Skip to main content

Roaming thru Romania


Today was a more relaxed day. I have found that you can only do about a max of 300 km per day here in Romania. The toads are good but slow and there are a lot of ribbon like old towns. It is a bit like travelling thro rural England where there is a town about every 10 to 12 kilometres. The roads also twist and turn a lot and generally follow the contours and are thus slow. I wondered why and then I thought that the old towns dictate the road and the land is probably fairky sacrosanct so that you cannot just put a short cut in or a by pass round a village. I suspect  the roads follow roads that have "alway" been there. 

Today we did head up into the hills a bit more with some stunning scenery. First up was a road up a tight gorge. It was so tight the GPS could not get a signal because of the rocky walls. Elizabeth my GPS lady was not amused. 

 

And obviously a tourist road 

 

We stop at a roadside place for a comfort stop. Well, to put it mildly I was " bursting" if that is not too much information.   I found a toilet. I went to go in. A man stopped me. The toilet door winked at me and started to tease me. The man was adamant I could not go in. But he kept saying what I thought was " toilet " and I could not work out why then he was barring my entry. I crossed my legs tightly. Then the penny dropped. He was saying " Two Lei for Toi Lay " ! . I rapidly found two Lei in my wallet and the problem was solved. Whew!  I knew I should not have had two coffees for breakfast 

Anyway back to the road. Amongst all the modern cars were still horses and carts. I assume that the people driving them were gypsies. As I understand it there is a very large gypsy population in Romania. There were also lots of what seems to be gypsy folk selling fruit and produce on the side of the road and also manning the handicraft stalls. 

 

There were lots of beautiful ( and large) churches 


 

Unfinished houses

 

Monestries everywhere





 

We see a big thunderstorm coming. It has our name on it ! It says "Dick and Diana Hubbard - I am after you!" 

 

Just as the heavens open we find a petrol station to shelter under. You could say " thank heavens!" 

 

Then after 15 minutes the sun came out and we rode down to the delightful medieval town of Sibiu where we stay the night. Another good day in the saddle. 

And tomorrow? Well I have an appointment  to go to a blood donation clinic tomorrow. It is apparently at some place called Dracula's Castle ! Further details follow.! 

Comments

Ken said…
Those damn slow toads. :-)

Popular posts from this blog

The last post!

How do you summarise a motorbike trip around the world from Tokyo to Los Angeles?. With difficulty!   Well we are not into record setting. But we believe we are the oldest couple in the world to ride a motorbike “ two up” ie with pillion passenger, right round the world on one season  Let’s start  off with the statistics for the little trip  -                                                                    Total mileage.        34,416 km *                                                        No of days travelling        165                                                      No of countries visited       29                                                     Max temp on bike               41 deg C                                                     Min temp on bike                0 deg.C                                                          No of punctures.              One                                                          No of breakdowns.         One                 

Chapters 1 and 2

WHY MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURES ? I have always been interested in adventure. Over the years I have climbed mountains, parachuted, had my private pilots licence, dived, sailed and done various adventurous pursuits (with various degrees of success I might add!). Motorcycling has been one of the later activities. Why motorcycles?  Firstly it is all a bit easier on the body as one gets a little bit older. This is of course on the assumption that one does not inadvertently part company suddenly with said machine!  Secondly, it does also require a bit of brain power - intellect you might say if that does not sound snobby. There is also, to me, an element of "man and machine" about motorcycling. Then if that is not enough justification in itself there is  the scenery and the absorption into the landscape you are passing through. On a bike you see much much more than in a car, bus or train. You are aware of nuances in the landscape, you smell the smells and you become more than just

And a volcano stopped us!

What a day. First thing this morning it was off to check the rear tyre of the bike. Oh the relief !  The tyre was rock solid and the same pressure as after fixing yesterday.  So it is a pack up and first day on the road today. We get on the way with a just a little bit of nervous excitement.  On to the  Japanese motorway system we go. And what a delight. The traffic is orderly, calm not going to fast and not too thick. We track right in towards Tokyo itself before bearing West. Yes, there were lots of spaghetti junctions - It looks like The Los Angeles motorway system but it is so much easier (and slower). Japanese politeness really shows thru’. However there were lots of toll booths - we had chopped thru  about NZ$50 in the first hour and a half  Then we are on to the slow bit and off the motorways.  It was about a four hour stop and start crawl thru the urban sprawl of greater Tokyo. However I did find time for some serious reflection - I also saw a hotel called - and I kid you not