kiprianis:
1. I did not post your name here.
2. I am not going to take the "Tour Guide From Hell" piece down, so stop bugging me about it. Every word is true.
3. 26 is plenty old enough to know that lying and cheating are wrong.
4. If you've had hundreds of customers since 2006 why are you worrying about my web site?

Tracy, for what it's worth, I honestly think Romania is best visited with a driver tour guide. We were there twice and loved it. This is the company we used

www.tours-of-romania.com

Their most comprehensive tour is the Romanian Rhapsody.

Wow, what a great thread! We're in Barcelona and a Romanian friend who lives in Chicago has invited us to her daughter's christening in Sibhu this August, so I was trying to get some info.

Low and behold I find this from lovely friends Clifton, Tracy and others.

Now to go off and read those trip reports. Thanks guys!

Wondering if you went Tracy and how it went? Is your trip report up yet?

I hear ya on those fast growing babes too. Mine who was 5 when we started our open ended world tour ( and I think 6 when we ran into you Clifton in Morocco by chance) is 10 1/2. Enjoy those baby years, in a blink they are tween!

Mozart is 10 1/2 now? Whoa! Is she still playing her music? And are you still planning on moving on to Penang or is Europe too much of a draw still? We're another year on since this thread, now with a 3 and 2/3 yr old and still loving it everyday.

I love the feel of Sibiu. So not touristy (IMO) compared to so many places. But easily enough to keep you fed and sheltered. How nice to get an "insiders" look!

WTnow, unfortunately we didn't make it to Romania. I'm still a bit bummed about it because we ended up going back to some old favorites instead (Bavaria and then Rome) but my heart was set on Romania. The reason why we chose to skip it this time around was that we jus didn't feel that we could do all the things we wanted to do in our short time frame given the road infrastructure there.

I do hope you visit so I can read your trip report which will give me further motivation to get there, I'm sure!

Everyone says that kids grow up so fast but until you become a parent yourself you don't really understand the true meaning of that. My little ones are 19 months old now and I'm constantly both sad (where are my little angels?) and happy (they are so much fun now) but I sometimes wish I can press a pause button!

Happy travels!
Tracy

Oh my gosh Clifton, your baby is 3 2/3...my time flies! Give your wife and little angel a big hug from us!

Yes Mozart is still playing piano and violin around the world. My heart is still in Europe, but we did winter this past year in Penang so that she can immerse in her Mandarin. We will do the same this coming winter.

BUT I think we will continue to visit Europe for many years to come. ( We keep our RV here super cheaply, so gives us a home/vehicle/storage for practically nothing & we know it well now and have lots of local friends here).

I wrote a recent post about raising a bilingual/trilingal kid and you can see her reading Spanish in Spain at 7 and this past winter speaking Mandarin at 10 in her Chinese school uniform. She is growing! ( Actually still quite tiny for her age).

http://www.soultravelers3.com/2011/0...ual-child.html

In order to get her into the Mandarin school, she had to skip two grades so now she is in 7th grade at a 1000 kid huge high school in the winter, but she loves it and is doing well. They are allowing us to do it remotely while we roam..via skype with the dean of studies.

We went completely around the world this year ( with a small carry on each) over 9 months ( 22 airports) so got to see some new places like Bora Bora, Bhutan,Singapore, Sydney, NZ, Jordan, Kauai etc. ( all on our tight budget)

We're in Barcelona now..planning this foray into Romania for most of the month of August & celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in Budapest at the end, before returning to Barcelona. ( I've started another thread on Romania and haven't had a chance to delve into your trip report yet.) Could you link it here? I am such an ungeek, I can't seem to find it.

We do a road trip in the USA starting Sept 15th..from Miami to SF so I am also planning that ( and writing lots on our blog while we rest a bit here). So juggling lots.

I think we will explore Transylvania, Maramures/ Bucovine regions and maybe the Danube Delta that I just learned about for the small fishing villages.My friend is going to be there all month too and will help us with things as she is very connected. So that will make things easier and I always love meeting locals.

But I am still trying to get a sense of the country and what we will really want to see. It's the small villages and picturesque country side that interests us and local people/foods etc. Not interested in Bucharest, but we loved Budapest, only saw it in the rainy, cold fall, so want to enjoy it in summer in luxury style.

What were your most fave places? ( I think we have similar tastes in travel). Is there anything that you would like to have seen but didn't? Are there any places you felt should have been left out?

tcreath Oh I do understand that disappointment but also why you did it. These are the kinds of choices that happen to travelers.

We were all psyched to go to Romania and Hungary a few years ago and then I broke my arm badly biking the Danube in Melk. Ouch!

ttp://www.soultravelers3.com/2009/09/-a-travelers-tragic-tale-handling-travel-disasters-medical-emergency-.html

My right dominant arm was paralyzed for a year! Any sane person would have stopped traveling...but I even managed to sneak a peak at Budapest on the way back to Spain that year, but we had to let Romania go until now.

I also have been trying to get to the Swiss Alps and Lake Como for ages, and thought we'd do it this summer, but I had to let that go as it's just too much. Plus friends we stayed with in Sweden are going to meet up with us here in Barcelona, so I let that go.

I hate letting things go, but it usually is the right thing and I am sure the right time will come again for you and Romania.

Twins!! That is so cool..congrats! I didn't even know you had them til I read this thread. Wow..19 months already..such a cute and wild age.

I hear ya on that pause button, I loved every age that Mozart has been, but I cry every time I hear that Mama Mia song about how time is slipping away.

Her birthday is coming up this fall and I am not ready for an 11 year old!! We're taking her to Wizarding World in Fla for it as she is an HP lover & thinks it's about time for an USA birthday for a change & I am happy to be able to show her more of her own country.

I will keep you posted on our time in Romania ( although the bulk of it might be written when we are back in Penang this winter when I have more time again).

Sounds like she's doing great WTNow. I'm so glad. What a great kid you have there.

You got so close... Sydney... but not quite to Melbourne where we're at now. Do check it out if you get back! Maybe someday we'll show up in Penang at the right time of year and we'll run into each other again. They run a lot of sales out of here to Kuala Lumpur direct on Air Asia, so we've talked about grabbing a deal if it comes up again someday. And Bhutan too? That's a step above the ordinary!

Let's see. Favorites in Romania. Well, we never went to Bucharest either. Or the delta area. We got as far south as Sinaia only.

Favorites -- any of the Maramures villages. Try to find someone with a key to the village church. They've very old and very indicative of how each community lives.

Bucovina - the exterior murals on the monastery churches. Plus the settings on a couple of them are very peaceful.

Sighisoara. It's the most touristy, but also pretty cool, architecturally speaking. Very Transylvanian gothic with the cemetery and the tower and walls...

Sibiu - Cool city, cool buildings (with "eyes"). Just really liked the vibe.

The walled churches around Transylvania. Biertan in particular, but also Harmann and Prejmer... or just any you happen to drive past really.

There were a lot of other things I liked that may just be my tastes or my interests... and that I may not have the same points of comparison as others. But I probably mentioned them in the (realllly long) trip report. Which is getting pretty old now (even before we met in Morocco) but...

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-cabbage.cfm

The Romania gallery is at the bottom of my main galleries page:

http://www.travelisfatal.com/gallery/


Holy cow on your arm! I'm glad that got better! Getting sick or hurt is no fun, especially away from home. I temporarily lost sight in one eye for a few days when we were in Peru in late '09 and I thought that was bad. Something that lasts a year? That is a bit mad really.

Btw, we're US bound for a brief trip too and leave the day you arrive. Nothing personal!

Oh, I meant to add - just don't drive after dark in RO, alright? The driving isn't as bad as like, Phnom Penh or anything... but I'd say it's worse than Morocco. There's *a lot* of random moving obstacles on the road, there really are... including cows, pigs and elderly ladies in black. And they don't move over even if they know you're coming. Once it gets dark, you come up on stuff really fast and it's just too dangerous. For you, for them. For everyone. I got caught out on an overestimated day once and it was really tough going. During the day, it's an ongoing obstacle course, but the pavement conditions I thought were generally Ok-ish. At night... no.

Thanks so much Clifton, so appreciate it!! Love your photos as always!

I didn't realize you did Romania before Morocco in O7, still probably things haven't changed that much.

I am finding it cheaper to fly right into Romania from BCN so probably will do that and then fly into Budapest and from there back to BCN...still working on the best possibilities.

DO let me know if you head to Penang. I think we will be there an extended stay this year...due to her age ...so she can very deeply immerse in her Mandarin. That goes from Jan to Nov ...so lots of chances for you to catch one of those cheap air asia flight...you have friends in Penang!

Yep, we just did Sydney and would love to do an extended trip in Oz...but wow, it is expensive and with bad internet for travelers like us. If I can figure out how to do a long trip around Oz on our budget, we will def get to Melbourne and say hi!

We're thinking long stays in NZ and Oz when she finishes the school year before heading to south America and Africa, but that's all just in the dream stage now. We'll be exploring Asia more on her many school holiday this year on those air asia cheap flights.

Yowser, losing sight while traveling. Sorry to hear that. Yep, bad illness or accident on the road ain't fun. This year it was some severe problems with digestion, but I am mostly better.

Sorry we will miss you in the US.

Diving in Romania sounds like a trip...at least we won't be in an RV. LOL. We will def heed your warning about not after dark.

I can't tell you how many times we have overestimated in the RV and broken our promise to ourselves not to drive in the dark, but we will really not break it in Romania...sounds like a night mare. Worse than Morocco...yikes.

Bhutan has the record for the worst possible roads in the world of all the scary roads that we have been on. Thankfully we did not have to drive the 4x4 but the curvy, mountain cliff dirt one-lane roads ( trucks coming opposite) are not meant for peeps with vertigo like me ( no need for seat belts when the drop is 9000ft). Rain, sleet, boulders in road didn't help, nor seeing cars that fell off the cliff. That said, the views, monkeys, yaks , nomads, people were spectacular. Even the flight in over Mt Everest in their two airplane airlines is a trip. HIGHLY recommend Bhutan..no place like it.

Please tell me that there are not horrible mountain roads in Romania..I've done my share this year.

Thanks again, keep in touch!! Off to read your trip report and and try to figure out flights and car rentals.

Bhutan sounds like quite an experience. It was always near the top of my list, but drifted a few spots lower as I thought about always being in the car, walking with, and so on.. with a guide person we didn't know well. Just realize how often our best times have been at "our pace" and when we could be "just us" versus when we've had a day guide and have gotten a bit frustrated with the change that's had in our style. Some we've really enjoyed though. I'd just started thinking "what if we got one we didn't click with and was stuck for a week or more in car all day, every day??" Then I read someone's report that had had that less happy experience... and others who commented and said they did too. And Bhutan slipped a bit on the wish list. Sounds like you fared pretty well in that gamble though.

Obviously, I'd be very happy they were doing the driving though!

No, I never saw mountain roads like that in Romania. There may be some, but none we ever had to take. We went over and through the Carpathians several times but the roads always seemed to be in good condition. Magnificent views in many places, but no driving I'd classify as hair raising.

Agree that Australia is really expensive right now compared to when it was 2:1 exchange we used to get when visiting. Now that we earn in AUD, I'd like to say we don't notice it, but... at least it's not as bad. I realized the other day that we could eat your standard cafe or pub meal cheaper inside Disneyland than in our suburban neighborhood, East/SE Asian places and fish & chips aside. Oh well, we get good ingredients at the grocery... but that's not a lot of help to the budget traveler! (tip: stay "ethnic", much like in NYC, to contain costs or look for your local RSL for a meal)

Definitely, if one of us finds the other somewhere near their doorstep, we'll have to say hi in person again! I'll keep an eye on your RO trip!

Yes, I hear you on the guide thing as we like to do our own thing too, but we did luck out with our journey to Bhutan. We adored our guide and driver..they gave us lots of space and autonomy...and they were actually a very positive part of the experience.

Bhutan is an awesome place, but once there one understands why there are the restrictions in place ( and how it has managed to stay a true shangri-la and isolated).

One can set one's own itinerary in Bhutan, so that is the way to do it...research and know and get exactly what you want. It's a place that takes time because of the mountainous location and infrastructure ( basically one poor road into the fascinating central and eastern part) so slow travel and stops to walk the land for days in between the drives are important.

Soon one will be able to fly to the center and east, but there are some advantages to the drive in truly experiencing the country. We had to backtrack, so I'd avoid that and just do one way ( one can exit on the east into India).There is no place on earth like Bhutan so more than worth the effort if done with good planning. I agree though, the driving part was not my fave.

Thanks again for your input on this. I am sure we will meet up again some day or place.