Romania: Bistriţa and Ieud

Rolling hills and haystacks

Riding into Bistriţa, we had yet to learn our lesson about taking shortcuts. Trying to avoid a headwind, we ventured off the recommended bike route again and ended up riding about 10km on coarse gravel and medium sized rocks. Then over this final hill on a relatively smooth tractor path before the descent (again on gravel):

Path into Bistriţa

In Bistriţa we had stayed in the first of many hotels we nicknamed "mafia hotels". They are characterised by bright paint (orange, pink and lime) and expensive but tasteless furnishings. They are often associated with petrol stations and have black BMWs, Mercs, Audis or Porsches out the front. We learned that they are financed by people who've become suspiciously wealthy since the end of communism.

A more disappointing accommodation option was another "campsite", again without tent spaces, with trucks and the above-mentioned nice cars pulling in at all hours and pumping music that seemed to become louder as the night progressed. On investigation we realised we were at a campsite that doubled as a strip club.

Farming woman

Gypsy children

Horses and carts holding up traffic

The drivers here have to contend with horses and carts, slow tractors, cattle and people wandering on all village streets... not to mention cyclists. Despite this, drivers tended to be intolerant in Romania: It was the done thing to honk as they passed, for reasons unknown, and if large trucks passed we would often be forced off the road.

Rain approaching

Haystack making

Haystacks are everywhere in Romania. Every decent bit of grass is cut multiple times during the summer and either stacked by hand or hauled off by a horse and cart. This doesn't just include farms but also the verge beside train lines, church grounds, etc. Most of the stacks are just round but there are variations.

Wall shaped haystacks

Descent into Maramureş Province

Our biggest climb so far took us to a high pass that lead into the rural province of Maramureş. Luckily we had good weather. In Maramureş the farming population still use horses and carts, work the fields with scythes, draw water from wells and live a largely traditional lifestyle... if you exclude the satellite dishes!

Satellite dish on mud-walled house

The architecture in Maramureş is quite unique. As we learned at an open air museum, the carved wooden gates are a feature of the region and full of symbolism.

Ornate tiled house

Wooden gate carving

The village of Ieud has a wooden church dating from 1365. We stayed with a lady who noted our love of her homemade berry jam and gave us a bottle as we were leaving.

Wooden church