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Published: July 13th 2006
Romanian Shop.
The friendly shop where we ate and drank.Day 42, 12th July.
Tileagd - Cicea - Vinátori
As we set out, larger hills loomed into view and the climbing was soon to begin. Toby wasn’t feeling too well so we stopped at a small shop where the friendly owner let us eat at a table in the shop, cut bread for us, and gave us free bottled-water. As we carried on we had strange looks from all the people in villages. But friendly looks, smiles, and people waving to us from fields and horses and carts. At one hilltop stop we had beer, lunch and met a couple with a caravan from England who were off to do some charity work at an orphanage. There was a great downhill afterwards - always careful to mind the bumps and potholes in the road.
At the village of Cicea I met an English-speaking Romanian pastor in a shop while buying the evenings food. He was running a camp for kids a few miles away in the hills and said we could camp there for free, so… we headed off the main road and found the place, set in a lovely forested area. There were loads of friendly fascinated
Local transport.
Horse and carts are the small trucks here in Transylvannia. kids watching our every move with amazement as we erected our tents. The pastor, ChiCha, gave us food and we talked for ages about Romania and its problems. Later on there was an unusual bonfire with all the kids around singing to guitar music till very late.
Total Miles: 1937.03 Todays Miles: 47.38 Average speed: 11.6 Time on bike: 4:03
Day 43, 13th July.
Vinátori - Cluj Napoca - Călanu
ChiCha gave us breakfast and tea when we awoke. Afterwards, we made a donation to his cause then set off, refreshed, for another days cycling - except Toby, who was still worn out. The hills gave way to a rolling landscape and a poor road surface most of the way into Cluj Napoca, the heart of Transylvannia. Just on the outskirts of the city, the sky went black, lightning flashed, and it poured down. So we sheltered under a bridge deciding what to do, and me thinking that this isn’t what I’d expected of ‘Dracula-Land’!
In the city I withdrew some cash and we ate pizza - there were a few beggars hassling us there too. Out of town we left state highway one,
Mountain pastures.
Beautifully natural wooded pastures abound in Transylvannia. and took the 16 road over the hills and found a pub where we sat and drank three glasses of beer. With an hour left before sunset we rode east and I spotted an Italian campervan in a field shouting out, “Do you speak English”? to the guys reply of “Yes”! I pulled into the field. It turned out that the guy had bought the land to set up a business building log cabins, and that we could camp there for free. We cooked up a meal and shared it with him and his friend who also gave us spaghetti and aubergines before we crashed out for a warm night.
Total Miles: 2007.58 Todays Miles: 70.55 Average speed: 11.0 Time on bike: 5:46
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AneLu
non-member comment
Oh hii there.It's a beautifull article. I'm proud I'm from Transylvania. I think this is an olt article because that "Romaninian Lei" it's no more 10.000 now it's only 1 :). Oh anyway good luck.