Unexpected Romania

We left our nice mountain town and headed towards the banks of the Danube for the unusual ferry border crossing at Vidin. We stopped into the town first to get ingredients for a Christmas dinner and use up our lev, (the currency). Despite looking for alternatives for ages and finding an interesting and buzzing outdoor market, (home grown veg and wine, second hand everything, you know the sort, all laid out on rugs) we got everything except the tatties at Lidls. The Bulgaria boarder was fine. There was no snow here and the boarder guards were excited to see so much still on our roof rack and enjoyed a wee snowball fight! We pulled up at the quay expecting, from Internet reports, to be there a good long time. The ferry goes when it's full and we were the ONLY car there.

We were pleased therefore when they ferry turned up quite quickly, laiden with lorries from Romania. We were still the only vehical transported from this side and we had the whole, enormous ferry to ourselves with one other foot passenger! You could see the 60% completed new bridge spanning the incredibly wide river from the crossing and it seemed sad that it would probably spell the end of this ferry service and the jobs of all involved when it opened within the next year. The passport guy on the other side was very nice and spoke good English, he noticed the snow too and said they had only had 40cm in the Romanian ski resorts so far. The next guy, despite I.D. was a bit more random and asked for ten Euros through we're still not sure what for but oh well. He was friendly. We were glad to be over the boarder fairly hassle free compared to the last four crossings.

Entering Romania I was struck straight away by the attractive buildings. I haven't really got a good photo of any of them as we had such a long way to cover to get to our pre booked hostel that we didn't want to stop for pictures so you'll have to make do with these. This church was in the boarder town but is a classic example of the beautiful ones that we found throughout the countryside- they reminded my very much of the mosques throughout Iran- bright and colourful, whatever the village was like and standing out from a distance in the landscape.

Homes were almost all very ornate- bright colours, lots of intricacy in their surface design and in the details like lintels, fencing, roof shapes, stained glass roof bits and lots of Roman columns made from nice rock, often supporting a roof over a small balcony. This gave them a very Roman villa feel. I think I expected a lot more Soviet concrete and down trodden, washed out feel. THese colourful buildings were not only old, so pre dating that whole era but many of the more run down ones were in the process of being renevated and new buildings were often being built in the same style. Many had tacky, cheerful Chisitmas decorations- Santas climbing up walls and giant glowing snowmen, just like in the UK. The Christmas lights we saw in settlements were suprisingly tasteful anc cheering, (unlike Bulgaria's more tasteless chouce of colours and light designs).THe people were dressed as they would be at home, although the hats and coats of the men looked a little more Russian. There are plenty of fancy cars and shops everywhere, including big supermarkets, (again, inlike Bulgaria).There were plenty of horse and carts people were using to transport things but the road surfaces were all good and all in all, it's not what I expected at at all- almost disappoijntingly un exotic but I'm so glad for ROmania that it's doing so well!

At dusk, the almost continuous towns that we were constantly passing through began to smell of wood smoke- at first it was a very comforting homely smell- you can't help but associate it with being somewhere warm and homely, however as the smoke got thicker we turned off the ventilator in the car as it was fairly thick and unpleasant! This is what much of Britain must have been like before the clean air Act!

Our last leg took us along a steep sided river valley with both the road on one side and the railway on the other twisting and turning in sympathy to it's bends. It was a shame that is was so dark by this point, I'm sure there were fantastic views but we could only get a feel of them. Sibiu was a lot bigger than we imagined but our hostel is in a lovely old building right on one of the beautiful squares in the old town. Because it's so empty we have an enormous room all to ourselves, plus on suite! We took a walk about the town where there is a Christmas market- so like Edinburgh or Manchester and doubtless many other places. I even found a nice feeling place to go out and see live music later however, after a filling bowl of macaroni cheese back at the hostel, (special treat for Alex) and only one glass of the home brew wine we had bought by the roadside we both fell asleep on the bed- must try and stay up later to meet some of the other hostel residents!

Leaving Bulgaria- Take 1

We left Bansko with no regrets despite the snow being on great form- our unfit bodies were quite content with the prospect of a day sitting in the car! The snowy landscape we passed through was beutiful and posed no problem for our chunky tires and four wheel drive. We stopped later in a smal town for a few things- most importantly of which was to print oiut our car insurance doccuments that Alex had downloaded from his email- It turns out all EU countries were covered, including Bulgaria so we wanted to have a copy with us- although Serbia, our destination isn't actually EU. No luck on the printer, (the librairy was out of toner) and even the young people in the hip bar where we had juice and cake couldn't think of anywhere else in such a small town. We bought a few groceries and headed on to the border.

As usual, the country we were leaving was fine but, as expected,the Serbian side required us to have Green Card driving insurance. The official Green Card booth wanted 115 Euros for a full month's insurance despite the fact we only planned to be there for three days- I almost wished this was a more bribable country like Bulgaria!.We decided this was too much and turned to go back to Bulgaria and head for Romania instead- the surprised Serbian passport guard was very helpful, diverting us to the top of the queue to re enter Bulgaria, thankfully without any shinanigans about insurance there. As we pased through, the Bulgarian guard asked conversationally, "Where are you going?", "Romania" answerd Alex and it wasn't until later that I realised how dismissive of his country that had probably sounded!

Our destination took us up into the northern mountains- the approach side had very little snow and the sunlight fell attractively between the trees. As soon as we had got to the pass however the lying snow began- it sat thickly all down the north facing side. It was very beautiful but the road was very slow and twisty, made even slower by a coating of compressed snow. The sun began to go down and when we road straightened out and we entered the town of Berkovista and saw a hotel, suddenly the idea of free camping seemed a lot less desirable. That had been the plan because we had carefully spent all of our currency before the Serbian border. When we found a bank as well we went strsight back to the hotel! Despite the remote location, it was a very nice hotel and the on suite room we were offered was huge and just above what we'd like to pay. We asked, (through an English speaking relative of theirs that was about) whether there was a smaller, cheaper room and she willing knocked some money off so we took it. I realised here that we have developed a subconcious maximum hotel price of £30 withough actually discussing it!

We parked the car properly, (still laiden with much more snow on it's roof than the less snowy streets it now sat in), went to the bank and brought our things in. We made use of the free internet then headed over to the resturant/cafe/bar that they reccomended. Again, the food was excellent and, including drinks was only £8 between us- better and better prices! We then headed back to the bar in our hotel and had a nice evening playing Stratego. I also tried one of the local clear spirits but only confirmed to myself that I didn't want a bottle, no matter how cheap it was!

Finding our 'Foo'

We were surprised to awake to at least a foot more snow and it was snowing still. By the end of the day it had been at least half a meter- as the snow on the car testified! I was still feeling a bit tired but Alex was keen and we extended our hotel reservation went up anyway. I'm glad we did- I didn't fully find my 'foo', (despite repeating all the excellent pointers my dad has given me over the years which really help- I always think of him on the slopes), but I did get a lot better in the day. To be fair, my usual style wouldn't have worked anyway- none of the the new snow had been piste bashed so, until enough people had been down them, all the slopes were like being off piste and when they had, soft puffy mogals quickly formed which were interesting to negotiate- sorry about all this detail to non skiers but those that know what I mean can sympathise! It was good though and we both made it through the whole day without stamina issues. The cheesy rolls from the bakery were tasty and we spent our food budget on hot wine and hot chocolates- much better than the cafeteria food. I complained loudly with another English guy in one of the few lift queues about the lack of piste bashing -they were using the machine as a folk lift to cart around beer instead. I then ended up sharing a T-bar with the person behind me- a local man of mature years who patiently explained, (in excellent English) that they couldn't go up until it had stopped snowing but he was very nice about it! We finished the day significantly less tired than the one before and even managed to go out to the nice, cheaper place for dinner. We consumed a whole bottle of wine between us too- the most we've drunk the whole trip I think, especially since the Muslim countries, but it was an exceptionally tasty locally produced bottle. Two courses and the wine for about 8 GB pounds each- much better value and delicious food yet again. If I could be sure that they bash the pistes sufficiently I would definitely return here for a dedicated ski holiday and to the same hotel. We shall see...

A Mixed Bag

Today was a disappointing day's skiing, mainly because I didn't find my 'foo'. It's like Pool- some days I've just got it and other days I can't get it for trying. The worse I skied the more my muscles were being strained and the worse I got. It got increasingly icey as time wore on as well- we had decided to go, despite not many slopes or lifts being open yet due to shallow snow, since we'd missed out in Turkey. After just four hours, one of which included a fairly horrible and overpriced lunch we were both exhausted and went down again. We shared the telecabin, (cablecar), with two English who confirmed that the cost of our meal the previous night was exceptionally expensive but they also had reports of half a meter of snow due to fall tonight. We returned to our hotel with our eye on the skies. It was only 3.30 and I had had the forethought to indulgently book the sauna for us at 6 and a massage for myself at 7 but this seemed like a long time away. Fortunately I had also chosen the room with the biggest bath so I warmed up in there and then headed out to look around the attractive old town area by daylight. I managed to get a few photos before the light went and also had a successful search for a postcard, the Post Office, supermarket, some where cheaper but still nice to eat and even a bakery where I bought rolls with cheese baked into them for lunch tomorrow. We hadn't decided what we'd do if the forecast snow did fall yet but figured it would be best to make our minds up tomorrow when we see how we're feeling. I got back just in time for the scheduled luxuries which were great. Alex had sensibly asked the hotel if we could dine there tonight, it was to early in the season for them to be open to the public but they were happy to cook something simple and tasty for us. We fell quickly asleep in bed very shortly after.

A full day

We managed to pack an awful lot in today. The hotel breakfast was unappetising as per the guidebook and we headed out to see the Selimiye Cammii a mosque in which the architect achieved his life's dream- to build one ever so slightly bigger than the Aya Sofya in Istanbul. I got us rather lost on the way but Alex sorted us out and we arrived at an impressively large building with integrated bazar. Unlike the other tourist couple in there, (taking pictures of each other) I respected the request for no photography but it was really hard- the place is wonderfully decorated- not tiles or frescos but bold block colours and painted floral boarders and stripy blocks of colour contrasting with a stark white background. There is also a stunning series of four or five circles of lights hanging at about 11 foot from the floor surrounding a wonderfully carved and painted platform above the ceremonial fountain. Hard to describe- you'll have to go there and the trip will be very worth while. The pictures are of the outside decorations and it seems I have none of Bulgaria so today's ones are all of the mosque and an example of the fantastically decorative pavements all over this town- all done in different ways.

I thought about using up the rest of the money on Turkish delight but we already had some so we used it for petrol on the way to the Serbian border. The Turkish side was fine but the Bulgarian side said we needed country specific insurance. The on site insurance booth was closed and the guards said it would be 70, no 150 Euros but we could give them a 'present' instead. Alex came back to the car and we made a show of looking in all our nooks and crannies for money while we discussed what we'd be willing to pay or whether we'd go back to Turkey and go to Greece instead. Just as we'd decided on ten British pounds they called him back over to talk again and this time the subject of Turkish insurance, that we had, came up and they decided that actually this was fine and waved us through- I think they just got cold feet. It was a disappointing re introduction to Europe- I had surprised myself with an unexpected feeling of returning to the fold as we had spied the European flags at the boarder, this experience dispelled it.

We pressed on for the ski resort of Bansko. Most of the route was on a fast road with little view. We chatted just as we were finally due to turn off it and missed the turn but sat. nav. instead took us by a series of much more interesting smaller roads as a consequence and we were please to see a bit more of real Bulgaria and it's people- older ladies in head scarves, run down looking villages, hay and corn leaves stacks, chickens, donkeys and winter wood stores. As we got closer to our destination we were disappointed by the lack of snow but we had specifically chosen this destination for being an attractive town, even if we couldn't ski.

We checked out the slopes first- they were open- folk were just coming down- it appeared to have a telecabin up to the main area which usually has runs all the way back to Bansko but with current snow conditions there were only a few of the high runs open. We then looked for a hotel- the recommended ones were closed- whether the ski season hadn't properly begun or whether they were just for the summer season we weren't sure but we took pot luck on a random one and struck lucky. It is a really nice place- Hotel Sv.Georgi Pobedonosetz, nice rooms, delicious and varied breakfasts, sauna, massage to order and they even let us park the car in their courtyard- all for £25 a night- if you're planning a holiday in Bansko, book there.

We wandered back into town to find a restaurant and naively we went into one looking all traditional with nice wood work just off the main square. It was delicious food and the prices were up front on the menu so we didn't get a nasty surprise or anything but it was medium British prices-hugely expensive for Bulgaria. By the time we had the menus we were too tired to care so didn't mind and it was great food and we did get a very good live clarinettist serenading us!

Leaving Asia

Before even breakfast we headed on up to the ski area- up about 25km of fairly icy roads. We were disappointed when we got there to find none of the lifts running and only one car ouside of eash of the huge hotels. There were people about so we asked and, through gestures, understood that there was not enough snow so the resort wasn't open. It was true that it was less than a foot deep by the road and seemed to be melting to slush so we had a picnic breakfast and started off towards the boarder, about six hours away. I didn't mind too much- less time skiing here means more time skiing in Bulgaria. We had already decided to bypass Istanbul. I have hread so many good things about it that I felt we could not begin to do it justice in the day and a half we could dedicate to it so I intend to fly there sometime to explore it more fully- anyone fancy joining me, maybe next autumn? It sounds like a city best explored without the hinderance of a car. It's interesting that I now view a trip to Istanbul as one to explore the cultures and peculiarities of that city, not of Turkey, as I once would have. I suspect is far removed from all that I now associate with the ever changing landscape and peoples of Turkey that I would barely recognise it as the same country. I spent the rest of the motorway journey typing up blog- it was great to re visit the early days of Iran, I was amazed how much I remembered, even without the propting of my notes. I've got to typo and spell check them so they won't get online tonight but they are coming. I have however filled in most of the wee gap before the Iran boarder. Alex remarked as we went over the Bosphorous that we had now left Asia, which seemed a shame. There is so much more of it we haven't seen. The write up about accomodation in the Turkish boarder town of Edirne was dispiriting so we headed instead to a campsite... which was shut. We looked around for some other ones to no avail so headed into town anyway. We headed for the chepest place in the book as they were all quite expensive but ended up parking opposite another one. The parking warden managed to get accross that if we weren't staying in the hotel opposite there was an hourly charge so we took a look around it. It looked fine but expensive, however, on saying we were going to checkk out other hotels the price was dropped twice to a reasonable one so we took it. I checked the guidebook and it is in here after all- at the first price although it says the free breakfasts are something to be feared! We shall head out shorly to a resturant for some of the local delicacy- deep fried calfs liver with toato, onion and hot chilli garnish...

The benefit of a good night's sleep

Today has been a much better day. Alex seems to be much better and can get out a good few sentences withough coughing- it makes me realise how much the effective lack of company has reduced my enjoyment of our experiances. We met the other travellers in the morning and had a nice chat- the woman is taking her two pre school kids on a tour of Europe, Turkey and Iran for a year in the campavan while her husband flies out to meet them occasionally and travels with them for a number of weeks at a time. I didn't fancy that at all- it's isolating enough travelling with one other adult when you don't speek the languge of the country but I to always have the solo care of two children when he is not with them would be so restrictive. We drove back over to the Hittie site and were happy to find they encouraged you to drive around within the 6km perimiter, getting out at various points to walk around remains of temples, gateways and a castle. Perfect for Alex's lower than normal stamina. I took much of the time to re wrap the chair so that we could store it in the car. This kept us both happy and I was happy to have that sorted and not to get another overdose of 'rocks'. Alex showed me the highlights quickly after he had explored the lot. I got just the right dose- it is an impressively enormous site and a suprising amount seems to have remained intact. The buildings had lower walls of stone with mud and timer walls and roof above and much of the stonework is still there as well as extensive areas of city walls and numerous gateways. As with the Greek remains I was most facinated by the way the odd shaped blocks were carved to fit it's neighbours exactly. We pressed on on uncrowded and speedy roads around the Ankara ringroad and on to the Bolu ski resot, happy to see the rolling hills and towns stream past our window in the sunshine. Northern Turkey has seemed a lot more western than I remember the south being but I'm not sure if it's just in comparison to Iran. It's definately less exotic than Iran- as are we- superstar status no more! Later it began to pour with rain, (the first snce Esfahan?) which gave me hope it was falling thickly as snow up on the ski slopes. The nearest town of Bolu was very western and all the hotel options we could find were £42 and upwards. Since £28 was splashing out for us we found somewhere to have dinner then drove out towards the ski resort where there were thickly forested foothills in which to spen a cosy night in the car.