Romania Day 2 - Road to nowhere

The photo shows Sarah (Swarah?) swearing at an entire country from the bank of the blue Danube.  Odd, yes, the whole day was unusual as we toured Romanian portaloo's, took roads to nowhere and got denied entry at the border. 

We had a 145 miles to cover from the Story Garden to Bulgaria, then a further 50 miles in Bulgaria to Motocamp.  We were up and an on it!  A little down the road, and to my delight, I watched Sarah mime the actions of 'i need the toilet' to petrol attendant, who offered the cabin above. Apparently it was grim, I didn't look. 

A road side cow.

We're passing through the Walachian Plain, a huge expanse of land that stretches from the Carpathian mountains to the Danube. 

Aside from a smattering of villages, each with a resplendent church, the country side is agricultural, the land mostly flat and the roads arrow straight.  There's not a lot to see, in the normal tourist sense.  Though one village stands out. It was so poor it reminded me of Africa. Kids playing with no shoes, unfinished buildings, rubbish everywhere and everyone staring at us.  I hadn't seen poverty like that in Europe before. 

Meanwhile, back on the straight roads, and to occupy our minds, we rated the straightness of the roads in our a catchy new game 'the top 10 straightest roads of Romania'.  It was riveting stuff. Spoiler alert, Route 51 won.

Interestingly, the roads were not actually leading us to our intended destination. They really were our 'road to nowhere.'

Reaching the border crossing at Zimnicea, we made new border friends. This is Patrick (not his real name, but the name he told me use when I struggled with actual name) his mum on the right. He has been to Doncaster, a crap town I'd also visited in England, but had never been to Bulgaria, despite living in Zimnicea. Today he was going. 

We were not though. That fact was unknown to us at time of photo. However, a little later, after Sarah used her second pungent portaloo of the day, we were refused entry into Bulgaria as we'd left the motorcycle v5 in Sibiu. Note to self, always carry the motorcycle passport. 

Replanning the afternoon, we plotted a path for Potocoava Dunarii, a small resort on the banks of the Danube (with cabins to sleep in) 

The dirt track above can be taken from the town to the hotel for approximately 10miles. It clings to the river bank and presents the opportunity to swear at Bulgaria, if thats on your itinerary, as it was ours. 

Track side goats, just chilling in the shadow of the trees. 

The hotel can't be reached by tarmac, the track above is the actual drive from the nearest road. It reminds me of the scene in the film The Gladiator, with Russel Crow. The bit where he's dying and this is his path to heaven. 

Approached from another angle, the hotel is almost 4 miles away from the nearest village. It a beautiful serene place right on the bank of the blue Danube river.  You should visit, the mosquitos should still be full of my blood and won't bother you. 

Time to rest.