We last wrote from Bamberg where the
mornings were chilly and everything was still new. We’ve now covered nearly 3,500km in less than
2 weeks and the weather has steadily turned warmer, the white legs and flip
flops are coming out and ice can no longer be thrown off the roof of the truck
at breakfast like a frisbee.
We drove out of Bamberg on a beautiful misty morning. The next 2 nights were spent in Prague, with
lots of walking tours taking in the sights. Cobbled streets, statue clad
bridges and spectating weddings Eastern European style in Wenceslas Square. Of
course everyone sunk a few Czech beers in the underground vaulted bars.
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| Astronomical clock Prague |
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| Czech meat, Prague |
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| Rog's gun sculpture, Prague |
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| Prague pint of sausages |
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| Prague at night from on the tram home |
The group have settled nicely into camp
life and now dexterously put up and pack away their tents. At night it can be a bit more difficult
distinguishing one’s own tent from others.
Overheard at breakfast: Betsy to Gill: “Gill you tried to get into my
tent last night. Through the window.”
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| Is anyone up yet? Do I have to? Budapest |
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| It's a hard life... |
With Nick and Di the final two in our group
collected and packed on board we headed down through Slovakia very briefly
before landing smack bang in the middle of Budapest. Driving over Elizabeth
Bridge and out the other side to our camp which contained a much smaller bridge
but with a few inches to spare we scraped in. (no real scraping Pete!)
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| A breakfast goblet of tea for Nick |
A fun night out was had by most in Budapest
with Milan, a local friend of Helen’s.
Starting the night off with a shot of traditional Hungarian quince
schnapps and following on to some great spots including the recently titled
“Best Bar in The World” Szimpla. There
was some gate climbing back into camp, only to realise there was a night gate
alongside. More sightseeing the
following day in the City, the lucky EU citizens of the group having a free
tour and entry to the Parliament. The
non-EU members of the group are starting to get a complex, always being singled
out at borders and having their passports taken away for further
inspection. The power of the red book.
Our next stop saw us entering Romania,
country numero 8, and trundling down to Turda where Calpyso our trusty truck
really came into her own. 2 nights were spent in Turda Gorge, our first “bush
camp” of the trip. Meaning we weren’t at
a proper campsite with luxury facilities such as hot showers and flushing
toilets. The girls got to work digging a
long drop and erecting the toilet tent.
We figured that we often celebrate the eve of things. Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve etc. so why not
celebrate Helen’s Birthday Eve. A few
drinks around our first proper campfire and some tunes inspiring some
interesting moves from some, no names mentioned Chris.
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| First glimpse of Turda Gorge |
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| Sheep in camp |
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| Camp, Turda Gorge |
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| Turda |
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| View from the top of Turda |
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| Spot the truck! |
The place is absolutely stunning with our
camp at the base of the mouth of the gorge nestled next to a stream. We woke to rain and feared the worst with regards
to outdoor activities. Our local hiking
guides Gigi & Adrian arrived and soon the skies cleared. We all headed up into the gorge, some walking
and others harnessed up to tackle a brand new Via Ferrata route. There’s always an added element of excitement
when being used as a guinea pig on something! Via Ferrata is climbing without
needing to be a pro, no ropes, just fixed steel cables and iron footholds and
always safely attached means we all managed to scale the 1,000ft gorge through
a cave and out the top to some spectacular views. Unfortunately we didn’t get
to hop off the top and paraglide back down to camp this time. What an awesome
day though, all feeling like we had summited the highest mountain, how many
weeks till Everest?
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| Nervous walk - Mikkel, Rogs, Jody and Hels |
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| Hanging out, Turda |
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| Intrepid climbers |
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| Nervously peering over the edge... |
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| Onwards through a cave |
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| We think we look cool! |
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| Mountain goat Mikkel |
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| A birthday to remember for Hels |
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| Oh no, we lost one! Mikkel and Rogs |
Those not climbing scaled the same peaks on foot but with a slightly lesser
gradient, still a real scramble to the top with war wounds to prove it, Kev
looking like he had just returned from war.
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| Kev, Cindy and Mikkel with the truck pet |
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| Kev's war wounds... do you want a plaster? |
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| Romanian local woman? |
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| Ryan relaxing in camp, Turda |
We all congregated victorious at the bottom
and after persuading the local tavern landlady to accept our dirty euros we
enjoyed some cold, refreshing shandy’esque beers in the sun, then some more…
A shame to have to leave this stunning spot
which holds such fond memories for staff at the office. Still, onwards to Bucharest and a fairly long
drive. We had hoped to do a little side
excursion to a Transylvanian fairy tale castle that the guidebook described as
“hard to miss” and “just off the highway”.
Well somehow, we managed to miss it.
After being spoilt with some stunning cities
Bucharest was always going to have a hard time, still visibly suffering from
the effects of Ceausescu’s reign. But
with some impressive sights, statues, Arc de Triomphe, cheapest taxis and a
great meal out in a 200 year old restaurant it didn’t turn out too bad. We even had a surprise guest at the
meal. None other than Count
Dracula! Or Chris dressed as Dracula in
a costume brought all the way from England, brilliant stuff. He says there’s another surprise in store as
well, we can’t wait…
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| Anyone for sour tripe soup? Cher? |
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| Cher and Cindy in Bucharest. Spot the tourist? |
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| Chris, or is that Count Dracula? Bucharest |
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| Hanu Lui Manuc Restaurant Bucharest |
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| Jase, Jeff, Ryan, Rowan, Pip, Kev and G Rod wandering the streets of Bucharest |
On another note, we are developing a bit of
a habit. Trolley pushing. Outside of supermarkets, a favourite
loitering spot for us. First of all we
couldn’t persuade a taxi for love nor money to take us home from the
supermarket in Budapest. After pushing
the laden trolley over tram lines and pavements and waiting at rusty old
supposed taxi ranks it was decided the best course was to drag it 2km back
home. The second incident occurred in
Bucharest when Kev & Jase were re-stocking the bar. It might have been the sight of two blokes
with a trolley full of booze that put the drivers off, but they ended up
walking too and in need of a cold shower on their return.
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| Long wait for a taxi, Budapest |
We have now arrived in Bulgaria and are
staying at a spacious green camp surrounded by rolling hills in Veliko
Tarnovo. The group have all
energetically set off with bikes and hiking guides. We are looking forward to some local choral
entertainment this evening followed by a spot of poker, Bulgarian style.
Next we’re heading down to sun ourselves on
the Aegean coast in Greece so long as we vacate camp before the local car boot sale
moves in en masse for their Sunday gathering.
As they say in Bulgaria for health. Nasdrave!
