Sunday 5th September mileage 8508 Targu Jiu Romania

Went to bed quite early last night and then was woken at about 11pm by a firework display in the hotel nearby.  Decided to stay in my warm sleeping bag and just imagine the display !!

Had a fitful night, gradually getting colder, but not cold enough to do anything about it.   Up early and showered and packed.  Had to dry the tent with th big towel as the sun was not going to reach my tent for another few hours.   Just ready to go and then  wow diarrhea.  I was feeling fine, no pains at all, and not expecting that!!

Set off to do the Tranfagarasan highway across the carpathian mountains and chose to go via a back route towards Sibiu and cut off two sides of a triangle.  Got lost at the first village, tomtom does not have detailed mapping in Romania.  I was parked at a three way junction looking at a map when a dustcart vehicle pulled up alongside me and the driver gestured to ask where I wanted to go.  I pointed on the map, and he indicated it was behind me.  He then indicated to follow him and he proceeded to wind his way around side streets and after about 5 mins stopped at a junction and indicated which direction and held up fingers to indicate 18 which I assumed to be km.  What a road !!  There were potholes everywhere and it was quite difficult not to hit at least some of them. 

At one time I hit a pot hole and the side pannier openned !!  Don't think I lost anything!!   Eventually found my way back onto the main road and pulled in for some petrol.  There was another Suzuki V-Strom parked amongst the bikes, and so I got a cup of coffess and went and talked to the bikers.  In conversation it appeared they were going to do the Tranfagarasan highway as well.

Set off ahead of the other riders and made my way to the road 7C which is the start of the Tranfagarasan highway, the road that was built by the Romanian military to ensure they could mobilise their heavy tasnks etc., towards the russian border should they invade Romania as they had done to Czecheslovakia in 1968.
At the first scenic point met up again with the Romanian bikers (Bolu, Motah and Inula) and agreed we would ride together.

After a couple of stops I was getting the distinct body language from Inula that she would rather not be going through all the language problems of having me tag along, so I struck out on my own again ( Billy no friends!!)  At the highest point there were clouds again, but as you went down the south side the weather improved and there are great views of the road winding it's way down the mountain.

 There was an impressive dam on the south side of the mountain, and lower down there was the hydro-generators powered from the water.

There were donkeys stood right in the middle of the road and refusing to move.  They had worked out that as people pass they stroke them and feed them.

Once down from the mountain, the road around the lake on the south side is very bumpy and potholed.   By the time I had completed this section my arse was sore from all the bumps, it was a joy to eventually get back onto smooth tarmac.
Reset tomtom for a town near the Romanian, Serbia border called Dobretta Turnu-Severin, with about another 250km to go.  Stopped at a town called Targu-Jiu about 85km short of chosen destination.

Hotel ok and clean.  Decided to try a speciality of the area without knowing exactly what it was.  It was wet parcels of pork wrapped in filo pastry and accompanied by sauerkraut and cold chicken in jelly.  Ah well you get what you ask for !! Ate the pork and sauerkraut !!

There is another wedding on and the music looks to be going to continue below my room for some time !!

More later

TOR