It took me an hour to reach the start - eventful only for the fact that this is Saturday and its obviously a big wedding day. In one village I stop to let the wedding party cross to the church - mostly conventional type dress except for one girl who must be well over 6ft tall in her heels. She has the longest, most tanned legs I have ever seen and she is wearing a black silk mini-skirt which covers virtually nothing..... I would love to see what she wears in the nightclubs !

This road was one of Ceaucescu's follies - determined to prove he could control nature, he built a road across the Fagarasan mountains at great cost in money and lives. It is the most scenic route I have ever seen. It took me an hour to get to the turning off the main road - no special signs. I stop to put on an extra sweatshirt and take some snaps. The mountains are dark and covered in cloud.

At the base the roads are dry, but in poor condition - big trenches gouged out for future repairs. Hard braking makes the imperfections grip the tyres and steer the bike, regardless of the line I wanted. Further up, we enter the clouds. The roads are damp, and waterfalls become routine. Riding in to another thick cloud, just a few feet from a sheer drop is psychologically demanding and my average speed drops like a stone. No trucks on this road, but plenty of slow cars - we are all stopping for photos regularly so no one is in a hurry here. You will not be achieving any impressive lean angles here.

When the clouds clear there are fantastic views of the roads, waterfalls and peaks. I have never seen anything like this. Coming down the other side, the surface is worse - and wetter. Much of it is along the side of a stunning moumtain lake. Romanian tourists unfortunately leave piles of rubbish wherever they can have a picnic, but its still impressive. At the end of the lake I cross a huge dam - guarded by one heavily armed soldier who walked in to the armoury and asked for 'one of everything please, sir'. I assume he probably doesn't want me to park on the dam, but I get a few photos from further on.

I took a lot of time up there, but I still wanted to see two monasteries. Both require detours but the first - whilst clearly a gem - is completely covered in scaffolding. Given the time, the sensible thing to have done then would be heading for the next hotel. But of course...... I head for the next one, knowing it will be closed but wanting to get a full day of sightseeing in. The main road there is closed due to flooding, so I get diverted through the back roads. Which are also flooded, but only by a few inches. Which might be OK, but I saw the size of the potholes on the dry bit, and now I can't see the road at all ! Luck must be on my side, but I get in to Pitesti very late.

There is a wedding party in my hotel. I can't sleep so they move me higher up. I don't bother with the TV remote when I switch, as I just want to sleep. So when I switch it on while packing in the morning it is stuck on a porn channel. Funny.... sometimes i have to remember my mother is reading this. Then I pick my jacket off the floor and a cockroach scurries away - I'm just surprised it took me so long to find one. Another one seems to have hitched a lift to Bucharest as it falls out of the pannier seal when I open it. Crunch.