Danny Beer - Danny Beer. Tourist on Wheels. A European Adventure

Rasnov is the first stop. It’s quite a climb to the fortress but they have a nice exhibit up there. A few people are dressed up in medieval garments. On your exit you see a big group of tourists being driven up in those horse drawn carts, getting the royal tourist treatment.

Bran castle is alright but much over-rated. It is simply teeming with tourists there. It does have a pretty cool secret passage though.

From there it is up over the mountains and down to Sinaia. Here the main attraction is Peles castle. And it is magnificent. It closes at five so you had better hurry though. You make it by 4:30 but the ticket office has already shut. It closes at four. And it won’t open again for three days. Fortunately security are nice and allow you to look around briefly and take some pics.

Tomorrow is a long day to Bucharesti so find a hotel, find some pizza, and rest up.

Okay, traffic may be heavy but the road is wide with shoulders, oh so lovely shoulders. A constant downhill helps keep the speed up all morning. So why turn off?? Even if you did find that other road it won’t be any better than this. Get back on the highway. That’s right.

Just before lunch, and about half way is a detour around a large town so you take it. Well the sign says Bucuresti this way. Almost immediately the road turns crap. The surface is horrible and the shoulders have disappeared completely. You make a conscious decision to turn off onto a smaller road for the last sixty km but the sign indicates it is a truck route. You decide to give it a miss. Most interesting and especially scary is when you move over to the left lane to let a big semi-truck turn off to the right. As it passes you on the right another semi-truck passes on the left. It wants to turn off to the right as well. It just wants to overtake the other truck while doing so. You miss being sandwhiched between the two.

Sure enough the road improves immediately after joining up with all the town traffic. The next order of business is to get some lunch. You find a restaurant and order some kind of chicken dish and a coke. But the coke is warm so you try to ask for some ice. Another customer makes matters worse by saying you want ‘diet’ and she tries to give you a diet pepsi. Eventually ice is procured and you sit down, drink your coke and await your chicken. Half an hour later it still hasn’t arrived. You try to ask. Is it coming? Is it being cooked? You know, there aren’t any other customers here keeping you busy.

“Two minutes.” She tells you. Five minutes later you ask again. Then she comes out with the frozen chips to ask if you want any. Why are they still frozen? You asked for them half an hour ago. You point to your watch to emphasise your point. You get your chicken and that is it. She gives you two gerkins as some kind of salad and later you see how expensive this salad is! Disappointed you pay for your overcharged meal and go. Coming into Bucuresti your nice wide shoulder is replaced by a nice looking sidewalk which is absolutely useless for cycling on.

Cars start to get a bit more aggressive. The white minibuses are the worst, insisting on driving as close as possible and more some irrelevant of how much room they have on the other side. Roadwork is being done which is no great hassle as it slows the traffic and in places allows you your own private road to ride on.

Through town and to the hostel you go. Let’s see what this town has to offer.

So what did you get up to yesterday in Buchuresti? A couple museums, a couple churches, a palace and a monument or two. Just the usual tourist stuff. It needs to be done and is all very interesting and all. Did you step on anyone’s grave to try to take a photo? Probably. But they won’t be complaining too much.

You see a Korean couple and take them back to show the hostel. You find a couple guys and hang out with them in the evening. A chance meeting with a lovely local girl sees you head to a nice bar with cool live blues music. Then a club. It is all very fine.

You wake up late. But not that late. A slight headache dogs you for most of the afternoon. You pack and go, saying your goodbyes. Wow. It was great to finally have a crew to hang with.

You follow the signs out of town. The roads are crap and you get the suspicion that you are going ‘round in circles. But no, you leave Bucuresti and only then does the road improve. It is a freeway in everything but name. And it is great for cycling on. Like its equivalent two days previous to the north, wide shoulders give you plenty of room. But a sharp ditch gives an unpleasant feeling every time a truck passes.

You stop to buy chocolate and a gypsy tries to sell you a towel. The language barrier doesn’t deter him. You don’t need nor want a towel, even one this ugly. Seventy km later and you make it to the border town. Not seeing any other signs you head to the port. You are told to go back four km and turn right. Back in town some guy tries to sell you a camera. Interesting that you first think about not needing it before the moral consideration of buying this obviously stolen object.

You find the bridge and border over the Danube. Bulgarian border control on the other side are friendly. Out on the highway you spot a couple girls, one with her skirt hitched up high showing her ass. They also spot you. The other one waves and starts to run after you. Then reality dawns and you realize just what these girls are; truck stop whores. You keep going before thinking otherwise. Well you could always pitch your tent up somewhere. But nah.

You look back twice. Each time the girl waves frantically after you. A couple more girls are further up. All on the other side of the busy road.

A sign tempts with offers of accommodation sending you into town. You are about to head back to the highway when a hotel is spotted. But it’s too expensive. Wait, you’re getting confused. He is telling you in Levi, not euro. The price is cheap. And you are given a discount for being so stingy.

Back out on the heavy highway shoulders are non-existent but drivers aren’t as unfriendly as the neighbors to the north. The second dog to chase you in Bulgaria appears. This one has four legs and is a little more vicious. But probably safer all the same.

You stop for a bike to eat. A girl sits nearby. “Sex?” She asks. You turn crimson. She comes over to make matters a little more awkward than they already are. For readers reference the price was fifty levi which is about twenty five euros. You decline her services. The price drops to twenty levi. You should go before you change your mind.

Later at another restaurant sop you see another girl. This one is obviously working. Is that her young daughter in a mini-skirt? No, it’s just a midget. A working midget? No, you really shouldn’t.

At around four you see three girls standing beside the road. The first makes a minor effort to flaunt her wares. The second chases after you, shouting to stop. And you have a hill to climb. But those boots are made for walking, not running. The third girl, over the next rise, has very manly features. She doesn’t make any attempt to seduce. You leave the girls to flag down some truckies.

Perhaps you are just wearisome but it appears that traffic is less friendly in late evenings. A car waits for a better time to pass but the truck behind it is less patient, honking to indicate its unacceptance.