Romania, Vampires and Red Roses. Day 29 – 33

The rain kept us in our sleeping bags till 10am. When the sun emerged we gave it an hour to dry our tarp and tent, chatted to a bike one-week-tour group from Israel, before setting off along the valley road.

In the slightly run down town of Bresoi we bought coffee and cake. The apartment blocks were tall, dull and scruffy, in contrast to the brightly coloured swirling skirts and tight red belts of the smartly dressed young mums pushing prams. We let some kids sit on the bike for fun and even though we were a bit anxious about getting swamped and feeling the effects of many light-fingers, everything was in its place when we left. The very bumpy road took us passed farmlands, and villages before popping out on a congested main road with bumper-to-bumper trucks. At the fuel stop we somehow got caught up in a group of 17 big-bike bikers. The congestion was caused by road works and unmanned traffic lights, and preparation for the laying down of new tarmac, which the bikers ignored. They charged down the wrong side of the road, overtaking the queues and down the no entry side. We followed.

The rainclouds were continually threatening to drop their load and we found the aptly named ‘Vampire Camping’ near to Dracula’s Castle in Bran. Thor danced and partied all night and in between the raindrops we packed up , having looked at the radar map and thought we could chance it to go further East. We rode past Dracula’s castle, took some wet blurry photos and 20kms later we gave up and settled in a guest room in Brasov. Wet bike gear can fill a room very quickly and we used every available hanger, chair, door and knob to drape the soggy bits on. In civvies, we wandered around the rather charming town looking for a sticker to adorn the aluminium panniers. The buildings are from a bygone era, all twirls and decorated, in varying shades of pastels. We bought a sticker, some delicious sweet cinnamon cookies, visited an art gallery and concluded that we had really enjoyed our ‘tourist’ day.  The room set us back 26 euros and as our kit was all dry in the morning, it was only a one night stay.

Accuweather radar was still showing rain in the east which is where we wanted to go to the Danube Delta. It seemed as if the rain clouds had got trapped in the crescent shape of the Carpathian Range. Our plans cannot really be fixed on a bike riding tour, so we carried on riding north where the clearer weather was. Brasov to Sighisoara to Targu Mures, where we came upon huge open cast mines and trucks bearing  loads and loads of grassy topsoil. The back roads are the best and we passed sheep, castles and an enticing short-cut narrow wooden bridge, which B just had to ride over. Unfortunately the ramp up one side only led to steps down the other side. Turning was impossible on the narrow tow path alongside the canal without unloading first. I left him to it and wandered into a Romanian Gypsy village to look for lunch at the local market that was taking place. A stand playing rather jolly ‘squash-box’ music from a tape recorder in the back of the van, had a fire grill going with some of the traditional mincemeat sausages. They looked a bit too raw for me , so I demonstrated that if he cooked them some more I would be back in 5 minutes. I did get strange looks, a girl on her own, walking around town in bike gear with helmet but no bike. By the time I found B he had turned the bike around and together we re-loaded , rode back over the bridge and found the proper road into town. Our sausages were ready and were perfectly cooked.

 By mid-afternoon it was so hot we needed to strip off our raingear. The road to Faget Camping  near Cluj-Napoca was pot-holed and busy with overtaking over solid white lines. We arrived at Faget Camping and were not the only ones who had stripped. The campsite was bare, neglected and overgrown. Riding casually around the site, we came across the naked drunk caretaker, who scurried inside his cabin, emerging a few minutes later pulling up his pants. Half-naked, he directed us to Vila Gaby, a ‘pensione’ down the road. Somehow when we arrived she was on the phone taking a call from him and was expecting us. Vila Gaby usually took guests in camping cars or ones who preferred to stay in their ‘pensione’. The lovely lady apologetically offered us a patch of lawn between driveway and summer cabin. We were delighted to camp there for 5 euros, free laundry and use of the kitchen and a chance to service the bike.  In fact it was so good we stayed for 2 nights. The bike got its chain adjusted, the front tyre balanced and the oil checked.  This delightful husband and wife team have a beautiful garden filled with roses and gnomes and a little bridge for their husky dog to play in.

We took the next day off from touring, catching a taxi into the large super modern city of Cluj-Napoca where we had a soup lunch in a restaurant called ‘Souper’.There was a restricted clever menu of three different soups at a reasonable price, standing or sitting, and  cool music. It was fabulous. A quick trip in the afternoon by bike to an out-of-town centre to Lidl and Decathlon completed a very restful day.

We turfed out more shorts, T-shirts and socks before loading up and setting off East, the next day. Weather clearing made all the difference as we rode through gypsy villages enjoying the sunshine and warmth. We have reloaded the bike with more weight distribution towards the front and extra stuff binned. It is Sunday and we noticed rather a lot of wedding parties taking place in these villages. This rural setting is glorious, passing brightly painted gypsy wagons parked in lay-bys and fields of meadows mix flowers. Old buses and trucks, having been converted, served as mobile bee-keeping colonies and the sweet fragrance of the Narcissus fields fills the air. That’s the great thing about being on a bike. You are in the air, the smells, the weather, and the sounds as you ride by and they are in you. We love it.

A very pretty town with a public park festooned with red roses everywhere enticed us to stop for a coffee break. Somehow we had landed up at a wedding celebration in this park. The beautiful bride and her handsome steed asked if they could pose on our bike for their photo album. We obliged. So somewhere in Romania, there is a wedding album with these photos. I wonder what their grandchildren will think? It’s a short ride along stunning scenery and shoddy roads to Comanesti where we find a campsite with a huge lawn, under a huge tree, accompanied by a huge table. Just the spot. In exchange for showing our passports we are offered a huge tumbler of ‘Balinka’ ( witblitz 40-60% alco) out of a JP Cheney bottle. We were lulled to sleep by the sounds of the traditional folk music beating out of the hall next door. Another wedding?

We get to the Danube Delta, catch the ferry which takes us along the Ukraine border, hop off on the Romanian side and ride to Murghiol to find Camping Dan Pescarul (Fisherman Dan) where we book in and set up camp before going for a lovely walk down to the wetlands. The mosquitoes in the long wet grass got hold of us and nearly stripped us bare so we dashed back to the sanctuary of the campsite and the dry, mowed lawn.

Its early to bed as we have booked a 6am sunrise boat ride with Fisherman Dan through the Delta. How exciting. See you tomorrow.