Three countries to go!

Photo 1 - Most border crossings are all but deserted.

Photo 2 - First flat in almost 3000km - good tires!


Photo 3 - Mmmmm, eat that smog!

Day 47, Sept. 12
Just short of 3000km

The last few days has been a welcome relief of gorgeous scenery and fresh air. We have had 4 or 5 days straight now of heavy traffic and nasty exhaust fumes – we're all coughing the distance now!

We are back with our beloved Danou (or Danube as we know it) and the views as we ride up mountains, are of cliff faces straight down into the river and lush, almost tropical foliage (sorry forgot to bring those photos to the internet cafe...) . We are in more hilly areas now!

We are still having mostly wet, windy days, but the temperatures are definitely warmer.

Today we crossed into Romania and are now in a border city called Severin. So far on our trip, we have experienced no trouble whatsoever at the borders. Today we were even given VIP status and ushered past several waiting cars – must have been the sponsor stickers!

It looked like it was going to be a long wait as the line-up was long and slow-moving. Although we could easily get through with our bikes, we usually like to travel through these crossings with the car and all together. Of course, on the one day when we are able to jump the line, Wally goes missing. One minute he was there, all excited about his energy drink, the next he's not and has left us with his bike. We are literally right at the window of the customs agent, stalling and feeling bad about all the cars behind us, when he casually pops out of nowhere. He had decided to go to Romania to use the toilet....classic Wally, no?

We have been advised, both by our instincts and the Let's Go Europe book, that camping is not a good idea, so we have been hotel-ing it every night for about 2 weeks. Although camping would be nice and is cheaper, there isn't much in the way of nice patches of grass in most places as industry or huge piles of litter occupy all spaces. We have also noticed in these East Block countries that it is sometimes next to impossible to find a restaurant. We have been known to wander around trying not to look like tourists with cameras and wallets, desperately inquiring, “Restaurant???” to anyone who looks in-the-know. When we do find a hotel that has a half-decent restaurant, we are pretty excited.

The food is not quite as spectacular as France and Germany, but it is still okay. We do suffer a bit with breakfast when we are usually offered up white bread and tea (not even coffee seems to be popular and jam and butter are extra), and usually find ourselves gorging on sweet energy bars and bananas when we can find a store.

We had a very affectionate woman bless us at a small, cozy hotel we stayed at a few nights ago. We could hardly understand her, although she did speak a few words of German, which Walter could understand. In the end, we figured out she was telling us to put the little laminated angle she had in her hand in our car so as to avoid car crashes, then she kissed us a lot and stroked our cheeks and hair. It was a little like being nurtured again by our mothers. She was so sweet she even started crying when we left, waving while we rode away following her husband as he escorted us out of town. She gave us gifts, one which deserves a mention – a giant gord, which she told us was over 200 yrs old. We are meant to give it to one of our sponsors. We think. The odds that it doesn't get completely demolished in our over-stuffed vehicle is somewhat slim, but we'll certainly try to keep it in tact so we can send it to you, Brent!