Letter from Romania

It was time to move on from Bucharest and head to the Black Sea so that Michael could do some diving.  We arrived at Bucharesti Nord and were looking for our train carriage when a very helpful man approached us and offered to find our seats for us.  He hoisted my suitcase aboard and proceeded to escort us to our seats and then lifted both our suitcases onto the luggage rack.  I was thinking to myself this is too good to be true when he bade us farewell and wished us a pleasant journey.  Just as I was scolding myself for my suspicious nature, the man reappeared, this time with an official looking lanyard around his neck and announced to Michael that he was working for a charity and asked for a donation.  What could you say?  He had lugged our suitcases and even though we were both pretty sure that the charity didn’t exist, you would be pretty lousy to refuse.  Michael parted with $7 and another lesson has been lerned.

Ovid

The train journey was a very comfortable 2 hours and we arrived in the port city of Constanta.  The city has a lot of new development taking place and it is on the cruise ship route, which brings in a lot of tourism.  Our hotel is located in the old town, which once again is a mixture of beautiful restored buildings and derelict, barely standing ruins.

Michael and I had lunch at a lovely seafood restaurant overlooking the harbour.  It is a very beautiful spot and it was relaxing watching the occasional boat sailing out and the fishermen fishing from the embankment.  That night, we happened upon a display of folk dancing.  This time, it was mainly the men doing the dancing in a very similar style to the Greeks – a long line of men with their arms linked around their shoulders.  It was very energetic and one poor man looked as though he pulled his hamstring.  He limped off looking like he was in considerable pain.  There was an inflatable movie screen and a film festival was due to be played after dark.

Michael was up early as he was excited about his wreck dive.  He had a wonderful day in near perfect conditions as he dived the wreck of the bulk carrier You Xiu.  The carrier sank in high winds in January 1995, with the loss of the entire crew of 27.  The wreck is at a depth of 21 metres and he was pretty thrilled to be able to explore such a huge ship (167 metres long).

 The next day the wind had picked up and the dive masters were unsure of diving so they selected the wreck Paris which was bigger than then the You Xin (174m). This ship wreck happened on the same day as the You Xin.  The ship could not get the anchor lifted and so it was swept on to the break wall with 27 lives lost. The bridge separated from the bulk stores and hit the dyke and was a further 50 metres away.

One of the more unsettling things about Romania is the number of dogs that roam the street.  In each city we have visited we have seen lone dogs or packs of 5 or 6 dogs wandering.  Apparently, the problem used to be significant in Bucharest however the numbers have dropped in recent years.  The dogs don’t approach you and I don’t feel threatened by them, I just feel sad that they don’t have a home.  Most look reasonably well fed and we have seen people feeding them and leaving bones out for them but you wonder what happens to them when they are sick or when it snows in the winter.  There are two tiny puppies living outside our hotel.  They only look about 10 weeks old and I feel so sad that they have no one to cuddle or care for them.  There are also cats everywhere.  I am pretty sure that most of them are strays as well however they all look well fed and seem pretty resourceful and adept at looking after themselves.