu – to be covered in tomorrow’s blog.

Next Post: Sibiu, the Transfagarsan…and Wild Bears!

Previous Post: Transylvania – Bears and Churches!

10th September 2024 4

Transylvania – Libearty Bear Sanctuary, Harman, Viscri and Saschiz

My first stop today was to a very novel tourist attraction, and a must-see for any teddy bear – the Libearty (sic) Bear Sanctuary. The people here take in bears kept in appalling conditions in circuses or as pets and give them the chance to end their years in large, forested enclosures where they are cared for and fed (these bears would be too traumatised to survive if released back into the wild). Many of their 145 guests come from Romania, but some come from further afield – even from places as far away as the USA.

It was heartwarming to see some of my fellow species, even if the stories of what they endured in captivity were very sad. One of the residents spends their time walking around in circles, ignoring the open space of her enclosure – as she had been forced to do in the circus. Another had been blinded, his claws removed and then regularly drugged with beer, to make him passively accept having his picture taken with tourists outside a castle. Fortunately, it is now illegal to use bears in this way in Romania.

Libearty provides happy endings to sad stories

My next destination was a short drive away – the fortified church of Harman. This was built in 1240 by Transylvanian Saxons, people of German origin who were encouraged by the then Hungarian rulers of the area (Transylvania only became Romanian after the end of the first world war) to settle here to help protect the eastern border of their kingdom. Traces of the Saxon village have long since disappeared from the now Romanian town of Harman, but the church remains and deserves its reputation as one of the most beautiful of its kind.

Unlike Bran castle, there were very few visitors to Harman, and I had the church almost to myself. The man at the ticket office advised me to be careful of the steps. I was a little surprised by this until I saw the ladder/staircase leading up to the bell tower, which was steep, wobbly and crooked. I made the risky ascent, only to find that the views from the top were very limited. Fortunately, the parts of the complex which were accessible at ground level more than made up for this disappointment.

After Harman, my exploration of the Saxon influence in Transylvania continued with a visit to the village of Viscri, which felt like it had remained frozen in time since the Middle Ages. Unlike Harman, where a modern town had sprung up around the old church, here development had stopped a long time ago, leaving only the original houses built by the early Saxon settlers. Many of the original families had moved out – the region saw mass emigration back to Germany after the fall of the Iron Curtain – but the village remained well maintained, and some new Romanian arrivals had opened small cafés and craft shops. One notable new owner is King Charles III of Great Britain, who likes Transylvania so much that he has bought two properties there, one of which is at Viscri.

After strolling through the peaceful village, I headed for the fortified church, whose bell tower offered much better views (and a safer set of stairs) than the one at Harman. I stayed there for a while enjoying a gentle breeze.

From Viscri I drove towards Sighisoara (subject of tomorrow’s blog), where I had booked a hotel for the night. On the way, I passed through another charming Saxon town called Saschiz, whose fortified church was supplemented by a protective fortress. In total there are seven Saxon towns and around 250 Saxon villages in Transylvania. It would have been possible to spend my entire holiday visiting them, but Romania has many more attractions to offer.

Next Post: Sighisoara and Alba Iulia

Previous Post: Brasov and Bran Castle

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Romania Day 1 – Brasov and Bran Castle

The bear is back!

This time, my trip is to Romania in Eastern Europe, a little-known destination for most travellers, famous mostly for Dracula, Transylvania and spooky castles. After a short overnight in the capital Bucharest (more about this in a later post) I drove north by hired car to the city of Brasov, to find an interesting warning sign on the street outside of my Airbnb flat. It appears that bears are common in Romania but sadly not welcomed by the human population. Maybe I will be lucky enough to meet one of my fellow species!

My first morning was spent visiting the city, which sits in a valley surrounded by steep green mountains, and which has a very pleasant historic centre with lots of outdoor cafés.

Having explored Brasov itself, I set off to visit a remote Romanian village, which my guidebook said was still locked in the past, with horse drawn carriages and people in traditional costume. I found it that had now become a place for the second homes of people earning their living in Bucharest. BMWs were more common than horses. This was to be a recurrent theme of my trip – the parts of Romania I visited were much more modern and developed than I had expected. I got over the slight disappointment of not seeing a traditional village and instead made a pleasant walk through some pretty Transylvanian countryside.

Next, I headed on to the town of Bran, home to Romania’s most visited castle. Although heavily marketed as “Dracula’s castle”, Vlad Tepes (the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s vampiric count) probably never lived here. It was originally built in the 14^th century by Saxon knights who had been invited by the local rulers to settle in the area and build protective fortifications. For over five hundred years the castle served a purely military purpose until it became a royal residence in 1920 and the favourite home for Queen Marie, who had the place extensively renovated. Despite the lack of a historical link to the real Dracula, Bran Castle certainly looks the part from the outside, and would not be out of place in a vampire movie. Inside, it was a pleasant – if crowded – place to visit, with lots of elegant towers surrounding a quaint interior courtyard.

Bran castle – from the outside, imposing and spooky….

From Bran, I returned to Brasov to enjoy dinner on the terrace of my flat, which was surprisingly well-appointed and had a terrace overlooking the town. I tried some rather good Romanian wine with dinner as I watched the sunset. Good accommodation, good food, good wine……I like Romania already even if it is not the wild frontier destination I had been expecting.

Next Post: Transylvania – Libearty Bear Sanctuary, Harman, Viscri and Saschiz

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