Dracula and Romania, p3

Before returning to depressing Bucharest, I had one more stop to make on Dracula's trail. Crossing the mountains, on yet a different pass, I headed to the village of Snagov, barely an hour to the north of Bucharest. Here, in an island monastery in the middle of a lake, is the legendary resting place of Vlad Tepes. 

On my German made map, Lake Snagov and the village looked quite easy to find and get to. There was a half moon shaped road that branched off the main road and led to the village, with the lake in the middle. I headed down the road signed to Snagov, and once in the village I looked for the lake.  

Both guidebooks I consulted say you had to take a row-boat out to the island, but I had a hard time finding the lake let alone a row-boat. 

There seemed to no centre to this village, but I finally found one access point to the lake, with no island in sight, no row-boats for hire. I got in the car and continued on, but the road wasn't anything like the map. 

I went back & forth trying to figure out where the correct place was to get to this legendary island. Half an hour went by and nothing. I checked one of the books again and it said it had something to do with a campground. Taking one of the unmarked forks in the road I did eventually come upon the campground. There were a few people about, but not many.  

There were actually Romanian soldiers guarding the gate and the site. I went in, parked the car and went in search of the lake. I found the lake, with a few beached rowboats nearby, but no one who looked as if they knew anything. I still couldn't see an island. I went back towards the gate and decided to ask, using my phrasebook, one of the Romanian soldiers. He pointed off through the trees, towards the lake, and made a rowing motion. 

I also understood from him that it wasn't a short trip. I thought, 'this is it' and went back toward the lake. But I still couldn't see an island or anyone able to rent the dodgy looking boats out. I saw another soldier walking closer to the water and asked him. From what I understood from him, it was impossible, or not anywhere near here! 

I was fed up. I spent more than an hour to try and find a simple island in a lake with no luck. With a deceiving map, no one to help, give good directions or rent a boat, and the fact it was getting late, I decided to give up. I thought I'd let the legendary resting place of Dracula be just that - legendary.