Next to me is a small transistor pumping out 'the best' of 1980's put your head in the oven classics. Completely consistent with this ambiance is my computer running the powerhouse Windows 98. I have no idea what I am typing as it will appear on the screen in 3,2,1... There it is. The internet cafe is in a little lane off the main tourist drag in Brasov, Romaina. On the other side of the lane is a club, Cafe de Paris, thumping out house music. So if this post takes on a macabre tone understand that my environment is trying to push me elsewhere with the efficiency of a Chernobyl enema.

Speaking of Chernobyl, throughout the last week Karolina and I have been cycling through Rural Romanian villages. Some of the more educated amongst us and those of you who have read the Lonely Planet chapter on Romania (the category to which I belong) know that many villages in Romania were used as the production sites for a great many chemical manufacturing plants. As a consequence of this as many as 2/3 children in these places have been affected by mental illness. These children are now adults. Now I can not say for certain that we have seen this in action, but there is a very tangible vibe through these villages. A sleepy, spaced out craziness. Maybe some of you who have found yourself still awake after a few days partying lying in bed trying to fall asleep have some personal experience?

After our rest day in Sozapol (Bulgaria) we rode to the port town of Burgas. The same day we caught the train a few hundred kilometers across the guts of Bulgaria arriving at 10:00 pm in the border city of Ruse. (Hopefully this is the last public transport we will catch before the Ferry in Tallinn, Estonia!).  The next morning we meandered around the town taking my back wheel for a walk.  It was  bent once more, though unlike our time in Turkey I had not yet tried to fix it.  In short it was not completely stuffed.  We found no one to fix it and continued to ride for the border. 

Yet again we found ourselves on a dirty, industrial stretch of highway.  However, this piece of road had a few idiosyncrasies that kept a gal interested.  Firstly, the Danube river; a mighty piece of water (that i wont be drinking) separating Bulgaria from Romania and touching most of Eastern Europe before emptying into the Black Sea.  Secondly. Prostitutes.  Yup.  Prostitutes.  Large ladies in small clothes, chewing gum, waiting for Mr. Seedy to come along and sweep them off their feet.  Although this must be in a manner appropriate to a weaselly looking pimp overseeing all interactions.  The only interaction we saw was a seventy-something man pull up in his old car.  It was enough, our goal became Romania.  Post haste!

 The border crossing was uneventful.  Our only observation was that the Romanians seemed looser, maybe we could occasionally receive a smile in this new country?  Within a day we had our answer.  Riding into Alexandria after 80km's (our biggest day at that point) your two tired protagonists found themselves enjoying the company of a Romanian man also on a bicycle.  His English was pretty good.  After the normal introductions and cordialities he made it clear that the town was pretty awful (read: ugly/boring not certain death for naive tourist couples).  We made it clear that we were looking for a cheap hotel.  Scratching his head he thought he might know of a couple of places.  Anyway as the conversation progressed and this man continued to be giving with his time I remarked to Karolina that it annoyed me that traveling had made me so skeptical of other peoples kindness.  Laughing she said, "India will do that to you!".  We chortled together marveling internally at the goodness of the human spirit. 

Cut to three hours later.  Karolina and I are in our overpriced hotel bed, after having been charged for food we did not order.  The music from the empty restaurant pounds away and  the blind covered window glows radioactively from the still beaming lights.  Annoyed, with bruised egos we tried to sleep, or at least close our eyes for long enough for day to break so that we could leave Alexandria behind us.

Behind us it is.  About 250km's behind us!  The last four days we have cycled about 340km's.  It has been mostly flat and perfect training for the day we had yesterday.  Our alarm was set for 5:30 so that we could beat the traffic and begin our climb into... TRANSYLVANIA Moo Haw Haw Haw.  It was a big climb to the pass (1200 m) and by the time we arrived there we were both so hungry and tired that no joy was expressed for our achievement.  This would have to wait until lunch time.  Sitting down, munching on our salami and peppers our gaze was shifted from the immediacy of what we were feeling to the majesty of what we were seeing.  Snow covered jagged peaks of the Transylvania Alps.  Amazing.

These mega mountains will be the backdrop for our next weeks cycling.  So more to follow.  Our nest post we should be in Budapest, Hungary.  In this town we will have a couple of days rest and we will be looking forward to that. 

Okay finishing on a technical point.  I will now try to attach photo's to this blog  entry and the preceding ones.  If this does not work it is because I have not been able to hand crank this relic computing device fast enough.  In addition to this those of you who like me, enjoy well drafted work and are reading this blog cringing at the typo's and spelling errors fewar not.  In Hungary I will install the relevant checking mechanisms (English) and have a computer fast enough to make editing work less laborious.

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