Lebada Bucharest

... 8217;t it- who spoke Sp*nish *nd she immedi*tely l*tched on to Hern*ndo- for wh*t I don&#8217;t know- but they tr*ded numbers like old buddies. Now he s*ys he&#8217;s going to get her to go with him to the f*ctory tomorrow. Wh*tever, I&#8217;ll be on the w*y to I*si, older but wiser. <br><br>Gypsies *re present in l*rge numbers, *pp*rently doing *ll the w*yw*rd shen*****ns for which they *re f*mous, though not *lw*ys ...

... Gardens. I have to admit it is idyllic and relaxing. I bought some popcorn from a vendor to snack on while I went through a small part of the park before heading back to the hotel as it was starting to get dark. Based on advice from the receptionist, I was able to find a Romania restaurant for dinner and enjoyed a traditional meal of sarmale (basically cabbage rolls). This may become my staple meal here... Then it was back to the hotel for an early night and some much needed sleep.

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... was the day of "how can one avoid obsticles on the road whilst flying down the mountain trying to hold on to the handle bars and clicking around 60kms per hour". We were warned but it was like a comic show, every corner we turned somethin else appeared on the road from a horse to a pack of dogs (quite angry this tme) to an old chap with a huge radio on his shoulder, to goats, children, carts..and then a convertible full of screaming young beautiful romanian women ...

... research, changed and went to buy my ticket to Budapest, decided I would take a 2 person couchette for not much more than a 3 person which happened to be a great decision. Went on a strange mission to try and change some Russian, Bulgarian and Moldovan cash at many money changers and banks eventually having to change some of my many dollars. Walked around taking in the sites - monastery, university library, communist party building where Ceausescu ...

... motel and restaurant. Any port in a storm, cheapest place we've stayed, but not that bad all things considered. After the hellish bike out of Budapest, we had planned to avoid, if at all possible, biking into Bucuresti, but here we were, at Emma's fish motel, just 30k from the center of Bucuresti, on the highway, so oh well, off we go. For biking on a "highway" it really wasn't bad; the drivers were actually very considerate, and the traffic was never moving that fast. In fact ...

... unlike the wild dogs of Athens, these are large dogs- thigh high or higher- German Shepherd mixes- they roam together and the guide book gives advice on how to frighten them away when you are cornered (by pretending to stoop and pick up a big rock)- and this is all serious. As time passed and I walked I simply saw more and more that worried me- I also had a growing feeling of unease and just didn't feel safe. When I finally found an internet café that was working, I explored routes ...

... to Prague would give us the scenic beauty our guidebook gushed so much about. We found this a bit disappointing, but the guidebook had it right again. From Bucharest to the Romania-Hungary boarder we were struck by the depth of natural beauty and by the first hour or so in particular. The winding roads up the nearby Carpathian mountains on the way to Brasov qualifies as one of the most impressive stretches of road we have yet seen. Who knew that a country with such a dark and grey ...

... went out with the aim of returning to the hostel with completely new looks! We both got our hair coloured (something we both regret now) and our eyebrows pierced (something we don't regret). It's OK Mum... we look great. Hair is interesting but I have adopted a new mantra... "Hair grows" :-) That's it really. A bit sad that a weeks worth of news fits in to two paragraphs. Oh well... Reece.

... ourselves STILL wading through the winding river, jumping round cow/sheep/rabbit poo and/or water snakes (delete as appropriate) and hopping from rock to rock. Sure the first time we took off our shoes to go in it was "ahh, sweet". By #20 it was more "bleeem'n 'ek ouch!" But it was a class act of a hike, wild mint growing by a river not a road or any sign of life for miles, sweet bliss. Just a pity about the stones in the shoes...