Romania Day 5 Borgo Pass
After spending the early afternoon at the fortified churches we hit the road to the Borgo Pass to spend the night in Hotel Castle Dracula. We had no idea what a long and hair-raising drive this would be. The Borgo Pass was actually quite far from the Brasov and required traveling on tiny roads with a lot of switch-backs and potholes. Added to that it got dark fast and there were many trucks that our driver passed on blind curves, the result was the ride from hell. The closer we got to the Pass the worse the roads got, although part of that was due to ongoing construction. It was surreal to be driving on jacked-up roads in the dark with cliff edges to one side and huge earth-moving equipment on the other. I can’t speak for the rest of the group, but I was actually scared. I think our driver was rushing to get us there in time for the “spooky dinner” we were supposed to have. When we arrived it was surreal at first because we were a little stressed out from the drive so even just checking in and finding our rooms in the dark-lit corridors was freaky. Dinner was supposed to include a “Dracula Show” but since our group was so small and it was only just the day before Halloween, the Hotel could not justify paying Dracula to put on a show. The fact that there were few other guests actually made it spookier to be walking around the Hotel. To get into the Renfield spirit, I ordered tripe soup and frog legs for dinner. After a few Dracula cocktails, we went back to our room to raid the minibar. I could not get the plastic corkscrew to work to open the wine, so set out to find the front desk and take some more pictures of the hotel in the moonlight. I got a bit lost trying to find a ground floor exit and ended up in a room that appeared to have exit doors but they were locked. I tried other doors and stumbled across a secret passage to a subterranean dungeon room. So at 2 AM being a little on-edge and perhaps a bit tipsy, I find myself walking down creaking wood stairs to stumble into Dracula’s crypt. I realize this is just the cheesy elements of the hotel, but I am worried I am not allowed to be there without permission, so I kind of turn tail and run. LOL.
