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GETTING AROUND |
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Major Romanian towns, and a huge number of small towns and villages,
are most easily reached by train. The system, although more confusing
than in Western Europe, is far more user-friendly than the bus network,
which is best used for reaching local villages around the main towns
Trains
The 11,300-kilometre network of the SNCFR ( Societatea Nationala a
Cailor Ferate Române , still generally known as the CFR or ChéFéRé )
covers most of the country. Tickets are amazingly cheap, which is not
necessarily to say that they are good value - some travellers may find
the derelict trains, bizarre timetable and sweltering/freezing
conditions too much to take. What's more, they are often crowded which,
combined with the frequent lack of light, heat and water, may make long
journeys somewhat purgatorial; but those who use the trains regularly
often end up very much in sympathy with their rough-and-ready spirit and
the generally excellent timekeeping. Many routes are extremely scenic,
particularly in Transylvania, and as train journeys are good occasions
to strike up conversation with Romanians, you'll gain a lot by ignoring
any discomforts and making an effort.
Fares are low, about $1 for 100km. You have a choice of paying more to
travel fast, although if your ticket was issued abroad it will already
include the express supplement. Intercity and rapid services, halting
only at major towns, are the most expensive types of train, while
accelerats are only slightly slower, with more frequent stops, but far
cheaper and the standard means of inter-urban travel. The painfully slow
personal trains should be avoided as a rule, unless you're heading for
some tiny halta . Each service has a number prefixed by a letter
denoting its type - IC, R, A, or P.
Planes
TAROM 's domestic services depart most days from Bucharest to Arad, Baia
Mare, Cluj, Constanta, Iasi, Oradea, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava,
Timisoara and Târgu Mures. Most flights use Bucharest's Baneasa airport,
but flights to Constanta and those continuing abroad beyond Arad, Cluj,
Sibiu or Timisoara use Otopeni airport. Russian-made planes have now
been replaced by modern ATR-42 aircraft, and international flights use
Boeing 737s.
Fares for foreigners are fixed at the lei equivalent of between $30 and
$60, and you may need your exchange receipt to prove that the money was
acquired legally. Bookings should be made - preferably 36 hours in
advance - at TAROM offices.
In addition, the private airline Carpatair flies six days a week from
Baneasa to Cluj and Timisoara.
Buses and taxis
Bus services almost dried up before 1989 due to fuel shortages; they
recovered the following decade, but in the last few years have virtually
evaporated again in some regions due to economic recession. In some
parts of the country they have been replaced by private maxitaxis , but
in others there is simply no public transport at all. Timetables are
usually out of date, and can only be found at urban bus stations. In the
countryside, knowing when and where to wait for the bus is a local art
form, and on Sundays many regions have no local buses at all (whereas
trains run to much the same timetable seven days a week). Private buses
run to Bucharest from many Wallachian towns, such as Câmpulung Muscel
and Râmnicu Vâlcea; in Transylvania, buses to Budapest will often carry
you between intermediate stops.
All towns have local bus services , and in the main cities you'll also
find trams and trolley buses ( tramvai and troleibuz ). Tickets for
urban buses, trolley buses and trams are normally sold in pairs from
street kiosks. Punch them yourself aboard the vehicle, if you can get to
the machine through the crush. Most locals use season tickets, checked
by plain-clothes inspectors. In some Hungarian areas tickets are sold by
a conductor on the bus, rather than at a kiosk. Information about
services seemed almost a state secret under Communism, and is only
slightly easier to find now. In Bucharest new bus shelters, with city
transport maps, are slowly being installed, and some stops list bus
frequencies too.
Taxis are easy to find in towns, with lots of private taxis as well as
state-owned vehicles. They are affordable for the visitor too, with city-centre
trips costing just a dollar or two. Maxitaxis are shared taxi minibuses,
often over-crowded and under-maintained; they run along the main
thoroughfares in Bucharest and supplement the vanishing bus services
elsewhere, notably along the Black Sea coast.
Boats
NAVROM , the national shipping company, maintains a small fleet of
passenger boats which operate principally along the arms of the Danube
Delta . These vary greatly with the season, only operating on alternate
days in winter, and you can't buy tickets in advance - you'll just have
to make arrangements when you get to Galati or Tulcea. Smaller
motorboats also carry tourists around Lake Bicaz in Moldavia. If the
situation in Serbia remains quiet, there should be regular services on
the Danube between Turnu Severin and Ostrov.
Driving
Given the radical cuts to train and bus services, you may prefer to
drive; there are no queues for fuel now, and main roads ( Drum National
or DN) are in a reasonable state, although county roads ( Drum Judetean
) are poor and local roads are disintegrating. Nevertheless it is tiring,
given the many hazards, and you shouldn't expect to cover a great
distance in a day.
Regulations are fairly standard. The most important rules are to drive
on the right and overtake on the left side, and for traffic on a
roundabout to give way to traffic entering. Seat belts are required
outside towns. A national driving licence suffices, and if you don't
have Green Card insurance, a month's cover can be purchased at the
border, or from ADAC agencies (German Motorists' Association). Speed
limits for cars are 50kph in built-up areas, 90kph on the open road, and
120kph on the motorway. If you have an accident , you're legally obliged
to await the arrival of the Politia ; drinking and driving is absolutely
prohibited and severely punished. The police are now empowered to levy
on-the-spot fines of up to L100,000 ($5).
There are now plenty of decent foreign-owned fuel stations in major
cities and along the main highways, notably those run by OMV, MOL and
Shell; you should use these rather than the old state-owned stations,
where fuel may be dirty or diluted. Most cars just use regular benzina ,
but super and lead-free petrol ( fara plomb ) and diesel are now widely
available.
Foreign motorists belonging to organizations affiliated to the ACR (Romanian
Automobile Club) receive free or cut-price technical assistance ; and
you can get motoring information from their Bucharest offices at Str.
Tache Ionescu 27 (tel 01/315 5510, fax 312 8462, acr@acr.ro ) and Sos.
Colentina 1 (tel & fax 01/635 4140). For ACR breakdown services dial
12345 or 01/223 4690. We list the details of some car repair depots
(Auto-Service, Dacia-Service, Automechanica etc) and provincial ACR
offices. The mainstays of Romanian motoring, the Dacia and the Oltcit,
are based on the Renault 12 and the Citroen Visa, so spare parts for
these models are easiest to come by; the new Rodae Cielo, the first
Romanian car to look as if it belonged in the late twentieth century, is
no problem either.
In rural areas the danger isn't so much other motorized traffic as the
risk of hitting wagons, drunks on bicycles and various animals that have
yet to accept the impact of the motor age. It's wise not to drive after
dark or in winter. Other precautions include always locking the car and
putting windscreen wipers in the glove compartment when not in use,
since theft of car parts is commonplace. If asked to pay to have your
car watched, particularly overnight, it's wiser to pay up; the only
alternative is to stay in an expensive hotel with supervised parking.
Romania would be a fine country for motorcycling, except that the speed
limit for bikes is ludicrously low: 40kph in built up areas and only
50kph (30mph) on the open road. Helmets are compulsory and you're
advised to bring vital spares as well as a tool kit
Cycling
Given the mountainous terrain and the poor state of many roads, you'll
need to be fit and self-reliant to cycle around Romania. Bike stores are
few and far between, although most village mechanics can manage basic
repairs. You're strongly advised to carry a spare tyre and a few spokes,
and to check carrier nuts regularly, as the potholes and corrugations
will rapidly shake them loose. A touring bike is better than a mountain
bike unless you want to go off road; with the immense network of
forestry roads ( Drum Forestiere ) and free access to the hills, genuine
mountain biking is wonderful here.
If you do bring your bike, avoid cycling in Bucharest , where the roads
are so hazardous that you won't see other cyclists and drivers will have
little idea how to avoid you. Carrying your bike by train is easiest on
slow ( personal ) services, where you can simply put it in the carriage,
though you should stay with it and will probably have to tip the
conductor; on expresses it'll have to be carried in the baggage van and
a good tip is necessary to ensure it's properly guarded.
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking ( autostop or occasie ) is an integral part of the Romanian
transport system to supplement patchy or nonexistent services on
backroads. It's common even on the autostrada , although illegal there,
and it's accepted practice to pay for lifts, although this is often
waived for foreigners. Hitchhiking, however, is a risky business in any
country and if you decide to travel this way, take all sensible
precautions. Women should never hitch alone, nor is hitching at night
advisable.
ONT tours
Between mid-June and the end of September, ONT organizes tours ,
including weekends at Sinaia, Predeal and the seaside; two- or three-day
excursions to Maramures, the old Wallachian capitals, the monasteries of
Bucovina, the Delta, and the Prahova and Olt valleys; and jaunts around
the country lasting 3, 5 or 7 days.
The three-day tour takes in Curtea de Arges, Cozia Monastery, Sibiu,
Sibiel, Brasov and Sinaia; five-day excursions add Bran Castle, Târgu
Mures, Sighisoara and Sovata to this list; while the week-long itinerary
also includes Alba Iulia, Cluj, Bistrita, Bicaz, and several of the
Moldavian monasteries. Prices depend on the number of participants and
on the types of transport and accommodation required, but as an example,
three people spending three days touring the Bucovina monasteries by car
would pay $224 each plus either $27 by sleeper train or $88 by air from
Bucharest to Suceava and back; it will always be cheaper to make your
own way to Suceava and book a tour there, with the possibility of
latching on to a bus party.
ONT has also recently introduced a wonderfully kitsch "Live like a
Dictator" package, costing $3000 a day and using Ceausescu's villas and
cars
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