Wow. Romania is not what I expected at all. We're only halfway to Bucureşti and yet I think I've already got a pretty good impression of this country. It's somewhat hard to imagine a place like this is a part of the EU, but it is. There is almost as much traffic from horsedrawn carts on the roads as from cars. Everyone appears to be walking around barefoot. We've passed whole villages without a single paved road, and there have been several well-established settlements in the bushes alongside the tracks.
Hay-baling technology also seems to be a bit behind, with most of the hay fields full of big, dome-like haystacks. This could just be a matter of preference too, I guess. There have also been several instances of big garbage burn-offs with people sitting around sifting through the remains. In short, it looks almost like a third world country.
I think that if I had more time I'd like to stay here for awhile and see if it's worse than elsewhere in the EU or just different. I'd have to learn Romanian first though, so maybe next time. I'm also tempted to head southeast for a few more countries to see if this trend continues, but again I'm limited by time, and money as well once I leave countries where my rail pass is valid.
I think I will cut through Serbia though to get to Croatia, depending on the cost. I might have visited Bulgaria too, had I had the foresight to contact Gena there. Whoops. Back to observing.
