August 31, 2014  91 km

Today was again mentally, then physically hard.  We left our wonderful host family in Cuvin (there will be another post about that soon) at 10am after being feed a meal fit for a king and queen.  We headed south on the secondary road through Paulis and then joined the main road to Lipova.  Luckily it was Sunday morning and the traffic on the main highway was pretty light.  We left the main highway and headed towards our lodging in Ilteu (another small village) on secondary roads.  Some were paved.  Some were not.

The hardest thing for me is seeing all the animals around.  Some are well kept and others are in despair.  Yet, there is nothing I can do.  I am a dog lover and seeing some of the dogs on the loose is heart wrenching.  Watching a dog get hit by a car was devastating.  The dog got up and ran back where it came from- the driver, drove on.  I know that this is how it is in most of the world and that I am used to this controlled sheltered life where, theoretically, all dogs have good homes and responsible people to care for them.  My ideal is being challenged daily.  Today I was chased three times by dogs – once by three dogs at the same time.   A bit scary.  Luckily, all they wanted to do was chase- if you slow down and speak firmly to the dog you are no fun to chase anymore.  I am not looking forward to interactions with aggressive dogs – I am sure it will happen.

The road surfaces that we have encountered in Romania are also quite challenging.  Sometimes they are paved, sometimes they are more potholes than surface.  Sometimes the potholes are so big you could get lost if you fell in.  We prefer to venture off the main highway, which is super scary busy with huge trucks, tourist buses and BMW’s who bought the road when they purchased their car.  The back roads take you through quaint little villages – off the beaten path.  Which is better than constantly fighting trucks and BMW’s (nobody would drive their BMW on these roads…it would get too dirty).

The best part of our Romania trip so far has been our encounters with the people – mostly in the smaller villages.  Our host family in Cuvin (25 Km west of Arad) welcomed us like family – our Romanian family near Arad!   What a treat!