Storms and Forest Fires !

It’s a record ! Our shortest day yet! After a night of storms and forest fires, dawn broke to a grey and foreboding sky. We had our teas and coffees, breakfasted, showered and started to break camp just as the first spots of rain began to fall once more. I guess we should have put the tents back up there and then but we though we would be able to ride out of it, however that was not to be.  Within the hour, as the rain got heavier, we stopped for a coffee ,thinking that we could wait for it to pass, but the rain continued to fall relentlessly.  So the decision was made that we would look for a reasonably priced hotel in the next town, Gheorghieni. Arriving at the town square, we parked the bikes and as I kept an eye on them ,Taz and Joel went looking for hotels. Taz came back with a huge grin on her face after trying the first, a fairly run down looking place that we though would be dirt cheap…they apparently wanted 800 Lei for a double room, about £140! We all fell about laughing, then just as we were about to ride off the manager came running out, it seems there had been a misunderstanding and the woman on the desk had added an extra 0 so Taz went back to look at the rooms. However as she could get no sense out of them on the issue of WiFi , she tried another hotel just up the road where I knew they had WiFi as I’d already connected to it on my iphone. Having negotiated a discount there, the 3 of us checked in to the Hotel Rubin at 100 lei for a double room and 80 lei for a single including WiFi and breakfast; bargain!

But to back-track a little to yesterday; we had enjoyed a superb and picturesque run up from Sighisoara, through some really old villages to wild camp just below Suseni almost next door to a huge quarry, but as it was Sunday all was peaceful. On the way we had stopped at one of the Szekler villages and called in at their “village day”. It was a bit like a village fete in the UK, with it seemed, all the villagers in attendance, some in traditional costume, although we were too late for the dancing. We did however try a couple of the local delicacies which were delicious! One I had tried previously at the next door neighbour to the house I was working on with Adrian in Bulgaria, although this one , a kind of deep fried flatbread, was huge and served up with sour cream, cheese and Garlic. What a pity we hadn’t long had lunch or we could easily have devoured more of them, and at 4 lei (about 75p) they weren’t going to break the bank!  The other was a sort of mutton goulash, merrily bubbling away in a huge cauldron over an open log fire. It was one of a whole row of different dishes being cooked in the same way and was also very tasty.

The Szeklers, a Hungarian speaking ethnic group, whose name means “frontier guards”, live in eastern Transilvania . They came to Romania about the same time as the Magyars, probably around the 11^th century.  One of the interesting things about the Szekler villages are the traditional, highly elaborate, carved entrance gateways, most of which also feature a dovecote built along the top. Many of them date back to the 1800s although there were also quite a few which appeared to be brand new, so it was nice to see a tradition which is being kept very much alive today.

 

 

As we rode further north the landscape of rolling hills changed , with high mountains, the Carparthians,  starting to dominate the views. We climbed steadily through a beautiful landscape of rolling fields, woodland and wooden chalets to about 1000m, when we came across what it seems is the largest quarry of road-stone aggregate in Romania complete with it’s own little viewing platform and information sign boards! I must confess to more than a little bewilderment, as picturesque it was not; it even made North Wales slate tips look quite appealing! Anyway we rode on to the next village where we found a road-side water pump from which we filled our water bottles and of course the Ortleib shower which I carry, then backtracked to a little woodland just short of the quarry, where, just like a trio of Romanian Gypsies, we set up our camp once more. It has become quite a ritual with us now although it can take a little searching before all are happy with the location. Basically, we look for a spot which is hidden from view, fairly flat, has some shelter from the sun so that we can set up the kitchen in the shade and if at all possible, has water. Generally we are happy to settle on the first 3 with running water being a bonus; and so it was last night… 3 out of 4 ain’t bad!

Whist cooking dinner we looked across the plain to the wooded slopes on the hill the other side and spotted what appeared to be a forest fire starting to take a hold on the forestry there. We could even see flames shooting up at one point, although we were probably 6 or 7km away. However it soon appeared to die down once the rain started to fall and we retired to our tents content that no catastrophe was unfolding just up the road.

Having now just had lunch at the Hotel Rubin, I can say that the food is superb and the value for money outstanding! Our meal for the 3 of us, including drinks came to less that £4 per head. Yes, it is a littler more expensive than Bulgaria but compared to Greece or the UK, it is still great value for money. I can’t wait to choose dinner tonight from their extensive and varied menu although it may well mean I’ll put back on a few of those pounds I’ve lost over the last couple of months….

Tomorrow (or the day after!) we head further East towards Bicaz, to ride what appears to be a fantastic road past the Red Lake and on through a narrow gorge; at least that is the plan at the moment but with our usual built inflexibility, anything could happen!