All Hail breaks loose!
Trip Start
Jul 01, 1997
1
7
44
Trip End
Oct 29, 1997
Oradea, Bihor, Romania
Saturday, July 5, 1997
Spotted a horse and cart and a man ploughing the fields with a horse. On the way to the border we were stopped three times by Hungarian policeman wanting to take a look at us. Just curiosity I think. We had to spend some time at the border as we all needed to get Romanian visas issued. Must take forever when there is a full truck.
As we entered Romania there was a flash of lightning. It had been overcast most of the day. On entering the first town, Oradea, the heavens opened. Huge hailstones thundered down with heavy rain. Within minutes the roads were rivers and visibility was virtually nil. Euan pulled the truck over to the side of the road to sit it out. When you put your hand against the roof of the truck you could feel the force of the hailstones. So much so that the roof began to leak at the back and we had to hastily find a bucket. Within about ten minutes it was all over and the sun came out. As we drove on we saw the havoc the storm had caused. Apart from the water everywhere, trees had been uprooted and one car we saw had had its windscreen smashed. Had to wait a while as a tree had blown down across the road. The locals didn't wait for emergency services, just set to clearing it themselves with saws.
Once out of the town there was no sign of the storm and the roads were dry so it must've been very localized. In contrast to Hungary, we soon found ourselves in hills. We're traveling through a very rural area with lots of smallholdings. A lot of the small houses have satellite dishes. As we traveled on the scenery became more and more impressive. Large wooded hills with pretty villages. Saw a family of storks nesting on top of a telegraph pole. I really love the shape of the haystacks here. There are a lot of people out in the fields working with wooden tools.
We are now rough camping in the hills by a stream. It would be idyllic if not for the group of Romanians nearby playing load music. Oh well, you can't have everything.
