Skiing in Poiana Brasov
Came from Kyiv. At first I decided to go by train or bus to Odessa. From there by charter from the company "Almariss" to Poiana Brasov. But on those dates of the trip, very few people were traveling, there was no profitability, and the charter was canceled. But I managed to pay for the charter, they sent me a scan of the ticket by email, which I then used to get a visa. After the cancellation of the charter, the money was returned to me, and the visa had already been received. After that, I went from Kyiv to Chernivtsi in a comfortable minibus (ticket 180 UAH), arrived at 6.20. From Chernivtsi at 7.10 a bus leaves for Suceava (ticket 70 UAH), taking into account the passage of customs, it took about 3 hours and 10 minutes. From the bus station in Suceava, I took a taxi to the railway station (Burzhane), paid 12 lei for two. On the website of the Romanian Railways, back in Kyiv, I found the Suceava-Brashov train at 11 something in the morning, which was supposed to arrive at 19 something, but when buying a ticket, the cashier said that it was canceled. They offered an option with a transfer, departure somewhere at 12 o'clock. The transfer consisted in the fact that we got off the train and waited 25-30 minutes for the next one, which went to Brasov. Arrived there around 21:30. In Brasov, I booked an apartment in advance on booking, but the road was too steep and slippery uphill and the taxi driver could not bring us to the hotel. I asked him to take us to some hostel, where I spent the night (6 euros per person per night). Starting from 8 am and until about 21-22 pm from Brasov to Poiana Brasov there is a bus number 20 with an interval of 1 hour (in the morning even up to half an hour the interval of movement) - travel time is about 20-25 minutes, ticket price is 4.50 lei . Departs from the old part of the city, stop Levada Poshtei. Since I arrived early in the morning, there were no free rooms in the hotel I booked in Poiana Brasov, I left my things at the reception, changed clothes and went for a ride. On the first day there was heavy fog, so the main lifts (cabins and gondolas) did not work, it was possible to go up on a chair lift and go down one black Lupului track (or rather, half of the track to which the lift rode). Somewhere at 14.30-15.00 the wind died down and the main lifts were turned on, but I decided to go to the hotel to rest. On the second day there was heavy fog, I rode with caution, but it felt great. The rest of the days there was a positive temperature during the day, but there was snow, the skiing was excellent. On the night before the last day of skiing, a lot of snow fell, which continued during the day. It was unrealistically difficult to ride, my legs were very tired. It is more profitable to take a ski pass for the whole day, it costs 135 lei (about 32 euros), but if you ski a little, you can pay for points that are removed when passing through the turnstiles. The deposit for the ski pass is 15 lei (approximately 3 euros), the ski pass can be returned on the last day of the trip, and not returned every evening. The lifts are open from 9.00 to 16.30.
I left the hotel at 11.00, managed to catch bus number 20, which travels from Poiana Brasov to Brasov starting at 8.30 in the morning with an interval of 1 hour, and in the morning every half hour. I got to Levada Poshtei, changed to bus number 4, which goes to the Gara Brasov railway station (final stop), fare is 2 lei - a ticket is bought at a blue kiosk near the bus stop. And the ticket for bus number 20 is with the driver, you need to check it, buses often have control. At the station, I left things in the luggage room, 7 lei for each suitcase or 1 pair of skis. Back in Kyiv, I had previously planned to take the Brasov-Suceava train, which leaves at 22.55, but it was also canceled. Therefore, I ordered a ticket with a transfer in Bucharest for 120 lei, the train from Brasov departed at about 18.25. Until that time, I returned by bus number 4 to Levada Poshtei and went around the entire part of old Brasov - there is something to see (Black Church, White Tower outside the fortress wall, the central square of old Brasov, beautiful streets, as well as other churches, Catherine's Gate) . In about 45-50 minutes at an average pace, after walking through the old Brasov, I reached the railway station and boarded the train. I arrived in Suceava at about 4.30 in the morning, and the bus to Chernivtsi leaves at 12.00 on weekends, and at 13.00 on weekdays. I sat a little at the station and got on the bus number 2, which goes to the city center, and from there it is a 5-minute walk to the bus station. I’ll say in advance that the only bus from Chernovtsy didn’t arrive and I sat at the bus station until 11.40 in the morning until I saw the driver of the minibus. He took passengers from Suceava to the border Siret for 11 lei at 12.00. he dropped everyone off and for 5 euros from me and the same amount from the girl drove us right to the border point, for the first time in my life I crossed it on foot)))) But everything was fast. After crossing the Ukrainian border, I saw a taxi driver who, for 150 hryvnia, took me and the girl to Chernivtsi. There were no train tickets to Kyiv, so at 19.20 I took a bus that arrived in Kyiv at 5.50 in the morning.
Based on previous forum posts, I thought that Romanians don't speak English, but quite a few people do speak English. People are sympathetic, they have nothing to do with gypsies.
Exchange rate: 1 euro = 4.40 lei. 1 dollar = 3.28 lei. I paid for the hotel and train tickets with a Ukrainian hryvnia card without any commissions. It is more profitable than changing hryvnias to euros, then changing euros to lei and paying with them. Exchange rate: 1 lei = 2.50 UAH.
There are very few people at the resort on weekdays, you can safely ski and not knock anyone down : ) Many Romanians come for the weekend, but still there are fewer people than in Bukovel.
I have my own skis and boots, the girl rented them from the "inter-ski" near the main lift. The rental costs 50 lei per day, but if you rent for 6 days, they give a 10% discount. In hotels, rental is cheaper (about 30 lei a day), but it would be hard for a girl to walk in boots and carry skis, and I myself would get tired. And so she changed her shoes to Inter-ski, and I was there too.
There are few Ukrainians and Russians in the resort, unlike the Slovak High or Low Tatras and the Polish Zakopane. Yes, and in the Bulgarian Bansko there are many of ours.
