to Sasca Montana: Rural Romania

May 16, 2015

"That hill right out of the hotel was worth it for this", Rachel says. We had an initial climb out of Resita from the hotel before we had a chance to warm up our muscles. Then a gradual 30km downhill to Gradinari, and we enter the Caras-Severin area skirting the National Park.

Then....

....the road is a gradual climb up to Oravita.....that flat hill that can be a struggle because visually it looks flat, but cycling is too sluggish to be flat! We are halfway to our destination for the day. The hills have become lower, the valley more broad.

Out of Oravita, we are on a back road that only our GPS on the tablet would find and it's wonderful...going through Romanian villages that seemed not to have been affected by Communist Architecture. But one wonders if all the empty houses that line the street happened during or after the communist era. The houses that are occupied are colorfully painted, interspersed with many empty houses.

We reach Sasca Montana but the hotel we have made reservations for is a couple kms on, the good part is this is part of the hill we would need to climb tomorrow anyway, and we finally find the Rockers Inn. An oasis...a draft beer....a hot shower washes the day's aches away. The owner is making goulash that will be ready by dinnertime....and it was wonderful!

We follow the white roads and see several horse carts. Patrick thinks photos like these are not quite fair to Romania, we see at least ten times more expensive German SUV's zipping down the roads, but they just don't make the photos he wants.

In the villages most houses have either a bench or chairs outside.

Riding through small towns. Dogs everywhere, but they behave.

We stop for our lunch of ham-and-cheese sandwich on a small side road. Not ten minutes later a horsecart needs to pass.

Rockers Hotel in Sasca Montana. A little expensive, but good value for a very nice place.

All rooms are decorated to a theme. Ours is the "punk room".

Today's ride: 80 km (50 miles)
Total: 2,606 km (1,618 miles)

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