Bucharest, Romanıa

Coming into Bucharest, we still saw lots of people with their horse and carts as well as a lot of farmers minding their fields. We got into Bucharest so late in the day (approx. 8pm) and pretty much had dinner and went to bed. I did responhd to some email but other than that, we really didn't see Bucharest, Romania. In the morning we had our luggage down to the bikes at 7 am, breakfast at 7:30 and then off by 8 (a schedule we hold to quite seriously). Well, maybe not! As you notice it is after 8 and our fearless leader is not in his seat and no where to be found. On a serious note, Mick MacDonald (owner and tour guide leader) has put together an amazing trip and no one knows exactly how he's doing everything wearing so many hats ie: leading the ride, arranging the dinners, accounting for all his receipts to the amazing hotels we've been staying at as well as dealing with all the demands of the group ın a calm, cool and collectible manner. My hat's off to you Mick!!!!

Bike Maintenance

Bike maintenance is a must on this trip. We are in Istanbul, Turkey and I have approx. 4700 kms. on my bike (started with only 66 kms). Our mechanic recommends that we do the chain at least once a day (ıf not twice). Once we go to Mongolia or "the Stans", ıt will be necessary to do the chains everyday and perhaps twice a day.

X MEN IN ACTION

I had to post this picture as it is one of my favourites. Can you guess which one I am?
I think it's just tooo cool!!! We were on our way to a picnic lunch off the roadway and Carmen snapped a picture of us "four amigos" or "2 Aussies, a Scottsman and a Canuck." Our bigger riding group has broke off into 2 groups and this is my more intimate group. However, once closer to Russia, we wıll all ride together as this area will mandate that.

COUNT DRACULA

And HERE is where "MY COUNT" lives. Pretty snazzy, eh??!! Count Vlad Dracul!!! The castle ıs actually called "Castle Bran". This is what "MY COUNT" wore for an eveniıng out as well. Leavıng Vlad's house, we saw all sorts of things. Once leaving Sighisoara, we headed to Bucharest, Romania and saw pups being sold out of the back of a vehicle, more horse carts (there are a lot of gypsy caravans on the road) and somewhere between Sighisoara/Bucharest, Romanıa and Nesebar, Bulgarıa, we saw a Mausoleum dedicated to WW1 heroes. In Romania, there were some sub standard roads however I expected them to be a lot worse than what they were. After leaving "the Counts" abode we had some wonderful sweepers through the Carpenthıan Mountains as well as switchbacks. FANTASTIC!!!

The Medieval City where İ was spooked

The top picture was typical of the people there. Mostly dark black hair & weird eyes.

The courtyard wıth flowers is the foyer

to where we slept. Next,

Mıck & Isaac havıng a beer at the pizza joint we ate at.

The dark pıcture ıs the cave bar (before power went out).

Me wıth my "COUNT" and the weather from the support

vehicle driving to Sighisoara

Day 11, Tues. June 22n, 2010 Nesebar, Bulgaria

Hi All. Just me once again. I have so much to tell all of you but unfortunately so little time as we are off to Istanbul, Turkey today. Once there however, we have a two day layover so I will get caught up with the blog. I still have to show you Sighisoara pictures (again, I will NEVER forget that small medieval citadel in Transylvania IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!). Also, who would've known that Nesebar, Bulgaria is like the "hot spot" of the Black Sea. We rode along the coast of the Black Sea yesterday coming into Nesebar and it was beautiful. The "twisties" that we took which were a natural part of their roadways was fabulous riding and the road conditions were smooth. Quite the difference from Romania. Much more money seems to go into this area. While riding the one side of the roadway was brown rolling fields while the other side was quite plush and green. Lots of rolling hills. We stayed in an amazing hotel in the old part (again medieval part of Nesebar) and by the place that we stayed at, you'd think we were all rich. Just gorgeous. I had a balcony in my room that looked inward toward the medieval city.

So, I will write and give lots of pictures in Turkey. So, don't go too far away cause "I WILL BE BACK"............

Sat. Day 8 (One Week) June 19, 2010 Sighisoara, Romania

Wow, Do I have a lot to tell ALL OF YOU since I wrote last. We left Timisoara, Romania Saturday morning and I tried calling Rodauti, Romania (the village where my Grandmother was born and raised) to see if I could connect with family. Unfortunately, to no avail and the drive was well over 8 hours in the opposite direction, so I had to pass for this journey but the attempt by phone was a start. So, we headed to Sighisoara (pronounced Sigi shoara) which is in the area known as Transylvania, Romania. The moment we crossed into Transylvania, the sky turned completely black, lightening was electrifying the sky and the whole feel became extremely ominous with only 80 kms to go before we reached Sighisoara where we would be staying for the night. We got within 30kms and suddenly the skies opened up and once again a torrential downpour was underway except this time there was winds that not only had the power to sweep the bike across to the other side of the road but the sky changed colour and made it like a whiteout so that I couldn't see the fellow in front of me. We carried on with our hazards on for approx. 5 kms (it seemed more like 20 because of the speed) and the wind was progressively getting more violent. It was a Godsend to see a gas station where we we able to pull over. That was just in the nick of time because then it started hailing and cars were pulling off the road and jamming together under the gas station shelter. People were running inside and I thought we were in the middle of a tornado. It was FIERCE!!!!! It continued all the way to Sighisoara and once we pulled in there we were soaked to the bone. Sighisoara sits atop and is called a citadel because it's a city that looks over a village. We needed taxi and police escorts to find our way up to the top. We arrived in two separte groups with the support vehicle following and we stayed at two separate inns (pensiune's as they are called). We were there barely half an hour when all the power went out. This small medieval town was very eery right from the getgo as everyone seemed to have mesmerizing eyes, black hair and there was an ominous feeling in the air. This was the village of Vlad Dracula (the "a" stands for "son of" and Dracul stands for "devil" thus "son of the devil"). No restaurants were open due to the power outage and the local pizzeria had a stone fire to cook pizza which was dinner for the night. When we road into the city, small bats flew low just ahead of our bike tires and most of the shops, bars and restaurants were in caves. After dinner, a few of us went to a local bar that was buried deep within a cave and we were able to see due to the power having come on but the minute we ordered a drink in the cave, the power once again went out and I found myself laughing hysterically (my nervous laughter) as this was something straight out of Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula". Let's just say that I will never forget Transylvania and it truly lived up to it's namesake. Pictures will follow but for now I am recouping. I was never so glad to leave a place and yes I can say that I experienced it but I was definitely white knuckled. Very different people live here. Even though I slept I couldn't help wonder if there wasn't truth in this whole Count Dracula thing and that would be our next stop, Count Dracula's Castle on the way to Bucharest, Romania. But not now. A day of rest for that one. JACK