Romania often gets a bad wrap from the rest of Europe - but we loved it here.  Particularly, rural northern Romania.  We flew into Bucharest, stayed a night then picked-up a dodgy hire car and headed towards Brasov.  On the way we dropped into the iconic Peleș Castle.  Brasov is a magical town with a Germanic feel about it - which makes sense as the original inhabitants were the Transylvanian Saxons.  Twenty kilometres away is Bran Castle - also known as Dracula's Castle and is associated with Bram Stoker's tale of Vlad the Impaler - who, in Romania, is a national hero.  He was ruler of Wallachia in the 15th-century and was well known for committing brutal acts of war. While under retreat from Ottoman forces, Vlad had the bodies of his enemies impaled on large spikes surrounding his country. Lovely bloke.

 

We next headed north stopping at the well-preserved walled old town Sighișoara, and finally reached our destination for a week  -the tiny village of Breb.  This place is fantastic.  We stayed in a barn converted by a young Danish couple (the place is called Babou Maramures).  We were literally located in the apple orchards where the elderly locals villagers would walk to each morning.  They would sing and hand scythe grass all day making hay in preparation for the winter. All across the landscape were tiny hills of haystacks hand-formed using traditional wooden rakes.  These people are hardy.   This region is much the same as it was 300 years ago.  The same traditions and farming skills from 10 generations ago are still being applied today.  We went for many walks in the fields and the nearby Carpathian mountains.

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Our final detestation in Romania was back in Transylvania.  While here we visited Salina Turda - an underground salt mine that has been converted into an amusement park.  Yep, it is so vast that 150m down in carved  caverns is a bowling alley, row boats, and even a Ferris wheel.  We also drove the famous Transfăgărășan road - see Top Gear for a sample.