2009/11A Romania photos

After the last blog was posted – in a hurry as usual we had a thought to add a few Romanian photos.

First the Merry Cemetery;see the graves of a teacher, a woodman and an unfortunate 3 year killed by car, just to illustrate David's thoughts on his headstone.

 

 

 

 

 

Then a few pics of the locals

A Gypsy couple walking through Sovata.    

 

 

 

Locals on their way to church – note the men’s hats and jackets which vary from village to village.

Woman in traditional dress – note leggings and leather slippers.  This is not an unusual sight on Sundays and festive days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a really classy three holer loo plus pissoir (wooden trough as seen in use on the right) and  washing water with soap and towel just beside the dog box!  Needless to say Joanna refused to use these facilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To end on a better note a wooden gateway of which there are many fine old examples in Maramures plus many new ones.

2009/11 Bulgaria, Romania

The Lonely Planet says that for many tourists the Black Sea is Bulgaria, and for us on this trip, that is what it is, as we are really just using it to transit to Romania. But what a pleasant surprise. Joanna’s memories of Bulgaria from 32 years ago were not very good, and although much of the package deal tourist development seems somewhat uncontrolled, the general atmosphere is much more harmonious and positive  AND it is so cheap. We have just dined out sumptuously, including a very pleasant bottle of local Cabernet Sauvignon for NZ$24  or 10 pounds, a half litre of beer in a cafe for NZ$1.5.  Then we had trouble getting the waitress to take a tip – not that we want to encourage these terrible western customs.

Much of the Black Sea coast is given over to the dreaded package deal industry,but it is not hard to get away from it. We are camped once again on the seaside of a beautiful dune-backed beach, not unlike the best of our own Coromandel beaches in NZ.  

We crossed the border from Turkey close to the Black Sea coast. We only discovered later that the border has recently reopened. The last 50 kms through Turkey on a fine new highway, into Bulgaria with 2 narrow lanes, potholes and grass growing in the cracks in the tarmac. It seems EU money has yet to make it to these parts of the country. Horse and cart still seem to be the predominant transport (apart from the odd late model Audi or Mercedes). We bumped along for the next 60kms (about 2 hours), reflecting on the perceived lack of development of Turkey, and realising that it really is a country on the move. Finally settled for the night on the seafront in Burgas – probably more noted for its prominence as a port, but in our usual tinny way we found a great park – by the sea,  loads of restaurants and unfortunately several night clubs that raged well into the night. However we have managed to keep up our habit of several swims a day, and to keep the tan topped up.

We thought we had a language issue in Turkey (by the end we knew quite a few words and could get by a bit),well in Bulgaria we still don’t know how to say thank you. It is quite isolating when you can’t even exchange pleasantries. The worst thing is that Bulgarians nod their head for No and shake it for Yes. It has affected us a couple of times when David asked about parking overnight and if we could take a chair in a cafe. It is most disconcerting when they smile encouragingly and shake their head!

Next morning in Burgas we discovered we had free internet access via the restaurant next door, so spent most of morning swimming and updating blogs. It was then that we discovered the cheap restaurants and the wonderful deep fried Black Sea anchovies – Yum!  And the beer at NZ$1.5 for a half litre – David is a happy boy.

Time to head north onto Nesebar – a bit of culture with lots of old churches and Ottoman houses on a little presque isle. A pleasant respite from the over whelming tourist industry of nearby Sunny Beach. Spent the night in a carpark overlooking the old town, quiet and cool – at long last the temperatures are dropping a bit and we feel a bit chilly when it gets below 30 degrees. Finally we can get under the duvet for part of the night and even have a cuddle.

Travelled north from Nesebar through Sunny Beach – certainly not our style of holiday resort although can understand the appeal to those on a short holiday in the sun. They say that there is room on the 7km beach for 30 000 bums and hotel spaces for 100 000 – I suppose the rest are recovering from hangovers. We are totally used to beaches lined with permanent umbrellas now, but still too stingy to pay and carry our own. The restaurants here all offer full English breakfasts, Sunday roasts, set menus with a desert option of ice cream or beer, etc. Although we have not heard much English spoken.

Meandered our way on up the coast with mixed feelings. Enjoyed some spots such as Obzor, where we had a swim and more anchovies. We are beginning to realise that how much we enjoy a place is often dependent how easily we find a park (although if we relied on that theory we should HATE Istanbul – and we loved it). The next 50kms north is given to the package industry  -not good for Camper vans, so we moved through as fast as we could. But now here we are in a place we don’t even know the name of and are blown away. I think there is a touch of homesickness here as we look at the dunes and the maram grass. If had a few spare millions I would buy the lot and turn it into a little bit of NZ on the other side of the world.

Woke up to a big change in the weather with rain and overcast skies and a drop in temperature.

Crossed into Romania and the first section of our four part tour of this interesting country – the Black sea coast with a look at the tourist beach sights just across the border Saturn, Venus, Neptune etc some are run down and none very tempting but the weather didn’t help. However we headed west on the motorway to Bucharest, crossing the low plains of the Danube, stopping overnight at a parking/petrol station/cafe rest area, always good value (ie free with a toilet etc) for us. You probably think we are  obsessed with toilets – well you are right.  Although we have one of our own, it does need to be emptied every now and then. One of the unusual sights in Romania are the stray dogs (officially ‘community dogs’), they are everywhere, luckily they are mostly well behaved and not aggressive but a very strange thing to allow.

Bucharest was a drive around to see the ex dictator’s palace apparently the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon!  Great boulevards, ugly modern apartments, classic old buildings, quite a mix. Managed to get halfway up a one way street and beat a retreat with a 4 point turn! That was enough for Joanna.

So we headed north for part two of the Romanian tour- the mountains of Transylvannia to yet another drop in temperature. It is hard to believe how much things have changed for us in 2 days – rain, temperature,culture from middle east to Europe. Castle country and quaint, little Saxon houses. It is such a land of contrasts. There are people in the fields cutting the hay with a scythe,turning with a fork then loading on the horse and cart as late-model smart cars roar past them.

  A night in Sinaia- a ski resort and home to a monastery and a couple of palaces – not especially old, when you think of much of what we have been looking at lately, but great spectacles and the Peles castle home to the first Romanian king with a decor from every different fashion, was well worth the visit. This is a mountain resort with ski lifts in the centre of town and for us the change in temperature was hard to get used to – bracing to say the least.   Next day on to Bran Castle – the so-called Dracula’s castle – older and plainer than Peles but an interesting stop.

Overnight in the streets of Brasov, an important town with some fine Saxon period buildings and a surprise a free Opera in the Square evening.  This was very well presented in a sound shell with excellent sound and lighting and seating,We sat at a restaurant on the square and enjoyed a good meal while listening to many of the popular classics that we hear at Opera in the Park in Auckland. Had to move in the morning when knocking on the van told us that they wanted our parking space.

Campsites are an issue for us here – mostly because there are very few. What the Romanians call camping, is rows of little wooden cabins usually under the trees,often run down and/or deserted and with facilities that could be described as “non-English.”  We cope well for a few days with no services but every now and then we need to fill up/empty out. Romania has an abundance of mountain springs where we can fill up with fresh water, but the emptying out is more of a problem – say no more, except thank goodness for motorway toilet blocks.

  Headed west to Sibiu, past numerous Saxon villages with gypsy women in traditional garb. Sibiu is another important Transylvanian town , with a huge main square pedestrian malls and Saxon period buildings all scrubbed up to look impressive.  The rows of little Saxon houses(or big in the case of Sibiu) look like something out of a fairytale. They line the side of the road with no gaps but only a barn door for access teo their yard or alley.  Thank goodness they have survived the spartan Communist era, even if sometimes surrounded by enormous concrete apartment blocks. We got an excellent park close to the old town, did a walking tour of the town, expertly guided by Joanna and managed to discover a few  of the local culinary delights – sesame covered bread rings (like simits in Turkey) and deep fried pastry things stuffed full of cheese. Yum! We got all sorts of advice on good routes to take to visit interesting villages and went on to spend much of the afternoon on a wild goosechase on lousy roads.

   Stopped and planned our own route, but then the map let us down and finished up on a narrow farm track, where turning around became a major issue. All very grumpy stuff at 6.30 at night and 1 hour of light left. However careful spotting of a campsite sign at the side of the road led us to the wonderful haven we are in now – Camping Richas.  It is run by a Dutch couple who have restored an old farmhouse and accompanying outhouses etc and recently opened a campsite with all the amenities that Western Europeans enjoy –including a brand new washing machine with all the instructions in English. Much needed after 10 days of free camping. Bliss. The simple joys of life on the road. They have done it very well. On the surface it looks like an old, rustic farmyard, slightly tumble down, but behind closed doors there are wonderful, modern amenities. Next morning we were taken to the top of the bell tower of the village church by a couple of local kids who then treated us to a session on the bells, while we were still up there (our ears are still ringing!)

The local speciality is fortified churches – we visited one at Beirtan which was interesting but decided one was enough, and lunch at the medieval town of Sighasoara was more appealing.  We would be hopeless on tours – they get to see about 6 churches in a day. We are happier wandering or driving round the countryside and villages absorbing the atmosphere.The countryside is very very pleasant with fields divided up into strips, mountain passes with forests, and villages. Crossing mountain passes from Transylvannia in the centre to Moldavia in the north-east, we stopped to buy mushrooms and berries. Cooked up a big feast of fungi of all shapes and sizes for lunch. It was delicious, disappointingly had no after effects, and luckily found ourselves alive the next day!

North to part three, the tour the Monastery section in Moldavia with most buildings dating from the 15th century. ( This makes us sound very organised, with part 3 of our tour, but in truth, we are usually only planned about one day ahead.) We selected three of the many there to visit – Humor, Voronet and Moldovita.  They all comprise a special, rather appealing building with extensive frescoes on the outside and all over the interior with lots of graphic depictions of the horrible death of martyrs, sword, fire. boil, hang……, and the usual biblical themes inside.   They are beautiful buildings in their own right with very pleasant settings, Moldovita an impressive fortified wall.  We stopped  our monastery visits at these three, as there starts to become a sameness after a while. As in Transylvannia, horses and carts are everywhere (lucky for the horses the carts are on pneumatic tyres), we gave up taking photographs after a dozen or so. They are a regular item of transport and now its haymaking time some are piled high with hay (previously hand raked and turned) then hung out to dry on little wooden racks before becoming little round, rather classic, haystacks.

The people here appear to manage a self-sufficient lifestyle – a cow in every yard, brilliant vegetable gardens. In fact shops have been hard to find and supermarkets non-existent in these northern parts of Romania, because they all produce their own. Strip farming (I remember learning about at school) is still practised here. But interestingly, we have noticed the same people who are forking over the hay in the fields have a car parked down below, or the people that turn out of their yard in a horse and cart, have a late-model car parked in the same yard. Who knows? We don’t!

Onto Maramures, part 4, an isolated, rural area, that seems to almost stopped in time. In fact it is a mix of old and new now, with the older people living the simple, peasant life while the younger ones,who still seem to be around, drive fast noisy cars and are starting to build modern,brightly –painted houses. However it is not hard to get away from it all and feel like you have gone back a hundred years.   Traditional garb is still the norm here, even leggings with little leather slippers on their feet. Amazing! There is little or no concession to tourism, so sometimes a bit difficult to make your way around. Would love to have taken more photos of people, but it seems so intrusive – so we missed some treasures like the old guy on the hay laden horse and cart texting, and the old lady spinning sitting at her front gate.

We did visit a fine new (1995) monastery at Bersana and on a fete day (14 Sept) with locals wandering in for a service all dressed in traditional garb. Thence the most visited sight in the area – the Merry Cemetery at Sapanta.  The headstones (wooden in fact) have a picture depicting the profession or craft of the deceased with a text in the first person describing their life etc.   David had one of his random, rare super high temperature turns during the night and imagined the possible picture and text on his grave if he didn't survive the night – but he did. We camped just up the road in a peaceful country setting with horses and carts, sheep, cows etc passing along the road in the evening and again in the morn0ing, not to forget the best Romanian dinner, overlooking a sparking stream. Joanna frets that she looks like Hilda out of Coronation Street, but otherwise a lovely spot and a great meal.

EU funding has not made its way into improving Romanian roads- they are by far the worst we have encountered and make many of the rural journeys at an average of about 30km an hour. Luckily the scenery is engrossing and keeps us well occupied, if only we can hang onto our seats as we rock and roll plus swerve to avoid potholes. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Romania, the spectacular and varied scenery and the unhurried, gentle lifestyle. It seems a shame that it all is starting to change, but you can’t really blame them for wanting to live in modern houses and use more efficient, farming machinery. On to Hungary – let’s hope the roads are better.

2009/10 Turkey finish

Well what a relief to be back on the road with an engine sounding sweet, well at least that rattle so typical of a Ford it seems. We had managed to clear all our waste water etc but had some difficulty filling Stan with clean drinking water. The Turks are very fussy about their water, never keen to drink from the tap, and everyone we asked had a different answer.  Some thought we should fill with bottled water, others knew of spring water, but disagreed about which was the best – some were better for cay (tea) and others for drinking water. The locations were usually obscure. Finally we settled for the cay spring which was close to town. So far we seem to be OK, so hopefully a good choice. The springs along the roadside are usually labelled to say whether they are drinkable or not – page 38 of the Rough Guide gives us all the words for drinkable or not.

We left Marmaris to travel along the Dacha Peninsula, out to the archaeological site of Knidos right at the end. The road deteriorated seriously in the last few kilometres, white-knuckle stuff for Joanna. Stopped to buy honey on the side of the road (to go with the delicious Turkish yoghurt) and were enthusiastically invited to join some sort of local celebration, sat at a table and plied with a feast. All kinds of local delicacies, most of which we enjoyed!  

Luckily they didn’t seem to want us to stay too long,as the language barrier was huge, so were able to get on the road to Knidos. We really enjoy these ancient sites, especially this one with the twin harbours. It is quite awe-inspiring to imagine that these things were put in place nearly 3000 years ago. The level of development of the infrastructure is amazing – drainage systems etc, that can clearly be seen. As David says, at the same time the British were racing around painted in mud. The stature of the Aphrodite, the first statue in the world of a goddess completely nude, used to be there but she left some time ago, although David has made a date to see her in London at the Brit Museum.

Yet another swim and a beer, and back to the small town of Palamutbuku. It is great – none of the brash tourist development of Marmaris, but all amenities to make it comfortable.   It is a real middle class Turkish holiday resort. Lots of restaurants, with wifi, a park right on the beach(which no one seems to mind about). People are always ready for a chat and to find out how we got Stan here all the way from NZ. A lot of chartered yachts and gullets ( large, very comfortable Turkish ketches, modelled on traditional boats ,that take about 10 people), pass through. We would quite happily stay for a few days, but having lost nearly a week we need to get moving. Ramadan starts on the 21st, so will be interesting to see what sort of impact that has on the tourist trade – and on David’s continuing daily, local beer research.

We made our way back along the peninsula with a quick visit to Dacha itself. Another really nice town that has seemed to steer clear of the dreaded package deal trade. Apparently there is a large expat community of Brits and Dutch, which means we were able to buy a reasonably up to date newspaper. Back onto the very mountainous road back to Marmaris. We seem to find a lot of hilly routes. We wish the Turks were more like the Italians who put in a tunnel at every available opportunity. Although mountainous roads mean panoramic views.

We passed through Marmaris to confirm all was well with Stan and enjoy a cheap auto parts cafe lunch.   Next night at Koycegiz beside a lagoon cut off from the sea.  Very Turkish for a change and pleasant cafe stroll in the evening with a coffee and backgammon as do the locals, although at 4 am it became evident we were parked very close to the mosque on the first night of Ramadan, loud speakers and drums marching through the streets.

Still heading south along what is called the Turquoise Coast past Govec, a big yacht marina place and onto Oludinez which has a fine beach but little accommodation, so the package holiday Brits are based several kilometres inland. The coast road here is spectacular perched on the cliffs above the sea on a part of the coast that is now part of an internationally acclaimed walk -the Lycean Way (full walk can take a month - so for another year).

On the road passing more Xanthos and Patura (no time to see them all) to Kalken (lots of Brits buying houses here says the guide book)for the night, right on the rocks for a swim evening and again in the morning.   Next stop Kas which we thought a very pleasant seaside town,with lovely old Ottoman style houses, although not much of a beach. We whiled away a couple of hours chatting to carpet salesmen –we are a great disappointment to them with our lack of purchase, although I always make it quite clear at the start that we won’t be buying. They are ever optimistic.

Picking up the pace now we continued round the coast past the town of Antalya to an overnight stop on a beach near Side. We say near Side because the sea side for kilometres to the west is covered in very messy hotel developments in very bad taste- pity the packaged holidaymakers booked in here.The visit to the ruins at Side were special as they form part of the town with a road through the middle.  Self standing theatre for 20,000, and down to the columns of the Apollo temple on the waterfront. Plenty of tourists (full English breakfast etc) but a place with great character and good sand beaches. 

So goodbye to the Adriatic and Mediterranean coasts we are heading into the Turkish heartland, up and down through the mountains, could have been in British Columbia again, to arrive at a vast plateau, endless distance with wheat fields (stubble only now), more like what one imagines the steppes of central Asia to look like. Stopped at a place called Baysehir on one of the large shallow lakes in this centre of Turkey, a lunch of lake Bass went down well, and by the way there seems to be no problem in buying and drinking beer during Ramadan.   A quick visit to a thousand year old wooden mosque was well worth the effort. The scenery here is so completely different, rolling plain with harsh brown smooth hills, a straight road that disappears into the dusty distance. We stopped near one of the Caravanserais set up by the Sultan for travellers. However the advantage is that at over 1000m a,attitude it is cool, for what seems the first time in months, sleep beneath the duvet, drink less –pee more, and even David is not craving a beer by 11am. 

 

 

Now it’s Cappadocia and the troglodytes again. This is an extraordinary place.  A cross between a moonscape and Noddyland, with a little bit of Hobbitown thrown in. Joanna was here 32 years ago and was worried that it would be disappointing. It has certainly changed a lot,in fact little is recognisable, but it is still fantastic. The landscape is mind boggling. We can’t stop taking photos, whereas usually we forget to. Around every corner there is another great scene. The first visit was to a Hittite underground cities, housing up to 40,000 people (don’t know how they know that) date back to 1900BC, we did not visit their main town centre further north.

The whole area is a layer of volcanic tuff, easy to excavate and easily weathered.  There are acres of weathered rock formations, exotic looking cones some with a basalt lump marooned on top which are called ‘fairy chimneys’.  Troglodyte churches and houses built into the cliffs or hollowed out fairy chimneys are everywhere.   

We completed our sightseeing here by getting up at 5 in the morning and taking a flight on a hot air balloon. Spectacular and we were not alone, there are about twenty balloons in the sky each dawn drifting over the valleys. 

After a last early morning walk through these freaks of nature we had to move on and completed a 500km drive to a town in the north called Safranbolu with its very well preserved Ottoman half timbered houses with overhanging balconies, narrow cobbled streets, Turkish baths and mosque. No sooner arrived, we discovered that David had left his satchel complete with computer, ipod and Joanna’s jewellery at a cafe back in Cappodocia, so a quick look round the town by night only, although we were impressed and would have liked to stay longer but!!!. Back we drove to discover next day, to our delight and relief, and to the credit of the Turkish sense of honesty, that it was still there under the counter, much thanking, drinking of cay,talking about NZ with few presents from NZ, exchange of emails, etc. Note, why don't we bring a book and map of NZ with us to explain all these things!!!  Anyway hereafter David will be more protective of the satchel or we won’t bother and instead, rely on Stan’s alarm system, Joanna has been handing out lessons in guarding handbags with a strap round the leg at table etc etc.

So after the 1,000km diversion we drove back north again skirting the capital Ankara and stopping at sundown at a crowded truck stop-best meal at best price so far, although nobody spoke a work of English. Being Ramadan, the restaurant was packed with truckies and travelling families at sundown, so things were humming.  This time we went direct to the Black Sea resort of Akcakoca and a park right on the seafront, a swim in the Black Sea which has very little salt. Sat on the sea front and had a chat with locals, and watched the evening promenade.  Ramadan started on the 21st August but it has not affected us too much as in Turkey they are fairly relaxed considering the strict adherence as a personal matter for themselves and no problem for visitors. As we discovered in Egypt it does liven up the evening as after the sundown meal families and groups go for an evening stroll etc.

All over Turkey (and Greece for that matter), we pass stalls on the side of the road selling local produce or specialities.  However the stalls are all selling the same thing depending on the region be it olives, olive oil, wine, honey, melons -  I have never seen so many melons for sale in their thousands in stall after stall 100m apart (we have bought the rarer honeydew melon but the vast majority are water melons). Here near the Black Sea it is nuts and locally hazel nuts, we have passed the almond nut region.

  Drove along the Black Sea coast passing very small sea side places, definitely not on the tourist track,thence on the motorway fighting it out with trucks from all sides. Into town we were looking for one of two campsites listed on the west side, one seems to have been demolished, the other we spent two hours circling round asking police and taxi drivers to no avail – has it really been demolished also,  anyway just parked in the street close to a metro station.  Next day it rained – what a cheek- we haven't had rain for more than 2 months. Anyway into town on the metro then the tram, these journeys let one see part of ordinary life.

Day one was the Aya Sofya (built as a church, now a museum) built in 537AD and the largest enclosed space in the world for one thousand years. It is huge with high dome and some wonderful mosaics some of which were covered over during its Islamist life. Next the Blue Mosque which the Sultan built to be ‘huger’ than Aya Sofya and it is impressive both outside dominating the area and inside with all the mosaic tiling. The ‘bazaar’ was a disappointment - just an extensive network of shops selling the usual things – not like the one in Cairo in the good old days – no craftsmen at work etc. The Turkish Bath in a 600 year old building was wonderful. Then a rush to get into the cafe before the food is all sold out with the Ramadan sundown rush.

Day two was the Topkapi Palace all morning as it is very extensive with lots of separate buildings and large courtyards. The Sultan’s quarters (Harem) with space for the Eunuch guards and Concubines, the Treasury with a display of the presents given to the Sultans including the third largest diamond in the world. The palace is very extensive and everywhere ornate ceramic tiles. A quick look at the spice market and then an afternoon a cruise along the Bosphorus, more like a wide river than entrance to the Black Sea.    

Day three saw David put 2 litres of water into the ‘house’ battery before heading north to Bulgaria, stopped at a supermarket to spend our last lira (including a free tee shirt with three 1l bottles of beer) and after a drive through extensive forest we crossed the border into Bulgaria at a very remote border post, and drove to Burgas to park beside the beach and pick up a free wireless internet from the neighbouring cafe.

A month in Turkey and we have had time to get to know the country, the food and lifestyle and note the changes between the passengers on our urban trams in Istanbul which could have been any western Europe well off town and the centre of the county and no doubt the east which we would like to visit one day. Everybody has been very friendly and helpful in spite of language difficulties – the tourist offices are an exception, in general being not friendly at all and rarely have much information. It is a bit of a relief not to have to worry about conforming to dress codes and other cultural issues especially for Joanna, but we will miss the cheery friendliness that is so common throughout Turkey.