Painted Monasteries of Suceava

One of the main reasons why I decided to come to Romania was to see the painted monasteries up north. The train ride was long, about 7 hours, but it was a nice, clean, air-conditioned ride. I met a Romanian family aboard, who WRONGLY told me to get off at the last stop, even though the hostel directions told me to get off one station earlier. Unfortunately, there was no public bus at the last stop, so the family ended up driving me to the hostel. Kind gesture, but they somehow managed to drop me off at the WRONG street. What it is with me and WRONG directions by Romanians?!

As soon as I got to my hostel, I met a Japanese mother-daughter pair on a 3 month trip around Eastern Europe. How cool is that, backpacking with mom!!! I don't think my mom would be willing to backpack and stay in hostels for 3 months...not that I would want to in the first place. I can't imagine traveling with her for that long of a period. (We'll see what happens when I actually do meet up with mom for 2 weeks in Greece and Turkey.)

Anyways, the painted monasteries are all quite far apart, and difficult to see without a car. The only option is to join a local tour; I joined the one offered by the hostel along with 2 Japanese and 3 Americans. I didn't realize Romania was such a hot spot for Americans until I got there and met a lot of them at each hostel.

Brief summary of the monasteries...
I think the region is dotted with these churches, but I only went to see the main four – Bucovina, Humor, Moldovita, and Suceavita. They are all quite tiny, but are completely covered with frescoes on both the inside and the outside. Absolutely beautiful!!! It's amazing how the frescoes on the outside have lasted so long. My favorite was the Bucovina monastery, where the exterior frescoes depicting the last judgment (if I remember correctly) were all done in a shade of blue.
These monasteries are currently still in use by those of the orthodox faith. Nuns live there, and locals come to pray. Very religious people, the Romanians.
What I found most annoying about the area, however, was the need to pay a "camera fee" for each monastery. And they were charging as much as the entrance fees!!! Can't they just increase the overall entrance fee to include the photography rights?! So, being the cheapie that I am, I only took photos at two of them...