Risky Taxi Drive from Mamaia to Bucharest, July 2004

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The original plan was to take the train back to Bucharest. There was a train leaving Sunday morning at 8:00 am, but to catch this one we would have to go directly from the wedding party to the train station. Since our plane back to Paris did not leave until the later afternoon, we decided to sleep until noon, and then take a taxi. Iuliana's friend took us in his Taxi to Bucharest, which turned out to be a four and a half hour drive. Driving in a Dacia on Romanian roads among Romanian drivers is something I'll never forget. If you are scared of flying planes, try riding a Dacia on Romanian "freeways"! Some sections of the freeway were actually pretty nice. It gave me some breaks from bouncing on the lousy seat springs through the rough road bumps - making my sore butt hit the metal frame underneath the springs. I hit my head in the roof a few times too when flying across some bumpy gravel roads. It didn't seem to be much restriction on the use of advertisement in Romania. Here is an example of a big "Las Vegas" style billboard strategically placed in a farming field. We saw lots of ads on the streets for alcohol and tobacco. Cigarette smoking seemed to be very popular and "in vogue", especially among the younger people. Passing a fruit stand on our way to Bucharest. There were lots of horses with wagons on the freeways. These are probably farmers going home for the day. Watch out for those horses around the corners! We drove through some serious thunder showers for a while. There was no visibility, and I was certain that the only thing that kept us alive was the Holy Cross hanging from the mirror. Although we were short on time for our flight, Petter told the driver that we had plenty of time and that he could take it easy. When cars passed each other on a two-way road, it was sometimes difficult to merge back into the lane if the cars were closely spaced. This did not seem to be a big problem. The passing cars simply continued against oncoming traffic - forcing the oncoming cars to yield over to the shoulder. Cars would go against oncoming traffic for several minutes at a time. Creating additional lanes out of two-way roads by driving against traffic is very efficient! Highly recommended! Half way to Bucharest we stopped at some kind of a rest stop with food and restaurants. We picked up some beverages, and Petter got a burger. We did not have time to check out the restaurants, so I had to result to some emergency bread. A horse and wagon among travelling Romanians and a couple of tourist buses, The Taxi driver waiting for us while we picked up food. He was a very friendly young guy. He was fluent in Spanish and spoke English well. We picked up some beverages, and Petter got a burger. We did not have time to check out the restaurants, so I had to result to some emergency bread. Yes, that's another horse. It's very difficult to time these snapshots while driving by at high speeds. As we entered Bucharest, the driver got lost. He was constantly on his cell phone talking to someone for directions. Street shot from the car. Two boys laughing at their friend while he is pulling up his shorts. Is he preparing for sumo wrestling? Street shot from the car - woman using hand gestures while talking to a police officer. A large condo unit. Stopping to ask for directions from another taxi driver. Stopping to ask for directions from another taxi driver. His descriptions on how to get to the airport sounded very complex and detailed. Does this guy have a seat in his car? He is laying down almost horizontally!