To Bucharest, early

We've arrived in Bucharest a day early, due to not being able to find a suitable campsite. We travelled through the Transilvanian Alps to get here, which are as stunning as the name suggests, and would be absolutely heaving with sports nuts in the winter were it slightly further west.

Prior to this we visited Bran Castle, home of Mr. Dracula. I said before that Sighisoara had a pleasant lack of tourist tat. This, I now realise, is due to them all being in Bran. The whole town seems set up to sell crap to tourists, from Dracula masks to the ever popular genuine Romanian samurai sword. The Lonely Planet guide book says that you can run round Bran Castle in half an hour. This is absolutely correct, since the castle has nothing at all inside. Everything moveable has been removed and the end effect is like an open viewing of a grand old house. With really low ceilings. And people who charge you to take photos. It was a significant letdown for someone used to Crathes Castle.

There was a further exhibit after the castle: a recreation of a small traditional Romanian village. This exhibit had signs proffering information. One sign said, and I kid you not: "This is the house with the yard, known locally as "the house with the yard". It features a house, and a yard." All the signs continued in a similar vein, providing much needed hilarity to our group. Despite the amusing signs, I find difficulty in recommending Bran and its castle to others.