Letter: Typical Vlady tourist

Sir: Having been lucky enough to spend a month in Transylvania this April, I was baffled by Carole Cadwalladr's article 'Transylvania for suckers' (28 May).

The castle at Bran, for instance, does not pretend to be the old home of Vlad the Impaler. It is named after him because he once owned it (though he never visited it). It is, however, a most impressive castle.

From the article, one would imagine Brasov to be an empty, decrepit, and depressing city. It is, in fact, extremely beautiful, lively, and friendly, as is the restaurant she mentioned in Sighisoara. I should imagine the reason Ms Cadwalladr had problems ordering tea there was that the waitress did not speak English. The Romanian for tea is ceai (pronounced 'chai') as Ms Cadwalladr would know had she been courteous enough to learn a few words of the language before visiting, or even take a phrase book. She might then have discovered how amazingly friendly and generous the vast majority of Romanians are and what a beautiful, welcoming, and fascinating country it is.

Yours faithfully,

PAUL YATES

Exeter, Devon

28 May

(Photograph omitted)