Day 23 Timisoara to Resita 105 miles

Hi guys - were back in action after three very eventful days!!


What a day we have had - started off in the best hotel of the tour, chic and elegant, and then it all went downhill and descended into our worst day yet. A good title for today would be 'dogs and detours'.
By lunchtime we had cycled 70 miles and ended up in a place that should have been 35 miles. We had made a conscious decision to stay off the main roads after the stress of the previous day. There seem to be alot of Italian number plates here and mixed with the bonkers Romanian drivers makes for a lethal combination. Its scary seeing the countless elaborate memorials to perished loved ones that there are along the highways. We were actually making good time at first down the smaller roads until the road disappeared into a dirt track. Two villages and 6 miles later we were completely lost.
Added to the frustration of getting lost we had our first encounter with stray dogs - spent the rest of the day paranoid that dogs were laying in wait at every bush.
After regrouping at lunch and reassessing the situation we set off in a better frame of mind. We left the plains behind us and the countryside got alot prettier. We had reached the hills again and all the drama that they bring. The villages made quite an impression on us today. We were passing through thinking they looked abit rundown and not as stylist as the French villages but the atmosphere was brillant. The whole community seemed to be outside enjoying the cool of the evening. We are finding the Romanians hilarious and full of fun, we are getting lots of shouts of encouragement, waves and toots.
Have ended the day in an eastern block style hotel with all the glamour that this conjures up.

Gill.