Romania

On Thursday afternoon we arrived at the campsite De Oude Wilg in a small village called Carta. The place is run by a Romanian man who married a Dutch woman in Holland and returned to Romania to set up the campground. The buildings previously belonged to a minister and the land was an onion farm. They have transformed the old farm to a pleasant campsite. The afternoon was spent relaxing, reading ,on the internet and talking with the neighbors. The next day we went for a ride on our bikes, first to see the church and the ruins of and old cloister. For $2 we were given the key and roamed the grounds and then inside the old church, which is still being used today.

We climbed up the old bell tower for a view of the village and surrounds. Our ride then continued over the river on a rickety suspension bridge ,expecting the wooden boards to break at any minute. Then we rode to two other villages and realized that we were heading up into the hills and not along the river as we had planned, so we turned around and went back the same way.

That evening we went for dinner at local Pension [guest house] in the village. Our Belgium neighbors told us about it the day before. It was an old watermill that has been converted to a guest house and restaurant. We arrived at 7pm and our table was already prepared outside with a creek running under where we sat. They gave us a traditional Romanian meal with soup, main meal of cabbage rolls and a desert which tasted a bit like donuts. Included were a pre-dinner drink, wine for jenny, beer for me, bread, sour cream and a plate with peppers, all for the princely sum of $16. As you can figure out Romania is not a very expensive place to visit. The campsite’s here have cost about $20 per night including electricity and wi fi often included.

The Romanian villages are a combination of very old and rustic to signs of modern life creeping in. You always hear horse and carts on the streets but there are also some cars and motor bikes. You see the run down houses and then on the side there is a satellite dish for their television sets. Across from the campsite there is a Gypsy family who ask the campers for cigarettes and money when they come and go from the campsite. The owners say that they have a huge flat screen television and are doing quite well, the old man goes to Rome for a couple of months, begs on the streets and comes back with €8000 [$11,000] Looks can be deceiving.

Romania has been a pleasant surprise with the countryside very interesting and the people very friendly.

The next day we left the campsite and headed to Bran. The road was rough with lots of pot holes, interesting but very slow. We arrived at about 1.00 had lunch and headed to the castle which was about 15 minutes walk from the campsite. Extremely touristy with rows of stalls trying to sell some of the tackiest souvenirs that we have ever seen.

The place was packed and the castle was not the best we have seen,so we were glad to get out and get back to the campsite to relax. The one good thing about our outing was meeting a young couple from Melbourne who we chatted to for a while.

At the campsite [named Vampire Camping] we were parked next a man from England who was happy for some company as he was travelling only with 2 dogs.

On Sunday Morning we has an early start and drove to Brasov, parked in a square just outside the center of town and went walking. The town was a medieval Saxon town, with a very large center square and an impressive church. We didn’t get the immediate effect of the layout of the town until we ascended the hill in a cable car and then were able to view the town from a distance. From the viewing platform the effect of the large square, the churches and the winding streets is most impressive and after taking in the view we headed back to the camper and drove to the campsite nearby.

We spent the rest of the day, checking out the email, looking to see the election results, the football scores and talking with some family over the internet before having a late lunch, reading, doing a load in a washing machine (luxury) and a brief clean of the camper. So ends another day on the road.

So what do we do in the evenings you may ask, well if we have nice neighbors we may spend the evening with them, but often we will sit in the camper and use the laptop as our TV…. Watch a move, a series or play a game, or read we have a few things that help to pass the time or to relax after a busy day.