I had an interesting experience on the way into Bucharest.
I went up to the ticket counter and asked for a ticket on the 780 bus to Bucharest station. The ticket was 6 lei. On the bus a ticket inspector got on and told me I had been sold a train ticket and had to pay 50 lei fine (12 quid). Ouch.
A couple of the people sitting near me could speak enough English to work out what had happened and took on the inspectors, telling them to give me a break. Then EVERYONE on the bus within shouting distance got the gist of what was going on and it all kicked off Romanian style with lots of shouting and gesturing at the inspectors to let me off. It was all very impassioned.
I also heard the word "turisti" being shouted a lot (probably followed by the words "stupid British", though my Romanian wasn't up to that bit!). I tried flicking through my guide book for some soothing words of Romanian to calm things down. This seemed to give more impetus to those supporting me. Two of them started shouting "Lonely Planet Romania Moldova!" over and over at the harrassed inspectors.
Honours were settled when a kind lady swiped her travel card a second time to pay for my bus fare. One of the inspectors then shrugged her shoulders as if to say what a poor chap, how confusing it must be for you, a stranger in our country. The second one gave me a look as if hankering for the days of the Securitate, when the Secret Police knew how to handle idiot fare-avoiding foreigners.
And all of this before 7:30!
I went up to the ticket counter and asked for a ticket on the 780 bus to Bucharest station. The ticket was 6 lei. On the bus a ticket inspector got on and told me I had been sold a train ticket and had to pay 50 lei fine (12 quid). Ouch.
A couple of the people sitting near me could speak enough English to work out what had happened and took on the inspectors, telling them to give me a break. Then EVERYONE on the bus within shouting distance got the gist of what was going on and it all kicked off Romanian style with lots of shouting and gesturing at the inspectors to let me off. It was all very impassioned.
I also heard the word "turisti" being shouted a lot (probably followed by the words "stupid British", though my Romanian wasn't up to that bit!). I tried flicking through my guide book for some soothing words of Romanian to calm things down. This seemed to give more impetus to those supporting me. Two of them started shouting "Lonely Planet Romania Moldova!" over and over at the harrassed inspectors.
Honours were settled when a kind lady swiped her travel card a second time to pay for my bus fare. One of the inspectors then shrugged her shoulders as if to say what a poor chap, how confusing it must be for you, a stranger in our country. The second one gave me a look as if hankering for the days of the Securitate, when the Secret Police knew how to handle idiot fare-avoiding foreigners.
And all of this before 7:30!
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