Suck It Or Stick It?

Transylvania – the name conjures images of a land enshrouded in foggy gloom, with bleak mountains, eerie castles and blood-sucking creatures lurking in the shadows. Or, as Bram Stoker described it in Dracula, “...away from this cursed spot, from this cursed land, where the devil and his children still walk with earthly feet!” The truth is that Bram Stoker never visited Transylvania, and borrowed the famous character’s name from Vlad Dracula (Dracul translates as dragon, and was the name taken by Vlad’s father as a member of the Order of the Dragon created to defend Christianity. Dracula translates as “son of Dracul” or “son of the Dragon”. Dracul, however, can also be translated as devil).

Vlad Dracula was the ruler of Wallachia (one of three former Romanian provinces) for three separate periods that totaled less than seven years in the mid-15th century. His reign was short, but his reputation spread far and wide - he became known as Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Ţepeş in Romenian) for his preferred punishment method. Practically all crimes, major or minor, were punished by death, usually by impalement on stakes, with victims left to die in public view in excruciating pain for hours or even days. One of his most notorious displays of cruelty was during a Turkish invasion in 1462: as the Turkish army closed in on the Wallachian capital, they came across a field 1.9 mile (3 km) long by 0.6 mile (1 km) wide filled with some 20,000 impaled Turkish captives, a sight that went down in history as the “Forest of the Impaled”.

Despite his atrocities, Vlad is regarded in Romania as a patriot who contributed to the creation of a strong and independent Wallachia, a champion of law and order in lawless times, and a protector against the Ottoman Empire. His defenders argue that his methods were no more cruel than those of other European rulers such as Ferdinand of Naples, Cesare Borgia of Italy or Ivan the Terrible of Russia. That may be true, but the reality is that Vlad makes Count Dracula look merciful.

With the recent invention of the printing press, Vlad’s stories circulated in pamphlets with titles such as “The Frightening and Truly Extraordinary Story of a Wicked Blood-Drinking Tyrant Called Prince Dracula”. In fact, thirst of blood is the only thing in common between him and the fictional character as Vlad was never accused of vampirism during his lifetime. Vampires, however, were part of the folklore in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and vampire epidemics (?!) in the 17th and 18th centuries with soaring numbers of reported cases sparked a vampire craze in Europe. Travelers returning from the East would tell stories of the undead and against this backdrop, Bram Stoker’s Dracula surfaced.

My introduction to Transylvania could have come right out of Stoker's book. It was a rainy day, and as the train meandered through the mountains, I could only catch brief glimpses of trees through the heavy fog in the region. I seemed to be very far away from civilization, a feeling reinforced by the deserted and sometimes desolate stations along the way and the empty wagon was I in. Just to be on the safe side, I sprinkled some garlic perfume on myself, and though it may have saved me from some sneaky vampire, it was absolutely useless against other blood-sucking creature - the Romanian taxi driver. Be sure to always ask your hotel which companies are reliable.

Transylvania turned Dracula into a cash cow. My first stop was Braşov, a Saxon town close to Bran castle, more commonly known as Dracula's castle. The link to Vlad the Impaler is tenuous at best but that hasn't prevented a whole cornucopia of Dracula/Vlad souvenirs from springing around the castle: mugs, masks, capes, fake blood, whatever people can come up with. Sighişoara, Vlad's birthplace, is more discreet but also cashes in on him: the house where he was born is now home to a yellow restaurant where you can buy Vampire Coffee. I'm sure that if Vlad came back and saw what has become of his name, some new trees would appear in his forest.

But perhaps as colorful (or scary) as Dracula/Vlad stories is a train ride in one of the so-called Romenian "Personal" trains. Yes, the guidebook advised to avoid them but I didn't have a choice so I took one from Sighişoara to Sibiu, a 60-mile (95 km) trip that cost €3.50 and took 2.5 hours. It sounds terribly slow but you'd understand if you saw the train - it looked freshly rescued from a scrap metal lot and the symphony of rattles and squeaks could rival anything on your iPod/mp3 player. Some fellow passengers were likewise unforgettable...midway through the ride, a joyful group came in and proceeded to dance and picnic in the wagon before being thrown out at the next station because they had no tickets. As I looked at the crumbly mess that they had made and figured it would remain there until the train's kingdom come, two little mice showed up and cleaned everything at the blink of an eye. I've never seen such low-cost efficiency anywhere else in the world.

Weddings & Facelifts

Bulgaria is one of the oldest countries in Europe, founded in the late 7th century when Bulgars from Central Asia established an independent state called Great Bulgaria. Located at the junction of trade routes that linked Europe to Asia and Africa, Bulgaria was traversed by many ancient cultures and, as a result, Roman, Greek, Byzantine and Turkish influences are seen in the country's architecture, arts, cuisine and religious heritage. On the downside, Bulgaria's strategic position caught the eye of powerful states competing for land, and the country was often under foreign rule - the Byzantines from the early 11th to the late 12th century, and the Ottomans for 500 years starting in the late 14th century.

Bulgaria adopted Christianity in the late 9th century, and a boom in monastery construction followed. Many were destroyed during Ottoman rule, but the Turks did not attempt to convert all Bulgarians to Islam so the monasteries that survived became key in preserving the cultural heritage and identity of Bulgarians. Thanks to their efforts during the era known as the "Turkish yoke", many examples of early church architecture are found in the country to this day, and Orthodox Christianity remains the dominant religion, with over 80% of the population adhering to it. The Orthodox churches are quite impressive on the outside, specially on sunny days when their golden domes glisten in the sun, but I found the inside generally underwhelming, too somber and sometimes even oppressive.

Sofia, the country's capital, is known as the city that "grows but does not age". Growing it is – it now holds 20% of the country’s population. And it’s fighting aging through some much needed facelifts. However, like any such procedure, it doesn’t look very appealing until you see the end result. But in between cranes and construction fences, one thing is evident: Bulgarians love a wedding. I saw five in merely two days, with brides and grooms coming and going in big fancy decorated cars followed by crews of photographers and videographers.

More interesting than the capital are Bulgaria’s historic towns, of which Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo are worthy examples. Both these towns have old quarters with steep cobblestone lanes cutting through hills and filled with houses typical of the Bulgarian National Revival period (18th and 19th centuries), made with timber and with overhanging painted facades. Plovdiv is the best preserved of the two but Veliko Tarnovo has more character and sits on a more dramatic setting, with houses perched on the hills overlooking the river. In Veliko Tarnovo, the border between the old and the new town are blurrier, some artisans still practice old trades in the area known as the Bazaar, and locals call historic buildings home. True, some of them could use a facelift (a piece of a wall actually crumbled to the floor when I leaning on it while photographing…) but maybe that’s what makes Veliko Tarnovo charming – it’s unapologetically imperfect, and not overrun by tourism, a refreshing thing is this crowded, perfection-obsessed world.