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route S. Romania

Sapânta

Maramures

Tuesday 17 June, Sighetu Marmatei

I'm now in an i-net place in Sighetu Marmatei, a small town 15 km from Sapânta, close to the Ukrainian border, where I stayed in a guesthouse.

It has been a very long ride from Nyírbator, 170 km. As soon as I crossed the Romanian border it started to rain, after the hot weather the last days have been pretty chilly and overcast. In Satu Mare I couldn't find a bank machine, so i had to go to an exchange office and changed 50 euros for 1,8 million Romanian Lei $-)
On my way to the Huta pass i noticed the houses in Certeze (a small mountain village) became bigger and more luxurious the more I went higher. Very big mansions, almost little palaces and they are still constructing more... It's remarkable to see more expensive Mercedes and Audi than Dacias on the road. I wonder where the money comes from in this poor country...?

On top of the scenic Huta pass (587m) i met a couple of cycle tourists, the first since I met a Czech guy near the Tatra mountains. An American guy and a Hungarian girl from Romania. The American guy was a recumbent rider in disguise as well ;-) he had left his recumbent at home and was now touring on his Bike Friday folding bicycle. In Sapânta I'd found a very nice room for 8 euros just across the famous "Merry Cemetery".

Today I cycle along the Iza valley with its remarkable wooden churches towards Borsa.

Bârsana

Prislop pass

Had a good conversation with one of the workers who could understand English but couldn't speak it ;-)
So he answered me in Romanian and with gestures we could communicate very well.
I gathered that lots of his fellow countrymen could easily get a working permit in Italy, from where they send money home. This explained the big mansions i saw in Certeze. By the way, the more i cycled inland, the less the poverty seemed to be. Houses are well kept here and villages seemed pretty much self contained. Only the shops here don't offer all the luxury we are used to in the west. Tomorrow I will head northeast, where the famous painted monasteries of Bucovina are located.

Bistrita valley

Moldavia/Bucovina

Thursday 19 June, Moldovita

From Vatra Dornei I cycled the very strenuous and tough route over pasul Rarau to Câmpulung-Moldovenesc. On my map it looked like a nice shortcut instead of the busy highway. The road turned actually out to be in deplorable state with the pavement nearly washed away. On my way up it became better and better, with terrible steep grades up to 20% though. On top of the pass beautiful Dolomite-like rock formations called the Pietrele Doamnei (Ladies rocks). The descent was a horror, the paved surface completely eroded. It started to rain heavily so the road turned into a wild streaming river.
Often i had to walk with the bike so the downhill speed was as slow as uphill.
Finally I reached without troubles Câmpulung where it -luckily- was dry. After visiting the Moldovita monastery I missed the turn to the campground. It started raining again so I decided to stay in a small hotel. Got a room with all facilities for 10 euros, not bad.

Rarau, Moldovita, Sucevita monastery

Radauti

The next day I did a tour along the Moldavian painted monasteries, starting with a not too difficult pass.
Sucevita monastery was even more beautiful. From there I continued east to a bigger town, Radauti, to find a bank machine for a few millions of cash. Via Solca I reached Gura Humorului. Met a group of German cycle tourists. Near the Sucevita monastery I found a nice place to camp at a B&B farm. I insisted to pay for this and for the use of the sanitary facilities and the host accepted my offer of 5 euros, which is a crazy amount for a simple camping spot. For this amount he invited me to sleep in a bedroom inside, but I refused politely and opted for my tent with nice views on the village road. My host spoke good English, teaching American sailors in Brasov and staying at his parents farm during the holiday season.

Voronet

Having toured along the impressive Moldavian monasteries for the last two days, I started this morning from the farm in Manastirea Homorului and went south. First a small detour to visit the Voronet monastery, which unfortunately was being renovated. My initial plan was to cycle then south through the mountains, but the approaching thunderstorms made me choose for the easier eastern, less hilly, route around the mountains. Quit roads and rolling hills from Targu Neamt to Piatra Neamt. I met a Austrian "Frank van Rijn" type of guy who was making a big cycle tour though the Balkans.

Piatra Neamt, in the Lonely Planet guide described as a "picturesque town" turned out to be a ugly city, dominated by concrete blocks from the Ceausescu era. Luckily there was a good campground and the centre was very lively and full of people, because of the fair with live music. And the local internet place charged me only 25 cent/hr to type this account. ;-)
Soon I will look for a good place to eat, for 5 euros or less you can get here a 3 course diner, so i don't cook very much :-P

Plan for tomorrow: the Bicaz gorge and into Transylvania.

moldavian landscape

bus to Franeker

Transylvania

Sunday 22 June, Gheorgheni/Gyergyoszentmiklos

This morning I cycled from the impressively beautiful gorge of the Bicaz river (Cheile Bicazului) and over the Bucin pass (1259 m) to Gheorgheni. Gyergyoszentmiklos in good Hungarian - in this part of Transylvania the Hungarian are a big minority.

The road from Piatra Neamt climbed constantly, about 70 km. I suffered from a head wind and a not so good physical condition.
I'm thinking of taking a small break to recover, maybe in Brasov in a few days.

By the way, in the area of Piatra Neamt the regional buses were quite remarkable, the yellow old Dutch buses. On the destination plates on the front they left the old Dutch names of the destination towns, its a weird sight to encounter bus 93 to Surhuisterveen in this mountainous country :-))) On Piatra Neamts bus station were buses leaving for Bucarest, but also places like Joure, Steenwijk and Emmeloord!

Just had diner in this internet cafe / restaurant for 100.000 lei (2,5 euro). After the i-net session back to the campground, a large meadow next to a motel, 4 km outside of town. Sanitary facilities are in disrepair, but the showers are hot, unlike the campground in Piatra Neamt. Tomorrow further south towards Brasov.

impressively beautiful Bicaz gorge

Cycled today in very good weather from Gheorgheni to Sfântu Gheorghe, 130 km, through the flat Olt valley. Panoramic views on the surrounding mountains. This part of Transylvania has a completely different architecture compared with the Northern part of Romania, more a Middle European style instead of Eastern Orthodox. In Sf. Gheorghe I stay at a place in a typically Eastern European apartment. My bicycle is stored safely in a garage box. Unfortunately the apartment has no warm water, but my host has made some tasty soup for dinner. Tomorrow I'm planning a visit to Brasov and the mountains.

Brasov

Busteni and the Bucegi massive

Bucegi mountains

Wednesday 25 June, Sfântu Gheorghe

Today a resting day, doing the laundry, checking e-mail, shopping for the coming days etc.
Tomorrow i continue my cycle trip, first to Brasov-Rasnov-Bran (Dracula castle). Thursdays destination is campground "de Oude Wilg", on the base of the Transfagarasan Highway, the highest paved road in Romania.
I hope to tackle this road on Friday, weather permitting. If the weather conditions are not good, I head further west to the Saxon town of Sibiu.

Dracula castle, Bran

The Trans-Fagarasan Highway, a fantastic mountain route

camping "de Oude Wilg"

Wallachia

Saturday 28 June, Curtea de Arges

I'm now in a crowded i-net cafe in Curtea de Arges. Left Transylvania and are now in the region of Wallachia

> Minko's mail from "de oude wilg" received.
> where does the name come from? Is it a Dutch camping?

Yes, a small campsite "at the farm", owned by Romanian/Dutch couple, located in a small village (Carta). I was received with a warm welcome, all other campers were Dutch (mostly senior, on a long journey in Romania). Finally I could take a warm shower. All in all a good starting point for todays ride, over the Trans-Fagarasan highway, with the 2000 m high Balea-pas. The climb is long, about 30 km, not too strenuous though (avg. 5%). Very impressive! On top of the pass I met a Dutch couple from the campsite. They were amazed I did it all on a bicycle. After passing a long dark, unlit tunnel I started the long and beautiful descent. I met a cycling couple from Freiburg, Germany. Romania did remind them very much of their trip in South-America. They brought a few extra copies of a Romanian map with cycle routes, and gave one to me! After we exchanged e-mail addresses our ways separated, they went uphill and I continued my way down. A long ride along a lake followed, up and down. At the end of the lake was a dam and a very scenic canyon, with high above on the rocks a ruin of one of Vlad Tepes (Dracula) castles. After 130 long kms I found a campground in Curtea de Arges, a pleasant city. Had a good meal at the campground restaurant (only 4 euro for campsite, including diner!). Tomorrow I travel further west.

Horezu

Cerna valley

Too hot at the campground...so now i'm back at the cool internet room just across the street ;-) costs are only 50 ct per hour. This evening i went out for diner, Ciorba as starter (a rich soup of meat and vegetables), then a schnitzel (as usual fried with a thick crust, too fat) french fries and salad (means a few slices of tomato and cucumber) and bread. A meal like this cost about 3 euro. The campsite has hot showers, hot mineral water, which smells a bit like rotten eggs (sulphuric).

Today I could practise my dazzer for the first time. A few nasty dogs bothered me and one push on the dazzer chased them away, so it does its job! Besides this incident most dogs don't bother you, although there are many stray dogs.
Since a lot of people use their bikes here, dogs are not interested in chasing cyclists. When you camp somewhere, sometimes dogs coming to your tent to beg for food. And at night they all start barking, a concert that can continue the whole night long..

Tomorrow a flat ride (I'm glad, climbing in this heat isn't fun) through the Danube valley. The coming days I head down to Sofia, where there are more mountains to climb.

Continued in Bulgaria