Our failed attempt at getting third party insurance for Tramp in Serbia, either before we entered or after we entered, meant we only spent two nights in this complex country with it’s chequered recent history before returning to Bulgaria and plotting a new course.  Overlanding travel is all about flexibility because you never know what’s going to happen next but luckily it’s one of our strengths and we had a couple of cool things still to see in northwestern Bulgaria so we headed that way.

The town of Belogradchik features a fabulous ancient fortress built into these amazing sandstone and conglomerate rock formations, kindly combining two ‘must see’ places into one.  We paid our reduced entrance fees because we’re Seniors (Bulgaria is the only country we’ve been to recently that honours ‘Seniors’ even if we’re not from that country…on ya, Bulgaria) and walked through this expansive fortress perched up on the point of these amazing rock formations. 

We could see how it would be easy to defend in the old days (starting in the third century BC but mainly from the 14^th century AD) and it was good fun to clamour amongst it all and enjoy the views.

We headed further north that afternoon, aiming for the Danube River and the Romanian border, and camped in the garden of a lovely home hidden in the dense forest near the town of Vidin.  It was our last night in Bulgaria, although we had said that once before a few days ago.  This little home garden campsite had a family in a caravan from Switzerland, two motorbike guys from Romania, an old German couple in a van, two young guys on push bikes and two spritely Aussies in Tramp.  International!

That evening the thunder and lightning – and hail – came in hard and fast, rain pelting down most of the night, and the next morning was a bit slow and lazy as most of the campers had to dry out.  We headed into the local town of Vidin and explored the super cool 14^th century fortress on the banks of the Danube, one of the best fortresses we’d seen in ages.

We then drove across Danube on the huge toll bridge, arriving in Romania with no fanfare and a border that took only about 45 minutes.  True, we were crossing from one EU country to another so in theory there should be no border at all but on these outer frontiers of the EU there are still passport and vehicle checks, mainly because of the huge influx of refugees.  As always, Tramp drew a favourable crowd.

Does anyone actually go to Romania?  Well, as it turns out, they do.  Perhaps the biggest drawcard for people coming to Romania is Transylvania and Dracula’s Castle but it is also where the Danube spills into the Black Sea across the massive Danube Delta, the fabulous Carpathian Mountains and many other compelling magnets.  And Romania is huge, much bigger than Bulgaria, and we knew we had to plan our route a little more carefully than usual or we would spend the whole time on roads. 

Another fascinating feature of the homes are these tiled facades, sometimes very elaborate and distinctive. We saw a lot of these but here’s a couple of shots.

We followed the banks of the Danube River northward to the attractive river town of Orsova and camped nearby just a metre from the Blue Danube. The famous river sparkled in the late afternoon sun but didn’t look very blue.  The rubbish lying about was disgusting, almost Türkiye-ish, but we had an old guy casting his line not far from us, a full moon rise above us and a cosy fire to add to the wonderful scene.  Our first night in Romania was a ripper.

Everyone has heard of the Danube River and with good reason. The longest river in central Europe at 2,850 (1,770 miles), it runs through or provides a border for ten European countries and is an important trade and tourist feature.  Four capital cities sit on it’s banks, wars have been fought over it, bridges and dams built on it, boats of all shapes and sizes ply it’s waters.  Europe wouldn’t be the same without the Danube.

Despite it being dammed just downstream of us for a massive hydroelectric site, the Danube passes through a narrow passage of high steep mountains not far from Orsova and we boarded a small speedboat with another dozen people for a 100 minute trip to see some of the historic and natural sites of this section of the river.  Really good fun.   

We left the Danube and drove inland, winding our way northward into the Carpathian Mountains and the famous region of Transylvania (yes, home of Dracula…we hope to see him later).  We slammed on the brakes and stopped for an unexpected delight – the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Sarmizegetusa. 

A UNESCO World Heritage site, we almost drove right by this fascinating extension of the Roman empire but after getting Seniors rates to enter, and paying about A$1.30 each, we explored these extensive but modest grounds, enjoyed the terrible English translations on the information boards and bought a large plastic container of beautiful raspberries and blueberries from a lady set up in the shade.  So a great stop all around.

We camped that night in the clearing of a farmer’s land amongst his orchards with a voluntary pay system, the first time we had ever seen that, hot showers and fast wifi.  The next day it was back into the fascinating realm of Romanian history with a visit to a huge castle in the bopping town of Hunedoara.

The current iteration of Corvins Castle was first built in the 15^th century by the ambitious and productive King Matia Corvin but the castle took on many expansion, renovation, rebuild, fixit and redesign phases to arrive at it’s current impressive form.  And best of all, there were very few people there, we could wander around anywhere we wanted and the whole experience was absolutely delightful.

We then drove through more hay, corn and sunflower fields, virtually the only crops we’ve seen grown for the last three countries, and stopped at the town of Alba Lulia to see another aspect of Romanian history.

Perched on a hill in the middle of the town is a massive walled citadel, designed as a seven point star with a wide and deep moat, defensive draw bridges and high walls.  Best of all, the citadel and its expansive grounds, churches, museums, shops and restaurants have all been totally integrated and blended into the town itself, making it a living and breathing part of the city.

Built in the heart of Transylvania by the Hapsburgs in the middle of the 18^th century, the citadel successfully defended it’s only attack in the late 19^th century and today hosts the church that the King and Queen of Romania were coronated in in 1922 (who knew Romania had a royal family?).  We camped that night on the banks of the high and muddy Mures River, a beautiful and peaceful place. 

One other point worth noting here.  Over the last few days we’ve enjoyed cooler weather, like mid 20’sC/mid 70’sF, and almost no crowds at all.  It has been much less exhausting and much more relaxed and enjoyable under these new conditions.  The combination of sneaking into September and being in Romania which gets almost no European tourists has made things much more chill.  Long may it last.

Another last point. Romania is also known for having a large population of Roma people, often referred to as gypsies. But the more successful Roma curiously aspire to some outlandish homes and here’s a few photos of what are called gypsy palaces that we’ve seen.