We spent a couple of days in Sighisoara, Transylvania relaxing but also figuring out a master plan of how we can see all the things we wanted and be in the south of Turkey by the 26^th of June to start work. We realised that we could not make it in time by cycling the whole way, without rushing and missing everything worth visiting and this is really not the point of the trip.

So we have a new exciting challenge - how can we get from Romania to South Turkey in 21 days accompanied by our heavy loaded bikes and still see and experience the countries along the way? First we looked at taking the train from Bucharest to Istanbul but this does not take bikes and we would miss Bulgaria, we also looked at boats along the black sea but the information is very unclear and we are still left with rushing through Turkey.

So from Sighisaora we cycled the 99km west to Sibiu a very historic city with a plan to head from there south to the Bulgarian border. Sibiu was very nice and we arrived on the closing night of the theatre festival with a concert and fireworks in the Great Square. We managed to walk around the whole city in the evening, even after a long day on the bikes.  The next day we then rented a car and did a 350KM round trip to visit Bran castle and Brasov two places we had planned to cycle to on our original route.

Yesterday we took a train at 7.30 in the morning from Sibiu to Craiova through the stunning Carphatian mountains. This was by far the most amazing train journey we had both ever taken on a surprisingly modern train and it was just relaxing to just sit back and enjoy the ride for a change. We then made our way south through the flat plains of Romania back to our old friend the Danube where we could take a ferry to our 10^th country of our journey so far.

We arrived in Romania a week today after taking the train from Budapest. We could only get a ticket for us and the bikes as far as the border even though the train continued across it, so we thought we would stay on and see what happened. The route was very flat and boring but it was exciting to be heading to another country and it was not uneventful.  We first had to bribe the Hungarian conductor to stay on the train and then scam the Romanian one by acting confused and showing him our Hungarian ticket. He shouted a bit before disappearing but luckily there were no police waiting for us when we arrived in Satu Mare. 

Romania was instantly different again and you could see that it was a poorer country, cycling into town we were actually a little culture shocked from the people and the poverty but once we got to the fairly modern centre with flashy cars and bars we realised that Romania was a place where the rich and poor live side by side. 

The next day we headed for the mountains of Maramures one of the most beautiful and traditional areas of Romania.  The landscapes were once again amazing with green hills and pastures and hay stacks formed into interesting shapes and formations. The people were much friendly in the mountains and although they lived simple rural lives we did not see the poverty we had earlier experienced. It really was like travelling back in time. Churches, houses and their huge gates are all made out of wood and people are still wearing traditional outfits, working the fields with their hands and we overtook countless horse and carts along the road. 

After four days traversing the mountains, sometimes in the pooring rain, we headed south towards Transylvania and after two days of flat out cycling we arrived last night in Sighisoara a very pretty medieval town and the birth place of Vlad Dracula. We have not seen anything scary as yet but did get chased by 3 huge dogs today after climbing a private hill to get some photos. We had to run down vertically and ended up tumbling like Jack and Jill on our arses. Anyway the views were great and we got the photos we wanted!