Beeep beeep beeep beeep…… Gah 8AM.. i haven’t packed… i haven’t even really slept but today is the day i have to leave or else i will become the best looking enemy of the state!
My german family had begged me to stay one more day , me visa did allow this however after talking to Ukraine International airlines for 15 minutes at 5AM there were no flights and the only flight i could get was a Turkish Airline flight at 700 USD and David agreed that it just isn’t worth the extra cost.
With my head held low from defeat of Ukrainian travel regime i got up and tried to make focus of the bleak hungover world around me. The dorm was empty except 1 person still asleep. I made my way down to the Shower and tried to resurrect what life 3 hours of sleep had brought To me
Now I’m going to tell you this post has no photos, when you are in this state photos are very irrelevant to daily life, i will use as much literacy skill to describe the events that took place
After my shower i think its time to start pack out, it was relatively easy just ram everything in and hope that folding my clothes in this case would not inhibit my storage capacity… right Pack done… next day pack
I pick up my day pack and it is soaking wet… it must have taken a beating the night before on the bridge…. oh that’s right the bridge …. looking back on it now what were we thinking…..however it will go down as a good memory in life, a moment when nothing else matters and you just decide to do something crazy for the sake of crazy
Perplexed on my bag and neurones firing in a sporadic sequences i try to figure out what I’m going to do, i cant travel with a pack like this, my phone was a foggy mess and there is a permanent discoloured line running through the screen now that is very annoying to say the least
I manage to find a Hair dryer in the lower shower block and for the next 45 minutes i would sit there and try to dry out my life one item at a time, as the heat starts in increase and the amount of water coming out of the bag is astonishing and I’m looking at my passport on the vanity looking like a piece of pond weed wondering if it will still be accepted into Romania.
I turn each leaf of the passport trying to dry it out, amazingly the paper quality must be quite high as the ink hasn’t run and everything seems to be intact! Success
I make my way up to the cafe for my last serving of dumplings and a ginger lemonade to try an settle the stomach down, traveling hung over is not a pleasure but something have to be done and some times at the cost of your comfort and sanity.
David joins and then we are soon joined by the 2 Germans and we sit around the cafe table not really saying much, i can imagine there day might be a very quiet one.
The hours slip by unaware that as every minute that looms closer to to 12PM is a minute closer to when i depart my new family and even with David’s number skills i doubt he knows and equation to let time stand still for even just an hour….
The clock strikes 12 and we say our goodbyes and its hard to say goodbye to David as. For the last 10 days we have been partners in crime exploring Odessa and kiev in fine form spreading the travel bug to anyone we come in contact with.
I jump in my Uklon taxi ( Ukrainian Uber) and i start my 45 minute commute to KBP international airport, traffic here makes very little sense people will be going down the motorway at warp speed with hazard lights on and lanes don’t really appear to exist in any way shape or form.
I arrive at the airport and check in which takes all of 2 minutes, KBP international Airport is modern and accommodates most needs when traveling, i take a seat and start typing my blog for Wednesday… I’m not sure how long i was typing for but my name is called out across the Intercom to make my way to D15 gate for transit to my Aircraft.
I hop on board the transit bus and it starts to move, the commute across the Black apron to the aircraft which is not a brand I’m familiar with, its called an Embraer 145 Jet they are manufactured in Portugal and are builders of mainly short haul aircraft.
The air hostess reminds me of a communistic poster girl from a piece of Soviet propaganda, blue uniform made our of a satin like material with a Blonde bob cut hairstyle and strong highlights of Lipstick.
The plane hurtles down the runway with its 2 engines rumbling softly at the tail of the plane, the comfort of UA (Ukraine Air) is good, nice wide seats and ample leg room, as the plane soars into the sky i try to keep my eyes open and take in the views of what was home for the last 2 weeks but with every Ft of altitude gained my eyes weight increases exponentially until i am lost to the clouds hurtling past my window.
Bang! I awake as the Planes rear wheels hit the tarmac at what would be around 230KM/H and we start decelerating to our gradual crawl to the gate, the local time is 4.30PM and it is 35 degrees outside.
Baggage claim and customs are a breeze and there are no crazy documents to fill out here or ridiculous visa costs as Romania is now part of the EU… which is probably the best thing that could have happened to the country.
I make my way out of baggage claim and got my next SIM card which will be provided by Vodafone RU and cost e about 6 euros for 50GB and 2000 minutes … yet again i curse New Zealand telecommunication companies for there ridiculous costings.
I make my way out to the taxi stand and ask how much to go to my hostel, it will cost me about 15NZD dollars which seems reasonable for me and i hop in and we make our way…. here road rules exist and we make ur way thought the traffic like true gentlemen of the motherland.
The hostel is called the bicycle hostel and costs about 15 NZD a night i will stay here 3 nights and “dip my toe” in the water should i say, the atmosphere is very different to dream hostel but the hostel is clean and the room has air conditioning which is like a MEGA WIN. GO ROMANIA!
I dump my bag and decide that rather than waste the rest of the day I should get some bearings for my next couple of days here, my hostel is about 30 minutes walk to the old city and i decided i better go and check it out and find some food.
The walk is very simple, past the strain station up the boulevard, take one left and one right and you are there, it is about 3.2 KM from my accomodation.
The old city is classic old building littered with restaurants and bars…. and oddly a lot of strip clubs, i take residence at a bar playing some lounge music and decide i better take this down time to finish writing my blog for Wednesday’s antic.
Whilst sitting there i start talking to a man at the table next to me he is called Kiofte, he is a Romanian man who has been overseas working on private security forces, the name of the company is Black Water and they served a lot n Georgia, Iraq, Romania , France…. from what i can tell they aren’t the most liked and have caused a few political nightmares in some countries with mass shootings.
Kiofte is a family man he has 1 daughter who is 13 and his son who is 9 his is divorced as he sends too much time overseas working, he is 47 years of age and is currently in his retirement, i cant quite figure out how much he makes but the jewellery on his knuckles would say his bank would have 6 or 7 figures in it.
He introduces me to the lovely bar staff and then asked if i would like a drink, he is drinking a blue liquid in a short glass that looks like a fine toilet cleaner, i ask for one of the same , it is made of Vodka, Sweet and sour , Mint, Ice and your favourite mixer and to be fair its not half bad I wouldn’t say its a delicacy but am i going to argue with someone who kills men for a living…. definitely not!
It’s getting on to about 11PM and its time to eat, the old city of Bucharest seems to be where the night life hides out there is bars scattered throughout the streets and it is full of young and old, there is a constant buzz of activity at every corner.
You can certainly tell that since Romania became part of the EU the country has gone in the right direction but i imagine the government corruption is still at larger it will take a few generations of family to let that subside in politics
Bucharest is the capital of my motherland and it is home to to about 1.85 million people, this city has seen its fair share of civil war like most European cities, the main parliament building is the second largest building in the world… the only building that supersedes it in share size is the Pentagon. The Parliamentary building is not complete and sits at about 80% it will be finished as Romania becomes richer and and its GDP bottom line increases
The average income here is around 200-400 euros per month and the quality of life is sub par at best, if you look closely you can still find bullet holes in some of the structures littered throughout the city.
I remember coming here as a child on my first visit to Romania and a lot of it i don’t remember… its funny how you only remember the bad of some places and i remember you could loo at building and track where the machine gun fire had originated and tracked across the building.
The civil unrest took place in December 1989 it was to put the communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu out of office and bring the country into its future, throughout Nicolae’s ruling he had got into bed with the Russians and had given a lot of the countries resources to the communist regimes that occupied Eastern Europe. I will learn more about this over the next couple of days visiting the national Museums and historical sites
I make my way to an Italian restaurant, like most of Eastern Europe Italian Food is featured quite heavily, i cant quite tell you why however I’m sure a quick google might shed some light on why this is.
I have my meal and make a quick chat home to HQ ( AKA: Mum) and check in so she knows I’m still alive and well.
My commute back to my hostel is simple and hiccup free, so far on this trip i haven’t had a single confrontation weather walking in the street or walking home at night, i put this down to a bit of luck but also keeping sure my posture is submissive yet authoritative, something that i learnt from high school
Always walk with purpose but not arrogance.. if you look like you know what you are doing and where you are going people tend not look and ask questions.. this always worked in my favour when Bunking school and going AWOL.
The air is still and its about 24 Degrees the streets quite with very little traffic, you wouldn’t even know 1.85 million people lived in this city at the late hours of the night.
Tomorrow is a new day with new adventures.
“The life of man (in a state of Nature) is Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish, and Short”.-Thomas Hobbes
Quantum Entanglement 