Not being sure if the roads have improved in Romania we decided on an early start to see how we get on. Our destination is still 530 kilometres away. As part of the EU there are no longer any border formalities apart from a quick passport check.
Thankfully the main roads have improved, and most importantly the slow, smelly trucks appear to have disappeared and you no longer have to sit behind them on long and winding uphill roads with continuous white lines preventing overtaking. Now, modern trucks are often chasing us up hills but roads are wider with overtaking lanes. The other thing that has changed is that the police no longer find it financially viable to lay in wait for you to cross a white line in frustration to overtake. They now wait with their radar equipment to take advantage of the new roads. Yes, we were caught at 68 kph in a 50 area, and I was presented with a well rehearsed routine offering me the chance to pay on the spot in cash with no paperwork, or pay at a higher rate at the local Primarie (town Mayor’s office) with the possibility of penalty points on my licence. In an effort to keep the paperwork to a minimum and save the trees we struck a deal for an on the spot fine.
Despite improved roads and lack of slow trucks, progress is still slow because of the number and size of towns which have grown up along the main roads. It’s not unusual to find a number of towns in succession which can reduce your speed to 50 kph (32 mph) for 10 kilometres or more. Town signs mark the beginning and end of speed limits but they don’t start and finish with the built up area. When we were caught we were well outside the built up area but still within the town signs. Just to add to the frustration, more signs in town often reduce speeds down to 30 or even 20 kph for no apparent reason.
In spite of the slow speeds we made reasonable progress and arrived at our destination by early evening. We set up camp in our garden under the grape vine.
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