I set a nice steady pace, of about 80kph, where we could. Out of town it's 90kph, though the locals treat that as the minimum! We were overtaken by huge lorries and coaches, besides the endless stream of tatty white vans and big black German BMERCAUDIS. Tomtom was up to her tricks again. Set for fastest route, she took us down a back lane, through a village, with a cobbled street, before joining the main road we'd crossed a few kms ago! Needless to say my niggling chimp was there to tell me Garmin had said turn right, onto the main road. It is frustrating that Tomtom does that. How on earth it felt the route we took could be faster than the main road, I have no idea.
The further north we went, the fewer vehicles we encountered, so it was a quite pleasant ride. We came to our fuel stop and were in need of some water, as once again the temperature was on the up. A lady pump attendant was happy for me to fill up myself, then when I'd paid, showed me where it converted to €s on the receipt. Helpful but I was actually looking for the details of litres. Anyway, we were in the shop and Grizzly was about to buy a huge magnum cornetto, when the lady came up and best she could, explained they were bogof, so I had one as well. She wants me Woody, rang out again! Still, very nice of her. I gave her a wave and thanked her as we left. The magnum thingy was delicious, I should say.
The next part of our journey would take us over the Danube, the middle of which, is the border between Bulgaria and Romania. There's a toll on the Romanian side but bikes don't pay it, so as we rolled up to the booth, the barrier was just lifted and on we rode.
We were now in our third new country and to mark the occasion, I had a kerbside wee! The temperature was now in the 30s again, so we needed a drink too. There was barely anything on the road, which was arrow straight and flanked either side by crops, wheat, potatoes and sunflowers. Strangely, the sunflowers were all facing away from the sun.
As we entered Craiova, I just knew there would be issues. The high temp/crawling traffic combo. I tried to keep moving as best I could, filtering between traffic and somewhere along the way I lost Grizzly. The road layout was crazy in places. A major junction with no traffic lights, just the flashing yellow, go if you can signal. It was chaos. I just squeezed between 2 cars and went when they did. I wasn't far from the hotel when the red triangle struck again, so I pulled over for a couple of minutes. A minute or so later I was at the hotel. I say hotel, hovel might be to strong but it was every inch and less, the £27 it cost for the night. I had to ring to check-in. A bloke then came from the bar area I had just walked past! The room looked ok ish on initial inspection but then you start to notice the things that either are missing, have fallen off , are just broken or just don't work. The only thing good about the place, was the restaurant/bar, which had good reviews, for good food at good prices. There was little option, so we ate there and weren't disappointed.
The beds in the room are a bit soft but comfortable enough but there is no aircom, so the window is wide open. Mossie alert. I've put on some repellent.
Just one photo from today. Someone using a Beemer for a leg up onto a wall!
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| Cat Burgler Maybe? |
Tomorrow we will be spending the night in Sibiu, to the north but before that we will tackle the Transfagarasan Highway. I know Grizzly doesn't like lots of hairpin bends but this tour isn't just about him and being so close, for me, it just has to be done. Transylvania here we come!
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