When planning this trip there was an idea that we would take the Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Beijing and sort of transition our way from mostly traveling in Europe to then traveling in Asia. Hours of research went into learning all that we could about the 7-day train journey and the necessary visa requirements for both Russia and China.

Living in Vancouver, the Chinese Visa Centre was a 30-minute walk away so we were not too worried about getting one of those. The Russian visa however, was a wee bit more challenging. I was nervous, as I had consulted multiple websites and all of them told me that it was a rather difficult process. So we buckled down one afternoon and after about an hour found it far too onerous for either one of us to complete (I mean, everywhere we have been in the last 10 years; entry and exit dates, every address each of us has ever lived at…since birth… I mean really). Thus, Russia and the Trans-Siberian rail journey was scrapped. Nevertheless, another train journey was in the cards. To finish our trifecta of overnight journeys (Bus, Ferry, Train) we ventured to take the overnight train from Budapest to Brașov en route to Bucharest. 

Other travel bloggers had written that there was a dining cart available on the night train but we could not find it – no nightcap for us. Once we had cleared the border, He took the top bunk so that I would not bounce right out of bed as the Romanian train rumbled its way through the lower ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. I did not sleep very much as the noise and movement of the train was a little much for me and every time the train went around a bend the cabinet door to our little sink compartment opened and the light turned on. It was not the best time to misplace my sleep mask (I did find it again..eventually). 

At long last stumbled off the train in Brașov ravenous and in search of somewhere to eat and rest before we could check into our Airbnb later that day. Unfortunately, the area near the train station was not ideal. The nearly abandoned mall had a shifty-looking food court and most of the cafes along the main street did not serve any food. Onwards we trudged and luckily the square near our rental had a decent restaurant where we were able to have a leisurely brunch that lasted well into lunch.