Our slow travel series explores how you can take more mindful journeys by train, boat, bus or bike – with tips on how to reach your no-fly destination, and what to see and do along the way. In the latest installment, Monisha Rajesh (author of Around the World in 80 Trains) documents her rail journey from Vienna to Bucharest.
It’s not often that I board a train with trepidation.
But that morning, I’d had a chat with an attendant on the Austrian Nightjet service from Paris to Vienna, who had winced with disapproval when I revealed I was continuing to Bucharest by train. “On the Dacia?” she’d asked. “That’s a terrible train – it’s so long. And it’s a Romanian train. Watch out for your things, yes?”
Since the only theft I’ve ever suffered was in a first-class carriage on a train to Dorset, it was easy to dismiss such casual stereotyping. Yet I was still a bit wary as the blue, brightly lit Dacia – pronounced “dat-sya” – hummed into Wien Hauptbahnhof just before 8pm. As my carriage sailed by, I jogged down the platform and showed my ticket to an attendant, who was promptly accosted by an American retiree wanting to buy a ticket on the spot.
It’s easy to book tickets for this popular train on Romania railways’ website and in person at the station – and advisable to do so as far in advance as possible, both for cheaper fares and to guarantee a berth for the 19-hour journey (especially in the busy summer months). Tickets go on sale 90 days in advance. I’d bought mine a month prior to my journey for €110 – though seats start from as little as €42, if you can bear sitting upright for almost a day.
Sisterhood and sausages
Stepping around the retiree and attendant, who were discussing seating options, I hopped up the steps – and my unease vanished at the sight of newly fitted carpets, couchettes as soft as velvet and only two out of a potential five fellow riders in my compartment. In truth, the train was far superior to the Nightjet, with its tired interiors. As I’d been allocated a women-only compartment, I felt an immediate sense of sisterhood as I and my compartment-mates helped each other click berths into place, steadying ladders while others tucked in sheets and shoved away bags. Both Romanian, Inga and Elena were traveling to…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Stories – Lonely Planet…