From Brasov we cross the Eastern Carpathians to continue towards the Black Sea. Our destination for the day is the mud volcanoes of Berca! The destination was actually intended more as a stopover, but Chris’ digestive system thinks it needs to go into maintenance mode. I wonder if the sea buckthorn berries bought the day before at the street vendor have something to do with it 😉 Well, this question remains unanswered, but we spend more than a week at a campsite near the small mud volcanoes until we can set off on somewhat wobbly legs to explore them.
The area alone is a feast for the eyes. The interaction with the mud volcanoes is fascinating. There are around 700 of these special types of volcanoes worldwide, half of them in Azerbaijan. Gases rise from a depth of around 3km, bringing the mud to the surface. Smoking near the volcanoes is therefore not a good idea 😉
A click on the gallery will take you directly to our impressions of this exciting region:
After we are fit to travel again, we head for Brăila. The city lies on the “small Danube delta” and we would like to explore it by boat. However, a visit to the park administration quickly changes our plans. At this time of year, the Danube has too little water to reach the interior of the islands in the wetland. But this is exactly where all the interesting water birds, such as pelicans, can be found. The best time for tours here, as well as in the Danube Delta on the Black Sea coast, is probably the months of May and June. Well, that should be possible next year 😉
So the next day we drive straight on and cross the Danube in the northern part of the city, which to our surprise is only possible by ferry despite the 180,000 inhabitants. From then on we can almost smell the coast, it is only 140km to our destination – Plaja Vadu! On the way there we fill up our water canisters again. In Romania there are often public water points and wells in the villages, which makes it very easy for us! A great way to replenish fresh supplies here in Romania are the vegetable stalls that can be found time and again. Either the produce from one’s own garden is offered directly in front of the houses or there are traders at crossroads in the middle of the countryside.
So we shimmy comfortably through the day through the landscape, which is now already level here, and can in the early evening we can already hear the sound of the sea. We find a great camping spot behind the dune, on a spot in the sand, from where we can actually get away without having to “dig” 😉
The weather is changeable for the first few days, but at exactly the right time with warm temperatures and sunshine:
Sophia’s 30th birthday! 🙂
From breakfast on the beach to homemade vegan chocolate cake in the afternoon – all hosted by the husband! – topped off with a bottle of sparkling wine at sunset. Can there be a better place to celebrate such a special day? 😉
We stay as long as our water supply (75L) lasts, which in the end is 6 days on this fantastically lonely stretch of beach. We also have a short swim in the already cool waters of the Black Sea before we head back to civilisation via the 5km long dirt road. Our most beautiful pictures from this relaxing time can be found in the following gallery:
Our next big goal is the capital of Romania – Bucharest. An endless plain stretches from the coast to the city of 1.8 million inhabitants. The land area, which in this case we cross for the most part via the motorway, is mainly used for industrial agriculture, coupled with the operation of countless wind turbines. While the monotony of the huge fields is less pleasant to remember, the sight of the large wind farms pleases us. In our opinion, this agricultural desert is at least being used to generate a large part of Romania’s electricity needs from renewable sources. (Share in 2020 already just under 44% and thus at the same level as in Germany)
We drive the 300 kilometres to the capital city in several stages. With a little research, we can find nice places to spend the night in this area. The first stop is the Cheile Dobrogei landscape conservation area. Here, for the first time on our trip, there is actually a knock on Silvio’s sliding door early in the morning. A glance behind the curtain reveals a policeman. Suddenly, several reasons come to mind why he could be standing in front of the door… But we certainly wouldn’t have thought of him asking us to move the car 50 metres to the side so that we wouldn’t be in the background scene of a film shoot! 🙂 For a look at the fascinating landscape, click on the following gallery:
The Danube crosses our path again on the way and this invites us to spend the night on its banks. A great spot in front of a steep slope lets us spend two nights there. The temperatures are slowly getting noticeably colder, so we use the time to clear the summer clothes out of the cupboards and exchange them for the warm ones, which have been in a box under the bed. Our boiler, which we thought was leaking, also wants to be reinstalled and put into operation. Fortunately, a phone call to the manufacturer and a test run convinced us otherwise. So autumn and winter can come! Click on the gallery to see all the pictures:
But then we really get into the hustle and bustle of the city, and Bucharest has a lot to offer. We find a well-located parking space not far from the “Palace of Parliament” and the core of the city centre behind it. Normally we would call this the old town, but it doesn’t really exist in the classical style in Bucharest any more. Several major earthquakes and the communists’ redesigning frenzy led to the fact that many old buildings no longer exist and, if they do, can only be found in isolated places. This creates a very contrasting and exciting new cityscape.
What surprises us, however, are the many vegetarian and vegan options. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the country, where meat is eaten well and gladly. So we enjoy the advantages of the city for several days and can even explore it very well by bike. We have compiled our impressions from these first sunny autumn days for you in the following gallery:
In the last days of our time in Romania (5 weeks already) we really enjoy ourselves. Not far from Bucharest there is a small hotel in the countryside, which seems to be made for us. The quiet atmosphere, the wellness area and vegetarian buffets let us park the Silvio in front of the door without any problems and enjoy our time within four walls for the first time since the beginning of our journey.
As a result, we are very curious and excited about our upcoming destination – Bulgaria! So far we haven’t heard much about Bulgaria, especially about the interior of the country. So we let ourselves be surprised and drive towards the border. How the entry and the first time in this still quite young EU country went, we may report to you very soon.
You can already discover our first pictures from this country in the “World Life Calendars “. If you would like to decorate your home or that of your friends with one of the calendars, please let us know by next Wednesday, 01.12! 🙂
We wish you a wonderful first Advent and look forward to hearing from you by comment or message.
Kind regards
Chris & Sophia