We arrived in regional Transylvania and drove to Brasov, seemingly an hour and a half drive on the map. But no, it took us over three hours. The roads are windy and mostly single lanes both directions. The people drive perilously fast, weaving in and out of their lanes. At most times it's necessary to overtake semi trailers/lorries before the next bend in the road.
The terrain is hilly and you see alot of unusual things on the road. For example:
1) Horses and carts are commonly used in the towns for transporting things.
1) Horses and carts are commonly used in the towns for transporting things.
2) There are huge potholes on the smaller roads. People drive in the middle of the road to avoid them, much to the shock of oncoming drivers. Not only were there lot of potholes (which my friend believes are dug up by locals to prevent speeding), they can be the size of paddling pools. We saw one which was as wide as the lane itself!
3) Girls standing around on the side of the highways. I saw one and thought she had car problems but my friend said she's actually a hooker. Apparently it's common practice for them to solicit on highways in Romania and Bulgaria.
4) There were alot of stray dogs. Apparently you're not to go near or touch them because they've been known to bite. And rabies is not completely eradicated in Romania. We nearly hit a dog crossing the highway but thank goodness we stopped in time.
5) Villagers in their traditional peasent dress. The run down houses along the highway painted in bright colors. Some tile roofs were so dilapidated, they slumped in the middle. We passed many beautiful churches and if you think you've seen your fair share of churches in Western Europe, they are uniquely different in Romania. (Will post pics later.)
If the rustic roads and villages are'nt enough to charm you into driving in Romania, the nerve wrecking lane skippers of the Romanians is a spectacle. People break speed limits and leave zero margin for error when overtaking. Us in the backseat were white knuckled and nail biting the whole way. The road trip triggered a nervous twitch in my eye and remains to this day.
Our driver was also calculatively brazen with stretching the speed limits. But thankfully we made it to our destination of Brasov.
Our driver was also calculatively brazen with stretching the speed limits. But thankfully we made it to our destination of Brasov.
It was pretty cold but the old town looked beautiful. We checked into our hostel and prepared for a nice dinner and a stiff drink or two!
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