Gordon: Yesterday we left the comparatively flat roads of Transylvania for the hills of Maramures. Travellers come here for two reasons: to see one of the most traditional cultures remaining in Europe, and to visit the UNESCO designated wooden churches sprinkled across the region.We dropped in our first wooden church yesterday. Within a minute of parking our bikes, a beautiful young woman materialized with the ...
Gordon: While we are waiting for our bikes and gear to arrive we have taken a sidetrip to the town of Sibiu, which is perhaps 200 kms south of Cluj. We came by BlaBlaCar, which is a rideshare app popular in Romania. A BlaBlaCar ride is faster and cheaper than the bus, and affords the opportunity to have some social interaction with locals. We had ...
The number is listed as “Customer Relations,” and the message that repeats with the electronic music assures us that they understand that our time is valuable. Forty five minutes into this process I begin to feel that I am playing a role in some twisted psychological experiment. With too much time invested, I can’t give up in spite of the anxiety and anger welling up ...
Our bikes and bags are still missing in action. Today I am buying deodorant and shampoo, but it is amazing how little we can manage with. Fortunately, we have our camera, chargers, and a second pair of socks and underwear. Cluj is also a lovely city, but we are both anxious to get our bikes and start riding. Yesterday we met up with Vlad, an Art ...
We made it to Cluj-Napoca after travelling roughly 24 hours door to door. Our forty minute transfer in Toronto made us scramble, but we made our flight to Munich and on to Cluj. Our bikes and luggage were not so lucky. If all goes well they will be delivered to us at our hostel and spare us the aggravation of finding a cab big enough ...
After one of my toughest springs ever, it is time to turn my mind to preparations for our cycling trip in Romania and Bulgaria.