We have made it to Chisinau, Moldova. The days in the Romanian mountains were amazing.
After the dirt tracks of the Parcul National Domogled-Valea Cernei we headed towards Transalpina in the Carpathian Mountains. It was getting late and we needed a place to pitch our tents. We found a very reasonable spot at the top of the pass!
The next morning we woke to a couple of mountain shepherds moving their sheep through the steep mountain slopes. They were an old couple but looked as fit as mountain goats, although the woman had a significantly limping gait. They were so smiling and friendly, they came over and shook our hands and took a look at our bikes.
From here we dropped off the mountains on the south side and headed for Transfăgărășan, stated by Top Gear as the best road in the world. Dubious? You shouldn’t be, it is something else completely! Words cannot describe this road. Photos can hardly do it justice either. We’d like to congratulate the engineers who designed them. Thanks to their grand creations, the front discs on our bikes are now blue ?!
And the campsite we found was a thing dreams are made of. Two nights in a row at over 2,000m with some of the most beautiful views you could imagine.
What could we do to follow on from such an amazing couple of days on some of the best riding roads the world has to offer? We hit the flat lands again and continued east, stopping in Adjud. The pensiunea we found was incredibly accommodating and there was a birthday party going on in their courtyard. We were welcomed and offered secret recipe traditional Romanian spirit called Vișinată. We chatted, showed off our bikes, sung songs and had a weird and wonderful experience.
Day seven brought us to Moldova and our next border crossing. While waiting in line a guy in a car next to us came over to express his delight at us riding KTMs and showed us his KTM number plate. His name is Sasha and he lives in Romania and rides enduro and often hangs out at Enduromania where we’d just been a few days ago. Totally random! He gave us his phone number and we planned to catch up for a beer in Chisinau.
Another example of the amazingly friendly and welcoming people we continue to meet. We have talked about this and the importance of us being open to these encounters and being relaxed and friendly with everyone we meet which helps make these experiences happen 🙂
Great update. Love hearing the stories about your encounters with the locals. That’s one of the best things about travelling in my experience.