TylerTraveler

For the sake of their tourism, economy and thus the people in the country, they should really at least do SOMETHING with the whole Dracula thing. I did quite a few internet searched for Poenari and never did figure out an easy way to get there. If they had an easy way to get there, and advertised just a little bit, then people would flock there, spend money, and help their economy. Most people I talk to, still think that Dracula is a fictional character.

After being to 43 countries, I really feel like many of the "must-see" places are only must see because they get advertised or are easy to access. The Temple Bar in Dublin had a line a mile long just to get a photograph of it... and what was it? Just a bar...

But some awesome monastery perched above a river coming out of a extremely tall cliff is nearly unvisited by Westerners... it's not THAT much harder to visit... it's just not advertised. Or someone else mentioned in my Ireland post that the cliffs of Moher get infinitely more tourists than the cliffs up north that are actually taller.

The giants causeway was awesome, don't get me wrong, but I live in an interesting geological area in Oregon and we have extremely similar looking stone formations about an hour from my house.

But anyway, I just feel like there are some countries out there that are missing the boat on the whole tourism thing and could really benifit from doing a bit of advertising.

If you've ever seen the Anthony Bourdain (love that guy) show about Romania, he says it best about Romania when he tried to visit somewhere early on in the show and they wouldn't let them film because of some red tape error. He mocked the officials for trying to keep Romania from experiencing "the scourge of tourism".

We may not like overcrowded tourist areas and feel like it spoils an area (and it can), but local economies can really benifit from tourism and I want to know what's out there too... I want to be able to go to Poenari, but if they don't make it easier, than how can I?

Or like if Iran opened up to tourism a little bit maybe we would go there and be less afraid of them? Travel is a good thing. Tourism is a good thing.

TylerTraveler

This shows some of those monestary photos:

http://tylernofziger.com/messageboar...f=33&t=369


I had NO clue it existed until we went there. Actually I didn't really know anything about Mostar at all...

lucy_d

Tyler, As always, I've enjoyed your report and love, love your pictures. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!

Clifton

I agree that it'd be great to see Romania really get some of the attention it deserves.. and turn that new income to restoring even more sites, etc.

I just think they have *so much* there that could be promoted and restored or even just cleaned up that they don't really have to promote questionable stories like at Bran Castle (which never really had anything to do with the guy, but is one of the few places to use it). Poenari though and the whole transfagean pass area - I kind of would hate to see it lose some of that mystical remoteness... selfish of me, I know.

But places like Hunedoara - that would be great to have more people see it, you know? The king of the Hungarian empire was born there. It's gothic, it's cool and ole Vlad was locked up in the cellar for awhile. Not a soul was there when we were, except for a local violinist trying to work up a dew tips and later when a French couple showed up. Like 50 cents to wander the place to yourself. If they could get some income, they could clean up that smokestack rusty pipeyard across the way and really have something going.

AAFrequentFlyer

I just have a somple question, with 2 months to spare, why even have an itn after the first few days?

Go with the flow.....


Have a great trip!

TylerTraveler

Yea Clif, I guess you make a good point about Poenari... perhaps half of the fun is seeking out such a remote location. If it became anything like the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge in Northern Ireland where we had to wait an hour in a que to cross it, I suppose that it would lose some of its magical appeal. We definitely don't want all of the interesting sights in the world to become like Disneyland. =)


We had to make a Iten because of the things that we wanted to see... and to fit them all in in 2 months would have been impossible without some kind of schedule.

The first month I spent in Europe 4 years ago didn't have ANY plan at all. We didn't know what we were going to do until we landed in Frankfurt... but over time I've progressivly learned that I like some kind of plan. There are pro's and con's to both methods really.

If you go without a plan you can really just be flexible, relax and if you like a place, you can stay longer... if you don't, then you can leave.

But if you plan a bit, then you can have much better deals on hostels/hotels, you won't miss cool events and festivals because you didn't know they were going on, you won't bypass cool sights because you didn't realize that they were only just one town over but didn't know about them, and in the end, you see more, save more and get more bang for your buck.

I'm about 50/50 on the matter, but for this trip, planning things ahead of time was definitely the way to go.

We had to get from Moldova to Lithuania somehow, and every day we put of buying the plane tickets, they went up in price about 30 dollars. I can't afford to just do things on a whim

TylerTraveler

That said... you still have to be flexible... after looking back over this itenerary that I posted before the trip... wow, did things ever change!

Somewhere around Belgrade we found out that we couldn't get into Belarus without a Visa and at that point, we just didn't want to bother.

I think the best way to do things is to form a schedule, but be ok with bending and even breaking it completely =)

irishface

Tyler, thanks for such a well photographed, well written report. I stayed up way too late last night to get almost to the end and then finished this morning. I loved it all!

I especially enjoyed your thoughts on preconceptions, ethnic stereotypes, etc. There is hope!

I agree with your thoughts on having a plan for a long trip! I think you did a great job of planning to fit in all you wanted to see and do and yet leave time for spontaneous moments.

When your mom expressed misgivings about your walk to see the embassy in Serbia, I fondly remembered my great aunt (then 90) who took me aside before my first trip to Europe forty plus years ago. She said she suspected that I might do some dangerous things, but not to tell my parents about it at the time, maybe not even until the statute of limitations might run out. Then she slipped me a fifty to hide "for emergencies or whatever". (In those days, $50 was 10 or more days of sights, room, and cheap meals.)

By the way, the "vanilla smelling" yellow flowers are gorse. Funny, I never noticed that odor, but I did always enjoy the return of them every spring.

Thank you again for letting me relive some of my trips and sharing so much of yourself in your pictures and tales.

TylerTraveler

Thank you so much for the kind words Irishface! Knowing that people read the posts and look at the pictures is very encouraging!

I credited the gorse discovery for you on the messageboards hehe:

http://www.tylernofziger.com/message...f=33&t=404