Descending soon brought me out in to warm sunshine and I passed through the Marmures area of Romania which due to its relative isolation up against the Ukrainian border has retained a more rural and traditional feel although increasing visitor numbers are allowing farmers to diversify. One of the main attractions is the Mocanita Marmures, a still commercially viable narrow gauge forest railway that extracts 50,000m3 of timber per annum down the Vaserului Valley. Whilst the loaded waggons largely run downhill by gravity small diesel locomotives are used for braking and to haul the empties back up.
However passenger services are still hauled by steam engines that take a couple of hours each way to rattle their way up to an old station where a mixed grill is provided. I arrived on a sunny afternoon to find the carpark full but the station and adjacent areas virtually empty. Basically everyone was on board one of the three daily trains that leave in the morning half an hour apart and return around 3pm. The very helpful staff said it would be fine to stay over and I booked a ticket for the first departure on the Monday at 09.00 including refreshments before taking a look round the goods yard, engine sheds and a fascinating display of old standard and narrow gauge steam engines. A blast on the whistle heralded the return of one of the trains and happy looking families descended from the open sided wooden carriages as well as a couple of enclosed ones. I watched as the loco ran around to get back to the front and then remove the whole lot to sidings to allow the next arrival to use the platform. After a walk round the town I returned for a quiet night, ready for an early start.
It was only when I saw the engineers loading logs on to the tender that I realised the locos are wood fired which is unusual and then I watched as things were coupled up, noting with some concern that there were no vacuum brakes or breakaway cables. The first departure was less than a third full and in the cool of the morning most people had opted for the enclosed carriages with padded seats but I had brought along a sit mat and had an open sided one more or less to myself apart from the brakeman, one of whom was allocated to each carriage and in charge of a large wheel that applied the brakes as necessary. We were away on time with food and drinks loaded in to a goods waggon and clanked steadily up a lovely valley passing traditional houses that soon petered out as we hit the mountains proper. After an hour we stopped at a small halt where the loco filled up with water, our vouchers could be exchanged for coffee and cake and the bizarre Transit van mounted on railway wheels overtook us taking staff on up to the lunch stop. We arrived there an hour later and enjoyed a substantial mixed grill at a remote spot in the middle of nowhere. Whilst looking round the small museum our train moved off to make way for the next arrival followed after another half hour by the third after which it was time for us to board for the return journey. It was all very well organised and hugely enjoyable and by mid afternoon we had rattled back to the station.
I carried on and stopped to visit the Happy Cemetery where in a tradition more of us should adopt the departed are remembered with cheerfully painted crosses and graves alongside an exquisitely decorated church. Nearby a new wooden church has been recently finished and I noticed that inside the frescoes are nearing completion with scaffolding in place for access to the last empty panel. After a night on a riverbank next to a small circus I crossed back in to Hungary with the abandoned border buildings reminding me of similar structures on the Spanish/Portuguese border near Marvao. The freedoms of such a huge area as the EU are remarkable and I still feel our exit was shortsighted and irresponsible.
I stopped for a walk round Debrecen in hot sunshine and had a good look round the main church including access to the roof top where there was a cool breeze, passing a huge bell on the way up before moving on to Lake Tisza created after the construction of a large hydro electric scheme. There was little shade from the fierce sun but it was a peaceful spot and later that evening I walked back over the dam to observe the remarkable fish ladder. A series of walls, rocks and weirs has created a route for fish to bypass the dam and just below the final haul through a series of stepped pools thousands of fish were lining up to attempt the climb, a remarkable sight as they broke the surface and shimmied around.
The lake is popular with fishermen and boating and other watersports enthusiasts but is a large enough area for everyone to enjoy the space. Cycling around the perimeter is possible so I set off on initially a forty mile circuit but found it so enjoyable that an extra option tempted me and I returned late in the evening after 106 miles with just one stop for a schnitzel at a very nice restaurant.
Moving carefully on the next day I stayed north of Budapest, having visited a couple of years ago and instead pulled in at Szentendre on the banks of the Danube where I tucked away almost invisibly under trees for the night. The arty town was well worth a walk round and I found the 70's Retro Museum collection fascinating if a little too familiar for comfort. A Guinness in an Irish pub added to the disorientation before I headed back to try and find the van......
In Gyor further west I stopped to try and get a much needed haircut which proved surprisingly tricky as most of the barbers were shut or required an appointment but as it clearly was hardly a huge undertaking one place agreed to squeeze me in and I returned to the van for a sweltering night with little breeze. A Dutch lady in a van mentioned the necessity of a vignette which although aware of I had thought I could avoid but she reckoned the extent of the tolls had increased fairly recently. Although I was directing my sat nav to avoid tolls it's quite possible that the older Aguri device is out dated so there may be a surprise in the post when I get back.
As I was entering Austria the next day I decided to risk it and was soon over that border as well. The gradual change in various countries fortunes from right back in Armenia through Turkey, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Hungary came sharply in to focus in Austria with smarter cars, neater houses and almost no littering. A small free aire including hook up did me very well for the night, shared with a couple of other vans and I had dealt with the loo before people turned up to organise a music concert on the adjacent sports field.
With a thousand or so miles across to Dunkirk and lacking a guide to Austria I decided to pass through fairly quickly and leave it for a future visit so enjoyed a few hours driving through stunning scenery before parking up above Eisenerz. In the pretty village preparations were underway for a performance here as well so I returned later, ordered a beer and sat with a number of others as a traditional Austrian brass band struck up some old favourites. Unfortunately dark clouds had been welling up and before long a most spectacular downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning saw us all huddling under the large parasols to escape the worst. Several inches of water pooled around the band's feet so they climbed on to chairs and kept going to rounds of applause. However the rain was relentless and after an hour or so people began to get cold and drift away, myself included so I felt sorry for the young rock group due to appear later as there would have been few hardy stalwarts.
As expected, it being July, I found that the Austrian Tyrol and Bavarian Alps were far too busy and understandably popular and decided to leave both areas for another time. Much of the last six months has been spent in the emptier and quieter places that I much prefer where the creeping demonisation of van life has yet to be felt. Sadly that may change in the near future and whilst I fully understand that the explosion in camper van numbers of all types creates issues the steady erosion of wild camping opportunities forces people on to sites charging upwards of £50/night with many, and even the paid for Aires, already full booked until the end of August.
So I am now focused on heading back although a number of options for voies vertes cycle routes in Eastern and Northern France will I hope provide more memories as I head to Dunkirk over the next few weeks, whilst with luck avoiding the crowds.
I have the van booked in for a timing belt at Autohaus Dolby for the first Monday in August but will need to get back to Sheffield a few days earlier as there is a lot of cleaning and emptying of the van to do.
Last night and tonight I have been in Germany near Munsinge, west of Ulm, where a cracking little aire has provided a smart park up with excellent WiFi and metered power for 10 euros a night with water and waste facilities also available. I cycled down to Bad Urach via Seeburg for coffee and cake and then spent time this afternoon trying to get a malfunctioning seat post clamp to do its job. A temporary fix seems to be OK for now but I may try a bike shop over in France where I am slightly more au fait with the lingo.
The weather looks set to return to warm and sunny, although the cooler temperatures of the last couple of days have been very welcome.
