Translated by SFT
From Sofia, Bulgaria to Montana, Romania, a portion of road is uphill without shoulders. In the bend, drivers cannot see the other end and they also don’t expect anyone would ride a bicycle there, thus it’s very dangerous for bikers to ride on this section of the road. After Tony told us about the road conditions, we decided to detour to European route E 79, which begins in Romania and ends in Greece; it also runs through Bulgaria. However,
Tony and Mimi did not think it’s a good idea, they insisted in giving us a ride to pass over the mountain road.
Tony warned, ‘Gypsy in Romania are dangerous because they usually commit crimes in group, 3-4 people in a group. I once delivered merchandise to customers and slept in the road side on the way back. When I woke up, all 4 wheels of my SUV were stolen. In addition, if they cannot get any money from you, they would break the windows of your vehicle.’ Tony was so worried about us that he tossed and turned when he was sleeping. ‘You had better hurry passing by Romania,’ Tony advised.
Chuan tried to ease Tony’s concern, ‘We will bike as fast as possible in Romania. If internet connection is available, we will send you a note to let you know we are safe.’
‘Have a nice trip,’ Romania custom officer stamped our passports after seemingly long examining of them. Keeping in mind of Tony’s advice, we pedaled as quickly as we could. We rode along the Danube River with a wide view of sunflower and wheat fields.
We often had to race with wagons, watching out for horse manure.
Danube River, the second largest river in Europe, flows through the borders of ten countries, including Bulgaria and Romania. Between Bulgaria and Romania, there’s a bridge under construction. People need to take a ferry from Vidin, Bulgaria to Calafat, Romania. The cost is 3 Euros or 6 Levs, the currency of Bulgaria.
So what dangers we encountered in Romania?
When we were resting in a bus stop pavilion, passers-by gave us fruits.
When we were cooking lunch in a small town, an elder man and a couple of passing-by residents gave us vegetables. Three times a day, we were also given snacks by strangers.
We have met a lot of friendly people in the countries we have been. They provided us so much that we deeply appreciate. No matter how dangerous a country is, there’re always good people and safe places within it.
The surfaces of the roads in Romania are smooth and there’re also shoulders on the roads. Therefore, it’s safe for us to cycle. We rode the bike about 80km per day for the past several days.
We safely arrived in Hungary on the afternoon of July 14th.
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