Romania : Part 3 - Day 5 : Horezu Monastery

Day 5 of Romanian Drive

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 5. 

19/9 Day 5: Targu Jiu -- Horezu Monastery -- Sibiu

Must-Incur Costs

None

Optional Costs 

(1) 19/9 Lunch at Horezu- Mini shaorma LEI4 / EUR0.88 

(2) 19/9 Dinner at Sibiu - Pizza LEI20 / EUR2.40, Penne LEI13 / EUR2.87, Coke LEI6 / EUR1.66, Green Tea LEI9 / EUR1.99

(3) 19/9 to 21/9 Accommodation Pensiunea Milenium in Sibiu - LEI350 for 3 nights (LEI125 per night for 2 nights but was charged LEI110 for the 3rd night when we extended our stay)

The Story

190916: In Romania, dogs are in abundance. I am not sure where they come from. Also, it is very common to see memorial crosses for victims of road accidents along the road where they died. When Prof Sweet Tooth drove in Romania, he was very confused on the speed limits because none of the drivers seem to be abiding by the speed limit. The drivers drove very fast and overtake at bends and corners which stressed Prof Sweet Tooth. Then, we understand why there were so many memorial crosses. 

In Romania, it is also very common to see wells along the road or in their houses. I was very surprised at the existence of wells. The houses don't have water supply. They have to draw water from the well manually (even there is no pump to help them) and carry the water in the house. One can question on the cleanliness of the water. I believe this is common in the rural area and residential area. Prof Sweet Tooth had a try on drawing water from the well, and it was not easy. It resulted in him spilling the water on the ground. 

In the rural or residential areas, it is also common to see horse carts. We are allowed to overtake them.

We reached Horezu town. We could not see any signboard for the Monastery so we went inside the Tourist Information building. I was being stared upon from top to toe by the officer inside. I was dressed in a oversized downjacket, a grey tracksuit and slippers showing my bruised toes from Kilimanjaro a week before. I am aware that the females in Romania must have a good sense of fashion. We asked for directions and we were actually not too far. In Horezu, we changed more Lei currency.

We found a fast food eatery and bought ourselves a mini shaorma for LEI4.

Shawarma or Shawurma is a Levantine meat preparation, where lamb, chicken, turkey, beef, veal, buffalo meat, or mixed meats are placed on a spit (commonly a vertical spit in restaurants), and may be grilled for as long as a day. Shavings are cut off the block of meat for serving, and the remainder of the block of meat is kept heated on the rotating spit. Shawarma can be served on a plate (generally with accompaniments), or as a sandwich or wrap. Shawarma is usually eaten with tabbouleh, fattoush, taboon bread, tomato, and cucumber. Toppings include tahini, hummus, pickled turnips, and amba. Source from Wikipedia

The staff were not comfortable when I took their photos and asked me why was I snapping their photos. Prof Sweet Tooth said that we are tourists and want to show our friends at home. That relaxed them a bit. Do I look dangerous? 

I saw grapes growing outside someone's house. I was tempted to take some but Prof Sweet Tooth did not allow. Check out the length of the garden to grow the grapes. 

We reached Horezu Monastery at 12.25pm. Horezu is famous for its pottery work. We saw lots of souvenir shops selling pottery, and Prof Sweet Tooth falls victim to their product as always whenever he sees a souvenir booth.

Horezu ceramics is a unique type of Romanian pottery that is traditionally produced by hand around the town of Horezu in northern Oltenia (Vâlcea County), close to the famous Horezu Monastery. It reflects many generations of knowledge and skills development of pottery, which is why the craftsmanship of Horezu pottery was inscribed on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in December 2012. 

Production is divided into male and female fabrication processes. Therefore, men extract the earth, which is then cleaned, cut, watered, kneaded, trampled and mixed – transforming it into red clay that potters form in a special finger technique requiring concentration, strength and agility. Each potter has his own technique of shaping, but each respects the sequence of the process. The women decorate the shaped ceramics before firing with special techniques and tools in order to draw traditional motifs. Their skills in combining decoration and color determines the personality and uniqueness of these pieces. Colors are bright shades of brown, red, green, blue and so called "Horezu ivory".  Source from Wikipedia.

Okay, maybe I should have bought some ceramics too. Sounds very unique.

We reached the entrance and was very surprised that there was no visitors except for one German lady. I was very skeptical if I was in the right Monastery. Lucky there was a signboard with the name of the Monastery.

The Horezu Monastery or Hurezi Monastery was founded in 1690 by Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu in the town of Horezu, Wallachia, Romania. It is considered to be a masterpiece of "Brâncovenesc style", known for its architectural purity and balance, the richness of its sculpted detail, its treatment of religious compositions, its votive portraits, and its painted decorative works. The monastery has been inscribed by UNESCO on its list of World Heritage Sites. Source from Wikipedia.

Opening hours: 8am to 6pm

A website stated the entrance fee is LEI1 but I did not see anyone requesting for an entrance fee. We walked in and it was so quiet. I saw one nun walking past. Then, another. Then, more nuns appear walking about to their respective rooms. The garden in the Monastery was gorgeous. The flowers were so bright and blooming so big. There are even apple and pears trees! I was thinking that the nuns are excellent gardeners! 

There was no photography allowed inside the main chapel. I walked upstairs because there was no "do not enter" sign. I saw more flowers on the balcony.  

Then, a group of tourists came. It became noisy in the Monastery. I finally understood the purpose of the caged structure. The devotees will light up the candles and put inside it. 

The Monastery also sells jam, syrup and honey. They don't make the honey here. But they do make wild berry jam because I saw it, and I got a box of wild berries for free. Well, it was like this. I was queuing up to use the washroom and I saw a room with 3 ladies around a table. I peeped in. A nun came out. I asked her what were the ladies doing. They were separating the wild berries into a basket to be made into jam. The nun offered me some berries and she showed me how to eat them. I asked if I can have some for Prof Sweet Tooth (who was skeptical of the cleanliness in case a dog pee on it since berries grow on a low bush) and the nun gave me a box of it. What a kind nun! 

My box of wild berries. They are yummy! Prof Sweet Tooth did not share my enthusiasm in eating the berries. Hmph. 

While waiting for Prof Sweet Tooth who was using the washroom, I befriended a stall owner at the entrance of the Monastery. She came over to me and offered some of her grapes from the garden. They tasted sour. In return, I gave her some of the wild berries. We tried talking to each but neither of us understand. Haha. She kept repeating 'non select' and I did not understand. She called her son who told her the English version of 'non select' which means 'Don't understand'. Haha! 

Now, we head on to Sibiu. More beautiful landscape. We stopped by the river to have a simple lunch - mackerels and muffin which we shared with 2 stray dogs. The dogs did not like the wild berries, though. I wonder why.

We reached Sibiu by 6.30pm, and Prof Sweet Tooth saw a huge shopping mall (which is made up of 4 departmental stores) which he strongly feels that it is important we stop to buy some groceries or dinner. It is his shopaholic brain talking. 

Their sports attire is very affordable. Prof Sweet Tooth got himself a pair of trekking pants (Kilimanjaro brand) for LEI89.90 / EUR19.87 / RM95.10. I did not even know there is a Kilimanjaro brand. Regardless, the price here is so cheap. I could not have gotten that price in Malaysia unless I get a fake one.

Dinner (penne for me and pizza for him) at an Italian restaurant. Check out the beer price in the menu. Is it cheap? The price of our dinner is at the beginning of the post.

After dinner, we drove to Astra Museum (where we will be visiting the next day) to see how far is it from town. It was actually a 30-minutes drive. The place is huge and I supposed they need a huge space, and is preferable far from town. Prof Sweet Tooth suggested we sleep in the car near Astra Museum. The roads were dark as there were no street lights. Astra Museum was dark and there was only the yellow lights at the entrance. We saw only one car in front of us and that frightened me a bit. In my mind, I was imagining a figure or dracula (since we are in Romania) coming out from nowhere or the forest opposite the Musuem to jump on us. I told Prof Sweet Tooth that I don't feel safe and rather stay in a hotel. In fact, he was pretty laid-back about the environment. Maybe it is equally eerie in Sweden too. We saw Hilton Hotel a few metres from the Museum, but the prices I know are out of our budget.

We drove around town to find any accommodation to stay for the night. We went to Ibis Hotel but it was full. We saw a fancy hotel that looks like a 5-star. We tried to search for cheap accommodation on Hostelbookers.com (I purchased a SIM card from Prepaidzero that includes 500MB of data plan) but could not find any. Prof Sweet Tooth kept driving to search for any small motels and then I saw a signboard along the road that states Pensiunea Milenium. It was a house turned into a hostel. The garden looks so cosy. There was parking provided. We asked for the rate and agreed because it was so affordable. It was a God-sent accommodation!