Sunday 27th July 2008 – Baile 1st May, Romania

We woke to blue skies and lovely views of the hills behind the site – it was much clearer today. The site is small and simple (although there is a small swimming pool, added this year) is would make a good base for walking, cycling and investigating the local sites. We we went to pay the bill, we were asked if we intended to go to Moldavia in the North and we said that we had already been there. They explained that there were terrible floods in the area – roads and bridges had been destroyed and many villagers had been evacuated from their homes. The Romanian news was full of it and their President had been on television expressing sympathy and promising assistance. The are worse affected was an area close to the painted churches that we had visited. Apparently Moldavia often has problems with floods and we certainly saw many bridges being repaired and small sections of roads that had been washed away but this incident was on a much larger scale. We had thunderstorms and heavy rain every day that we were in the area, so the ground must have been saturated and the rivers high before the latest storms. Another couple on the campsite had just returned from the area luckily leaving the day before the floods.
We headed north and the journey between Deva and Brad was particularly attractive with the road running through a narrow wooded valley with many small, pretty villages. At Brad, an attractive ex-mining (not sure what type) town, the valley broadened out and we headed towards the mountains in the distance. On this stretch, the villages were laid back about 1 km from the road. They were only small, but each one had a pretty church, normally with a silver, onion-domed tower standing out against the forested hills. As we started to climb, we came to 'Palinca Village' where outside every other house and on the roadside on either side of the village were stalls selling the fruit-based (most commonly apple but also almost any other fruit that you can think of) twice-distilled spirit. We were trying to find Pestera Ursilor (the Bear Cave), allegedly the finest caves in Romania. We found a sign off the main road indicating that it was 15km away. The road was in poor condition but was busy and we drove along, trying to avoid the bad potholes. And then my navigator let me down. We hit a particularly nasty pothole that I couldn't avoid and immediately passed a junction with a number of cars waiting to pull out. “Did you check that junction for signs?” I asked my navigator. “No, I was distracted by the pothole”, was the answer. However, the road was still busy and we followed cars into the next village and then up the narrow, steep valley with a very pretty, fast-running river. Even though it was a dirt track (being improved with EU money), there were many cars and pensions and even a sign to a campsite. We continued until we had gone more than the 15km from the main road and, with no sign of the caves, we turned around. The valley was obviously a very popular holiday area, particularly it seemed with Hungarians as at least half the cars that we passed were Hungarian.
You guessed it, when we got back to that junction, there was the sign to the caves, 8km up the road. When we arrived the car park, a very large area under trees it was extremely busy. It seemed that everyone wanted to visit the caves on a Sunday. The road up to the caves was lined with stalls selling all sorts of tourist tat from cuddly dolphins with 'Romania' to gemstones, the only common offering was Palinca, every stall having vast quantities of the liquid in re-used water bottles.
The caves were well worth the diversion. We had to take a Romanian guided tour but it was taken at a steady pace allowing plenty of time to admire the very large number of stalactites and stalagmites including a joined stalactite and stalagmite over 7m from a floor to ceiling. When they explored the cave, they found a huge number of Cave Bear skulls, more than anywhere else in Romania. They are at least 15,000 – 20,000 years ago as this is when the Cave Bear is thought to have become extinct.
We then drove for an hour to Baile Felix, another spa resort, and found a small pension and campsite called 'Camping Stefan' in the adjoining village of Baile 1st May. It had been a lovely sunny day and we thought that we were going to have a whole day without rain. However, as we sat outside having a cup of tea, I watched some white fluffy clouds on the horizon build into billowing cumulus clouds and then start to darken. I have never seen a thunderstorm build in this way – from white fluffy clouds to a full thunderstorm with very heavy rain in the space of no more than 20 minutes. Dinner was taken inside the van!
Photos: The Cave Bear skeleton displayed where it was found; We don't know what name was given to this formation but if it wasn't ' The Bear's Roar' or something similar, then it should have been; Twisted stalagmites in the 'Candle Gallery'.

Saturday 26th July 2008 – Aurel Vlaicu, Romania

We had some rain during the night but nowhere near as much as the previous night. The ground was however very wet and we had great problems trying to get the van back onto the campsite track. Some kind Romanian neighbours go together and pushed the van which was enough to get us going. We headed south towards the outskirts of Sibiu and then headed west. We arrived at the Roman and Dacian site at Sarmizegetusa just before lunchtime and paid the 2 lei (£0.50) entrance fee. The site has an excellent Roman Amphitheatre and Forum and a number of temples to 'Silvanus', 'Mare' (a local Roman/Dacian divinity), 'Liber Pater' (life and fertility), 'Zeitei Nemesis' and a very large complex to 'Zeilor Medicinei'. After a quick lunch, we hoped to visit the museum but found that it was closed and appeared to have been for some time.
We retraced out route partly to 'Camping Aurel Vlaicu' east of Orastie. The site is another of those owned by the Dutch and, although small, it was very busy and it seemed as if we had magically transported to a part of Holland with hills.
Photos: The uninviting natural spa pool at Baile Ocna Sibiului; Sarmizegetusa amphitheatre (background) with the Gladiator training school in the foreground.

Friday 25th July 2008 – Baile Ocna Sibiului, Romania

The rain stopped soon after we got up but it still looked threatening. We had intended to catch the 08:55 train into Sibiu but switched off the alarm during the last thunderstorm due the amount of lost sleep. We went for the 11:05 instead, walking the 200m to the station above the campsite. The platform consists of a series of uneven and broken concrete slabs and the station building had seen better days but at least we could buy tickets – a very reasonable 2.70 lei (approx. £0.75) each for the 12km journey. Given the condition of the station and the trains that we had seen elsewhere in Romania, we were expecting an old locomotive and dilapidated rolling stock. Much to our surprise, round the bend and into the station came a very impressive modern train. The carriages had electronic doors, huge windows and seats at two different levels. We chose some forward-facing seats on the higher level and had an excellent view over the countryside.
Sibiu was European City of Culture in 2007 and more than lived up to the expectations resulting from the title. The most impressive feature of the city is the architecture, with many mediaeval buildings and much Saxon influence. It is really a city to wander around and that is exactly what we did. The railway station is only a short walk from the centre, with plenty to see on the way. There are hundreds of historic houses, each with its own plaque detailing its age and the type of building. I christened it 'The City of Eyebrows' due to the enormous number of eyebrow openings set into the roofs (see photographs). We found the Council Tower and paid a small entrance fee to climb to the top. From here there is an excellent view over the city in all directions and also down to the three intersecting squares around the tower. These are a delight and reminded us of many Italian squares that we have visited – cafés and restaurants lined the edges, outside beautiful old buildings. The spires of churches dominate the skyline and everywhere there are those eyebrows!
Sibiu is a very cosmopolitan city with large German and Hungarian speaking communities. The three largest churches in the city are of different branches of the Christian faith – Roman Catholic, Evangelical (Protestant) and Orthodox. The Baroque Roman Catholic church had services that were delivered in three different languages (Romanian, Hungarian and German) and the people working in the Gothic Evangelical church were all speaking German. These churches date back to the long period of German and Hungarian rule. We hoped to see the tomb of Vlad Tepes's son and the impressive 6002 pipe organ in the Evangelical church but these areas were closed off as they were renovating the church. The Orthodox Cathedral is quite modern but very impressive. As we entered the impression was of space – the very high domed roof and the open space below gave it a very airy feel. The frescoes were also much more open than most Orthodox paintings that I have seen and that, together with their size really caught our attention.
We tried to find typical Romanian cuisine for lunch but failed because the city is dominated by Italian cuisine. In the end, we both had pizza although my Marinara was quite different from others that I have had in Italy and elsewhere. It had a large amount of garlic scattered in amongst the tuna and capers but I must say that it was delicious – I must try to reproduce it when we get home.
After lunch we investigated the lower town and it was clear that, although much of the centre has restored and work is continuing, one only needs to move a few hundred metres away to find the more authentic city. This still has many historic buildings but they are in a poor state of repair and are inhabited by much poorer people. I suspect that. Given a few years, this area will also be 'prettified'.
We ended the day by a visit to the very good (allegedly the best in Romania) art gallery (Anthony please note!). A short walk back to the station with a stop for a long coffee on the way, and we caught the same swish train back to Baile Ocna Sibiului. The thunderstorm hit just as we left Sibiu but was nearly over by the time that we arrived. There had obviously been a lot of heavy rain at Baile Ocna Sibiului but only light rain was falling as we walked quickly back to Henrietta.
Photos: The train arrives at our local station; A view of Piata Mica and the Evangelical church from the Council Tower; A muddle of Mediaeval roofs ; The spacious interior of the Sibiu Orthodox Cathedral.

Thursday 24th July 2008 – Baile Ocna Sibiului, Romania

We are moving slightly south and hope for better weather although the Internet forecasts suggest that it is unlikely to be very different. It was a relatively short journey and for a time we were on a wine route but disappointingly, although we passed lots of vineyards, none of them offered tasting or even sold their wine.
We passed through many towns and villages that showed a very strong Saxon influence. This area was under German rule for many years and their architecture is everywhere. At Slimnic we saw a Saxon fortified church dominating the village from the hill above it. We were on the very edge of an area of many such churches – varying in size and style but consisting of a church surrounded by a high defensive wall.
We arrived at Baile Ocna Sibiului, north of Sibiu in plenty of time to investigate the town and find somewhere to camp. The word 'Baile' in Romanian indicates baths and here there are a series of natural ponds fed from thermal springs. We were surprised to discover a tourist information office in the town and we were able to get directions to a campsite very close to the centre. 'Basic' is the best description of the facilities but we found a flat pitch and hooked up to electricity. This is very much a campsite for Romanians and we are the only foreign campers on the site. We walked into the town to have a look at the baths, discovering on the way that the campsite has a natural pool in its grounds. We can use this within the cost of camping but it is a deep brown colour and looks very uninviting. There were however two campers bathing in it – rather them than me.
The town is a real spa resort with two very large complexes offering hotel accommodation, outdoor thermal baths and all the normal spa treatments. Both complexes offer their facilities to the public and I have no doubt that many of the campers spend their days there. One complex has two huge pools full of slightly murky-brown water surrounded by many sun loungers and umbrellas. The other complex, a very pretty historic building, has a pool of sparklingly-clear water – filtered spa water – with the same sun-worshipping equipment.
We returned to the site and as the sun went down we heard the sound of a little owl – something that we haven't heard for some time. It wasn't long before the thunderstorms started and they continued on and off all night. The one at about 04:30 was exceptionally violent and the sound of the rain on Henrietta's roof made sleep impossible.
Photos: The fortified Saxon church at Slimnic; The spa lakes at Baile Ocna Sibiuliu with the smart Hotel Helios Spa Resort behind.

Wednesday 23rd July 2008 – Gilau, Romania

Another grey morning but the rain held off for a while which allowed us to dry the rest of the washing. We were also determined to go for a walk and managed a short distance before we were forced back by flooded tracks. The scenery is pretty here with hills shaped like a quilt – soft and rounded with gentle dips between.
We are getting quite keen on Canasta – the weather is allowing us lots of practice. Jane has taken to it very well and I have been soundly beaten every time.
Hills around the site like a quilt – soft, rounded with gentle dips between.
Photos: The 'beach' at the campsite. The pond was also used for bathing although it was full of pond life and didn't hold much attraction.

Tuesday 22nd July 2008 – Gilau, Romania

Today was washing day but, despite the beautiful sunset last night, the day dawned with a thick layer of grey cloud from horizon to horizon. As soon as Jane retrieved the washing from the machine, it started to spit with rain. It got harder and harder and rained all day with only a very occasional short break. It was also cold (15 to 16°C) and we decided to have soup for lunch to warm us up.
The weather reminded us of Scotland last June, although it was much colder then with hail and snow falling on the hills. This inspired us to have Haggis for dinner. Needless to say, we didn't buy the Haggis in Romania – it is a true Scottish Haggis purchased at Christmas and has been in our freezer ever since. Needless to say, it was delicious.
Photos: A view of the rain clouds during a very brief dry interlude.

Monday 21st July 2008 – Gilau, Romania

As we drove towards Sighetu Marmatiei, we looked across at villages in Ukraine, no more than 4 km away. I always expect borders to be based on a formidable natural obstacle such as a mountain range and here, although there is a mountain range, the border is south of it. There may be a river but nothing really substantial.
At Sighetu Marmatiei we turned south over the misty mountains towards Baia Mare. The rest of the journey was uneventful and unspectacular except for another very pretty wooden church that we passed in a small village. Much of the time we were in wide valleys with hills on either side looking like an upturned egg tray, each gap showing a similar set of hills behind. Some hills were steeper and higher than others and these were often terraced for agriculture up to quite a height. Occasionally there were forests but farming and pasture dominated.
We arrived at the ACSI listed 'El Dorado' site at Gilau and had our choice of pitches. The site is Dutch owned and was of a much higher standard than Camping Poieni at Sapanta. Having said that, it was also exactly twice the price!
Photos: The restaurant / bar and river at Camping Poieni; Wooden church on our route.