So home last night was an old converted shoe factory. The owner, an Italian biker from Tuscany, expanded production into Romania and then shortly afterwards shut down the factory and converted it into apartments, gymnasium, dance studios and cafe. Initially his son, who now runs the place, had been a little put out that I insisted on a twin room not a double which he claimed was extra, however as soon as he saw that we had arrived on bikes, as an ex biker himself plus his Dad was a biker, he waived all extra costs and broke into tales of all of his old bikes. Better still on checking out this morning still very chatty he insisted on buying us coffee before we left.
We set off, but only 10 yards out of the apartment complex and we were met with our first diversion, a broken down tram blocking our way. Navigating around and staying off the main roads we headed east towards our final destination for the day, Sibiu. The Romanian villages were characterized by a single road passing through farmland with small, mainly single story houses on either side of the road, many farming the land behind their houses. In front of the houses the rough ground had also been put to good use with parked cars, old and new, tractors, various agricultural machinery, chicken coops, grazing buffalo, and lots and lots of dogs, as we found out, all free to roam. This in itself became quite challenging; as we slowed down to go through the villages we would often be faced with dogs running out into the road barking and chasing the bikes as we rode slowly along the road.
The roads were also extremely interesting, varying in surface from gravel surfaces, deep ruts and pot holes to smooth black tarmac. Between the villages was mainly arable farming with various crops, but occasionally we would come across huge herds of sheep, spilling over onto the edges of the road. We would slow down to a sedentary speed as we passed them, but the lorry drivers obviously more used to sharing the roads with sheep, would pass them at their standard speed of about 80kmh a few feet away from them.
Just as we were ready for a coffee the road ahead closed and we were diverted down a rough single lane gravel track running parallel with the train line. Making our way over the undulating loose gravel and having to manouver through a narrow tunnel with about 6 inches of mud and water underfoot just wide enough for a car to pass under the railway line with about 30 minutes of un planned off-road experience we got back on the road to Sibiu. Shortly after we stopped at a very Romanian rural cafe being met with very suspicious looks as we sat down. We seemed to be the only people there that 1. weren’t smoking. 2 weren’t drinking beer and 3 weren’t eating huge pieces of meat and cabbage as quickly as we could. By the time we had finished our coffee it appeared that several pigs and cabbages had been devoured on the table opposite.
Romanian cafe with dodgy toilets.
At about 2:45pm we arrived in Sibiu, a lovely historic town in Transylvania. Having skipped breakfast we were by now a little peckish so we pulled up at Charlie’s coffee shop. We were not disappointed and for the princely sum of £12 we left watered and fed with us both commenting how great the food was. Whilst eating we took the time to look at accommodation but with the weather forecast still very changeable and only a few pounds difference between camping and cheap digs, we booked a small room about 5 mins walk from the centre. After the help with directions from a local gent, out for a stroll with his bottle of jack daniels in case he got thirsty, we found the hotel, secured the bikes and after a quick submariners dhobey (wash without water, but lots of deodorant) we headed into town to explore.
