My trip to Botosani on Sunday the 29th was a "cursa." I have to compare this mode of travel to Greyhound buses in the U.S., since that is how many Americans travel between small towns, over short distances, and in rural areas if they don't have a car. I traveled Sunday with a colleague from the Geography Department who is doing his dissertation research on the physical geography of this area--the Moldavian Plain (Cimpia Moldovei).

The "cursa" left Iasi at 6:20 a.m.--this meant waking up at 4:30 in order to catch the tram to the train station. The train went north through the Jijia river valley, to the town of Dorohoi (Botosani county) about 15 km from the Ukrainian border, and then turned south to Botosani, arriving about 11:30. Many of the people on the train were city folk going to visit their relatives in the countryside, but there were also farmers (mostly elderly) traveling between the small villages along the way. At one small stop, a wedding party got on, presumably tired and hung over, and returning to Botosani after their 24-hour celebration (wedding receptions last a long time here!). As we got closer to Dorohoi the train began to fill up with people going to Botosani to do their weekly shopping errands.

We had about an hour in Botosani, which is the county seat, but even more peripheral than Iasi economically. It serves mainly as the market center for the immediate surroundings. The Jijia valley villages were mostly on low hills on either side of the river. There were cows, sheep, geese, chickens, and ducks visible near almost every village. Also some artificial lakes are used to store water from the Jijia for irrigation during the dry season--the climate here is not much different from Nebraska or Kansas, which means it is liable to drought. Some of the hills show severe erosion due to overgrazing or lack of stabilizing vegetation.

We returned to Iasi along a different route, taking an "accelerat" from Botosani through the Siret river valley to Pascani. Both the Siret river and floodplain are larger than the Jijia, and the elevation is a few hundred meters higher. The chernozem soil and corn found in the Jijia valley give way here to alluvium and sugar beets (lots of them in stacks near the railroad!). The Siret valley has long been an important transport corridor for Moldavia's agricultural goods, and the availability of train service reflects this.

In Pascani we had to change trains to the east-bound train to Tirgu Frumos and Iasi. To our chagrin we did not book seats in advance, and this particular train was packed with students and others returning to Iasi at the end of the weekend. Our one consolation was that we managed to find a place to stand at the very end of the train, and could look out the back window at the receding hills and plateau near Pascani. We were facing into the setting sun, which glinted off the tracks. We spent the hour to Iasi standing up, with people munching on sunflower seeds and squeezing by to use the W.C. With the electric cables overhead (this train was electrified), I felt like I was on a giant tram--line 606 from Pascani to Iasi! At least no more people squeezed on at Tirgu Frumos. I now know a little better how most Romanians travel. In the next eight months I will be getting more train experience(s).

Football update: "Poli" prevailed 2-1 over "Otelul" Galati (Otelul roughly translates as "Steelers") on Wednesday, but lost Saturday to their Moldavian rivals "Ceahlaul" Piatra Neamt (Ceahlaul is the name of a nearby mountain peak). "Poli" are now 5-1-7.