The Ister arrived into platform 2 of Keleti roughly half an hour before the due departure time. The sleeping compartments on this train were not quite as nice as our previous train and our attendant was less than enthused about his job. There were no bottles of water or croissants for breakfast, but we were supplied with toiletry packs with soap and a paper towel for a quick wash later.
This train does have a restaurant car though and we had grand ideas that an Orient Express experience awaited us. But au contraire – this was not Agatha Christie and we were not to have a movie star experience. We were served tough pork and soapy potatoes with a bottle of not quite cold enough white wine, although in fairness our waiter did manage to chill it a little. And we were in a dining car in a train travelling through the rugged mountains of Hungary so we were happy!
This train ran much more smoothly than our previous one, so we slept quite well as we hurtled through the night, but only after the boarding of the train by both Hungarian and Romanian border police forces for the obligatory passport checks as we crossed the border into Romania.
I woke up early the next morning so that I could experience the journey through Transylvania, but there was nothing remarkable or even remotely spooky in the bare rolling hills that swept past my window as we travelled along towards Bucharesti Nord, our next destination.
Faraway Fields 