Romania Trip Journal from July 30 to August 09, 2006.

Last updated October 08, 2006. To return to Romania Pictures.

Country: Romania

Duration: July 30 to August 09, 2006

Distance Traveled in the Country:  ~ 2000 km

Memorable Impressions of the Country: A country we couldn't wait to visit and therefore is probably our most anticipated Eastern Europe destination.  And we were not disappointed.  Traditions are strong, while time marches on.  We wish we could wrap Romania in a time capsule to preserve some of the innocence, the tradition, the heart and soul, which makes it so special.  Unfortunately modernization is unstoppable as Romania joins the EU in January 2007.  The poorer will get poorer and the richer will get richer.  A middle class that will disappear. Romania has breathtaking landscapes with dizzying mountaintops, friendly locals, picturesque castles, painted monasteries and a merry cemetery.  The legends of Transylvania and Count Dracula alone makes this country a must to visit.

Gasoline Cost: approx. $1.40CDN/litre for 95 Octane

Pension Cost:  between $16.00 to $42.00CDN(Deluxe)/night.

Food & Drink Cost: Relatively Cheap.

Exchange Rate: 2.5LEU= $1CDN

July 30, 2006.  We enter around 8pm into Romania at a small border crossing near Naidas from Serbia.  Turning south the road disappears into the deep woods and twists its way through the rolling hills.  Just what we needed after a long day of riding from Slovenia, through Croatia and Serbia to Romania, twisty, potholes and the sun setting.  The road joins the Danube River at Pojejena and as we arrive in Moldova Noua complete darkness engulfs us.  Looking for a hotel or pension, we ride into town and find nothing.  The street ends and as we stop we are instantly surrounded by children and adults, curious and wanting to help.  We communicate that we are looking for a hotel, no hotel in Moldova Noua, but there is one 10km back.  Two old ladies approach me, smiling and speaking Romanian a hundred miles an hour and trying to explain directions.  As always I nod my head, as if I understand what is being said.  A kid on a scooter leads us out of town and points us in the direction of the hotel.  We fuel up with gasoline, the gas station indicates that it accepts credit cards, as we haven't had time to hit an ATM machine.  I walk in to the cooler to get some pop and the owner points to a sign "Inventory", which means that no one can buy anything or use credit cards, only cash.  He is counting inventory.  Mike and I smile, we are back in another world.  We pull out the Euro.  In darkness we back track trying to find a sign that reads hotel or pension.  Nothing.  Stopping in the small town of Macesti, the locals are sitting on their door steps talking to the neighbors, children are playing on the road and we stick out as if we just arrived from Mars.  English is not spoken in this part of the world, but with hand signage we are directed into a dark non-paved alley.  As we ride our bikes down this lane, a guy out of nowhere opens a gate.  Both Mike and I got a sense of dajavue.  Where are we going, we could just disappear here and no one would know.  Very similar to the thoughts of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in the Long Way Round, when they were in Ukraine and were invited into the house with the machine guns.  As always our minds work overtime.  For 20 Euro/night we get a complete house for ourselves, with a gated entrance for the motorcycles.  It is almost 11pm as we cook our supper.

July 31, 2006.  Researching our route, we talk about heading first to the Sarmizegetusa located in Transylvania, then down to Horezu by passing over the famous Transfagarasan road and end up in Brasnov.  With no detailed map at hand (only the Lonely Planet guide book map) we estimate 400kms.  Maybe we were just a little optimistic.  In reality it took us 3 days to cover that route and 1200kms.  Little did we know that there are no straight roads and 400kms would take us 12 hours of riding.  Romania is all about what you see while trying to get to the next destination.  To capture the amazing things we see, we would have to stop every 10 minutes and at that speed it would take us two (2) months to get through Romania and not 10 days.  Back to the day of July 31, 2006, we follow the huge Danube River for 100kms.  Corner after corner the road seems to deteriorate more and more.  Large landslides took part of the road out and workers are shoveling by hand to repair the damage.  Large barges are pushed up the river and the river narrows through a gorge at Dubova.  The Mraconia Monastery sits at the edge of the river and as we pass over a large bridge the Statue of Dacian King Decebalus carved into a rock looks at us.  No mention of this area in the guide book.  In Eselnita, a few kilometers before Orsova, we stop to buy our breakfast in a mini market.  Bread, Mayo and Cheese.  We sit outside on the plastic chairs and watch has the locals inspect the motorcycles.  From Orsovo we take Hwy 6 or E70 north to Caransebes and then head east to Hateg.  At this point we realize that it will take us a lot longer then anticipated to make any kind of distance in Romania.  From Hateg it is back north to Simeria to Orastie.  We had the GPS coordinates of the Sarmizegetusa Regia (Fortress), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but also assumed that there would be signs for it.  No such luck.  In the town of Orastie we took a few wrong turns and finally asked someone for the turn-off.  We still don't know how we found the way, since at every intersection we had to guess on the direction.  As it was getting late we decided to stop and get a Pension for the night as the road turned into gravel.  The GPS indicated 13kms to destination.  The Pension was 40 LEU/night (or $16CDN/night).  An old barn turned into small cozy rooms and a shared bathroom.  The owners were very excited to have us stay with them.  We realize that not a lot of tourists get lost in this part of the woods of Romania.

August 01, 2006.  All loaded up and on the road by 7:14am, we head down the gravel road.  How far can at be? We should be there in no time?  The GPS indicates 13kms in a straight line.  Yeap.  The road from hell and one that we will remember forever.  It is all about the experience of getting to the destination.  The gravel road deteriorates after 6 kms to huge mud holes, a result of the previous day thunderstorms.  In standing position, with the motorcycles and our boots covered in mud we ride past waving local farmers.  The area is densely treed and the road lays in the dark as sunlight has a hard time breaking through the leaves.  At km 12 the road forks, which way, we ask ourselves, as a 4WD Lada pulls up beside us, he indicates by sign language that we have to turn left at the next road fork and then another 5kms.  The directions were accurate, but due to the brutal conditions we missed an unmarked fork in the road and ended up climbing a mountain used for logging.  The GPS indicates that the distance to the fortress is increasing instead of decreasing and the road gets impassable for me.  Too deep in the mountains, we call for caution as it would take forever to get help if either of us gets hurt.  We decide to turn around after two (2) hours, disappointed that we didn't find the fortress, we slowly descend and then we see the fork in the road.  Shaking our heads we find the UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Archeologists are camped at site and are surprised to see us. After what we had been through getting here, we can't see any other tourists visiting this place.  The fortress wall is clearly visible and about 50m of the rampart has been exposed.  The area leading up to the rampart is under excavation and shows the bases of weird shaped circles and cult like temples.  Excited that we actually found the site, the ride out is much speedier knowing the difficult spots.  Making our way back to the main highway E68 we head east over to Sebes and Sibiu and turn south just past Scoreiu onto the famous Transfagarasan road.  Stopping in a small town before the climb up the pass, we are able to take pictures of the locals and its surroundings.  The road to the summit consists of switchback after switchback.  A coca-cola gondola follows us up to the summit and we pass a large waterfall.  At the summit, before the tunnel, people are camping wild and hiking around a small lake to the still present snow patches.  Here we meet Chris and Solo, a couple Romanians, exploring their country on dual sport motorcycles for the last month.  Chris had actually contacted us via e-mail a while back.  What a chance running into them at this point.  Exchanging information we hope to hook up in the future.  The view after exiting the tunnel is spectacular, the road drops from 2014m back to 500m.  The amazing scenery makes us stop continuously for pictures resulting in us making no time what so ever.  The sun is starting to set as we reach Lake Vidraru and we head for a pension.  The next town is 60kms away on twisty rough roads and we accept to pay the 150LEI or $60CDN/night.  The room is in a prime touristy spot and in high season, we would be paying $250CDN/night in Banff for comparison. 

August 02, 2006.  At the end of the Lake Vidraru we cross a large dam leading into a tunnel and then descend over several bridges into the valley below.  In Curtea de Arges we visit the Episcopal Cathedral built between 1514 and 1526 for 2LEI/person and another 5LEI to take pictures. 

"The legend has it that one day, a very wealthy and religious Wallachian prince, the Black Prince, rode with nine masons and their master Manole to find a place and build a church more beautiful than anyone may have seen before. The masons started to work, but whenever they reached to the top, the walls would colapse before they could ever finish it. They decided that the first human being they would lay their eyes upon was to be sacrificed in order to see their work done. And it so happened the Manole 's wife showed up to bring her husband's lunch, so that he had to keep his vow and immure his own wife alive within the church walls. The place of this immolation can still be seen between two walls of the southern front side of the church. This is how the monastery could be finished, and the prince was pleased to find that it was as beautiful as it could be. But the prince would not want Manole to build another church that could match his own. So he ordered the scaffolding removed, which left Manole stranded on the roof. In an attempt to escape, Manole made himself a pair of wings from shingles, but they were of no avail, and he would crash to the ground like Icarus and die. Upon his crash, on that very spot, a spring would gush forth, which is now called Manole's well. Today people would throw coins in its basin, to make their wishes come true."

Unfortunately the church is being restored and covered in wooden scaffolding and takes away from its beautiful architecture. The inside of the church is covered in gold and has excellent frescos and beautiful mosaic flooring.  As it is almost noon we have a couple of pizzas.  Every country puts their own spin on a pizza.  Romania doesn't use any tomato sauce, but provides you with ketchup.  Two (2) 6" pizzas and pop was around 16LEI or $7CDN.  Taking the small country roads, we cross over to Ramnicu Valcea, with a small detour since the road disappeared under a massive sinkhole.  Our destination is the Horezu Monastery, we get as close as 2km to the GPS coordinates, but end up on a deeply graveled mountain road to Arnota.  With no signage we decide to give it a miss and backtrack to Ramnicu Valcea and then onwards to Pitesti. Staying on highway 7, we pass through town after town and find a pension before darkness around Gorganu for 40LEI/night or $16CDN/night.  The room has a cozy double bed and the bikes are in secured covered parking.  For supper we have the owner make us cheese and sausage omelets.  We have been putting in long days of riding and it is starting to show.  We both re-evaluate our schedule and what we want to see, trying to slow down the pace and get some rest.  Romania's poor infrastructure, high traffic volume and twisty roads has increased the hours we spend in the saddle and decreased the km we normally try to accomplish.

August 03, 2006.  We wake up to heavy rain and decide to wait and see.  By noon the rain stopped and we hit the road, staying on highway 7 to Bucharest.  Before hitting the big city we turn north through Buftea on the 1a to by-pass Bucharest.  The closer we got to the capital the more Gypsies we encounter.  Most of them are in convoys of three or more horse pulled wagons.  It is quite a sight, as they carry all their belongings on these wooden wagons.  The interiors have two levels and the upper levels is for sleeping, in the rear end you can find pots, washing machines and other weird items.  Gypsies have normally darker skin colour than the average Romanian.  It is common to be approached by them and asked for money, but theft has not been an issue.  Zig-zagging our way through small villages we arrive at the Snagov Lake.  A small island in the lake is home to the 16th Century Church and Monastery.  The tomb of Vlad Tepes is inside the Church and as the legend goes Dracula's headless torso is buried here. The stone church is a UNESCO World Heritage site and admission is 13LEI/person plus 20Euro for the camera.  As we arrive a couple of youngsters approach us and negotiate to securely park our motorcycles and row us across the lake to the island for 10Euro.  A 100 year old grandma stood watch over the motorcycles as we row across the lake. It is back to making some more miles on the E60 north through Ploiesti, Sinaia and Busteni.  We are back in the mountains and the area around Busteni is very touristy, by touristy I mean mostly Romanians on holiday.  After Azuga we turn off the main highway and drop via switchbacks into the valley below and the town of Rasnov.  A farm and barn inside the town has been converted to Pension Montanouo.  The courtyard is completely fenced off and flowers line each side of the driveway.  The rooms remind me of being at my grandma's in Germany.  We pay 70LEI/night ($27CDN/night) and decide to make it our base for two (2) nights.

August 04, 2006.  The significance of Rasnov is that it has a massive 13th Century Fortress on the hill and is in close proximity to the Bran Castle.  There are tales that the Bran Castle is the Count Dracula Castle.  In the morning we take the steps from the town up to the Cetatea Rasnov.  Admission is 10LEI/person.  The outer wall is mainly intact, but the houses inside the fortress are in ruins, with the exception of a restaurant and a couple of souvenir shops.  Old wooden wagons are displayed in the courtyard and a massive wooden cross with Jesus hangs on the outside wall of the Church and it can be seen from far away.  10kms from Rasnov lies the Bran Castle.  Admission is 10LEI/person.  We both agree that it was a bit disappointing, as we expected dark stone towers and dingy rooms, but in reality it is more of a fairy castle.  No way Count Dracula would be seen here.  The castle used to be a summer retreat for Queen Marie in the 1920's.  Admission allows you to wander around the rooms of the castle.  Beside the castle is the Village Museum, which houses a collection of Transylvanian farm buildings.  Back in Rasnov we take the opportunity to take some pictures of quaint houses that line the main street and Romania's number one car the Dacia.  There are thousands of them and we haven't seen one in any other country.  And with that another fun filled day in Transylvania comes to an end.

August 05, 2006.  With only 120kms to go, a short riding day, we arrive in Sighisoaro by noon and check into the best Pension we had on this trip.  It is called Phoenix Pension and a bit more pricey at 30EURO, but so worth it.  The shower had jets built in and hot water, how amazing is that.  Dropping off our gear we venture into the old town of Sighisoaro and its citadel.  The fortified walled old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and consists of a beautiful medieval clock tower (Turnul cu Ceas), which dominates the town.  For 7LEI/person we are allowed to climb the clock tower, visit the History Museum and Torture Room Museum.  Adjacent to the clock tower stands the 15th Century Biserica Manastirii (Church of the Dominican Monastery).  Entrance to the Gothic Church is 2LEI/person.  It became the Saxons' main Lutheran church in 1556.  Across the Church is Casa Dracula, the house where Vlad (the Impaler) Tepes (also known as Dracula) was born in 1431.  He was the son of Vlad Dracul (the Dragon) and became a Wallachian prince who led Romanian resistance against Ottoman expansion in the 15th Century.  This is as far as we got in our exploration of Sighisoaro before the skies opened up for the remainder of the day.  Soaked to the skin we arrive back at our pension and watch the Euro Sport Channel.

August 06, 2006.  A day of riding through some amazing country side from Transylvania to Southern Bucovina.  We take the scenic and twisty route from Sighisoaro.  Heading north on E60 and turning at Balauseri onto the 13a.  Small villages line the road, and huge empty bleak looking factories stand as a reminder to the Russian influence and a time when thousands of people used to be employed.  We often ask ourselves as we pass another environmental nightmare (closed down factory), what happened here?  It is not a pretty picture.  From Sovata it is onto highway 13b to Gheorgeni over the Bucin Pass (1287m) and then north to Toplita.  Temperatures start to plummet as we climb these passes.  The road is excellent (with just a couple of washed out sections) as we once again climb another pass, the Borsec pass (1105m).  Making good time, with light traffic, we arrive at Lacul Izvorul Muntelui.  This huge lake was deep brown from all the recent run offs.  Taking Highway 17b to Holda, it is onto a small country road and conquering the Tarnita Pass (1161m).  Late afternoon we arrive in Gura Humorului and stay at the Casa Victor pension for 80LEI/night or $32CDN/night.

August 07, 2006.  Southern Bucovina is known for its painted churches.  The town of Gura Humerului is located close to two (2) of these painted churches.  Our plan is to ride a 135km loop and hit four (4) monasteries. The weather has been very unstable.  Every day we are hit by large thunderstorms.  We decide to ride in running shoes and regular pants and take the rain suit.  The Voronet Monastery is our first destination (4LEI/person plus 6LEI for the camera).  We didn't really know what to expect and were pleasantly surprised that not only the interior of the churches were covered with frescos, but also the outside.  We climbed the really narrow and steep stairs of the adjacent tower to get a view of the complex.  All of the monasteries we had to pay to use the camera, but were only allowed to take pictures from the outside of the painted churches.  The Humor Monastery (admission 4LEI/person plus 6LEI for the camera) is a few kilometers north of Gura Humerului, and its frescos date to 1530AD.  All four (4) painted churches we visited look similar in design and have amazing frescos.  From the Humor Monastery we thought to take a short-cut and ended up on a steep switchback with large loose river rocks.  The recent storms have washed away the gravel leaving huge rocks.  We decide to turn around since we were only wearing running shoes and a broken angle this far into Romania is not something either of us are looking forward to.  In Solca we stop for some famous Romanian Pizza.  I even cover it with ketchup, just as the locals do.  Next on the list is Sucevita Monastery (admission 4LEI/person plus 6LEI for the camera).  It is located inside the fortified quadrangular enclosure built between 1582 and 1601.   Your first view as we enter through the main gate is the frescos depicting the 30 steps from hell to paradise.  The last monastery is located about 35km east over the 1109m Ciumarna pass.  We gear up into our rain clothes as the sky is looking very dark.  It starts to rain as we make our way over the pass.  In several spots the road had given away, sink holes and washed out by the rain.  The Moldovita Monastery (admission 2LEI/person plus 6LEI for the camera) consists of a painted church in the centre of a fortified enclosure.  The inside, especially the area of the altar was the best restored and impressive from all the painted churches we had seen.  From here we make our way back to Casa Victor in the town of Gura Humerului.  The roads are flooded and we take extra care.

August 08, 2006.  From the Southern Bucovina region we head west into the Maramures region.  Leaving the painted churches behind, we ride deeper into the back country of Romania.  We turn onto highway 18 from highway 17/E576 and climb the switchbacks of the Prislop Pass (1416m).  The Prislop Pass is famed for its remoteness and is the main route from Maramures to Moldavia.  The road continues to follow the river, as do so many in Romania.  The recent rain has the river bursting.  The exterior of the houses along this stretch of road are beautifully decorated and we only found them in this part of Romania.  We assumed to see many more along the way and kick ourselves now that we didn't stop to take a picture.  As it happens so many times we didn't get a chance again.  After the Prislop Pass the small town of Borsa is the next bigger settlement.  A old mining down, with ore being mined since the 14th century.  We continue north-west to the Ukraine border, hand-built wooden churches remind us of a forgotten time.  Romanians living off the land as their forefathers did and generations before them.  Entering Sighetu Marmatiei, we are as close as we will get on this trip to the Ukraine border. The town practically touches the Ukraine border.  We continue pushing for Sapanta.  A unique village, which boasts the "Merry Cemetery".  It is famous for its colourfully painted wooden crosses that adorn the tombstones.  We decide to stay at a pension within walking distance of the cemetery.  From our window we were able to watch a couple of older ladies weaving carpets in the courtyard.  For supper we stopped in at the small one room grocery store below our room, picking up cheese, bread, salami, onion and tomatos.  It even had some nail clippers.  It is quite amazing what all can fit into one room.

August 09, 2006.  Not knowing what to expect from the "Merry Cemetery" we walk along the street of Sapanta in search of it.  Locals charge a small fee to enter the Cemetery. We are unable to read the inscriptions below the colourfully painted wooden crosses, but pictures are a thousand words.  Each cross depicts the persons tragic death or their lifelong profession.  "Death, when it visits this isolated town in a forgotten corner of Europe, comes laughing - in the guise, almost, of a comic book." A graveyard that is a "pleasure" to visit.  This was our final stop in Romania, it was time to make our way toward the Hungarian border.  From Sapanta to Satu Mare we were engulfed in thick fog, the trees seem to take on a life of their own.  We have never ridden in fog like that, where visibility is almost zero and I had a hard time seeing Mikes' rear light in front of me, not to mention that each corner scared the crap out of me. My imagination is running wild and I can hear the sound of old carriages with horses snorting and racing through the dense woods.  This is where the legend of Dracula lives on.