5 days in Romania

Recently, I went on an extended weekend in Romania. I’d like to share some of the activities I did there. It’s important to note that I no longer travel for the cities, and look more towards beautiful nature. Being located in the Netherlands, you get tired of the flatness, and so the purpose of the trip was to get to a country farther away — I’m kind of tired of Germany and France — with stunning nature and mountains. Romania delivered in that regard.

One bag

It’s not the first time I travel with one bag. I have learned about one-bagging from the /r/onebag Reddit community long time ago, and as courtesy to them, I’d like to start by sharing my one-bag setup.

Electronics

• USB-C to USB-C 100W cable (usually for my laptop which I didn’t take, but it always stays in my electronics bag)
• USB-A to USB-B charging cable (for kindle and powerbank)
• USB-C to Lighting cable (for my iPhone and Airpods)
• UGreen USB-C to USB-A adapter (sometimes cars have USB-A port for CarPlay / Charging, so instead of carrying two lighting cables, I carry this adapter)
• UGreen 100W charger
• Tomtoc electronic bag

In terms of electronics, I don’t carry much, only the 3 needed cables and a charger.

Miscellaneous

• Sea to Summit dry bag
• BlackDiamond Spot-R rechargeable headlamp
• Labello lip balm
• Casio G-Shock GW-M5610U-1
• Sun glasses
• Supr Good wallet
• Anker PowerBank
• Apple Airpods
• Two Field Books
• A pen
• Passport
• Kindle

As most of my trip was around nature, there are some hiking related items.

First aid kit

• Deuter first aid kit bag
• Sterile pads
• Tooth picks
• Tick removal tool
• Disinfectant
• Painkillers
• Gloves
• Triangular bandage
• Big and small bandages
• Bandage scissors
• Band-aid in a roll
• Assortment of band-aids

Nothing much to explain. I usually take this first aid kit every time I travel.

Fun story: just before my big hike, I accidentally dropped the first aid kit onto a bridge. It bumped off the bridge, and fell into the river below. The river was shallow, so I was able to fish the first aid kit, but most of the stuff in it became wet, so I had to throw the contents away and replace with a new kit I got from Decathlon.

Dopp kit

• Gravel Explorer Mini toiletry bag
• Two travel sized Sensodyne toothpastes (one was almost empty)
• Chicago Comb Carbon Fiber Model 2 travel comb
• Wild deodorant
• Hand cream
• SPF cream
• Jordan toothbrush

Underwear and socks

• 6 pairs (5 + 1 extra) Calvin Klein underwear
• 5 pairs of Levis socks (4 black, 1 white)
• 1 pair of SmartWool socks (for hiking)
• eBags small packing cube

Warm clothes

• Patagonia button up shirt
• Patagonia nano-puff coat
• The North Face wind and rain coat

Packed clothes

• Amazon Basics Sun Hoodie (blue)
• Patagonia short sleeve t-shirt (gray)
• Patagonia long sleeve t-shirt (gray)
• Sun buff
• The North Face hiking pants

Clothes I wear on the flight day

• Uniqlo pants
• Bamboo black t-shirt
• Levis white socks
• Calvin Klein underwear

Shoes

• Vivo Barefoot Primus Trail hiking shoes (packed for the flight)
• Vivo Barefoot Primus Lite Knit Natural sneakers (worn during the flight)

Everything laid out and packed

The items that were not pictured before:

• Buff hat
• Osprey Day Lite Plus hiking backpack (it was packed inside the main backpack, to be used for day hikes)
• A couple of garbage bags (leave no trace)
• KleanKanteen water bottle
• Minaal Carry-On 3.0 backpack

The Plan

Day one - car pickup and drive to Brasov

Thursday, 4th of September, I catch an early 9AM flight from Amsterdam to Bucharest. I grab some breakfast at the airport, and board on a 2.5 hours flight. Upon arrival at 2PM, I pick up my rental car from Sixt.

I always get nervous when I rent cars. There is always a potential to get screwed: a scratch that you missed, a deposit that was not released, or sleazy sales people. I usually rent with Sixt, as I had mostly good experience with them. I rented a few cars from Sixt in the Netherlands, twice in Germany, once in Croatia (where I had the worst experience), and now in Romania. Otopeni airport is awful, in addition there is big construction going on. Sixt rental office is about 4-minute drive / 15-minute walk from the airport, but there should be a shuttle. Since I was not able to find the shuttle, I decided to walk to the rental office. Upon arrival, a Sixt employee told me that I needed to check in at the desk in the airport 🤦‍♂️. The shuttle took me back to the airport, where I checked in, and then brought me back to the pickup point.

And, my spidey senses of getting screwed worked correctly. When I paid for the car, I used Revolut virtual card. Upon checking in for the car, I was requested to leave a deposit using the same card, presented physically. I tried to explain that I don’t have this card physically, only in Apple Wallet, to which the employee told me they require a physical card and can’t charge the deposit on the virtual card. I offered another credit card, physical, in my name, for the deposit, but the employee declined my offer, citing the contract that I need to arrive with the same card I made the booking with.

We came to an agreement to cancel and fully refund my order, and place an immediate order for the same car with the same conditions, except for… the price. I would have to pay the price of today, rather than what I paid when I made the order. Bummer. I tried to argue with him, but it didn’t really work, and I needed a car, so I ate the €90 price increase, and got my car.

As of today, my deposit was released, my original payment was fully refunded, so so-far everything is good. Aside from me not reading the contract, the experience was fine this time. Tip: don’t use virtual card for car reservations.

I also got freaked out at the end of my trip because Romania has a system of toll roads for which you need a vignette. A vignette costs a few euros for a few days, and I knew that, but somehow forgot about it. After reading, I realized that the fines could be up to €100 per violation, and I drove at least on 3 roads that were classified as toll roads. I was able to, eventually, find a government website where you can input the license plate + the VIN number to check whether the car has an active vignette, and it did. I also asked the Sixt representative at the end of my rental whether the car has a vignette for toll roads, and he told me that it does. But always remember to ask your rental company, and don’t rely on my words, whether the car you rent has a vignette.

After picking up the car, I headed straight to Brasov — a city in the Carpathian Mountains — which would become my home base for nature trips. The drive from Bucharest to Brasov is about 3 hours, but since it’s a mountain road, expect delays. I planned to stop in a town called Sinaia, where you can view the Peleș Castle (no, it’s not the Dracula Castle), which is on the way, and have some lunch there. When I arrived in Sinaia, there were road closures and congestions, and I needed to arrive in Brasov before 8 PM since I had to buy a bear spray. Because of the time I lost in traffic, I decided to skip Peleș Castle, with a hope to stop by on my way back.

I arrived in Brasov at 18:00, checked in at my hotel, and wanted to take a shower and walk to the city center for late lunch / dinner, as well as grab my bear spray. The only problem was that the shop was closing at 19:00, rather than 20:00. The hour 20:00 came from the fact that I forgot to account for 1-hour difference between the Netherlands and Romania. I needed to get the bear spray as Romania has the biggest brown bear population in Europe, so I decided to skip the shower and the walk, and drive to the city center. I arrived at the shop 15 minutes before it closes, and… they ran out of bear spray. The guy at the store was very friendly, gave me a lot of tips about behavior in Romania nature in relation to bears and shepherd dogs, and suggested I take a 15-minute drive to big shopping center to a store that might have the needed spray. I did that, bought the bear spray, and headed back to the hotel.

I was starving, but I still needed to do one more shopping run: buying food for the hike. Luckily, there was a Carrefour nearby, so I took a shower, and went to get the needed food for the hike. And then, finally, at around 21:00 I had my late lunch / dinner in the city center, strolled a bit on the main street, and went to sleep.

Day two - the big hike

The next two days were reserved for hiking. I had one big hike planned: ascending La Om peak, either on Friday or Saturday, depending on the weather. Friday weather turned out to be great, so I had breakfast at the hotel, and by 8AM drove to the trailhead.

The climb deserves it’s own post, so you can read it here: Climbing La Om Peak in Romania.

Day three - no more hikes

Climbing La Om turned out to be more demanding than I though, so I allowed myself to sleep in for as long as I felt, and rest more. I took the first half of the day easily, waking up at 9AM, having breakfast at the hotel and driving to a pharmacy to get muscle cramps relief cream.

However, I have this problem that I can’t really relax. This is why I don’t like laid-back vacations on the beach where you are not active, I have to do something. So, despite the fact that my legs were killing me, I decided to take a car and drive to Bran to take a look at the famous Bran, sorry Dracula, Castle. Fun story: Vlad Dracula never set foot in that castle (at least there is no historical evidence that he did so). The reason that Bran Castle is associated with Dracula is pure luck, it was not mentioned by Bram Stoker, and the most logical explanation I found is that it resembles the castle that is described in the novel. This did not prevent Bran, and it’s castle to turn into a touristic trap.

I didn’t visit the castle, because the reviews said it’s mostly empty, and many people recommend visiting Peleș Castle instead, which I tried to do on my way to Brasov. Instead, I had traditional Romanian lunch, and a traditional Romanian dessert called Papanasi (which was way too big for me).

I strolled a bit around Bran, and decided to come back to the hotel, rest a bit and go to Brasov before the sun sets, but… I couldn’t get out of bed, so the rest of the evening I spent at the hotel.

Day four - Brasov to Bucharest

Initially, I did not plan to got to Bucharest. I’m kind of over the type of tourism where you stay in big cities. But I figured that I probably won’t come back specifically to Bucharest, and since I was there already, why not spend a day at the big city?

But before leaving Brasov, I wanted to at least take a look at this city in daylight. I packed my stuff, threw everything in a car, and drove to the city center. In previous days, it took me about 15–20 minutes to find parking near the city center, but today was Sunday, and on Sunday parking is free. I did 5 or 6 rounds, and couldn’t find parking. Eventually I said fuck it, and parked at an overpriced hotel parking near the city center.

I strolled a bit around the city center, and drank a cold coffee.

At around noon, I left Brasov in direction of Bucharest. But as I told you, I can’t just relax, I need to be in motion, so before reaching Bucharest, I had two stops planned: a hike from a town called Busteni, and lunch in Sinaia with a peek at Peleș Castle (attempt no. 2).

Usually, a drive from Brasov to Busteni takes about 45 minutes. But with my luck it took me an hour and 45 minutes. I was stuck in traffic congestion 9km away from Busteni for 50 minutes.

Busteni is a town surrounded by the Bucegi mountains, and the view is breathtaking.

I really want to come back there one day. In Bucegi I did a light hike that supposed to be 45 minutes, but took me an hour and a half because my legs were still sore. This was more easy going hike with the “jeans and sneakers” type of hikers compared to the one I did two days ago. In my opinion it wasn’t worth it, but I pushed it because I’m that kind of person. At the end, I saw a nice waterfall named Urlătoarea.

Busteni to Sinaia is a 15-minute drive, which again took more than that because… Romanian mountain roads. For some reason Sinaia city center was closed again, and there were a lot of people (maybe because it’s Sunday). I decided to grab something to eat, but had no time to visit the Castle. I still had almost 2 hours of drive to Bucharest, and I wanted to have a night out in Bucharest, so I decided to skip the castle. Maybe next time.

I arrived at Bucharest around 8PM, checked in to my hotel, took a quick shower and an Uber Bolt to the city center. I really wanted to get to a place called NOMAD Skybar, which is a rooftop bar. On Sundays, it’s usually easy to get there compared to Fridays or Saturdays, and so I had a couple of non-alcoholic cocktails and some dinner, and decided to take a walk back to the hotel while strolling a bit around Bucharest at night.

Day five - Bucharest and flight home

I woke up a bit early, ate breakfast at the hotel, packed all my stuff and checked out from the hotel. It’s really liberating when I have all my stuff with me, and I don’t need to leave my luggage at the hotel. So I just took my backpack and ordered Bolt to the city center, strolled around, then took a metro from the Old Town to Piața Romană to drink some cold coffee. Afterward I took a walk along Calea Victoriei towards my hotel as I needed to take my car and return it by 2PM.

I paid for the parking at the hotel, and drove back to Otopeni Airport, stopping at a gas station before returning my car. At 4 hours left before my departure time, I decided it’s not worth to go back to the city, so I just passed security and slowly killed my time in the airport.

In the evening, I was back home.

Conclusion

It’s the third time I travel by myself. The first time I went long time ago to Hungary, and then last year to Germany and Czechia.

I must say that Romania surprised me in a good way. I guess this country has some of the best mountains I have seen to this day. The amount of peaks you can climb, and the vast amount of outdoor activities you can do. I saw a lot of Romanians doing various outdoor activities like hikes, mountaineering, mountain bicycling, and ATVs. There is indeed enough nature for every person.

I also enjoyed unique Romanian architecture, and their tasty food. At times, I also saw poverty and lack of maintenance of infrastructure. The roads are not always great, and most nature hikes — especially the popular ones — have a lot of garbage.

Regardless, every person I met — from the hikers on La Om peak, the guy at the outdoor shop Annapurna in Brasov, the waiters at restaurants in Bran and Sinaia, and even the shuttle driver from Sixt who took me back to the airport after I returned my car — were very nice and welcoming.

I hope to one day come back and enjoy this country some more.