Romania 2015

[clivehorridge]

Transfagarasan - Second Leg

Getting close to the top now, so another park-up





close to another waterfall



More looking back...







One spring, I was with a group skiing at the end of March and three of us missed the last 4:30pm cable-car down to the hotel at the bottom. No worries, "we'll ski down" was the consensus (it was the only option anyway). My mate was a hardened extreme skier and as one of the guys who did catch the cable-car had left his rucksack, he carried 2 rucksacks, and had a spare pair of skis in his hand. I'm not so good at skiing but we all set off on the left side of the valley. It was hell. The snow was like wet sugar and heavy and the route was steep and criss-crossed with avalanche debris from the top, which meant kicking off the skis to climb over ice-blocks and mounds of broken snow. Log story short, it took me till 9:00pm to get down. There were some very dangerous parts, steep, broken and icy and simply not nice. That was a survival run.

Hard to imagine when we were enjoying 26 degrees...



And then the tunnel at the top, a dipped beam view...



So, time to switch on the light bars...



Mmmm, pleased with them. Yes, a little glare from the very dusty bonnet, but not a problem...

Everyone says it from time to time, but there is light at the end of the tunnel



And then out into the daylight



Plenty of avalanche protection canopies on this road...



and as always, the grass is greener on the other side

















Another quick stop to stretch the legs

















These mediaeval warriors are persistent...



Onward and downward...



























Another line-up



Shayne satisfied that still nothing was leaking from his truck...



Still along way down...







While we were stopped, the donkeys came for a nose (Chas says they were asses because they have the markings of the "cross" on their back and shoulders) but it seems rude to call them asses...







More "poster's license"...



Back, on our way...











And, by skipping some 20 photos, that all look the same when posting, we got to Vidrarul, the hydro-electric reservoir where Aura and I honeymooned 12 years ago (to the day).



Yep, we spent 2 weeks cooking on an open fire on the shores of this reservoir, cycling and generally taking it easy in (almost) total isolation





This "house" (where we stayed 12 years ago) belongs to the Ministry of Transport, Motorways and Highways Directorate, used for accommodating road maintenance engineers and often for weekend breaks if you know the right person to ask...

Still, on this trip it gave us the opportunity to get close to the water..





Then we pushed on until we got to the dam... the wet side (low water though)...









and the dry side...







The mighty "Mr Electricity" monument...





and the view down the valley which would take us to Cumpulung and onward home



It was late (much later than planned) and we hadn't had food. So we stopped for dinner and saw this on the mountain, I think it's Vlad Tepes' place, some 1,500 steps take some people to the ruins, but not us, we were starving...





After dinner, it went dark, and the long haul home all got a but much, we arrived at around midnight.

Tomorrow was another day...

 

[froggy Steve]

Great writ up and looks like a great trip - need more than a week though! Another one to add to the list...............

 

[wobbly]

So, having done the trip, what would you consider essential kit?

lift?
at or mt tyres?
snorkel?
extra lighting?

Were locking diffs needed?

Pete

 

[Shayne]

I used low range on a couple of steep climbs on a loose rock surface but i'm sure i would have managed without .

 

[GeekOKent]

Lòoks like a great trip. Tempted to join the 2016 effort...

 

[ratrace]

does anyone know if cas is home yet

 

[Shayne]

Was about to answer only to see the man himself is signed in well done Chas

 

[ratrace]

chas hope you are ok and feeling a lot better

 

[Chas]

does anyone know if cas is home yet

Yeah, Chas got home 3:15am last night and didn't get up 'til 1pm this afternoon, I was cream crackered.
I left Clive Thursday morning at about 8am, drove from Bucharest heading for Calais (about 1500 miles) for 25hrs with a three hour kip in a service station, then booked in to a campsite near Nurnberg for the night,



Went to bed at 7pm got up at 5am showered and hit the road at 6am, BUT even though I had told the camp receptionist I would be leaving very early the camp gate was locked until 8am. I found a very unhelpful kraut having his morning coffee by reception and asked him if the gate could be opened as I had to get to Calais that evening for the ferry but all I got was "Nein! Ve are closed until ze 8am" What is it about the Germans? beautiful country with such ugly people.
Eventually he turned up at 6:30 with the key, Why he couldn't have done that at 6 o/clock God only knows
So eventually got to Calais at 10:30pm only to be told I was late should have been there at 10:30AM so I said no, it's a flexible return, no it isn't said your man, Yes it is said I, no it isn't said he, so I had to wait two hours for the next available ferry.
So after leaving the UK on the 15th I had driven just over 4000miles in a couple of weeks with an epic (for me) three day drive back from Bucharest to Calais with a total of about 12/13hrs sleep (Don't forget I'm not a young man anymore)
But what a trip, the journey down and the first couple of days at Comarnic were wet wet wet but it brightened up later and we saw such a lot of a country we would probably have missed if it wasn't for the admirable leadership of Clive showing us the way round some excellent scenery, along tracks, up mountains, through rivers, What larks we had.
Plus his lovely wife Aura who speaks excellent English, feeding us traditional Romanian food, and his 6yr old daughter Ana who also speaks English like a native (of Romania) No, her English was very good, she speaks to Clive in English and her mother in Romanian.

Aura and Ana (Who had twisted her ankle at playschool)



Clive



Before we left I asked Clive if there was anything I could bring from the UK that he couldn't get in Romania, he said English sausages and unsmoked bacon so I stuck some in the freezer for him. I told him that's for you and Aura and what does he do? he feeds it back to us, we did have, amongst other tasty things though some delicious sausage like food (like a sausage without a skin) I can't remember the name but they were lovely.
I, and I'm sure the others will be eternally grateful to Clive for inviting us into his home.
Photos haven't been completely sorted yet but here's a taster.

Lovely lake (I'm sure Clive can name it for us)



Another lake



Rasnov Castle





Tried my hand at some archery, ten arrows total, two sighters, first went low, second went high the rest were quite satisfactory.



Clive holding my bow



The sort of roads we were driving




The group

 

[Shayne]

4997 miles from my house , i will visit Romania again but intend to avoid the cannonball run style journey next time by choosing somewhere to arrive say Friday night and leave Sunday morning and repeat the same on the way home . Try to imagine the M4 takes you all the way to Hungary with nothing but a repetition of sleep, drive and service station coffee to keep you amused .

 

[Iwan]

I've been following all of your journeys! Really great landscapes, great pictures, sorry to see Shayne's bonnet, good to see a pic of Clive! And happy to see Chas is home and well.

There's a part of me that feels that I've missed out and wished I had been along side! Well done fella's!

 

[Chas]

4997 miles from my house , i will visit Romania again but intend to avoid the cannonball run style journey next time by choosing somewhere to arrive say Friday night and leave Sunday morning and repeat the same on the way home . Try to imagine the M4 takes you all the way to Hungary with nothing but a repetition of sleep, drive and service station coffee to keep you amused .

I would be up for doing it again, but as you say Shayne a slower pace with more staying over at certain places would be better and make it a three week event instead of two.

P.S.
It was the service station espresso that kept me going.

 

[Chas]

A couple of photos I missed off my previous post, on my way back I passed this house, just had to stop for a pic or two, some people have gnomes in their garden these have a Dakota DC3.

 

[clivehorridge]

Nice find Chas, there's always something to take you by surprise here!

I saw a Mig in a garden once, but a Dakota is going some....

 

[Chas]

On the subject of aircraft, coming back through Germany I had to drive through the Ruhr valley and I swear I heard the sound of a Lancaster overhead but it turned out to be a passing motorbike.

 

[Chas]

Looks like we got back in the nick of time.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ockade-Calais-leaving-thousands-stranded.html

 

[120mm]

Yeah, Chas got home 3:15am last night and didn't get up 'til 1pm this afternoon, I was cream crackered.
I left Clive Thursday morning at about 8am, drove from Bucharest heading for Calais (about 1500 miles) for 25hrs with a three hour kip in a service station, then booked in to a campsite near Nurnberg for the night,

Went to bed at 7pm got up at 5am showered and hit the road at 6am, BUT even though I had told the camp receptionist I would be leaving very early the camp gate was locked until 8am. I found a very unhelpful kraut having his morning coffee by reception and asked him if the gate could be opened as I had to get to Calais that evening for the ferry but all I got was "Nein! Ve are closed until ze 8am" What is it about the Germans? beautiful country with such ugly people.
Eventually he turned up at 6:30 with the key, Why he couldn't have done that at 6 o/clock God only knows

You were less than an hour from me. This time of year, the campgrounds near Regensburg are a better deal; the Dutch have largely returned home and the Danube is wonderful. I'll see if I can arrange leave and join in a future endeavor. This year I was busy doing airborne ops near you; we dropped a multi-national unit into the training area and it would've been fantastic entertainment for all, if I only knew ahead of time.

As far as Germans are concerned, they are a nation of gate guards, by and large.

4997 miles from my house , i will visit Romania again but intend to avoid the cannonball run style journey next time by choosing somewhere to arrive say Friday night and leave Sunday morning and repeat the same on the way home . Try to imagine the M4 takes you all the way to Hungary with nothing but a repetition of sleep, drive and service station coffee to keep you amused .

I will be well-established and you can stay near me. Truly beautiful place with lots of camping.

A couple of photos I missed off my previous post, on my way back I passed this house, just had to stop for a pic or two, some people have gnomes in their garden these have a Dakota DC3.

View attachment 21223

View attachment 21224

That's actually the Russian Lisunov (Li-2) knock off of the Dakota. In 2007, my wife paid $300 to fly one in Czech Republic, and my daughter got to drive a T34 at the same place.

 

[Shayne]

Sounds good to me Drew though i couldn't have visited even if i wanted to on this occasion we got there by following Chas and we got home by asking people in which direction we might find France . Helen's iphone occasional worked just long enough to take us off the motorway into a town centre we should have been nowhere near but at least i finally managed to convince her as we drove into Calais port that instructions to turn left in 5km does not demand screaming insistence i change lanes immediately it was interesting .

 

[clivehorridge]

So, having done the trip, what would you consider essential kit?

lift?
at or mt tyres?
snorkel?
extra lighting?

Were locking diffs needed?

Pete

It depends on the weather really Pete.

If it's wet, then the centre locker may be of benefit, but to be truthful, I didn't take them anywhere that needed anything more sophisticated.

Good tyres are always beneficial but ATs are plenty extreme enough for the tracks we went on . It's normally the tyre size that dictates whether or not you need a lift, but Ram did well in his standard 80, so the tracks we went on were not extreme enough to need a lift. There's a few rocks about but nothing axle bending.

I don't have a snorkel simply because in my area there's nothing deep enough to need one, especially in the summer.

As for lighting, I stayed in the front so those behind couldn't use theirs.

It would be great if you came along in 2016 (or at any time for that matter).

 

[clivehorridge]

I've just realized there's no photos of the trip along the ridge posted. I've scoured my camera, but must have been too busy to take photos... any offers Shayne, Ram, Chas?

I was up there on Sunday, but I didn't take any of the scenery, just that bit of the track where the axles get a bit flexed...











Well happy with the Truck's suspension and wheel/tyre set-up, not a hint of a rub anywhere.

Pity I popped the rear LHS tyre off the rim on a steep side slope, I was avoiding a quad that appeared from nowhere at a rate of knots. No photos of that, either.