Romania de Luxe

On waking I ate some muesli, and brewed some very strong coffee for all 3 of us. Then we got packed up and rolled down the hill to the Danube, just in time to welcome a literal boat-load of German tourists disembarking.

Within seconds German was being spoken everywhere, and Leo was soon surrounded by enthralled listeners as he recounted what for me was becoming a very familiar spiel describing our journeys.

I fell in love with the baker woman and vowed to marry her when I return to Donji Milanovac. Don't be surprised if this blog yields similar amorous declarations in the future, however!

The ride was pretty easy today, with just one big hill, in the Iron Gates natural park. I had heard about the giant face, but was unprepared on meeting it, even from the opposite side of the Danube, for its enormity. Wow!

We caught up with the German father and son couple who we've been leapfrogging the last few days, and I rode with the father who is a university professor with a special interest in soil. We had some very interesting chat about soil and civilisation and what is new in the art of managing soil.

Finally we reached the dam that crossed the Danube to Romania, and I saw Leo and Mathias ahead going through customs and immigration but was unable to catch up without jumping the queue, which I was wary of doing. I expected them to wait for me somewhere not far along the road but there was no sign of them, so I sped along the Romanian bank looking out for them. People were shouting stuff at me, not all of it friendly-sounding, and I noticed more horse and carts than in Serbia.

I caught up with Leo and Mat in Drobeta, and gave them both a dressing down before feeling a little guilty that maybe I had over-reacted, but with it purged we were right back to joking around and resolved to organise things a little better next time.

Then we stopped for some drinks with some of Mat's friends who are car-touring Romania, and found a classy hotel that cost a mere €15 or so each incl. breakfast..

First impressions of Romania are that it is much more latin-hued than I expected, although I already knew the language was somewhat similar to Italian. People are mostly very friendly, and everything is so cheap!

Dinner in the restaurant and then my first taste of Romanian beer - all a far cry from the wild-camping freegan ways of the earlier part of this trip!