Cycling At 50 Plus: The Sleeper From Keleti Budapest To Bucharest Nord

Budapest is an ancient city sited on the two banks of the mighty Danube River. It is actually two cities in one, Buda on the left bank and Pest on the right. When I first saw the Danube it reminded me of the famous musical composition, the "Blue Danube". This classical piece is familiar to almost everyone that it had been turned into commercial ditties. Like the first listeners I too could not see the blue in the Danube waters, it was just grey and brownish like other rivers but when he was asked about the inconsistency the composer retorted that after a bottle of wine the Danube can be blue or any color you want.

The Turks of the Ottoman had once ruled over the city and during their occupation one of the biggest church on the river bank had been turned into a mosque, sadly for Muslims there are no more vestiges remaining of the Islamic rule in Budapest. I cannot imagine that the Turks could reach so far from their country.

Before we left I tried a meal at one of the road side cafe, but I would not advise Hungarian food as the chicken paprika had me gagging. It was practically inedible and I left it uneaten, what a waste. To be fair its just my personal taste was not up to it and there was nothing inherently wrong with the dish, lack of spice perhaps.

The tickets for the journey was purchased at the counter at Keleti Station. Knowing buses were cheaper I had first enquired for the tickets at the terminal but I was told that there was no bus service between Budapest and Bucharest. Thats quite strange as the two countries of Hungary and Romania are neighbours, so it was back to the train station for the train tickets. We chose a sleeping car as it would allow us to arrive in Bucharest in the morning. I was all the time not very happy arriving in a strange place for the first time in darkness as I felt pressured in finding my way before the public transport closed for the night. I wanted to avoid the situation in Prague and Budapest where we arrived late at night.

Departure from Keleti was in the late afternoon. While waiting for the train I met a cyclist catching train to Belgium with his bicycles. He had just finished a tour of the bank of Danube River from Prague to Budapest and he was going home by train. It was an interesting journey, he said, camping along the bank and because he was following the course of the river all the time, the gradient was not punishing at all.

The coach we booked was a sleeper with four beds. Originally we had asked for a three bed compartment as there were three of us but unfortunately it was sold out. We waited anxiously for the appearance of the fourth passenger but fortunately she turned out to be a sweet lady who could barely speak English. The bed was very comfortable but I could never get a good sleep on a moving train. Very early the next morning the lady got down and from then on we got the cabin to ourselves.

For the first time we had passport check when crossing the border from Hungary to Romania, not only that but custom check as well and I was ordered to open my bags for inspection. That was quite strict strict and unnecessary as we were only tourists and were not carrying anything valuable. The saving grace was that the checking was done in our cabin while the train was on the move.

On arrival in Bucharest Nord the next morning we were pounced by taxi touts. I had already a clear idea of where to go but I made a mistake of asking the fare and with one foot inside I could not shut the door on the tout. Reluctantly I agreed as it was raining and the asking fare was only 10E, compared to cup of coffee in the buffet coach which was already 2E. Much later I found out metered fare was only 2 E from the station to my apartment.

From the taxi I observed the buildings in Bucharest were very shabby and the road full of port holes. Traffic lights was only for decoration as there was no stopping for red lights. I also did not see any parking bays for cars which were parked haphazardly. Stray dogs were many and were big but they did not bother the people. There was a notice in my room that warned us of getting into arguments with the locals as there were many who were simply looking for troubles. That was scary. But asides from that we found the people of Bucharest warm and friendly and on weekends there were live music in the park and the people who came were happy looking and and were ready to smile at us.

I meet a cyclist at the station who had cycled along the Danube from Prague to Budapest. He is on the way back to his home in Belgium by train.

We are boarding the train

The lady on the right is our traveling companion, the other two are sending her of.

The corridor along the cabin are clean and the glass windows allow the sight of country side scenery.

This is the border town before the train enters Romania

Gypsy settlement in the Romanian country, they look very poor and disorganised

The train is now in Romania

We pass through ski resorts in the mountain

The mountain passes are steep and the train chugs slowly but steadily

Arriving in Bucharest Nord the next morning

This is the taxi drive who overcharges us, we pay five times the metered fare

Inside the metro in Bucharest, it is still new and the service is still very limited

We meet Lebanese tourists, I am dying to know why Lebanese should come to Romania, there is practically no mutual attraction at all.

Another man hole for the used metal traders in Malaysia. Do you know by now all metal man holes in our country have been stolen and fenced for cash and are replaced by man made covers?