The rest of Romania and going South.

29th July

As we'd been moving campsites daily for what felt like weeks we decided we'd stay here a few nights and not do so much driving. An un-interesting day to report really! We did absolutely nothing - read alot, I wrote the blog, we ate and we felt slightly hungover. All other guests left so we had the whole campsite to ourselves which was good. The furthest we moved was to the campsite bar to get a coca cola!

30th July

Got up early to have a day of sight seeing. Pete was feeling a bit poorly though so we ended up having a slow morning and setting out a bit later. Drove to Bran; 30km south of Brasov with supposedly the best Dracula type castle in all of Romania, according to two guidebooks. Drove the short drive there, trying not to crash into all the insane drivers in the city (cannot emphasise how incredibly bad and dangerous and infuriating Romanian drivers are by the way. By far the worst we've seen.) Got to Bran and parked amoungst hundreds of other tourists and walked through stalls piled high with tourist tat to find that we didn't want to pay to see the castle. Had a wander round to get a view, which we just about managed through all the trees, and found it to be quite disappointing anyway. A nice castle but not quite the dark, gothic turreted building we imagined. Oh well. Drove back towards Brasov and decided to stop in Rasnov, which has a citadel ruin high upon the hill behind it. Even from a distance we could tell that this would be better so we walked around and up the hill to see it. The ruins were really pretty and had stunning views of the surrounding area. A few little shops selling tourist stuff but nothing on Bran. We had a lovely hour or so looking around and then made our way back towards the campsite. Chilled evening doing the blog. Lots of rain in the night.

 

Bran Castle. ^

 

 

Rasnov citadel.^

 

 

 31st July

Woke up to find everything soaking - we hadn't been bothered to get out in the night and save our stuff from the rain. Packed up anyway and headed west towards Fagaras. According to our road map there was a campsite just at the top of the Transfagarasan Pass (which we want to do tomorrow). We headed there slightly doubtful of whether it would exist and ended up driving through some back streets and around a small village deciding it was no hope. We smiled at a man staring at us in the street and he smiled and he asked 'camping?' and gave us intructions how to get there. Yay! Absolutely lovely campsite. Its run by a foreigner who has just done the place so well with a library where you can book swap, good internet and a big paddeling pool. Couldn't ask for more. Spent the afternoon playing frisbee, having a swim and hoping that the clouds would clear for our mountain drive tomorrow.

 

Some nice churches we saw on the drive. ^

 

The campsite by sunset.^　

1st August

So happy to wake up to clear blue skies! Today we are driving Top Gear's voted 'Best road in the world'. We set off early to avoid traffic and we think this paid off as we ascended the mountain pretty much by our selves. The mountains were incredible even when approaching them. They shoot up above a plain so they dominate the whole horizon. The first 20 kilometers or so was through the trees - very windy and pretty, but then we got to the bottom of the open stretch. There are gorgeous grassy mountain tops and a crazily curvy road that from the top you can look down on, just like a car advert (we actually saw one being shot whilst driving up!). Stopping at every opportunity to take photos we slowly made our way to the top. WEX wasn't feeling too pleased at the end, but happily cruised down the other side. We had a very early lunch when we thought we'd got to the bottom of the mountain and then found that the scenic road carried on further along a big lake. We were looking for camping spots - we wanted to try our hand at free camping today - and we came across a beautiful area on a river for camping for only 10 lei (2 pounds) and we set up there. A few families arrived to picnic and the sun was shining and we felt safe. Early evening a ranger came round in his car so we could pay and he told us we could stay the night but to move further away from the bins as bears might come in the night! And then a young Romanian couple picnicing next to us moved their car further down the river and told us we should move too because of the bears. When we asked 'are they big bears?' he said 'big enough'. It was still light so we made dinner where we were and then moved with the others. Really lovely evening camped amoungst the trees with the Romanian couple booming out pop music and a Romanian family with little kids cooking dinner in the dark. Pete made a great fire and we sat up late watching it and staring at the stars. At one point the Romanian guy came and asked us to take a photo of him and his girlfriend and as a gift gave us two beers! He was very friendly and just before they went to sleep he came over and told us to wake him if we had any problems. After a few hours of sitting out one of the wild dogs chilling next to us started barking alot towards the woods. Then we heard what could only have been the cry of a bear barking back. We could hear the bear in the trees and we were thinking this was really cool and feeling safe by our fire when we saw the Romanian family all pack up and get in there car. We thought we better do the same and we got in a van and listened to the bear and dog argue! It stopped after a while and we got back out and finished our beers by the fire. Very exciting to hear a bear that close! One of our best days so far.

 

 

 

 

The road! ^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Campsite. ^

 

 

Moved away from the bears.^

 

 

Scenic loo.^

 

 

Petes very well prepared fire. ^

 

 

2nd August

We were prepared for quite a long drive today. We had looked up on the internet for a campsite in the south of Romania and found there was only one; in a town called Alexandria. We set off early to get there for our last night in Romania before crossing the border to Bulgaria. The land flattened out in the south so the drive was okay. One interesting thing we saw was loads of Roma's camping at the sides of the road in proper horse drawn wooden wagons, straight out of a western film. They had pots and pans and chairs hanging off the outside and they were all full with cute kids. We assumed there must be seasonal work down here as corn was growing as far as the eye could see. We had a quick lunch in a lay-by whilst struggling in the ridiculous heat. As we approached Alexandria we weren't feeling too hopeful. It was a big industrial city and there were no camping signs, even if there were we didn't think it would be the nicest place to stay anyway. So we carried on, and the only place left to go was to the border. We got to a very strange town that seemed only to be a massive power plant and a ferry crossing the Danube river to Bulgaria. There was no one to talk to about the ferry and finally, when a truck arrived, a little man came out and we managed to find out that the ferry went at half five. It was nearly three o'clock now and we decided we would wait. One other Czech family came in a camper but apart from them it was all trucks. We must have chosen the wierdest border crossing ever. After sitting for an hour and a half in stifling heat with the only shade being in van, which is a hot box, we eventually got on to the ferry - which was more of a floating car park - and got to Bulgaria. There was some confusion as to whether we should be weighed with the lorries but apart from that the passport control were really friendly; I think they're not used to tourists crossing here! We needed to buy a vignette (road tax) and went to a petrol station to do so where they spoke no English at all but were very smily and helpful. The Bulgarians seem by far the friendliest people we've met so far! We went towards two towns with camping signs on the map and, although we went a slight detour, we got there in the end. The detour was down to the fact that road signs are in Cryllic so very hard to understand, especially when hidden behind a tree as they so often are over this way! The detour was amazing though - over rolling fields of old sunflowers whose yellow was excentuated by the colour of the setting sun. We got to the town of Bjala and found no campsite. Then we drove 6 kilometers down a track to the other town of Borovo and found no campsite there either. When we asked the locals they looked very confused. We were very hot and very tired by now and didn't know what to do. We thought we could at least get some money out and get some beer and some bread and then just park somewhere. We had no idea where a cashpoint might be so we decided to ask a local. After lots of him not being able to give us directions we finally let him get in the van to show us the way. I got out with him and he walked with me down a small side road to a cashpoint and almost helped me press the buttons to get the money out! I was a bit weary but after he'd taken me back to the van and shaken our hands we were just so bemused by his helpfulness! That wouldn't happen at home. So, very tired but in good spirits we headed out towards the country side and happened to find a small track into a meadow where we were hidden from the road. Perfect. Sat up a while drinking beer and looking at actually the most incredible stars we've seen yet until we got scared into the van by what sounded like it might be a wolf. Probably a dog, but anyway we fell asleep instantly.

 

Ferry. ^

 

Our first scenic view of Bulgaria. ^

 

Lovely countryside. ^

 

Free camp! ^

 

3rd August

We were woken up at about eight o'clock this morning by two farmers knocking on our window wondering what we were doing. We tried to explain we'd just slept here one night and now we are going and they seemed to understand. We quickly brushed our teeth and packed up and went on our way. After a coffee in Bjala we got back to the main road and headed south towards Velinko Turnovo - which is where we will be starting our helpx tomorrow. I had heard of campsite online, a few kilometers north of the town, run by an English guy who'd been here six years. It sounded great and after only an hour of driving we found it - never got to a campsite before 10am before! The place was amazing - set next to a lazy river with a communal kitchen/living area and lots of land, it was exactly what we wanted. Spent the whole day doing not much in the heat and appreciating it as we will start working tomorrow! Pete did a spot of fishing in the river, with no luck of course, and we lazed about and chatted with Cliff, the owner, and a few other volunteers that work here. Actually Cliff knows our helpx hosts and says we'll have a great time. Couldn't have come to a better place, we're just sad we can't stay longer.

 

Pete swimming in the river. ^

 

Rural Romania.

17th July

Set off from Mako towards Romania. Couldn't believe the instant difference over the border. As soon as we'd crossed we were bombarded with touts shouting and waving at us trying the sell us road tax, there were people selling stuff and children begging through the car windows when you were stopped at traffic lights, people riding horse and carts loaded with hay and their entire family and prostitutes at the side of the road. Although it was exciting to be somewhere new and very different, the drive was horrible. We must have chosen a main truck route because we were stuck between huge lorries driving like lunatics the whole day. For lunch we had a sandwich made in the back of the van whilst sitting in a traffic jam. The countryside was very pretty but we saw no campsite signs for hours, the only places to stay were truck stops which we definitely didn't fancy after the services incident. It was about seven o'clock when we saw our first campsite sign and followed a track through a village off the main road. (Roughly somewhere between Deva and Sebes.) The campsite was lovely, the owner sounded exactly like Dracula and we were so happy to get out the van! First things first we went into the village for our first Romanian beer. Rather than bars or cafes they just have tables and chairs outside the mini market. We had a couple of beers whilst watching the farmers on horse and carriage and the cows passing. All the people were very smiley and friendly, especially the old ladies sitting out the fronts of the houses, and we were liking Romania already. After a few beers we went back to the camp, cooked dinner and watched two owls hunting a few meters away. (The clocks are another hour ahead here so it is light until after ten o clock.) Lovely end to a long day.

 

Lots of the telegraph poles have stalks nests on top like this one. ^

Two owls! ^



18th July

Today we headed towards the town Sibiu, supposedly a pretty Transilvanian town. Thankfully the drive wasn't long and there were campsite signs as soon as we got to the town. Although it wasn't a town it was quite a big city with loads of roundabouts and the campsite was about 8 kilometers away in a village called Cisnadioara. This suited us fine though as we were surrounded by beautiful countryside instead. There was a big paddling pool which we dunked in because it was so hot and we relaxed in the campsite for the afternoon. Later we went for a wander to the village to see what was going on. There was a five year old boy driving a huge quad bike around the square which was a bit worrying and the locals here were definitely not as smily as last nights village, especially not the guy with a gun in his shirt pocket. We sat a people watched in another shop/bar anyway and again took in how rural life in Romania is. We were kept up all night by the neighbours living in caravans on the next field pumping out tunes.

 

 

First campsite in the morning. ^

 

 

Cisnadioara. ^

 

 

 

Also, on the drive today we were laughing at the town name Cunty when we saw that this was the bus going there. :)

 

 

19th July

In the morning we went to the village again and walked a hill to see the small fortified church with lots of graves of German people from the first world war. Apparently there used to be a lot of Germans living in Romania. We could also see from the hill that there was a bigger town a few kilometers away and we decided to walk there as we hadn't been to a cash point yet and we wanted some meat to barbeque. Quite a long, hot walk through scrub land and old apple orchards to the town (I think it was called Cisnadie.) The houses were really pretty but unfortunetly the entire main road had been dug up and was being re-done, although this didn't stop the Romanians from driving over it anyway. We discovered Romanian second hand shops and Pete got some funky swimming shorts and I got an even funkier shirt for less than a pound for both. We went to the supermarket and for lunch we went to a small street stall bakery. They have these things which are just fried dough filled with various things like cheese or jam and they are good. Another long walk back and for dinner we used the communal grill and had delicious pork chops. I had also befriended a fifteen year old German girl staying on the campsite whose family had been holidaying in Romania several times a year for six years. She showed us some photos of them hiking up in the mountains and told us a bit about Romania. Apparently the children here have three months off school in summer so that they can help their family with farming. We have definitaly seen evidence of this driving past entire families using sythes to cut the grass or teenage girls, dressed like English teenage girls, carrying pitch forks down the roads. Kept up again by the loud music next door.

 

 

 

 

 

20th July

 

Today we drove to Sighisoara, the birth place of Vlad the Impaler aka Dracula. We took a smaller road this time and the drive was stunning. The rolling hills are so lush and green you just want to lean out and stroke them! We drove through tiny villages waving at the farmers and the old ladies dressed in black woolen jumpers in thrity degree heat. We had some trouble finding a campsite as for some reason the owner made the smallest sign we've ever seen, but finally we did find it and it was pretty much the car park of a huge public swimming pool. But it was right in town and we got access to the pool so we thought it was alright for one night. Went out to look around the town. The old part of the town is on top of a hill and is really beautiful. We saw Draculas house (now a tourist restaurant) and walked to the top of the bigger hill to see the church. Quite touristy but very pretty town for an afternoon. We also saw a proper little raggamuffin boy steal a purse off a little girl and some Romanian tourists shouting 'police police' at him. Seen a few kids like that and they are very very cute, we think mostly they are Roma as they are dark and look like Indian children. We got a beer in a nice little bar - actually a bar this time, set up for tourists - under the shade of a willow tree and went back for a swim. In the evening the campsite got completely full and we met our new Swiss neighbours who had actually been on the previous campsite too. They loved our van and kept giving us compliments and taking photos, which of course we loved! A german couple came over for a chat too and when we found out it was Margit (the Swiss ladys) birthday everyone bought their chairs over and we had a little party! We offered whiskey and our cherry liquer and the Germans offered Romanian Palinka (like moonshine) which they got from a farmer and it was very very strong. Pete also managed to put his pipe to use again as Tao (the Swiss man) was a fully fledged pipe smoker for fifty years! The Germans also told us about a few villages they had visited in the north which sounded really nice and bit more 'off the beaten track' so we decided that we would head there in the morning.

 

 

A few pictures from the drive. ^

 

 

Dracula's house. ^

 

 

Pete and Dracula. ^

 

 

At the campsite. In the evening the entire sky was covered with crows - very 'Transilvanian'. ^

 

Tao and Pete smoking their pipes. ^

 

21st July
 

The campsite that the German couple had talked about was in a town called Sapanta all the way north on the Ukranian border. This was very far so we thought we'd head that way and have a nights stop about half way. Another beautiful drive through more gorgeous country side and picturesque villages which was nice and enjoyable for about the first six hours. After that the next four hours were tiring and stressful as we cursed leaving the beaten track to find there are no campsites. Anywhere. Aside from stopping for lunch next to a river, which wasn't as idyllic as it sounds as the Romanians leave litter where ever they go, we didn't stop driving for over ten hours! We were wishing we hadn't listened to the Germans when finally we came to the campsite and found it was at least quite nice and we parked up right next to a very pretty river. We were exhausted and ate tinned goulash and rice for dinner and welcomed Tao and Margrit, our Swiss friends from last night, when they arrived looking as worn out as us. We didn't know they were coming but obviously they had listened to the Germans too. All too knackered to socialise we went to bed. We were all ready to sleep and we closed the van sliding door and, just to end the day perfectly, it bloody fell off! We couldn't believe it! We managed to hang it on and we would deal with it in the morning.

 

A few more driving pictures. ^

 

22nd July
 

Today we had a day of sorting stuff. With some help from Tao we managed to get the van door back on and I sewed us a new seat for our deck chair as ours had fallen through the bottom. (Maybe all this cheap second hand stuff isn't as good as it looks!) Had a lovely relaxed day in the campsite, which was really very nice - surrounded again by hills and the constant sound of the river. We had a walk in the fields on the other side of the river and got in the water, which was freezing but just what you wanted on such a hot day. We sat right in the current so it was like having a massage. After a lunch time beer and a siesta we went to the campsite restaurant for dinner. The campsite is five pounds a night so we thought we could afford to treat ourselves. We got a lovely beef stew and a traditional Romanian dish which is minced meat and rice and stuff wrapped in cabbage, which was surprisingly delicious. Both served with mashed polenta, also traditional here. Lovely day!

 

 

 

A morning visit to the campsite from some horses. ^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of WEX from the otherside of the river. ^

 

 

Our stew had been cooking all day. ^

 

23rd July

 

Went for a short walk along the track to the end of the village in the morning and saw the farmers tending their veg gardens. I made a picnic and we set off following the river out of town towards the hills. There were trees both sides so we did some scrambling and waded through the river and over the rocks. Very pretty! Stopped for lunch on a little rocky patch in the sunshine and kept on up the river. The sides opened out to a lovely grassy area where we stopped and watched the horses and cow grazing. We hadn't made it to the hills but we'd been walking over an hour and thought we'd gone quite far. But on the way back we followed the road instead and got back in about five minutes! After a rest and a wait until the sun had cooled down slightly we got the bikes off the roof and rode to the village. Because everyone has farms and land villages stretch on for miles along a single road usually, so it was actually quite a long cycle until we came to the church where the stalls and cafes were. We found a shop and bought some chicken for dinner and then got a beer and a cheese filled dough thing in a little shop/bar. We have seen a few of the ladies here sitting out the fronts of their houses spinning wool by hand and around the church there are loads of stalls selling beautiful traditional woolen rugs. We asked how much, just out of interest, and when we found they were only twenty pounds we thought we couldn't not! They would be hundreds at home! We didn't have enough money but we promised the lady that we'd come back in the morning. After this we had a look in the church, just because it was there, and we found the most incredible graveyard I've ever seen. Instead of stone the headstones are carved from wood and have painted pictures of the person and a long passage of writing underneath saying what they did in their lives (we think anyway, they were in Romanian obviously.) I can't explain properly but they were so cool and there are photos below. We cycled all the way back to the campsite and had a great barbeque for dinner using the communal grill again. All the campsites have them here and it saves us cleaning our own! After dinner we had a drink with Tao and Margrit and said goodbye as they were heading off towards Hungary in the morning. They own a B&B in Switzerland which they invited us to stay in if we are passing which looks beautiful in the mountains, so that's definitely put Switzerland in the plans.

 

Picnic spot.^

 

 

 

 

The graveyard. ^

  

24th July
    

We were leaving today as well and we got up early to set off. We of course went back to buy our rug and the lady was very very happy and even gave us a free magnet. The next destination was to see one or two of the monasteries, but that was a long drive away and we had seen a sign for a campsite about half way there in a town called Borsa. The drive was another nice one through lovely countryside and near Borsa it started becoming more mountainous. Romania definitely has some of the best scenery we've seen so far. We also stopped on the way to buy some ceps from a girl and her dad selling them on the side of the road. We have seen a few people selling huge amounts of mushrooms. We got six big ones for less than a pound, although the man wanted us to take both buckets full and give him our bikes! We got to Borsa and followed the camping sign and found it was a small place to camp in a families back garden. It had a nice grill and sitting area with old, rusty tools hanging on the wall and dried flowers hanging from the ceiling. The owner had given us a little booklet in English and we realised we were right at the bottom of 'the tallest mountain in Northern Romania'. We thought we better go and have a look then and walked through the village, up towards the mountain. Of course we weren't going to climb it but we had a lovely walk seeing more five year old kids on motorbikes and picking wild thyme and chamomile. We had an incredible dinner of cep, wild thyme and pine infused risotto with pork chops. (Pete used pine needles in the stock so it tasted of the area we were in.) Yum yum. We even finished with barbequed chocolate bananas for pudding! We're definitely not starving out here.

 

 

Ceps! ^

 

 

25th July

  

If we thought Romania was pretty before it is stunning now. We drove through amazing pine forests winding up through the mountains towards the town of Guru Humorului. We had our morning coffee on top of a mountain, where actually it was quite cold. The drive was beautiful but the road was not. The pot holes were not to be underestimated, some of them over a foot deep and completely unavoidable. It was slow moving along there. And then where they had started to fix this problem we some how managed to find ourselves driving over wet tarmac. Luckily the pot holes later on bashed the tarmac off the tyres again! We saw more people selling mushrooms and people living in little shacks in the mountains. We were amazed at the amount of mushrooms everyone seemed to have so we decided to have a look ourselves. In about ten minutes walking we found several ceps and a few chanterelles. We also found wild strawberries and blueberries. Pete was in heaven. After a good few hours of slow driving and stopping for walks we got to Guru Humorului. This town has two famous monasteries so I assumed it would have a camp site. I was wrong. We drove around looking for signs, tried the tourist information - which was closed - and finally ended up driving to Voronet Monastery because we didn't know what else to do. We asked the man selling parking tickets where we could camp and he pointed us to a large grassy area we had seen whilst driving around the town. We got a coffee and asked the waiter about camping and he pointed us to the same place. We had heard about 'free camping areas' in Romania and this must be one of them. We stopped there and set up and ate scrambled egg with chanterelles on bread which was great. But for some reason we both felt there was something creepy about the place and after a while we decided that we couldn't relax and we drove off again. After another hour or so of driving, including following a sign saying 'camp' for four kilometers down a tiny, pot holed dirt track to a bloody kids summer camp, we finally saw a sign saying 'camping' with a picture of a tent and a camper. It even had two stars! We were happy! Followed another long dirt track through a suburb of the town Campulung Moldovenesc, following the signs. We were stopped twice on the way, once by a car of lads coming the other way telling us the campsite was no good and to follow them to a better camp site. We didn't fully trust them and wanted to see for ourselves and carried on. Then we were stopped by a car full of Orthodox Christian Priests shouting at us. Not sure what they wanted. We got to the so called campsite to find a semi circle of huts with a paved drive in the middle. Not exactly what we called two star camping but by this time it was getting dark and we didn't care anymore. The owner came out, he was a grumpy, miserable old man, and was extremely surprised to see us. It was as if he didn't know he had a camp site. He was rude and really un welcoming and Pete tried to be nice by offering him a whiskey, but he refused. He was just an all round arsehole. It started to rain after an hour or so so we got into our van and got cosy and read Roald Dahl short stories.

 

 

 

 

 

10 minutes searching! ^

 

 

'Campsite'. ^   

26th July
 

Did not wave goodbye to the arsehole and drove off early from the worst place we've stayed so far. As we'd come all this way to see a monastery we thought we better see one, even though it it involved driving back the way we came. We chose Moldovita Monastery. The reason the monasteries in this area are famous is because they are covered inside and out by brightly coloured paitings of stories from the Bible done in the 1400s. It was really amazing. Spent a while looking at the pictures, trying to work out the stories, then set off again towards Vatra Dornei, heading south again now. We knew there was a campsite here from our road map and Pete was not up for another full day driving so we stopped here for a night. It was an average campsite in quite a big town, but it was a fine place to rest. There was a little bit of rain in the afternoon and when it stopped we thought we should go and have a look in the town. There were more second hand shops and Pete got the best shirt anyone has ever seen for about 30p. The town was okay, not much to see - definitely not picturesque - and we wondered why there was a campsite here of all places! We'll never know. Anyway we had a nice evening drinking and eating.

 

Moldovita Monastery. From a postcard and from outside - no photos inside.

 

 

Watermelon picnic and view from driving. ^

 

 

27th July
 

I had read on a blog about Bicaz Gorge and Lacu Rosu (Red Lake) and thought they looked like places we should visit. I wasn't exactly sure of where they were but I guessed the gorge would be near Bicaz town so we headed there. A nice drive - on good roads - towards Lake Izvorul Muntelui, a huge artificial lake before the town of Bicaz. It was a beautiful lake with a view of a huge mountain on the other side and although there was obviously no where to camp we stopped in a lay-by with a good view for lunch. We carried on the road towards Lacu Rosu and it all got quite touristy with shops and people everywhere - mostly Romanian. Just as I was thinking we must have taken the wrong road and we'd missed the gorge there it started. It was really amazing with huge over hangs on the road. We stopped a couple of times so Pete could have a look rather than just concentrating on avoiding the pot holes and sheer edges. It was quite busy with cars but I think worth it. We carried on down the road really hoping there would be somewhere to stay in this beautiful place and this time we were in luck. It was another campsite in a families back garden but it was absolutely perfect - simple with just a field and surrounded by forest. We went for a short walk in the forest and found an old logging truck that had fallen off a track and tipped upside down. Creepy. Then we walked about a kilometer down the road to Lacu Rosu and a supermarket. Lacu Rosu is a summer destination for the Romanians so it was quite busy with families and people hanging out having fun. We found some sausages for dinner, had a beer then headed back to the campsite for the evening. Used the grill again for dinner and were tired and had an early night. 

 

Lunch. ^

 

 

In Bicaz Gorge. Cannot do it justice in the photos. ^

 

 

 

28th July

 

Today we are going back into Transilvania to the city of Brasov. It was quite a long road but thankfully it is a main road and is in good condition so the drive was actually quite fast. Not as scenic as what we're now used to but nevermind. Uneventful really except that we got stopped by the police and asked to show our passports. We don't know why, we guessed they were looking for something they could fine us for, but they just asked where we were going and sent us on our way. We arrived in Brasov, which is actually a massive city, with only a map in a guide book and an arrow towards the general direction of the campsite. Spent a while getting confused and annoyed in all the tiny one way streets and decided we would just leave the city and find somewhere else to go. Luckily the campsite was on the road we had chosen! It is six kilometers away from the centre but it's actually quite nice - not just a car park like many other city campsites. We were a bit grumpy after driving around and around a huge city so decided just to do nothing for the evening. We'd bought steak from the huge supermarket we went to and had a great dinner. We've been eating very well in Romania! Our neighbour campers were Jean-Claude and Colette from France who, before dinner, offered us a whiskey. Later on when Colette had gone to bed Jean-Claude invited us over to drink Palinka, he had two flavours - plum and cherry. Chatted with him a while and he told us about free camping in Europe (they are in their seventies and doing this) and how he has met so many lovely Romanians. We still plan to stay in Romania until our helpx in August so we would love to try free camping. He even gave us a specific place to go so we can try it. We also got an offer from him of a place to stay in Bordeaux if we pass. After he'd gone to bed we stayed up drinking more and got too drunk after mixing so many drinks!