Romania...............

Saturday July 5

Left Ploiesti and headed towards Bran, home of Vlad the Impaler. Stopped off at a castle overlooking Brasnov. Very impressive.

Another long walk to the top of a steep hill. Had a good look around the hilltop village and back to the bikes to head off to Bran. Arrived in Bran to see thousands of tourists flocking around Dracula souvenir shops.......... time to ride on. We had been told by various bikers we had met that we should ride the Fagaras Pass. It was a bit out of our way, but we headed off. This road was built in the 80s and has had bad repairs ever since. Over a 100km of bone jarring potholes and ripples that shook the bikes and us to pieces. The views were great, but you were afraid to take your eyes off the next couple of metres of road. It was the weekend, so all along the road were camped Romanians. Right beside the road in large clusters........ weird. The road began to climb and the surface improved a little. Then a series of switch backs and a huge climb. It became the road across the Carpathian Mountains. Absolutly magnificent views, better than Austria. The ride down the other side was far steeper than the ride up. The wind was extremely stong and the road grooving made it a little unpleasant for me......... but great. Probably the most spectacular road I've ridden ( or driven). The day was ended staying at a seedy motel at the back of another service station. Beer and potato crisps and left over sausage for dinner.