Euro bimble 2014 - Romania

Sunday 20th July 2014 Ok we made it to "The greatest road in the world"' (according to Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear). No words until the morning. Sensory overload. Fill yer boots...... Approaching the Fagarasan range from the north   Climbing up from the north Higher Wow - just gonna number 'em from now on 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NEXT POST

Sunday 20th July 2014 We awake to another cloudless sky. The day soon warms up and at 8am we repair to Madame's kitchen for breakfast of eggs, yoghurt, cheese, tomatoes and cucumber. Coffee and tea to drink and bread and home-made jam to finish. Bike all washed and ready to go Conversation continues in French. I learned later from her son that Madame had been a language teacher in her younger days. After breakfast we wash the bikes and pack our gear. It's very warm now as we set off. We stop at The Transylvania Bank for more cash then ride east on country roads heading for Ramnicu Vacea. The plan is to ride north through the Faragas range to Sibiu then approach the Transfăgărășan Highway from the north. We encounter a lot of traffic and slow to a crawl. It soon becomes apparent why, as we pass through the biggest open-air market I have ever seen. It's like a gigantic car boot sale with parked cars squeezed onto every available road side place for a ...

Monday 21st July 2014 We set off early, keen to explore more of the Transfăgărășan. The road winds down the Capra River valley as twisty as a snake. We drop below the treeline and into dark shade dappled with blinding stretches of sunshine. There is hardly any traffic this early. first coffee stop The road surface is a mixture of patched tarmac with quite a few undulations but thankfully very few potholes. It's fast sweepers, blind corners and occasional hairpins. We are soon riding high above the eastern shore of a huge lake glimpsed fleetingly through the trees. It stretches on for miles. There is a coffee shack half way along and we stop for cappuccinos and a better view of the lake through the pines. It's getting rather warm now. Lake Vidraru Riding round a sharp left handler we suddenly find the end of the lake and a huge dam across the steep valley beyond. Here the road crosses the top of the dam and dives into a tunnel. There are gift shop...

Tuesday 22nd July 2014 Its time to leave the Transfăgărășan Highway but we can't resist just one more run. So early in the morning, long before the day trippers have time to get here, we blast the 18 klicks from the Vila Flora up to the summit at Lake Balea for a coffee, then straight back down onto the road to Faragas, as you do.   Coffee stop by Lake Balea It's been a great experience riding the two roads. When the Transalpina is finally finished it will rival it's more famous neighbour. And if they were located in a wealthier and more accessible place then both would be more popular among petrol heads than Stelvio or Grossglockner. On the downside however, both would be full of hotels, guest houses and tat stores and those accursed Dutch camper vans. But I would say to all bikers with an inclination to tour, get here and just do it, if you can.   Domed haystacks on the road to Bran We ride east along the DN1 through the town of Fagaras then turn...

Wednesday 23rd July 2014 Its a very important day today, my mother Elizabeth's 89th birthday. She is an avid reader of this blog. Hi mum and a very Happy Birthday. We are up early and head for the castle. This is a wise move as later in the day the queue for tickets is huge. But now we are among the first. It costs 25 Lei (under a fiver) for me. Mick claims old git privileges and gets in for 15.   Hobbit house in the castle grounds  It's a steep climb up to the castle entrance, then a flight of very steep steps to get to the main door. Definitely no wheelchair access here. There is a route to follow inside. Through narrow corridors and some very narrow staircases to view the various royal chambers all set in higgledy-piggledy fashion around the central courtyard.   We are rather smug about arriving early with few fellow tourists. This place will be a nightmare when it gets busy. The tour takes a couple of hours. There are lots of interesting displays...

Thursday 24th July 2014 We leave Bran early in gathering cloud and under a sky heavy with the threat of thunderstorm. We pass through Rasnov with it's Hollywood-style sign up on the hill just underneath it's castle. It's a dusty little town, the castle big and imposing up on the hill. It could easily have assumed the Dracula mantle and all it's attendant money-making activities. A winding road takes us north to the regional capital Brasov. Here a new bypass whizzes us past the town and onto the E578. This is a lovely road. A sign informs that this is another project constructed with EU funding. It's fast and sweeping with perfect tarmac and leads us rapidly a 100 miles north up a broad valley between the mountains. Mick loves his Lionels At Gheorgheni we stop for tea at a roadside cafe. Hearing our English voices a couple stop to talk with us. They are Les and Amy from Oxford. Les is Australian and Amy originally comes from Baia Mare in the ...

Friday 25th July 2014    Riding on the Lake Bicaz shore Whenever a BMW GS bike comes into earshot Charly, who has an ear for recognising specific exhaust notes, mutters "Bastard". It's just his way.  So we bid farewell to our new found friends on their bastards and head north along the lake. After an hour or so of fairly treacherous mountain roads we see a sign for a pension-restaurant off in the forest and over a seriously rickety bridge spanning the River Bistrita. We have to give it a go so we adopt Ewan & Charly mode and ride across. The rickety bridge Next we head for the Pasul Prislop, a pass over Mount Rodnei. It's 50km of the worst road I've ever had the misfortune to ride. The road has been ripped to shreds with huge areas of deep pot holing and undulating waves of tarmac. It's as I imagine road would be after an earthquake or heavy shelling. Strange growth on my shoulder Chu...