Bloofer in Draculand - Introduction


[Ed. Note: This town was the setting for chapters 6 to 8 of 'Dracula'; even 
though Dr. Miller does not make note of this visit, I thought I'd include the 
photo anyway, as it's a nice shot.]

Actually, this first "episode" is more of a prologue - a bit of 
background as to what led me to take this trip, how I found one to my 
liking, how it was organized, etc. If this sort of thing bores you, you 
have been warned!

[Why would the Bloofer Lady want to go to Draculand? Need you ask!! If it 
had not been for that nasty Van Helsing, I would have been Queen of the 
Castle. But never mind - that's all blood under the drawbridge!]

The thought of going to Romania occurred to me last summer, just as a 
vague idea. I obtained some information from a branch of Carpati 
(Romanian travel company) in New York, and just sort of sat on it for a 
while. What gave me the impetus to take the plunge was a re-reading of 
*Dracula: Prince of Many Faces* by Florescu & McNally. It suddenly became 
very important for me to visit the sites associated with the historical 
Dracula. I don't think I would have gone to Transylvania simply to see 
Bistrita and the Borgo Pass (exciting as that turned out to be) but, the 
combination of that with the Vlad Tepes locations was too much to resist.

The tour I took was "In the Footsteps of Dracula" with a few days 
extension to cover a couple of sites not included in that package. It was 
organized by Carpati International in New York. It was an individually 
escorted tour. I had at my disposal a car (quite comfortable), a guide 
who spoke excellent English, and a driver. While there was a pre-set 
itinerary, there was flexibility as long as we reached our planned 
destination for the night. That meant that if I wanted to spend more time 
at one site and less at another, I only had to say the word. Who could 
ask for anything better?

The package included not only car, driver and guide, but also hotel 
accommodations, three meals a day, and all entry fees to sites, museums 
etc included on the itinerary. And very reasonably priced, I might add. 
Now I don't want to sound like an advertisement for Carpati (they are not 
paying me a commission!) but it was a very well organized tour. If anyone 
wants any more info on that aspect (including cost) let me know privately.

I was met at the airport on arrival, and from that point on, everything 
was done to ensure my comfort. I have done a lot of travelling in my 
lifetime (in dozens of countries around the world), but I have never 
experienced the level of personal attention provided on this tour. I 
cannot praise it highly enough! It was ideal for a person travelling alone.

The weather cooperated as well. The one cloudy day we had was, 
appropriately, the day I went to Dracula's Castle (the real one - more 
about that later). We had rain twice - both times at night! It was a bit 
hot in Bucharest, but not too bad. Travel conditions were satisfactory. 
While the highroads are hardly up to North American standards (and we 
often had to share the roads with gypsy carts, horse-drawn wagons, and 
peasants leading their cows), we always got where we were going and got 
there on time!

There were certain amenities that were not available, but when one 
travels one learns to be flexible and to accept a few inconveniences. If 
not, one would be better off staying home!

Most of my tour covered what I would call "Dracula country", but not all. 
I will be dealing mainly with Dracula-related aspects, though in my last 
episode I will touch briefly on some of the rest.

Too bad I can't show you some of my photos - some of them are quite good! 
[Ed. Note: some photos now available!]
And then there are my two small containers of soil - one of Transylvanian 
earth right from the Borgo Pass, and the other a sample from the top of 
Poenari (Vlad's castle on the Arges River). I did pick up a few 
interesting souvenirs, though one does not find as much tourist "junk" as 
in most other European countries. Maybe that's a good thing! In fact, 
there aren't as many tourists! Some days I saw hardly any! Maybe that's 
an even better thing!


Bloofer
emiller@morgan.ucs.mun.ca