I woke up around 10pm and together with Ploumisti we had a long breakfast. After Vangelis woke up we got ready and finally left the hotel at 12pm.
Moving to Vatra Dornei around 40km far, we understood for good that this day was going to be a trial day! Works on the road net forced us to move with slow motions. In various points the street was too narrow to afford both currents. So traffic lights were regulating vehicles circulation, creating a lot of delay. Even if the situation of street was a tragedy we were recompensed by the beauty of the landscape. With an average speed of 35km per hour we reached Vatra Dornei where we stopped for fuels. I was greatly disappointed when asking a local I was told that the situation of street from there up to Bistrita (meaning for at least another 85km) was the same or worst with parts of earth-road!
We needed roughly 2 hours to cover the distance Vatra Dornei- Bistrita using a road network that is considered national (E58-E576). I estimate that all those works won’t end at least for the next tree years. For this reason I would not propose this particular route, even if the landscape is astonishing! In Bistrita we made a stop since I had no other forces to continue. We had a coffee and later at 4:30mm we left for Cluj-Napoca, the old capital of Romania.
The national road E576 was better but worse than good. It was not earth-road but it was full of patches, giving us more tiredness. This situation continued for another 80-90km. The road got better for the last 10km before Cluj, but it would be the traffic junk to create us big delay and tiredness.
Finally we left Cluj for Turda following the national E60. We rode for 39km and when we reached Turda we followed the national E81 for Bucuresti and Alba Iulia and then the provincial 74 for Campeni and Stei. Even if the quality of the paving was mediocre it seemed like motorway in ours eyes!!! In the beginning - up to village Buru – the route was monotonous. We stopped in a terrace to have refreshments, but not for long. From there and beyond the street was following the watercourse of river. Despite our tiredness the impressive landscape gave us the courage we continue.
The sun had fallen and the temperature started dropping pleasantly. We continued riding to reach near Pestera Ghatului (the Ice-Cave), a distance around 80-90km from the Buru.
Passing through one of the villages I stopped and asked information from a police officer. I was wondering whether we could easily find lodging, since the region seemed abandoned. He told me that there are a lot of pensions in the aria, especially near the cave.
The darker it was becoming the cold was more perceptible. So being 20km far from the cave we stopped outside Pensiune Motilor, near the village Poduri Bricesti. Vangelis suggested we still continued but Ploumisti and I insisted in asking for rooms. Thus we ended up staying in a very pleasant familiar environment of a Romanian farm. The grandfather, the grand mother and the children were flown all joy when they saw the motorcycles. I arranged with the mother, who showed the tree bedroom where we would spend the night, to make us something to eat. Homemade sausages, potatoes and cheese would be our dinner while we were enjoying tuica offered to us by the father in the beautiful garden. There we had the opportunity to know each other and talk over several things. There was also another Romanian couple on vacation, sharing the same table with us. Time passed pleasantly…
