Romania

12th – 16th November, 2007 – Romania

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Romania joined the EU this year and hopes for dramatic changes over the next 2 years - much of what we saw suggests it’s needed. Our impression is of a very poor country with very small pockets of wealth and development. Even so, people were very welcoming and we got lots of smiles and waves.

Much of the countryside is really beautiful, but fairly unproductive. Given Romania was ‘the breadbasket of Europe’ (pre-Ceausescu, of course), it has a long way to go before it could reclaim its title. The land is there, the finance isn’t.

Some of the old Saxon villages looked quite medieval and very poor. Basic mud-brick houses (with beaten earth floors) and barns are within a courtyard full of chickens, goats etc. Dogs and mud were everywhere. Some have no running water. However, other villages (eg Carta), although still obviously poor, had swept pavements, no rubbish and some cheerily painted houses. (Unexpectedly, we found a Cistercian Abbey in the village too.)

We found some intriguing architecture…. spot the stag?

The Transylvanian Alps are certainly special. We walked round the medieval fortress city of Sibiu, current European City of Culture. Its ancient architecture has been carefully restored and the enormous Square looks magnificent. It’s very Germanic in origin and felt quite like Rothenberg, only less chocolate-boxy. The Bell Tower offered superb views across to the snow-capped mountains - we kept a close eye on the time as we climbed past the 2.5 tonne bell!

Sighisoara’s medieval Citidal was at the top of about 200 wooden steps. Its 12th Century church had some fascinating frescos as well as the only crypt in Transylvania (ha! you might have guessed this city was the birthplace of Dracula (aka Vlad the Impaler). Some graves were suspiciously accessible…

Romanian roads are over-flowing with lorries, Dacia cars, horses, carts and pot-holes. In fact, there are more holes than road on many main routes. You couldn’t transport eggs here. Road improvements are happening, but we’re not convinced about the standard of repairs.

We walked around Simeria, a largish town which is trying hard to develop, but has a way to go – a bit like a farmyard with derelict factories in it. Crumbling concrete block of flats had a very depressing feel. We found a derelict steelworks which now seems to be used for cleaning out railways tankers –the waste flushes into the water system…… Standing on top of the railway bridge, it all looked really grim. Still the orange school certainly looked bright and cheerful and there was a new supermarket.

Wild camping is a definite no-go here, and many campsites are closed. Lorry parks are good and hotels usually let you park in their secure area for a small fee, or if you eat there. We found 2 excellent places, in Simeria (great meals) and Carta (did our washing for us).

Much to our amazement (and theirs) we met 4 blokes form Chesterfield, two of them driving a lorry donated by a Sheffield company. They’re carrying gift boxes to needy Rumanians. This time, to a leprosy centre on the Ukraine border and then the Black Sea area. Spare a thought for them as they sleep in their lorries in the snowy weather.