beers in a graveyard and superstition.
Waking up to the sound of dogs barking and horse drawn carts makes a pleasant change from the noisy rev and go scooters and police sirens I'm used to in the city. Ovidiu and Andrada who have very kindly opened their house to me are up and breakfast is ready. No hunting for coffee todayInto the city for a tour and a very interesting history lesson on how life was under communism . If you were found in the street in these times during working hours and didn't have a good excuse the police would take you to one of the factories and put you to work., should try that in England .
Now off to try track down a new chain which has been pissing me off for the last few days, sorted , get one tomorrow .
Returning back to drop the bikes off , a tour of the village , few tins of beer from the miserable guy in the tiny shop and a walk about was the order of the afternoon, with 30degrees baring down on us a shady place in the graveyard was the obvious place to sit and chat.
The village we are in was inhabited by Germans for generations, when the borders opened due to the collapse of communism most left . Allot of the houses are still empty , they can't be sold as there is disputes over who owns them.some have gypsies living in them who just move to the next empty house when it ruined.
Drinking beer in a shady graveyard in Transilvania how was it not possible to bring up Dracula and superstition ? I am now an authority on the history of Vlad the impaler.
Superstition - some people , more the ones in the outer villages still hold on to older beliefs . Only a few years one village believed they were being terrorized by one recently deceased , dug up his body , removed the heart , burnt both separately , mixed the ashes from the heart with water bs smeared it on every door in the village . This was attended by the whole village including the priest and the local policeman.
Into the city for dinner and beer saw end of a vey educational day .
Romania is a country steeped in history and culture . The people are cheerful , friendly and helpful. Thanks to my hosts I'm seeing a side of this beautiful country I would probably never if seen .
Today - Draculas castle wink emoticon
Day 7
Draculas castle and time to fix that chain - the Romanian way
Another sunny morning without having to hunt for coffee and breakfast thanks to Adda , I could get used to this.
Leaving the bikes at the house today's plan is to drive to Draculas castle, that'll do , my ass could use the rest and the bike isn't totally safe to ride.
About 100kl East of Sibiu we travelled the now familiar country roads to Brasov. There isn't many motorways in Romania , where there is most people still prefer to take the country roads as they don't know how to drive on a motorway.
After a coffee we headed to Bran, home of Vlad the impaler, so called because of the very unpleasant way he put his enemies on stakes to deter other Turkish invaders.
Wow, Chinese tourists everywhere, am I still in Romania ? Jumping ahead of a bus full, excitedly walking up the hill I got my first glance of the castle, amazing , one off the bucket list. I've wanted to see this since a kid watching Bella Lagosi in the first Dracula movie ( I don't count nosferatu ) . Bram stokers Dracula was also one of the first books I read by my own choice .most people think Dracula is a fictional name, not true, Vlad used it ,Dracula means son of satan in Romanian . Vlad Dracula .
I'll let the pictures describe the castle. The torture section was particularly interesting , why the hell do so many tortures involve the ass ?? Shoving spikey things up it , sitting on nasty stuff for hours etc. LEAVE THE ASS ALONE . After a stop off in Brasov for dinner, news that my chain and sprocket was here meant back and time to fix the bike . They wasn't the Bmw official kit , they were what we could get in the sizes we needed .
Back at the house and getting dark , start the fix , back wheel out,chain cut off, that won't see use again. Remove the sprocket ( the spikey thing the chain goes round ) try new one , don't fit, oh shit, holes are wrong sizes. Ovidiu - no prob , we drill them out . Sprocket fits. Check chain - chains too long, for fucks sake - Ovidiu - no prob , we cut it down. Chain is right length . Putting everything back together was no prob until joining the chain together, there is a special tool for this- we don't have one of those . Ovidiu - we can make one . This proved a tad more taxing than expected . Much later into the night at last the it was fixed. Romanian ingenuity had saved me and my trip. Back in for some home made schnapps and hit the hay. Couldn't ask for better hosts.
Today we ride to the coast and the Black Sea . It's gonna be nice to get back on the road and this part of the trip to have company in the way .
Day 8
550kl, Bucharest , motorways and the Black Sea
With the bike fixed and friends to ride with , for the first time this trip I was excited to get on the road. Goodbye Sibiu , I will see you again.
Southwest again, pretty much been my direction all week . Shit , I been on the road a week, feels longer but still not long enough.
Quick stop to pick up one of Ovidiu s friends , now we are three bikes and 5 people , yes - I'm the sad ass without a biatch on my back seat frown emoticon
Up and over the carpathian mountains this time following the river old . Yes fuck you with your old jokes , I know I'm no spring chicken .
The forested mountains gave way to rocky peaks in places and the road twisting with the river . Did I mention these forests are home to Bears and wolves ? Makes look over your shoulder when you stop to smoke !
The villages with horse drawn carts and cows give way to more modern,busier looking towns the further we go. The road is quite busy with commercial traffic so in places the going isn't so fast, that's ok, gives me time to look around.A few rain showers, coffee stop and back to the flat lands and the motorway. Now it's to Bucharest . Speed limit is 130 so the kilometers fly by.
A big, busy bustling city with traffic to match any Capital. Riding through was an adventure on its own. With the center blocked due to a band playing we redirected and changed our dinner plans. Instead of dining outside in the center with a view of the palace of the Romanian parliament which is the worlds largest administrative building for civilian use and a staggering 360,000 square meters , we stopped at a gas station later with a lovely panoramic view of the motorway ! At least I got to see it on the way past. Another reason to return to Romania.
As night drew in it was motorway all the way to the coast, only a few 100kl to go.The road is good, well marked and well lit with white reflectors on one side and red on the other that sparkle going by . Passing over some large bridges I couldn't help thinking some spectacular views were lost in the darkness below. Arriving in Constanta around midnight , everyone tired after a 550/600k lride , we checked in to our rooms ,( yes I'm treating myself to room , I'll be back in the tent soon enough ),took a quick beer, supper and headed to bed.
Constanta sits on the Black Sea , is the second most important city in Romania and the countries largest sea port. Today is to explore , let's see what delights this city brings.
Notice no chain problems today ? Instead it's Ovidiu s turn with his his bike spluttering.
Party time
Too hungover this morning to be literate . Saw the beach , saw the the city , went and got pissed at a biker party ,at points it rained and we got wet.
Today , fuck knows , I need coffee
Saturday spent at the beach, eating , jet skiing , beers and bands on the night.like what regular tourists do.
I don't understand why more tourists from Northern Europe don't come here. Beaches are good , food is good , beer is good, it has all the regular clubs and bars of any tourist destination, people are friendly and polite, most of all it's cheap, really cheap. A beer is about 1 euro , you can get a reasonable meal for about 5 euro . Why pay 5 times the price going to Spain ? I know some people have ideas about beggars etc. you only see them in the bigger cities, I haven't seen one here.I've only seen 2 the whole trip. I see more going to work in Copenhagen.
Headed to a chilled out area close to the Bulgarian today, tomorrow I'm gonna try put some miles down and reach turkey .
Day 11
Fat naked people and a big mistake .....
Headed south towards the Bulgarian border we stop at Vama . This is my last night in Romania. Turning off the main road I was faced with small bars, restaurants and street stalls.looks like how I would imagine Ibiza started 20/30 years ago. The guests house we are staying looks like someone's home rather than hotel and immediately we are treated like family , amazing.
Dropping the bags off and it was a walk on the beach, it's pretty busy with tourist lounging on sunbeds doing what beach people do. I'm not big in sitting still and turning my white ass red so off for a walk. 5 mins up the beach, sun beds stop , tents and small wooden beach bars start.A guy walking past with his glory for the world to see showed this was a little different. It turned very hedonistic and Bohemian very fast,all over tans , fat guts and cellulite . Why is it always old fat guys and women go naked on the beach ? Why not the cute girls in bikinis I saw 5 mins ago?.
This town seems much more chilled and almost hippy like but also seems money is moving in and pushing the way it's been for so long to the side .
Surprisingly the night was also chilled , the bars were quiet except one on the beach that seemed the one to go to.
After few beers I introduced the locals to jagerbombs , big fucking mistake . Stayed in the beach till morning drunk as a skunk , woke up late , , can't ride 8 hours like this . Another day of fat naked people . where the coffee.
Day 12
Another lazy day , goodbye to friends and back on the road but to where ?
With a jagerbomb hangeover and the morning wasted in bed there wasnt much to do, breakfast ( lunch ), hang out at the beach and get even more pink . Few beers on the night and back to bed.
Today I'm getting back on the road, still not sure if to go to Istanbul or to Greece as I've spent so much time here. I'll decide on the way, cutting the corner, going through Bulgaria and Greece by to Albanian border seems favorable. The road across the top of the again sea should be nice ride, plus I can catch up a day this way.
Can't help being a little sad to be leaving Romania, quick fact - Romania was named by the Romans during their ocupation - Roman-ia , some Romanians would like like it changed back to it's old name - Dacia .
Saying goodbye to friends is never good, Ovidiu and Adda have been fantastic. From quick hellos and short chats at tattoo conventions I believe I have gained firm friends. Not only did they open their home, help me get my bike fixed, show me their beautiful country , they put up with my farting and million questions. They Organise a bike show in SIbiu and also the Transylvanian tattoo convention, good excuses to visit. To everyone else I met here - a big thank you especially Carausu and Mihai who travelled with us the last days . Fantastic country , fantastic people . :(
