Romania impresses

I'm currently in Cluj which is my second stop in Romania. I have to say that Romania has surprised me so far, the cities are more modern than I would have expected and the transport is pretty efficient, I've met some really nice people and the 2 hostels I have stayed at are amongst the best so far. Going back to Novi Sad in Serbia where I last updated, my only full day there was spent mainly in the fortress area of the town which is the other side of the bridge and overlooks the city. As I said I preferred it to Belgrade as it was far more manageable and a lot less traffic to negotiate. After finding a delicious local pasta restaurant I went out to a couple of bars with the owner of the hostel who was Serbian but had actually lived in Wales for a while and had some interesting stories to tell. That aside my opinion of the hostels in Serbia was fairly low, I barely ever saw a member of staff so was unable to really get any inside knowledge of what there is to see. I have found the hostels in Croatia and Italy useful for this, so with only 5 days in Serbia its a shame that this happened, still I did see a fair bit by myself and enjoyed my time in the country nonetheless. Onto Monday then which turned into a hellish waiting game in the Serbian border town of Vrsac. Having got up early to get there I had, not unreasonably, assumed that a town only 12km from the Romanian border would have decent bus and train connections but it didn't. There was just the one train and it left at 6:20pm which was around 8 hours to kill before I could leave. The town itself was not a bad place but due to the train station being so far out of town and having no left luggage so I could leave my backpack I was forced to spend my time at the train station and the area surrounding it due to spending the last of my Serbian money on the train ticket and a sandwich to keep me going. The long waits are part of the traveling game but they are not really something that I enjoy, I prefer long journeys, at least then I feel as though I'm making progress. Anyway the time did eventually pass and 2 hours later I was in Timisoara, my first stop in Romania. I slept like a log and awoke the next day to explore. I have to admit to a slight degree of nervousness mixed in with the excitement whenever I enter a new country, it is usually washed away pretty quickly though and again this proved to be the case. Timisoara is stunning, its the 4 biggest city in Romania, a student city and has some really beautiful pedestrian streets and squares. The main one has the city cathedral at the end and looks out of a fairytale as many buildings in Romania seem to. The history of the city is also pretty cool. It was the scene where the unpopular Romanian leader was overthrown during the 1989 revolution. I would recommend reading about it, its a fine story. The day after, yesterday, I had another tough day of travel. I had to wait another 4 hours at the train station for the train to Cluj. It is also the first day I have had proper cold weather during the entire trip and I not even noticed until then that I had not even noticed that I had not even packed a warm coat, scarf, gloves or hat! rather than look for any of these I dived into a smokey, local bar and warmed myself up with a couple of coffees. The 7 hour journey to Cluj turned into 8 hours because of a delay. I met a really nice Romanian girl called Spiri on the train which helped pass the time. I am finding the locals here pretty engaging and a lot more interested in travel than those in Serbia. I think Romania does have a pretty good travel network though. As I mentioned the hostels have been great here, the one I'm at now, Retro Hostel, is rated as one of Romania's best. They are brightly decorated and aimed at backpackers the way a hostel should be. Cluj is actually in Transylvania and is described by lonely planet as 'a real city' which usually means its fairly ugly but I think it has a lot going for it and whilst not as picturesque as Timisoara I am having a great time here so far. Next up I hit the Saxon triangle of Sighisoara, Brasov and Sibiu. Brasov is meant to be the highlight of any trip to Romania and I intend to do some hiking there as well as head out to Dracula's castle in nearby Bram, this will fall on the 30th October which is a day before Halloween and that is a complete coincidence! I have changed my itinerary in places, Sibiu has been added in as it is supposed to be amazing and I am nearby anyway, I've also added an extra day onto Brasov due to Bram castle being closed on Mondays. To balance this I've decided not to go to Bucharest, I've heard nothing but bad things about it and feel a big dirty capital is something I could do without. I will still have to go here as its the route to Bulgaria and may have to stay a night depending on trains and buses. I have also removed Constanta, on the black sea coast as its too far out the way and added Ruse, on the Bulgarian side of the border which fits in better and is near a good national park, though I've not booked accommodation there yet due to uncertainty about getting there. I do intend to put some photos on here soon, hope everyone is well back in the UK and wherever else you might be.