Location: A small patch of land near Temeșești (between Deva and Arad)
Not much riding this week – I’ve had an unplanned break in Timișoara drinking beer and hanging out with some new friends.
The chap who owns Thunder Bikes {Mihai) and his girlfriend {Aliana – spelling?) very graciously let me into their lives for a few days. There was a bed and shower (courtesy of his folks) and we hung out drinking beer and chatting about the state of Romania’s politicians (and motorbikes, of course). I also got to see some of Timisoara, which would’ve been much nicer if the old part of the town wasn’t currently under construction as part of the mayor’s current pet project. All good fun though, and there is a brewery in town that makes a jolly nice beer, even if it is a lager.
Mihai has cleaned and tweaked the bike’s carburetor so I’ve left them to it and gone for a jolly in the hills to the north (I was starting to cramp their style too – what young couple wants a random foreigner showing up and then not leaving for three days?).
Wild camping – finally! I’m next to a stream in a small clearing and there is wild mint growing everywhere – not a vehicle within earshot. Today is the first day so far that I am totally within my budget and I feel I’ve shed some sort of self-imposed constraint by finally picking a random bit of land and plonking my tent on it. I must confess to being a bit twitchy about someone yomping up to this little encampment and telling me to piss off, but my experience of people so far suggests that any would be discoverer is more likely to invite me back to their house to share in some locally made hooch. Let’s hope I’m discovered 🙂
A word about the bike: Awesome.
A bit more about the bike: It really came into its own today. While looking for a place to camp I initially rode several kilometres along an unpaved and, eventually, muddy quagmire of a track that ended with a ‘road’ block next to a farmer’s house. The bike enjoyed itself but I shall be more vigilant in the future – turning a fully laden bike around on a slippery muddy single track ‘road’ was a bit of a grind (before anyone comments on this, I did eventually take some stuff off the bike to make it easier). My second attempt was much more successful and after fording a sizeable steam, here i am. This is definitely the right bike for the trip. Much more wild camping to come!
Boot note: I’ve just flicked through my photos of the trip to date. I’ve not been on the road three weeks yet but France, Italy and Croatia already feel like a lifetime ago. I think I’m starting to get into the swing of things. This is no longer just a riding holiday.
