Nick Oakley, Author at Oakley Trips

Another day in Romania a country we are falling in love with. The scenery is magnificent, the villages so different from the UK with a mixture of poverty and affluence side by side. The people are very open and welcoming, nothing like the stereotypical impression we had before we arrived and it’s something that several of them have been keen to tell us.”People think we are gypsies, Romanians are not gypsies” It’s obviously a relatively poor country though, and we see many examples of this from poorly dressed workers riding around on horse and very medieval looking carts; bicycles from the 1960s and houses that look like old barns and seemingly hundreds of wild dogs, but we love it.
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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.

The A682 which a few miles earlier had been good tarmac

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.

We woke this morning after a great night before listening to Hungarian rock music. Andy said we couldn’t get lost, just head towards the music he said. You can’t go wrong he said. Andy was wrong. After finding ourselves a good distance from where we needed to be, we realised that there were two bands playing at opposite ends of the town. Why did I listen to my brother?!!

The land lady’s mum did the outmuster this morning. Initially thinking she spoke a little English it quickly became apparent that no matter what we said her reply was always yes. Do you know what the weather will be like today? Yes. Oh right tell us the worse sunny or rain? Yes. Sunny? Yes. Not raining then? Yes

Our plan today is to travel to Lake Balaton via a great twisty biking road, have breakfast/brunch and then travel East towards Rumania.

Setting off at about 9am and looking forward to sweeping bends and good tarmac it was disappointing to quickly find ourselves behind a 15 vehicle army convoy with army police outriders ensuring no one passed, despite once or twice Andy testing their resolve as he pulled out as if to pass, to be met with sirens and random noises. A change of plan was needed, so we pulled off to have an earlier than scheduled breakfast.

Two coffees, some amazing scrambled egg with pork , onions and pickled cabbage later we resumed our trek towards Lake Baleton. Just starting to enjoy the road that had been recommended on a bikers forum, we again found ourselves travelling at 25 mph behind the army convoy. Luckily 5 miles later they turned off to allow us free passage for the last twenty miles.

We discovered that the lake is the biggest expanse of fresh water in Europe and to the landlocked Hungarians an extremely popular holiday resort. We were not disappointed it was lovely.

We headed for the oldest most fashionable resort on the lake, Balatonfured for a look around. Judging by the magnificent lakeside houses and the big brand fashion shops it reminded us of an up market Mediterranean resort. So dressed in motorbiking gear with socks and boxers washed and visibly drying on the back of our bikes (Nick’s bike) we parked in the poshest area. Oh the looks we got!

It proves Andy knows more about ordering by Americano

After a couple of hours we set off towards Dunaujvárosi on the Danube to camp for the evening. Great open roads crossing huge expanses of agricultural land although a strong breeze ensured we maintained concentration during the ride.

As we started to set up tents we were joined by Alex and his 13 year old son, who it turns out were a displaced Ukrainian family from the East of Ukraine near Kharkiv. They were both really interested in the bikes and a conversation ensued which resulted in Andy and I been invited to join a Hungarian and Ukrainian family tea party consisting of Ghoulash, bread and cakes and lots of shots of Unicom a Hungarian spirit.

Alex and his very clever multi lingual son

A sudden downpour forced us all into the community hall where the hospitality mixed with dancing and more Unicom. The families were so warm and hospitable it was over whelming and unforgettable; such lovely people.

The most lovely welcoming Hungarian and Ukrainian Families. Brilliant!!

We returned to finish off our unpacking and sat contemplating the day with a coffee under the trees.

Luban was great and we sort of wished we had longer there, everyone really pleasant and pleased to chat to us, comfortable hotel and beer at less than £2 a pint, what’s not to love, but onwards we go. Our plan, take advantage of some good biking roads on the way to the Church of Bones in Czech Republic before making our way to a camp site near Brno.

Almost everything went to plan bar a few road diversions and a bridge that had collapsed which kept throwing us off route. We arrived at the church of Bones at about 1pm. Entrance fee of €7 gives you access to two churches. The small chapel where the alter and much of the decorations are made from the bones of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, which, in many cases, been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings, and a larger cathedral, which ignoring the uniqueness of the chapel was an amazing building; huge paintings depicting religious scenes, ornate architecture and the ability to access the huge vaulted roof space to see the fabric of the 13th century building. Unfortunately no photography in the Curch of Bones, meant that the images we’ve included are pinched from the internet.

From the Church of Bones we travelled south east towards Camp Hana near Brno which was our stop for the evening and which lies on the banks of the River Svratka. We witnessed again the difference that european drivers treat motor bikers and cyclists , going out of their way to provide you with room to overtake or filter through in slow moving traffic. Plenty of wildlife along the journey, huge hawks hovering over the roads and fields, wild deer in the fields and a less than friendly terrier which came out of a farm entrance running and barking at Andy’s rear wheel. The camp site we arrived to was very different from the luxury site we were expecting from the web site but never the less adequate for what we needed. After pitching tents and of course the obligatory game of Frisbee we changed and walked into the town of Veverská Bítýška for a few local beers and food. Choosing a beer was exceeding simple and very quick but thank goodness for google translate, without which it would have took us a long time to pick food from the menu which was all in Czech.

After a few hours and beers later we walked back along the river to the campsite for a relatively early night.

In-intentional gay biker pose outside the Church of Bones

After meeting up at Cobham Services on the M25 we made our way in light to heavy rain arriving in Dover in plenty of time for our ferry at 11am. The facilities at Dover are very poor so we resorted to chatting to other drivers in the queue.

Disembarking in Calais to even heavier rain we set off, heading North West up the French Coast before heading East at Bruges and on towards our target destination of Cologne.

A traffic jam just before Dunkirk and terrible weather slowed our progress and so after a stop for fuel and a coffee we decided that Cologne was going to be too far and booked the Hotel Halleux, Banneux, Belgium near to Liege.

We turned up there looking like drowned rats and as everywhere was shut the landlady took pity on us and rustled us up a bowl of spaghetti bolognese and 2 beers.

Well I’ve packed, unpacked, repacked a few times already but I reckon I’ve got everything I’ll need. Anyone who knows me is now thinking that I’m bound to have forgotten something, but as long as it’s not essential, like the frisbee, then I’ll just steal from Andy as I suspect he will be far more organised and unlikely to have forgotten anything, and that’s what brothers are for.

So the plan is, early start, meet Andy at the services on the M25, and then head to Dover to catch the 1105am crossing to Calais. The weather forecast for tomorrow in the UK is atrocious, but in France downright diabolical, not really improving until after Thursday.. It’s a good job I’m so excited to be setting off otherwise this would be a bigger issue for me; I’m expecting to get wet!☔️🌧

Andy and I have been riding motorbikes since we were 16 and although Andy is 4 years younger he got around to passing his bike test several years before I did. Since then we’ve owned a various selection of bikes big and small sometimes having periods without any bikes at all but rarely for long. I think we’ve both owned bikes continuously for about the last 15 years and during that time we’ve tried to go on at least 1 biking adventure together every year. It started off with just a few days away, sometimes in the UK and sometimes into Europe and at various times of the year depending when we could arrange to get time off together.

During that time we’ve often talked about going on a longer trip, but obviously work and family have always got in the way, until now.

The initial plan was to cycle down to Istanbul and then around the Black Sea Coast in Turkey and back through Georgia, Russia and Ukraine but recent events meant a change in plan. So we’re still intending to ride to Istanbul but taking a different route there and back roughly as shown below. However we’re going to remain completely flexible on our plans and so the route, the destination and the time away could change on a daily basis. The site has been written mainly for the benefit of our Dad, George Oakley who is a very young 92 and is as sharp as ever, even if his mobility is not so good. Interested in everything we do, we thought this was a good way of him following our journey and sharing some of our experiences rather than boring him stupid with hundreds of photos when we return. So here goes, you’re all welcome to tune in to see our posts, but bear in mind it’s for our Dad and we’re bikers not professional journalists.

Author: Nick Oakley

Dracula and a Rugby legend in one day

A day of interesting and sometimes challenging diversions.

No matter where you are, there are always lovely people!

Let the Adventure Begin

Wet Wet Wet

All packed and ready to go!

A few days to go – the departure date rapidly approaches at long last!