#11 Romania

Welcome to Romania! First impression: the people are super nice. I am waved at, I am always addressed. I think I waved more on the first 30 km than on the whole trip so far. Sometimes I have to chip the children’s hands while I’m driving.

The first area seemed to me like a Hungarian steppe, a lot of meadow. Later there were more fields and now and then smaller villages.
I also found the carts, which even had license plates, interesting. Sometimes a donkey pulls the cart.

Horses are generally very popular here anyway.

On the way you can always find wells where you can fill up with water. The water’s clean. Sometimes a few people come with lots of bottles and fill them up. It’s a nice chill for me.

In this photo there is no running water, but a well. I’m afraid I can’t tell to what extent the wells are still working.

I was driving near the Danube when it was getting late. I decided to camp by the river and drove across a steppe-like landscape to the Danube, without a path, across country. Later, when I hit a road, I came across a car that was a police car, as I later realized. They were border guards. I gave you my passport and when asked what I was doing here, I said I was looking for a place to sleep in my tent. Oh, okay, they said. But I could drive a few kilometres further, there was a beach, nicer for camping. Ok, I thanked him for the tip and went to the beach.

I went for a swim, walked around for a while and then went to sleep. The water was quite warm, by the way.

The next day I wanted to camp among people again to learn something about Romania. I drove towards Zaval, which lies on a river and where I then stood in front of a locked door to a camping site. The place is situated at a forest.
The entrance area was covered and full of tables and chairs, but the cafe or reception was closed. So I wanted to camp under the roof by the door. First of all I made friends with the free-range dogs, who accepted me very quickly. Strangers were barked at, other dogs chased away, but they always stayed close to me.
I was talking to a shepherd I didn’t understand. I guess it was funny because he kept laughing. As I waited for dawn, two men in a car came to do something at the river. They said to me that 10 km further on in Bechet there was a camping site, I should give it a try. Ok, so I went there and stood in front of a hotel, which cost 25 EUR per night. That was too much for me to sleep for once and I drove to a gas station and slept there in the tent.

There are not only in Serbia, but also in Romania many storks in the villages

Horses could also be seen in the city

In the morning I had to pack up my tent at 6 o’clock. I went shopping, had a big breakfast and went on to a guest house, which had inexpensive rooms, but also a tent possibility, to Turnu Măgurele. The journey up to then was unfortunately like chewing gum. It was 80 km on asphalt, but not very interesting.
For 5 EUR more there was a great traditional Romanian food in the Guest House, which I had found through warmshowers. All homemade, including the cheese. The eggs next door, the alcohol was homemade and and and and. That was very tasty. The couple is really very nice and we had a nice evening. There was mamaliga (Italian polenta) with cheese, boiled eggs, sour cream and butter. The second meal was Sarmale. For dessert, rice pudding with cinnamon was served.

I changed my route a little so that I would drive directly from Turnu Măgurele to Bulgaria and there to Lom Cherkovna, where I would meet my travel partner. This change would save me one day and about 80 km.

I heard that Romania has a bad reputation because many Roma (not Romanians, but gypsies who have settled in Romania) travel to Europe and commit some burglaries there, and so on. Since the names Roma/Rome are similar to Romania, many people think they are Romanians. There are also the Gypsys, Sintis etc. In addition, many of them bring a lot of money from Central Europe to where they build their big houses, while the locals work there for a small wage. These groups are also to receive money from the EU and still beg a lot. I do not know all about it, of course, and I would not put my hand in the fire for its correctness. So it is best to inform yourself.
The few days in Romania gave me a very positive impression and who knows, maybe I will come back sometime to get to know the country better.

In the morning we went fresh and lively towards the ferry, which cost just over 1 EUR, to Bulgaria.