An inchis kind of day
As a professional tourist, I have acquired a trick or two I like to use when traveling. One of these is to always check out postcard racks. Whether they are found in a store, airport or hotel, these racks provide great shorthand information into what is significant, photogenic or otherwise noteworthy about any place you may happen to be in. Sometimes the news is not so great, such as when you see an array of photos representing vast open fields or close-ups of dairy cows. This is a clear message that your next few days are going to feel exorbitantly long. If the postcards highlight nothing more than the airport itself, you may as well run to the closest shop and buy yourself a good thick book. But more often than not, the postcard rack can provide fresh ideas and the promise of exciting new places or things just waiting to be discovered.
Such was the case this week, when browsing through the hotel gift shop in my beloved Bucharest, I saw pictures of an exotic looking limestone formation perched atop an imposing mountaintop. I flipped the card over to learn that the formation was dramatically called “the Sphinx”. Furthermore, it was the neighbor of another fantastical formation known as “Babele”. Initially I feared that this would be one of those sights that is reachable only by some death-defying hike, to be appreciated only by those annoying individuals who are commonly referred to as “fit”, “healthy” and/ or “coordinated”. Fortunately, the good people of Busteni have found a way to compensate for the needs of decided non-hikers such as myself by installing a cable car, or telecabinei , which takes you to the very doorstep of Babele. From there I was assured it was just an easy 10-15 minute walk to the Sphinx.
Excited by the do-ability of it all, I set about convincing three friends to join me on this expedition into the Carpathian Mountains. The fact that we would have to wake up way too early to make our train, compounded with the late night that preceded it, made this a bit of a tough sell, but in the end, Matt and Tom, or two out of the three, agreed. The third, my good friend, Laura, had to work, so one could say she had a valid excuse.
The train ride through the mountains was as inspiring as I remembered it. After passing through the dreariness of Ploesti’s nuclear power reactors, the scenery suddenly became lush and green. The air became fresher; every now and then the scent of flowers wafted in through the windows and my anticipation to see Babele and the Sphinx only grew. After an hour and a half, we arrived in the small town of Busteni and were greeted with signs and arrows pointing us towards the telecabinei. This was going to be even easier than I thought. We proceeded to follow the signs, which were pointing us up some pretty steep hills and conversation between us decreased noticeably. I was also a bit concerned because a girl on the train had warned me about long lines for the cable car. As we neared the station, huffing and puffing, I saw there were no lines, only a few people milling around the entrance. Could this possibly get any better? To jump ahead to the answer, yes. It could most definitely have gotten better. Although I do not speak Romanian, I quickly intuited that “defectiune technica” was not a good thing. As it stood, the cable car that we had come all this way to ride was down for repairs and would not be running for the next two days. The only other way up to the Sphinx and Babele was a 3 ½ hour hike up an impossible-looking mountain; this for 3 people who were short of breath after an uphill walk through town. It was quickly decided that this was not a good day for rock formations.
We decided upon Plan B. We would take a bus to nearby Sinaia, where we could visit both Peles Palace and the Sinaia Monastery. This was a piece of cake and in no time, we were enjoying the tranquility of the Monastery, which aside from one menacing looking Monk, could not have been lovelier. The greenness of the mountains provided the perfect backdrop for the Church’s vividly painted icons. After some time amongst both tourists and parishoners, we set off for our next stop, Peles Palace, which once served as King Carol’s summer residence. Matt and I had already been there, but Tom had not. And, to once again jump ahead, Tom still has not. Instead, upon arriving at Peles, he joined us in learning the meaning of another new word “inchis” or closed. It was Monday, the day when all the country’s museums are at rest. We headed to a nearby café so we could at least soak in the view. The café, we quickly found out, was also inchis (this time for inventory), but a sidewalk musician pointed out there was another bar some 100 meters away where we could buy our drinks and bring them back to the Ye Olde Inchis Inn. This is exactly what we did; looking out on the delicate beauty of the palace while sipping our drinks and listening to our new friend strum his guitar. Of course, this inspired me to take a few photos from our perfect vantage point, some of which I was so happy with that I posted them that very evening on Facebook. By morning, I had received a comment from the hard-working Laura on my Peles Palace photograph . She wrote, and I quote, “Peles is always nice to visit !! but this photo could become a GREAT POSTCARD !!!!
Such was the case this week, when browsing through the hotel gift shop in my beloved Bucharest, I saw pictures of an exotic looking limestone formation perched atop an imposing mountaintop. I flipped the card over to learn that the formation was dramatically called “the Sphinx”. Furthermore, it was the neighbor of another fantastical formation known as “Babele”. Initially I feared that this would be one of those sights that is reachable only by some death-defying hike, to be appreciated only by those annoying individuals who are commonly referred to as “fit”, “healthy” and/ or “coordinated”. Fortunately, the good people of Busteni have found a way to compensate for the needs of decided non-hikers such as myself by installing a cable car, or telecabinei , which takes you to the very doorstep of Babele. From there I was assured it was just an easy 10-15 minute walk to the Sphinx.
Excited by the do-ability of it all, I set about convincing three friends to join me on this expedition into the Carpathian Mountains. The fact that we would have to wake up way too early to make our train, compounded with the late night that preceded it, made this a bit of a tough sell, but in the end, Matt and Tom, or two out of the three, agreed. The third, my good friend, Laura, had to work, so one could say she had a valid excuse.
The train ride through the mountains was as inspiring as I remembered it. After passing through the dreariness of Ploesti’s nuclear power reactors, the scenery suddenly became lush and green. The air became fresher; every now and then the scent of flowers wafted in through the windows and my anticipation to see Babele and the Sphinx only grew. After an hour and a half, we arrived in the small town of Busteni and were greeted with signs and arrows pointing us towards the telecabinei. This was going to be even easier than I thought. We proceeded to follow the signs, which were pointing us up some pretty steep hills and conversation between us decreased noticeably. I was also a bit concerned because a girl on the train had warned me about long lines for the cable car. As we neared the station, huffing and puffing, I saw there were no lines, only a few people milling around the entrance. Could this possibly get any better? To jump ahead to the answer, yes. It could most definitely have gotten better. Although I do not speak Romanian, I quickly intuited that “defectiune technica” was not a good thing. As it stood, the cable car that we had come all this way to ride was down for repairs and would not be running for the next two days. The only other way up to the Sphinx and Babele was a 3 ½ hour hike up an impossible-looking mountain; this for 3 people who were short of breath after an uphill walk through town. It was quickly decided that this was not a good day for rock formations.
We decided upon Plan B. We would take a bus to nearby Sinaia, where we could visit both Peles Palace and the Sinaia Monastery. This was a piece of cake and in no time, we were enjoying the tranquility of the Monastery, which aside from one menacing looking Monk, could not have been lovelier. The greenness of the mountains provided the perfect backdrop for the Church’s vividly painted icons. After some time amongst both tourists and parishoners, we set off for our next stop, Peles Palace, which once served as King Carol’s summer residence. Matt and I had already been there, but Tom had not. And, to once again jump ahead, Tom still has not. Instead, upon arriving at Peles, he joined us in learning the meaning of another new word “inchis” or closed. It was Monday, the day when all the country’s museums are at rest. We headed to a nearby café so we could at least soak in the view. The café, we quickly found out, was also inchis (this time for inventory), but a sidewalk musician pointed out there was another bar some 100 meters away where we could buy our drinks and bring them back to the Ye Olde Inchis Inn. This is exactly what we did; looking out on the delicate beauty of the palace while sipping our drinks and listening to our new friend strum his guitar. Of course, this inspired me to take a few photos from our perfect vantage point, some of which I was so happy with that I posted them that very evening on Facebook. By morning, I had received a comment from the hard-working Laura on my Peles Palace photograph . She wrote, and I quote, “Peles is always nice to visit !! but this photo could become a GREAT POSTCARD !!!!
Great pictures. The scenery and colors are very impressive. Good narrative. Interesting to note that Romanian is not difficult to read. Seems there's plenty of Latin in it. Even the word "inchis", which I would have never guessed, might be a derivative of inchar (swell), therefore inchado = swollen, a good reason for being closed.
ReplyDeleteHey Berti~ As always you never fail to entertain w/ your wonderful descriptions and fabulous outlook on things. I regularly go to your site to lift my spirits & enhance my day. Keep up the good work & call me sometimes. I miss you! xxoox~ KT
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