We want to head towards the western part of Romania but due to a lack of campsites, we have opted to stay in Bucharest on the way. However, we also wanted to see the archaeological site of Istria so we went north for about 30km to the Danube delta. It was here in the 7th century BC that Greeks first settled in what is now Romania. With the delta growing at a rate of about 4m per year and changing shape due to the movement of silt deposits, the area must have looked quite different at that time. Tumuli littered the low hills around the delta and we approached the site on a long road through wetlands with many interesting birds in the reeds or wading in the shallow water.
Istria is on a promontory and in Greek and Roman times it was in an open bay, easily accessible by ship and was a very important trading city from the 7th century BC to the 7th century AD. Like most cities that have been occupied for many centuries, later occupants built over the buildings of their predecessors and often reused the stone. Most that is visible on the site is therefore late Roman and early Mediaeval but a Greek Sacred Area has been uncovered and, where possible, archaeologists check below the top layers in order to understand the layout of the earlier phases. Whilst we were there, many archaeologists were involved in digs and whole families had been employed to clear the undergrowth from many parts of the site. It was interesting to see the newly dug areas with evidence of the different phases with walls and other features criss-crossing each other. The area is also a nature reserve and we observed the varied bird life including a number of hoopoes. The museum was also interesting with many inscribed Greek and Roman stones and fragmentary pottery from pre-Greek settlements through to Mediaeval.
As in Bulgaria, the area above the wetlands was covered in sunflowers but we saw a new phenomenon here – mobile beehives. Wherever there were sunflowers, there would be a lorry converted to hold a series of beehives stacked anything from 2 to 5 high on both sides of the lorry bed. Sometimes, a small back section was used as living quarters and in others they had a separate living van similar to those used by traction engine crews. We were surprised when we saw the first few of them but by the end of the day we must have passed over 50 of them, many selling their honey at small stands on the roadside.
Other than the mobile beehives, the journey to Bucharest was long, flat and not very interesting. We would have arrived at the campsite by 17:00 if we hadn't hit a major traffic jam on the Bucharest ring road just a few kilometres before we were due to turn off. This delayed us by half an hour but I am sure that the new road will be very good when they have finished it!
Camping Casa Alba is very pleasantly situated in a wood, just inside the ring road and only a few kilometres from the centre. Every 10 minutes there is a bus into the centre from the road just outside the campsite. Ideal for a visit to the city. Although we are parked on asphalt, we have electricity and there is a very good shower block so we should have a good stay.
Photos: New excavations at Istria; Rent-A-Bee at work in the fields of sunflowers.
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