As we take our seats, I have a feeling of dread, the carriage is hot, and a loud drunk Romanian man wants most of the space in the seat next to me. He is shouting and waving, this is going to be a long journey.
Soon after we leave the station the carriage starts to cool down, but the drunk is now having a heated argument in Romanian with another passenger and gesturing to us. We've only left twenty minutes and it looks like all the stories we'd heard about the train were true.
Then suddenly he leaves, gesturing to us as he goes. The lady who he was arguing with explains in broken English that he has left because "He has had enough of us" Quite what we'd done, I've no idea.
The carriage feels more comfortable now, and I feel I can leave Carolyn safely and view Romania crawling past through the open window.
Cluj slides into the distance, abandoned industrial sites start to give way to ramshackle small holdings, farmers working fields by hand, some ploughing by horse and a few with tired looking tractors.
As we travel further, the buildings get further apart and the train starts to climb the mountain railway. We see storks nesting on the top of pylons. The mix of old and new, doesn't seem to change however, a grand house stands next to a shack with broken cars in between.
Occasionally the train slows the and we stop at a station, which normally don't have a platform, just a kerb between the tracks. Other times it slows to cross a weak bridge, the churning river can be seen between the rails.
It is impossible to try to describe the mountains and do them justice, lush and green, with spruce trees covering the tops. The occasional snow topped giant in the distance, which feels bizarre in this heat. You can smell the fresh air entering the cabin, the regular lumber yards impart the smell of freshly cut pine.
Eventually we crest the mountains and start to descend towards Suçeava, the mountain air is replaced by the smell of hot metal as the train struggles to hold back the weight of it's load.
The drunk from earlier returns, he is somewhat more sober, and starts to tell us in a mix of French, English, Romanian and mime; How hard he has to work, showing us his scars and calloused hands, and how much he loves his wife and two and half year old son.
A man comes down the train, looks into our compartment and says something in Romanian, and the drunk (Roy) gives him short shrift and gestures to us no. The man leaves carrying a flask. We'd been warned not to accept coffee off anybody while on the train, because we would likely end up drugged and robbed. I've a feeling Roy has done us a favour.
Another man enters, this time silently. He empties a bag onto a empty chair, there's a noisy toy which he demonstrates, a nail kit, tools, torches and a massager, which he demonstrates to each of us in turn. He leaves taking his bag, but leaving his stuff. Each item has a price tag. Roy explains that the man is deaf. Shortly he returns and Carolyn purchases the manicure set for 10leu. Roy gives him a couple of Leu, and the deaf man refuses, but Roy insists. I think that we might have got Roy all wrong.
Through the window the reverse of our departure from Cluj is happening and the lush vegetation starts to be a replaced by dry ploughed fields and then broken factories. The land is much flatter, the fields larger and the tractors are newer.
The guard comes to see us, he is wearing a woollen suit and cap, it matches the ones the station guards wear when they stand to attention as the train passes, even if it doesn't stop. He told us that the next station is Suçeava and the train will wait ten minutes. We thanked him and remarked how hot he must have been in the 30° heat.
We leave the train, and almost immediately a heavily tanned man approaches. "Taxi!" he shouts. We show him our reservation confirmation "I know it" he says. "how much?" l ask in English with my best Romanian accent, and he pulls out a big roll of notes from his pocket, he pulls out a ten and a five, and we say "Da". He leads us to a dirty Passat with a broken windscreen, our bags go in the boot, we climb in the back, forgetting that we are in Romania and reach for the seat belts, only to find they have been removed, as usual.
As we leave the car park he stops to talk to a friend, I get the feeling he is asking for directions. It's 5 minutes driving before he pulls up to a taxi rank, and this time I'm sure he's asking for directions. The taxi drivers oblige, but all the time look at us with slightly worried faces. "colleagua" our driver says as we pull away. 100m down a rutted dirt road is our pension, it looks out of place in this area, like finding a mansion on a council estate. We push the button on the security gate and enter for our first night in Suçeava.
Below you will find a video of the journey, each bit of film is from a different stage, you can see the scenery change. The whole six hour journey is compressed into 20 minutes. The total journey was 318km, top speed 99.1km/h, average speed 50km/h, total time 6h:21m, and time stationary 29mins
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