Romania day 16 – Welcome home!

Distance covered: 497,6 km From Wilhelmsthal (Germany) to Nieuwersluis (The Netherlands) Today the final leg of our trip! We tear down the tent and tarp and hang them to dry in the sun (both are moist with dew). Tonight we were a bit chilly for the first time. After breakfast and doing the dishes we leave. On the road we feel chilly again. In fact we are feeling so cold that we decide to put on some more clothes at our lunch break (I have a vest with me, Sander can only pull on another t-shirt). We haven't experienced that before this holiday. Finally we lunch with Curry Wurz and Pommes with a roll aside to it. Too bad the Curry Wurz is drowned in ketchup, but it tastes OK and it's warm at least. After the lunch break the weather gets warmer so we're in doubt, whether or not we should...

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Romania day 15 – Almost there

Distance covered: 372,6 km From Nové Strašecí (Czech Republic) to Wilhelmsthal (Germany) This morning the shower is at least slightly warmer than the shower last night. We pack and leave the campsite. Maybe it's a fun site if you're with with children and a caravan but for people who only stay one night, is it really ridiculously expensive! We enter Germany using the secudairy roads, unfortunately today's weather is not so good, so we are driving most of the time in our raining gear. The route goes by pretty fast and at 16:30 we already arrive at the campsite (Camping Park Eisenach). At the campsite we are allowed to pitch our tent next to a lake (for less than yesterday in the Czech republic). We setup the tent and our tarp and walk...

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Romania day 14 – Visit the Bone church

Distance covered: 318,2 km From Brno (Czech Republic) to Nové Strašecí (Czech Republic) The first waypoint is almost around the corner from the campsite. After less than fifteen minutes away we arrive, and it turns out to be caves. We don't feel like another cave tour so we continue. We know what the next waypoint will be, Kutna Hora, to visit the Bone church but how boring is the road to Kutna Hora! After arriving in Kutna Hora we stop at the Garmin flag which is next to A church. Only it is not the right church. A little further we see another church so we walk there. Not the right church either. So we ask at a gift shop. The woman actually speaks English and she gives us a map of the city. The church is located on the other side...

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Romania day 13 - Flooding

Distance covered: 336 km From Bojnice (Slovakia) to Brno (Czech Republic) We received salami and honey from the 2 German (or Czech) men, their holiday was over and they had lots of food left over. They had a small miscommunication about who would take food, so they both packed it. Today is a bit warmer, but this time it's cloudy. After an hour of riding the sky is blue and it turns out to be just another hot day. So we remove the waterproof liners again, open all zips and are ready to go. We drive on another nice meadow track and then we arrive in the Czech Republic. In the first city we see, we stop to get some money. I have some troubles with the ATM, I choose 'another amount' and then it asks Credit, Debit or something else. So I...

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Romania day 12 - Highway vignette?

Distance covered: 383,7 km From Levoca (Slowakia) to Bojnice (Slowakia) Today we want to take the highway to the castle Spissky Hrad, that's a bit the other direction than today's route. However, we do not know whether we need a vignette and also not where you can buy such a vignette. We start by asking it on the campsite. After a few attempts we decide to leave, the woman has shown us the way to a garage and thinks we want to buy a car. Attempt 2 at a gas station. They also don't speak any English or German. I point at my bike and try 'Highway' because that sticker is on the door of the gas station and then there comes out one word 'No'. Well then we go without vignette to Spissky Hrad. Once there we walk to the castle and look at...

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Romania day 11 - Slowakia beer

Distance covered: 361,8 km From Hortobágy (Hungary) to Levoca (Slowakia) The day starts with breakfast and packing. It's a bit chilly today but the sun shines. Today we visit Tokay, the wine region of Hungary. We want to do some wine tasting, but unfortunatly they don't speak any English at the wine shop. Maybe it's also a bit too early to drink wine. So we just buy a bottle of wine and we go to the caves of Aggletek. We're lucky, when we arrive at the caves it's 14:59 and at 15 there is a tour. You're not allowed to walk through the caves by yourself, so we buy tickets for the tour. Unfortunately, the tour is only in Hungarian. The cave system is immense and, as always, cold, after almost an hour with a long Hungarian explanation...

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Romania day 10 - Tripe goulash

Distance covered: 295,3 km From Dej (Romania) to Hortobágy (Hungary) Breakfast is included in the Pensiuna. We get a fried egg with cheese and toast. After breakfast we continue, today we leave Romania but before we do that we take a last piece of Romanian off-road. For the first time, this holiday, it is cloudy and that makes it a little cooler. Immediately after the border it even starts to rain. We decided to make a little detour, to try to avoid the rain, which succeeded quite well. Our goal of today is near Hortobágy, we find there a campsite nearby. Reversing on the camping doesn't work out that well for me and, once again, I fall of the bike. It still looks like it's going to rain so we pitch our tent in record time. Then...

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Romania day 9 – Broken panniers

Distance covered: 250,8 km From Gura Humorului (Romania) to Dej (Romania) We woke up at 8:30, we pack our bags, eat breakfast and then it's already time to say goodbye. Soon the road turns into an off-road track and today the track became really hard. I fell twice on a steep track with lots of boulders. Unfortunately I fell on each pannier once, so now they are both broken. We were taking a break after the first fall, and a local guy with a small moped came by, and later on there was even a car coming down the mountain (we guess he was lost). In the next curve I fell a second time and then we decided to take a longer break. When we reached the main road again we decided that we had our share for this day and we stick to the asphalt. Turns...

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Romania day 8 – Party time

We didn't wake up till 9:30 so that means a quick shower and then we're ready to get some breakfast. After breakfast we decided to try out the local barber, many Romanian friends of Lucian and Mihaela offered us to come along and translate for us but we decided it would be much more fun to go by ourselves and just find out how well we would manage. It turned out to be a male barbershop and the queuing strategy is at least vaguely. Another customer spoke a little English and asked for us if they would cut my hair as well and they had no problem with that. After one and a half hour we are both cut. They had some trouble cutting my hair. The only English word the barber knew was 'difficult', but after she cut one side an inch shorter than...

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Romania day 7 - Arriving at the party

Distance covered: 229 km From Miercurea Ciuc (Romania) to Gura Humorului (Romania) We slept well! Taking a shower is a bit of a creative job, standing in the bath tub (without shower curtain) and the other holding the shower head. We also use the bath tub for doing the dishes. And, if you want to use the toilet after 9 in the morning, then you have to use the toilet with the door and front door of the room wide open because the electricity is shut down and the toilet room has no window to get some daylight. After the shower, breakfast and cleaning up we are on the road again. On our route we find a nice hilly road with lots of potholes. We have a lot of fun until we see a car in front of us which drives really slow not only because...

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Romania day 6 - Bear visit?

Distance covered: 339,5 km From Capatânenii Pamânteni (Romania) to Miercurea Ciuc (Romania) It's a mess! The dumpster is not empty but everything behind the toilet building is turned upside down! Yet perhaps a bit unfortunate that we do not know if it was a bear or a wild boar. Anyway, sleeping on a camping is not necessarily better than in the wild, in this case it was really the other way around! First we take a shower, turns out once you open the tap it starts to smell really bad! After the shower we went to the local supermarket to buy a Bucaresti salami. Tastes very special, especially for breakfast because it is a very strong flavor. Then we go to Bran Castle, which we eventually find in the city center. It's very hot and we...

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Romania day 5 - Transfagarasan highway

Distance covered: 356,3 km From Lainici (Romania) to Capatânenii Pamânteni (Romania) Today it's D-curve-day. After packing and having breakfast we first buy some water and bread. Meanwhile, we more often see a horse and carriage than cars and when it is a car that we see it most certainly is some sort of Dacia. Just like in Hungary, in the villages there are a lot of storks sitting in their nests sometimes there are 4 in one nest. Than we get to the Transalpina, brand new asphalt many curves and the scenery is breathtaking. Again the weather is brilliant, but we don't mind going in to the mountains where it is a bit cooler. After buying some highly needed water, we continue our way on the Transalpina. During lunch it starts to rumble,...

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Romania day 4 - Arriving in Romania

Distance covered: 393,4 km From Szeged (Hungary) to Lainici (Romania) Wake up and try the showers. There's nobody yet, so it isn't too bad. After having breakfast and doing the dishes we leave. The bill turns out to be higher than expected. But there is not a whole lot we can do about it. At the Romanian border first our passports are checked. Next there is a luggage inspection, we are allowed to pass without check. Probably because it is too hot, too much hassle or just because the fact that they don't seem to speak any english. Just after Timisoara we get some money (Hurray it's a normal ATM), have a short break and continue. Because there are no good picnic spots, we have lunch on a small town square. It is clouded so a bench...

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