I am going to start the Romania Travel Blog part with the cost analysis of the holiday. I hope I manage to find the determination to re-write and translate some of our experiences too. The following table is an itemised breakdown of all our costs. From the last 5 holidays, Romania is by far the cheapest place we've been to, however keep in mind that the average Romanian gains only $90 a month.

The cost per person for 9 days in Romania was Lm151.61 including flights, with pre-holiday costs and a day in Milan raising the total to Lm232.88 (extra 35%). Going on holiday during a 10 day birthday celebration helped our spending spirits considerably.

Accommodation was the highest expense, however considering that we once stayed in a lovely quasi upscale palace (Hotel Economat) and made a severe mistake that cost us an extra 40Euros (Hotel Coroana) it was not that bad. Hotel Ibis (Accor) was priced at 59Euro per weekend night in the capital Bucharest.

Unlike other holidays transport was not the major expense. This is indicative on Romanian culture with large travel distances and low wages. We used taxis frequently given that they were cheap and efficient to use. Train costs vary widely according to the type of train used paying peanuts for P trains getting more costly using IC trains. In our case at least, the quality of the train reflected the price.

Food is our greatest vice. There is little you can do to resist getting 4 packets of crisps (150g) costing 10c each. We made the worst and best bargains getting food. The flop was spending almost Lm17 (21% of all food expenses) food from home. This is totally outrageous considering that we could have got the same things from Romania for less than half the price. Getting food from home is only a good idea when travelling to expensive countries like the Scotland trip. The best bargain was buying 1kg of the best tasting cherries ever for 50c (they cost Lm4.50 at home). Wine and spirits are also relatively cheap, with 3 bottles of good wine totalling Lm3.61.

Bird and Nature Guiding is ridiculously cheap. We got 3 full days of birdwatching, nature and cultural guiding for a proposed price of Lm25.75p/p which got further reduced to Lm6.44 (since there were a total of 6 people on the tour). Considering that we were expected to pay Lm65p/p for a single night tour in Finland the difference is extraordinary. The best part of the deal is that you get to see large quantities of birds in a wonderful habitat. I am sure that the prices will boom up very soon as birdwatchers invade the Danube Delta in a matter of a few years. Go for it now!