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Romania


There was no problem at the border. Entering Romania was a bit of a surprise though. As you can see,... This picture, like the previous one, show the village of Bulgarus. Unfortunately, you can't really s... The road out of Bulgarus. Most of the traffic around here is horse-drawn. More cows and a train outside a village amusingly called Sandra. Some kind of monument just outside Biled. The botanic gardens in Timisoara. The market in Timisoara. Outside Timisoara station. Timisoara's North Station which, slightly confusingly, is to the south-west of the city centre. The hotel was a bit of a surprise. It's stuffed throughout with antique furniture and paintings. Sor... The view from my skylight. Timisoara is where the revolution started and many of the roads are now n... "I've got fourteen thousand forints in my fridge," to mis-quote Eric Idle. This is Hungari... Lugoj. I don't know what's in that pipe. Here's another view of Lugoj, featuring a good selection of Romanian Dacia cars. A furniture shop. I just thought it looked a bit odd with that big arch there. These mountains have just appeared out of the haze. Apart from riding up to the hotel in Bratislava,... One of the many graves by the roadside. I don't know if they are for people who were killed on the r... Another horse-drawn cart and another Dacia overtaking it. Romanians will overtake pretty much anywhe... The mountains are a bit easier to see now. These haystacks are a common sight throughout Romania. There's a picture of one on the cover of my g... I didn't expect to reach Caransebes on the bike. The wheel was turing very stiffly this morning and ... I don't know what this dancing was supposed to be. The music coming out of those big speakers was <i... More barbecues. They look rather appetising. Another view of Caransebes. Aha! There's the hotel. I was starting to think I would have to park the bike somewhere and call a t... Have you seen enough views from hotel windows yet? Here's another one. And another. Now look at this. All this can be yours for just £13·50 a night including a large en-suite bathroom ... More haystacks, this time near Bucosnita. Markers like the red one here appear every kilometre on al... These will be the mountains I have to cross then. The view from the Poarta Orientala pass. It's a shame that it's a bit misty. Another view from the Poarta Orientala. Another view of some hills. Following this valley should bring me back to the Danube. Baile Herculane is apparently a high-class spa resort. This is the closest I got to it though. Toplet. I've found my way back to the Danube at last, at a place called Orsova. Another view of the Danube. The road and railway running along the Romanian side of the river. They are good if you like bridges... The <i>Iron Gates</i> dam. It was created to remove the dangerous rapids from this section of the ri... Another view from another hotel. This one is in Drobeta-Turnu Severin. That's the fire station on th... It's the next morning and still raining. The forecast shows that it will continue for days. The news... Not much to do except sit here and watch the barges. The extent to which I can see the Serbian shore... A queue at the Bank. It's now Tuesday morning and I'm getting out of here. It's not actually raining... This is the last glimpse I got of the bike. Can you see it? The station in Drobeta-Turnu Severin as it is now... ...and as it should be soon. This is George Enescu Square in Bucharest on Wednesday morning The big building with the domes is th... Revolution Square. On the right is the Senate, which was the Communist Party building before the rev... This is the Cismigiu garden. There is supposed to be a lake in the park but not here. I would see a ... The canal in Bucharest. The Palace of Parliament, the third largest building in the world. It's still commonly known as the ... Bucharest, seen from outside the Palace of Parliament. My guidebook mentions something about guided ... The National Institute of Statistics, boasting an impressive array of air conditioners. The front of the Palace of Parliament. It seems a bit cheeky of them to be flying a European Union f... Unirii Boulevard, once known as the <i>Boulevard of the Victory of Socialism</i>, another of the dic... The Unirea Shopping Centre. It looks like a bleak Soviet-style concrete institution from here but in... Unirii Square, outside the shopping centre. This is University Square, where the worst massacre of the revolution took place. The woodden cross ... University Square, dominated by the Intercontinental Hotel. Under the clock in the middle is a displ... Another couple of Bucharest buildings. I don't really know what this building is but there's some kind of filming going on outside it. The view up Aviatorilor Boulevard from Victory Square. I'm glad I didn't try cycling here; the traff... The Government Building in Victory Square. The <i>Arcul de Triumf</i>. I really am starting to think that Romanian is just French without the s... Herastrau Park in the rain on a Thursday morning in the Autumn. I'm pretty much the only visitor. Bu... The Press House, with its unashamedly Communist design, where many of Bucharest's journalists still ... Still in the park. Still raining. The <i>Village Museum</i>, one of Europe's oldest open-air museums. The description of it in my guid... Some of the styles of traditional Romanian house represented in the museum. Actually, they aren't as... I couldn't work out if I was meant to look inside the houses. Most of them were locked and the other... More exhibits plus some spare thatch and, bizarrely, a fairground carousel. There were also a lot of... More of the Village Museum. The view down Victory Road from the Arch. My guidebook also said that the arch was open to the publi... Nice weather. I saw traffic signals like these in places from Budapest to Istanbul. People crossing the road on th... The Russian Orthodox <i>Student Church</i>. Bucharest's main station, the "Gara de Nord". Another view of the "Gara de Nord". The Istanbul train should be here any minute now. My cabin on the train. It's designed for three people but no luggage so it was fortunate that I got ... More dogs. These ones chased the train when it moved off but it's rather less worrying to have that ... The bridge From Giurgiu to Ruse in Bulgaria. When the road on the left gets high enough, it will tak... This will be the last time I see the Danube. It's become very wide now. In the middle there are thre...