Day 65 - Brasov

Not a great deal to report, but as I have at last found an internet cafe with USB connectivity I thought I would make the most of it, but I am now regretting it as it is so slow and the music is blasting one minute, quiet the next and they never let a piece go through to the end, so its really annoying.

Yesterday I was the first up in the hostal at Sibiu, just a little after the last one had gone to bed. I decided to take the main road to Brasov despite Norberts best efforts at suggesting the mountain road which would have undoubtedly been better but would have taken a couple of days longer. A Scottish couple had told me that the main road had 48k of road works and they were right, so it was constantly stopping at traffic lights and impatient drivers squeezing passed at impossible places. The scenery was ok but didnt change much, the road running along a valley with hills to the left and high mountains to the right. At Persani I had seen a campsite marked on Norberts map and there was one there, so I decided to stop. Camping was beside a rather muddy looking swimming pool which was well used so I decided to stop in one of the huts they had (photo) and chilled out for the afternoon as there was literally nothing else around. So I sat in the sun and read and planned my route through Bulgaria as I have managed to get a reasonable map in advance.

Today I decide I had had enough of the main road so took a longer route but is was much quiter and through the hills and took me close enough to the castles at Bran and Rasnov to make a detour to have a quick look. They were tourist trap and not as dramatic as I had expected so it didnt go in. I now had a tail wind and it was a real blast through to Brasov, but it was another real battle to find a place to stay. The Pensions I checked wanted 40 pounds so I kept searching and eventually found a hostal which was full but offered me a mattress on the floor. Hostal are ok as they are full of like minded people, mainly much younger than me, and the common language is English so there is plenty of opportunities for a chat. Once checked in, showered, coffeed and chatted, I went out about the town (photo). I have always wanted to come to Brasov, but it is nothing like I had imagined, but its a nice enough place. I had intended arriving yesterday and spending a whole day here, but half a day is enough really.

Romania has changed since I have been heading east and the wells that were in the west have now completely disappeared, as have most of the horses. There are more road work, a sign that the EUs investment in tarmac is ongoing.

The weather over the last 2 or 3 days has cooled down somewhat and is now only reaching the mid 30s which is hot, if you can remember that word, but managable and I will hopefully return to camping soon.

People have memtioned my fitness in comments and Martin suggested I would be really fast on an Audax. I can assure you that my times would be below the Audax minimum speed and to be honest I think I would struggle. I seem to have settled nicely into plod mode, I get there but not fast and going up the slightest incline is always at a crawl, but the hills dont bother me at all, they just take longer.

Photos have also been added to the previous post. There was nothing wrong with your viewing Cath, it was just that I hadnt loaded them.