FRom the sea to the mountains

News No 5 

The Danube Delta is a very special place.  We hired a boat and guide to take us out on the Delta; we opted for a 2 ½ hr trip which took us just a little way into it.  This is such a remote and peaceful place; we have never seen the like.  And of course, it is a haven for wildlife - especially birdlife.  We were lucky to choose to go late in the afternoon, as by then most of the other boats were returning, so when we got out into the open areas we were alone.  Our boatman was kind enough to shut down the outboard motor a few times so we could experience the quiet – and it was absolutely quiet save for the birdsong and the frogs sitting on the lilypads. 

The Danube Delta has the largest pelican colony in Europe.

We travelled on one road which was 1 ¾ lanes in each direction, a sort of Rumanian version of the old three lane ‘suicide’ roads we had in England many years ago.  We chose to drive (mostly!) in the ¾ lane, allowing quicker traffic to pass us easily. 

The only problem is that even when oncoming traffic is doing the same there is only room for one vehicle in the middle at a time – not a problem with current traffic levels, but could become one in the future.

We wondered why they would build such an odd layout, but wondered if it is to accommodate the horses and carts in the nearside which are encountered on this ‘fast’ road as they are throughout Romania.  This photo was on a different road, but the horse drawn traffic did fit nicely in the ¾ lane.  Our thoughts on this were reinforced after a conversation with a  young man whose view was that traffic has increased ‘enormously’ in just the last 5/6 years – but of course, our guess may not be correct.

Travelling further north into Bucovina, the northern part of Moldavia (a region of Romania, not to be confused with Moldova, though historically linked to it!) we came across to forested land with beautiful wooden houses

as well as a surprisingly large number of good size, very desirable, new brick homes, finished with rendering and painted in cheerful colours.

The detail is from the barns at the rear of the house, where no doubt the animals are housed during the harsh winters.

We managed, more by accident than design, to capture this photo of a traditional wooden house with its new PVC double-glazed windows!

We visited a few of the painted monasteries for which Southern Bucovina (northern Bucovina now being in Ukraine) is rightly famous.

We feel sure that the ‘mushroom-like’ features in the second of these photos depict stories of the early (persecuted) Christians in Cappadocia (Turkey) who lived underground in excavated caves in the soft rock of the region; we visited that area early last year (not in the motorhome!)

 It was also demonstrated that vandalism is not a new phenomenon!

A couple of ‘asides’

The Romanians do look after their cemeteries – this one is typical, though with rather more simple crosses and fewer marble headstones than are generally found

[Grass is cut to make hay for the animals – no doubt the cemetery will also take its turn in due course]

And finally, we’ve got ‘loads a’ money!

Unfortunately, what you see pictured is worth about £6.  While it does go further here than £6 would at home, the 1 Leu notes are worth just 16p each – it must be in competition for the lowest value banknote to be found anywhere.  The Leu is divided into 100 Bani, and we have had a 5 bani piece, though more often than not the Bani are not bothered with, whether to be given as change or to be to be added to the nearest Leu in payment.

 The bank notes are plasticised ‘paper’, only the second example we have ever come across, the other being country being Canada.  How long before Mark Carney introduces the idea to the UK?