July 18 - The road less traveled

Right when I started, I met the first (and hitherto, the last) long-range bikers: she was from France, he from Netherlands, both living in Germany. We joined forces trying to find a breakfast place, but I soon gave up, as the clock was clicking. A bit outside town, I did get a delicious omelet, then it was time to hit the next mountain.

While I do not really plan any of my trips, I did have a rough idea as to where to go, but a change of the (hardly existent) plan did happen at the first intersection. Instead of going up on to the north towards Passo Rotunda, I turned east towards a town called Lunca Ilvei. I came across a truck selling street food and tried an amazingly tender kebab, which I believe is called 'mici'.It costs 2 Lei, or less than 50 cents a piece and you get bread and mustard with it - some delight!

The 'mici'-stand - yummy!

It was quite a while later, in a mix of sunshine and showers, that I got to Lunca Ilvei, where there was a brand new visitor center - and the lady serving there was of Hungarian origin. She explained to me what I hardly wanted to hear - the road leading eastwards is non-existent, but I did have an option to head southwards, back to the main road, on an 18-km unpaved road (remember the day before?). This time I got lucky, the road was actually in a pretty good condition and soon (well, not sooo soon, it was 18-km upwards - and that on an upaved forest road) I was in Poiana Stampei.

A market at a mountain village

This town hosts a hotel dedicated to Dracula - worth a short visit. Next to it was a huge restaurant, where I decided to dine as the only guest and had a real feast. The borscht soup was just OK, but the main course, spare ribs with beans and hot pepper, was really delicious. After my late lunch/early dinner, it was only a few km to the summit, called Tihuța Pass. Then followed a real roller-coaster, the road went down, then back up, repeat, repeat - the views in all direction were quite spectacular. It was later in the evening, in yet again rain showers, that I stopped at a B&B past the town of Vatra Dornei.

Unpaved roads in a nice forest