The Worst Road in Romania.

We left our wild camping spot and headed east, Gabrielle had told us that the road in that direction was very bad. He wasn’t wrong, it was a slow, bumpy, shaky ride and we were glad to get back on a main road. When we reached the campsite at Fundu Moldovie the owner said that the road we had taken was the worst road in Romania. (Apparently there was another better way to go) The campsite was Dutch run and as always had very good facilities and very clean. That afternoon I went to a garage as there is a rumbling sound under the ‘Bunyip”. The campsite owner knew the owner which was his friend. They did find one problem and we were booked to go in the next day to have a tail shaft bearing replaced.

In the morning we were off to the garage for the repair. We were told it would take about 2 hours so we settled down to read in a small hut on the property. It was finished in less than an hour and a half and it only cost us about $60 AUS which also included the part, very cheap indeed. From the garage we headed up into the hills to visit, yes you guessed it another Monastery. The drive was through hilly countryside and as always in Romania there were things to see at every turn.

This Monastery was not a disappointment [as others would be in the next couple of days.] the nun at the gate spoke very good English and was really helpful. The place was in Moldevita and it was still being used as a monastery but the nuns now lived across the road in newer dwellings. Many of the pictures inside the church depicted martyrs being killed in an assortment of ways.

About 6 kms further up the road there was a world famous egg artist, Lucia Condrea, who has a museum of painted eggs. She was not there at the time but her husband was on hand to show us around. The collection was amazing but photos weren’t allowed to be taken.
On the drive back to the campsite through the rolling hills we passed bee hives that were on movable trailers parked on the side of the road. The bee keepers would live with bees and keep them moving to different locations.

We stopped where a lady had a cheese stall on the roadside and we ended up tasting her wares and buying more cheese that we really needed. It was sheep cheese and she made it herself on the property so we bought something that seemed like Fetta, a small block of a tasty firm cheese and a crumbly loose sort that reminded us of some cheese we bought at a market in Turkey (which we loved). Deal done and it was back to the campsite to spend the night.

Thursday 11th June. I have to write the date down sometimes as we lose track. It’s when we don’t know what country we are in, then it’s a worry!

We left the campsite to continue on our way, taking a route that would pass by a few monastery’s on the way. Although interesting none were as good as the one in Moldevita. We also visited a salt mine in the town of Cacica. You buy a ticket at the entrance and you are left to go and explore.

We didn’t know where we would park for the night but as we approached a large bridge with a small river underneath we both thought it a possible place for the night. We took a chance on the small road that led down to the riverside and under the bridge and followed the dirt road until we stopped on a quiet spot out of the way. So the night was spent next to a river, it was the flood plain and the only person we saw was a shepherd with his sheep, a very quiet night except for a few dogs barking but that is normal in Romania.

On Friday we stopped at Suceava where we purchased a cooler box, our fridge was not working properly, more update on the fridge saga later. The shopping centre was a very large one and we bought a few supplies and a map covering Romania and most of Moldova. We headed to the town of Iasi which is next to the border of Moldova. Jenny saw on the map a campground on the outskirts of town near a river, ever the optimists we headed there, we saw signs directing us to the spot but alas our hopes were dashed as it was closed. We did however find a really nice spot on the river and spent the rest of the afternoon and night there.