Best Western Ambassador Timisoara

... the plain and lands dominated by man for some 300-treeless kılometres.

Constanza is a busy sea port and tourist destination.  A kebab shop worker advised me to be careful as the city has a few very rich who drıve around flaunting their wealth and a lot of very poor of whom a few aspired at any cost to have what the rich have.  Thus with his advice taken and his kebab making its way into my lower intestine I slept out ...

12th June

Golden Sands (Bulgaria) to Constanta (Romania)

Sunny periods 29 degrees

We left Golden Sands and travelled north to Constanta. The drive was fairly easy as we passed huge fields of barley, corn and sunflower (must be stunning when flowering). We also passed some new wind farms. We crossed the border with a little difficulty as they scrutinised our car paperwork but finally let us continue. We arrived in Constanta without a ...

... 50 minute massage. It was just OK. Afterward I told Ally and she canceled her treatment. Then I went to get the 5 scoops of gelato that Ally was gloating about. It was at least as delicious as she made it sound. It melted really quickly so I had to eat it fast.

The fog burned off after a few hours and we had yet another hot, gorgeous, sunny and clear day. It is also really humid here so we both have big hair but since Romania seems trapped in ...

... everywhere walking around after money, turks all over the place, people spitting all over the ground. So i enquired at the bus station for the next bus to Varna, it was in about 4 hours time. Being reluctant to leave my luggage behind and not wanting twheel it everywhere I just sat down and made myself comfortable. Finally the 4 ...

... the 80s heavy metal phase and corny made-in-China hippy fashion and accessories. We had fun here, though we were somewhat baffled by Mihnea's amazing stamina which enabled him and his girlfriend to party till 5am, while we had to make a shameful retreat around 2:30am on both nights. The beach itself was a nice place to sleep away the fatigue from the previous night though.

... I cycled across another poor animal!! This time it was Mr Lizzard's turn, who now only has a rather small tale instead of the nice long one he had before he decided to cross the road (I am sorrryy....I believe they grow back). We managed to keep a good pase and got to camp around 1pm. Allen, a South African who has joined us in Budapest, Graeme and I found ourselves a cool place in the shade which served cold beers and decide this is a good place to hang out ...

... out and blow it up, so we had a nice dinner and I hit the rack early. We did get some mititei, which is my favorite Romanian food...little lamb, pork and beef sausages with no skins, grilled over an open flame. German sausage pales in comparison. Starting to drag a little now...something like 11 cities in 15 days... The Black Sea is beautiful and the resorts are ...

... on the crowd. Our guide Edward later gave us a further dimension of the situation - his belief, apparently shared with many others, that the communist party leaders under Ceaucescu manipulated the people to enable their own coupd'etat, followed by even more killings by never-identified "terrorists" who created a climate further fear that kept the party apparatus in power, if under a new name. Edward's assessment now was that people had become cynical and ...

... though, I can find no onward transportation onward to Serbia, though that may have changed by now, as those were dark days then. Belgrade seems little more than a stone’s throw as the crow flies, but that doesn’t do me much good if there are no buses or trains. There are plenty of gypsies here, too, many of them hanging out in front and inside of the train station and generally making nuisances of themselves. It’s time to go back.