Saturday 01st
July 2017
We woke early at our riverside campsite,
so lay listening to the birds and the river burble by for awhile. Once
breakfast was done, we were on the road again. Leaving the dirt road of the
Cerna Valley for the tarmac road that was the the 67d took us through a lovely
landscape of limestone crags, some single pitch and some well over 20 pitches
in length yet all of which would be a climbers paradise if there was much in
the way of climbing here in Romania.
As we came to the village of Baile
Herculane, which is a very touristy place serving this little National Park,
our fuel light came on in the van, so we forgot most things as we searched out
a fuel stop. There is one north of the town on the main E70 about 8-10 km’s up
towards Carancebes.
We took a detour here upto Poiana
Maralui so Lucy could see where we had ridden the first week of my stay in this
country, then dropped back to the TET near it’s Romanian end point at a tiny
village called Sasca Montana, which is home to some fabulous cave systems.
From Baile Herculane, there are some
longer tarmac road sections, (including a run north on the E70 which is a fast
truck route with plenty of crazy car drivers), then at Lablanita, it’s a turn
west to skirt along the top of the Muntana Almajului range of hills. The whole
area is a farmers paradise, rolling land which has been heavily cultivated over
the years with forest covering the hillsides.
From Slatina Nera, there is tarmac again
but it might as well be dirt road, it’s so damaged and broken, still there are
loads of good wild camp spots and Sasca Montana has a couple of very nice
Pensuineas and a lovely little restaurant. This would be a great last night
stop in Romania in a bed before heading to Serbia the next day. For us,
conserving cash for fuel and food, we found a field where we managed to catch a
stunningly red sunset as it dropped below the horizon lighting up a small range
of hills which may well be in Serbia itself.
So, tomorrow, a new country, and a new
part of the TET...
