We went again on a trip to Transylvania, more exactlly to the town of Targu Mures and then to the little village of Bistra for a weekend of relaxation.
As usual we took the train from Bucharest. There are not many options as there are two trains that leave for Targu Mures each day. One leaves at 13:00 the other at 21:33. The trip lasts an incredible 9h and 43 min. We had other options so we took the 13:00 train and got off in Sighisoara which is 60km away from Targu Mures. The trip to Sighisoara lasts 5 hours. There is no direct train line from Sighisoara to Targu Mures so the trip lasts another 5 hours by train.
The ticket price for a one way trip to Sighisoara costs 20 euros. There is also a Restaurant Car attached to the train. Prices are ridiculous, the waiters will take their own tip once you pay for the food, something I find unacceptable.
Targu Mures is a small town. There is a nice complex called "Weekend". It's full of restaurants and it has some great looking swimming pools.
On Saturday morning we left by car Targu Mures for Bistra. Almost one hour later we were there. It's a very nice location to have a cottage. The scenery is great and very relaxing.
On Sunday evening we took the train home. There is a train which leaves at 21:30 from Deda which is 5km away from Bistra and arrives at 5:30AM in Bucharest. It has sleeping cars so we decided to book a small room with two beds. One ticket costs 20euro + 15 euro extra for the sleeping car. The sleeping car was clean and tidy but very warm inside.
We had to sleep with the window open for some time. The guard was unfriendly when I asked him to unlock the door to our cabin. Next time I will take my ear plugs with me as it was quite impossible to sleep because of the noise. Our cabin was directly above the bogie which made strange noises on every turn. Plus the track is old so the sections are joined by fishplates and combining that with the poor noise insulation of the carriage I was able to count all the track joints from Deda to Brasov. I was able to fall asleep in Brasov from where the new modern track to Bucharest starts. So the sleeping car is not that comfortable but it's a place where one can sit comfortably in bed.
After admiring the scenery we started to plant trees (150 in all) helped by other volunteers and local villagers. Much to our amazement we were done in about one hour so we were able to enjoy some sandwiches and a little drink (it was very warm, not summer like hot, but very warm). 
The hill after the planting:
Cute little forest, eh?
Again we left happy that we managed to help a small but hard working community. We managed to put a smile on the villagers' faces. But again, the mayor knows and sees that the hill is sliding away, he can see the road conditions in his village, he knows better than anyone else the problems facing his community so he should initiate projects in order to access funds from the EU. It's not enough for local authorities to put the EU flag on the village name sign, any village in the world can to that but only those belonging to EU countries can benefit from EU funds.
