Deadly serious

After eleven days, three flights, countless trains, buses and taxis, we finally make it back to Heathrow. I have to admit, despite not being that much of a fan of the city viewed from the London Eye, it does make quite a picture from the sky. The pilot points out the centre as we fly over and banks, filling the windows with views of the South Bank. It is nice to finally be home. The holiday has been fantastic and a wonderful experience, but I think we've both reached our limit. It was certainly time to come home. We've done six cities in four countries and I feel I've learnt a lot about places I've known very little - at least from a tourist's perspective. But one thing has stood out above all else: the hospitality. Back in Heathrow I couldn't face another complicated journey so we sort out a cab that gets us home in about 20 minutes. Hello Bushey.

We're showered with drinks for the whole flight: soft drinks, wine, gin & tonic. If only we didn't have to all share a tiny vacuum bowl at the rear of the aircraft. Our meal isn't bad either with some sort of chicken with mushrooms and potato. The dessert, however, is a big creamy thing so I don't touch it. It all helps the three hours or so to pass, although not quite. By the last half hour I was feeling a little fed up. We're so close and I'm so exhausted I just need to be home.

It's a 3 hour 20 minutes flight, so a lot longer than I was expecting. I suppose I've lost track of where we are in Europe, how far east we've travelled. Down below and looking on the small screen overhead showing our location on a map, it would appear we're flying once again over the Danube. We've barely escaped it on this holiday. At least it's been an important feature of all four countries, even if for Romania and Bulgaria it represents their border.

We're flying British Airways back to Heathrow and after 10 days of hearing no English voices we are surrounded by them. It's odd but I don't like to hear English on holiday, at least not spoken by English people. All the romance seems to disappear. Almost all the air stewards are men, which I've not seen before and it's all very professional. Many passengers are elderly and the stewards are chatting with them. It's a whole different experience to the economy airlines.

At the airport we arrive with only 15 minutes to go before we reach the two hours they advise you to arrive. This is after starting at 9.30am this morning and multiple delays. Fortunately we only have to wait for about 20 minutes before the check-in opens but are confronted with very long slow queues, not what we needed after another long day. But we persevere and say goodbye to our bags. They've done us well for 10 days. We were through security very quickly and make our way through the shops to the gate. We look for some drink and food but the prices here are ridiculous. At about £6 for a sandwich our measly Romanian currency wouldn't stretch to it. Like Sofia, they charge in Euros despite this not being a Euro country. We couldn't even find some cheap Romanian wine. We settle on a couple of bottles of water.

It was now already 2pm and we were keen to find the bus to the airport. I'd considered a taxi which was still an option but I wouldn't take one from the streets outside the station. We'd taken a bus here and just needed the same one back. We even had tickets. However, asking at various train ticket desks we got no help. Indeed we were told numerous times they don't sell bus tickets at the train station. But we were only asking for somewhere to buy bus tickets (actually I just wanted to check our tickets were valid). Eventually some elderly lady with an accounting book of some sorts open beside a bus stop points to round the corner where we go and recognise the same shape of booth where we bought tickets at the airport. We show our cards (a bit like paper Oyster cards) and they say they already have enough for the return journey. But they had only cost us about £1.50 for two! We make our way back to the bus top where we eventually work out we're in the right place af...

We make it back into Bucharest and even manage to recover some of the lost time. I try to stay focused and not look too lost as we find somewhere to eat, avoiding all the taxi drivers touting for business. We find a Subway and get our favourite sandwiches we know back home. Outside we see a few people hanging round looking inside. The toilets have numbered locks and they are watching for the code. They enter, try a few codes, but they fail and are soon kicked out. We are reminded of the other side of Romania. With our backpacks and being so exhausted I feel a little more vulnerable, but nobody bothers us.

The train is quite full and we struggle at first to find our seats. Our friend, the police chief, at least got us on to the right wagon. On board we find a conductor who locates our seats and kicks out whoever was sitting there. Another passenger gives up space above for my backpack and Katarina's I squeeze between my legs and under the table separating us from two passengers opposite. This is a more modern train and, ironically, comes from Budapest. We settle down for a 90 minute journey to Bucharest at times hitting 140kph - speeds I didn't know they did in these parts of the world. We both drift in and out of sleep. All the while I wrap my hands around my bag to ensure nobody can take anything. However, a passenger on the other side of the isle has three smart phones laid out in plain sight. Someone is having a laugh.

At the station we find our train listed but can't quite work out which is platform one. Fortunately we see the police chief from yesterday and in his broken English he points to the right place but then also tells us the train is an hour late. It was fortunate I'd booked the early train and we still had hours until our 5pm flight. However, I had a feeling we'd still be pushing it. We had plenty more mileage to cover and memories of the Belgrade train still haunt us. We take a seat and wait - for 90 minutes - in the cold. By the time the train does arrive we're both freezing and very keen to get to our seats.

Our journey back home didn't begin particularly well with the taxi unable to get to the hotel. While waiting we noticed a lot of cyclists riding past and I was thinking it's just some cycle club. However, the reception informs us the taxi won't make it because the roads are blocked. So instead her colleague would drive us down (in his merc). Probably thinking we would be late he drives at fast pace past the cyclists and their following cars and we're at the station very quickly. However, I'd planned everything with plenty of spare time today for just these moments. After all, we have to make it back to Bucharest in time for a flight.

It only takes a few more minutes to complete our packing and check all the rooms for anything left behind (which of course is more difficult with all this space). Katarina's face in the lift door probably sums up how we're both feeling. Exhausted. But we still have one more journey to go: a taxi, a train, a bus and a plane. No time yet to rest.

We make it down for our final breakfast but I'm struggling to find an appetite. We're a little early so not everything is out so I choose a sausage and a little scrambled egg. But as soon as I put some in my mouth I have to put it down. I can't eat anything savoury - at all. I ate too much last night. I'm too tired. I've finally reached the limit of this holiday. However, I do find some melon and a little pastry together with a tea and some apple juice does the trick.

After another very warm night, we wake to wispy trails of mist clinging to the trees. It's our last morning and the train to Bucharest leaves at 10:15 so once again we don't have time to linger. I had gone to bed very early so after a decent time in bed (albeit broken by heat and an unquenchable thirst brought on by last night's meat, beer and wine) I get up at 6.30am and start to pack very slowly. By the time Katarina is up it's largely done so we're almost ready to go.

Back at the apartment for some rest I have a glass or two from the complimentary bottle of red wine we were left in the room when we arrived. We then head downstairs to the restaurant for a final supper. Katarina isn't hungry but I offer to eat what she leaves. I then make the mistake of ordering a big meaty Romanian dish alongside a rack of ribs for Katarina. This followed a starter of calamari and is followed by desserts of chocolate soufflé. It's all way too much. When I eventually return to our room I am almost falling asleep. It's been two very long and exhausting days and I crash in our bedroom sauna while Katarina stays up with my phone.

If you look very closely you can see the slightly ghostly figure of Katarina from our apartment at the top of the tower of the hotel on the right. We finally make it back for our last night in Romania and our last night on holiday.

On the way back to the hotel we catch one final drama, but not for us. Sitting in the middle of the road is another stray dog seemingly minding its own business. But also its position looks odd, like it's waiting for something, but in the middle of the road. Then quite suddenly out from the trees comes running three other dogs, all full pelt towards the sitting dog, who has already turned to run away. There wasn't a single bark or any noise apart from the paws beating the path of their chase. A moment later the chasing dogs return back to the ground they were originally guarding. Stray dogs here clearly have their own territories and their own families. A short while later two of the dogs approach a couple of tourists on the side of the road. They don't threaten them but just sit and wait for something, perhaps some food. We leave for the hotel.

Back at the hotel we rest for an hour before we go out for one final stroll around the hotel. We've not had any chance yet to see the immediate vicinity but clearly we are situated in beautiful surroundings. We ask at reception where best to go but they don't really know, they just suggest we follow the road a little up the mountain. So we do just that and finally catch a more relaxed glimpse of the countryside. You can see the sheer rock poking up through the trees and you wonder how anything grows from these mountains, but clearly it's fertile ground as all the mountains here are covered with thick forest. All the other large buildings around are also hotels, each quite unique and beautiful and with clear views of their own of the countryside around. When I pictured Romania at the start of my holiday plans I didn't quite picture beauty and luxury quite like this. Not to forget the hospitality.

After a busy day we finally get a taxi to the police station (which I order from the same hotel lobby as earlier). When I ask for Sinaia the driver frowns and throws his head back. There's loads of traffic on the road. At first I worry this will delay us but then I realise the traffic is all the other way. His concern is the journey back. But that's not our worry. However, the taxi rate is more than three times Bucharest and the meter seems to shoot up faster than I've seen the whole holiday. The trip back turns out to be the most expensive taxi ride so far. But at about £5 I can't really complain. Arriving at the police station we are quickly recognised. Although I don't see the policeman from yesterday we are surrounded by the police chief, an inspector and another one or two offers (I lost count). They say we must wait for the translator to arrive. We only have to wait five minutes and in rushes a young woman who tells us how beautiful she thinks London is. We t...

As we arrive back into Busteni on the gondola we see a horse eating grass in the car park and another stray dog wondering around. Any impression people might have of Romania still persisting in the medieval state that Ceausescu seemed to encourage are clearly incorrect, but when you see the horse and dog you catch a glimpse of the complexity of modern Romania. I'm reading too much into this but it's more to make a point. I've not taken any photos of the gypsies or homelessness as I didn't want to take my camera out at those moments, but clearly alongside the modern Romania is another side that seems to coexist almost without question. We see none in Sinaia but plenty in Bucharest and even here in the mountains around Busteni. Where there are tourists there are plenty of people peddling something and not from stalls on the side of the road.

So far the gondolas have been either almost empty or only half full. On our final journey back to Busteni the car is full. And unfortunately, it was when we had the best views. So we had to reach over the crowd to catch a glimpse of the mountains around unmasked from the clouds we'd had on our journey here. In fact it's only seeing the photos afterwards that I realised just how good the views were or how high we were. But the best views were from the front of the car where everyone had wedged themselves with their phones, just as we would have done.

At the cable car station there's a small cafe where we get a couple of toasted sandwiches and a pepsi. Outside, through the windows of the cafe, we just see a thick cloud. It's so thick here that we actually see the fog tumbling through the windows and into the cafe. I can't quite capture this in a photo so instead we get a shot over the edge. We really are in the middle of nowhere here. We look for some toilets and downstairs a sign indicates 1 RON each (about 16p). Wandering around are also what I can best describe as gypsies, women and children mostly, who give the impression they either live here or spend their lives nearby. One of them offers to unlock the toilet. Inside are two toilets so we go in together. They are each a hole in the ground and the door closes with a counter weight on the inside. As we enter the lady says "no water". I don't think I'd want to touch the taps anyway. So we do our business and rely on anti-bacterial hand gel. A few min...

I keep referring to this point as the half way station but actually it has more significance than the point half way to the caves. It's actually a short hike to a place called Babele where there are supposed to be stunning rock formations that make this area famous. Sadly we are in the hurry and in any case I don't think out feet would make it. Instead we only look out briefly on plains around us and into the clouds that are probably obscuring our views of the rocks.

We didn't have to wait long for the cable car and I think I was happy to feel cold. The temperature here was easily more than 10 degrees less than Sinaia which was itself probably 10 degrees less than Bucharest. After days of feeling so hot and also such hot night we've had a slight reverse. We feel cold in the day and hot at night. Katarina wrapped up warm but I kept to the t-shirt just because I was enjoying so much feeling cold. Back on the gondola we got some views around without cloud, but as we approached the half way point we re-entered the huge cloud that had engulfed the area.

The remainder of the path back to the cable car was simply the reverse of our journey here, up hill and up steps. But knowing we'd reached the end of our road and were turning back made it a little easier. We'd survived the holiday this far, we'd make it home. Katarina was surprisingly energetic given we'd been walking almost non-stop since we left the cable car. I think she was also keen to get back, to the hotel at least, and rest her feet.

Back outside there was a dog tied up in the rain howling for its owner. As we set off on the path back to the cable car we also met other dogs, stray dogs, which share this space with people, much as they seem to do all over this region but especially in Romania. You never feel threatened but you do have to be a little watchful.

The walk back through the cave gave us plenty of opportunity to capture more photos and appreciate the space from a different angle. It was vast and yet a couple of times I almost banged my head on the rock passing through the tight passages. Once you get back to daylight it's quite odd to see the buildings set inside the cave and we peer inside. I avoid taking any photos in case we offend the more religious visitors. I've no doubt this really is a place of pilgrimage for some.

I'm not sure it has an official name but at the end of the cave the passage narrows more and more until only one person can squeeze into a small space for two people, where there is a shrine. So I assume this was the deepest point accessible. Catholicism in Romania is clearly very strong and churches and monasteries are everywhere. Apparently nearby is also the largest cross in Europe (but we didn't see that). We didn't take too much notice of the shrine itself but a powerful light was pointing towards it which we used to light our faces. And then a second selfie back out in the larger cavern with slightly more flattering light. This was the very furthest point of our trip. From this shrine our trip continued as a journey back to Busteni, Sinaia, Bucharest and then London. You could almost say it was a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage to sore feet.

Forgive me for posting so many photos but it sort of makes up for last year's caves in Slovenia where photography was not allowed. Here you had complete freedom. The caves weren't as vast (last year was the largest cavern in Europe) or as majestic but they were much more accessible. A metal walk way made for an easy track through the length of the cave (at least those parts we're allowed to get to). At times the path passes through tight spaces where you have to twist or duck to avoid the rock and this added to the feeling you are descending into a deep space. Although at times the path is only wide enough for one person, there weren't too many people and only rarely did we get bottlenecks. The large rock in one photo is in the bear cave, but from what I read the cave got it's name from some bones found there and not the rock formation. We didn't dwell too long anyway, aware we were on a tight schedule, but I think this worked as we probably didn't have ener...