Welcome to Slovakia, and a traveler mistake!

Once again, Slovakia is not a new country for us. We were here for almost three weeks in August 2012. This will be a much faster visit, although we are in a different part of the country than we were then so we are seeing some new scenery.

There are a couple of things we need to do when we enter a new country. The first is to make sure we have cellular data access, and the second is to make sure we have local cash!

Somebody's idea of modern art? Who knows??

Taking the backroads through eastern Hungary. There's not really a lot to see in this area. It's flat, with mostly farmlands. We were headed to the hills though. I had read about a great hiking area near Hungary's Bükki National Park which is closer to the Slovakia border.

Another gorgeous day though... we've been really enjoying the weather lately.

Welcome to Hungary

Hungary is not a new country for us. We were in Budapest for a few days in September of 2012. But at that time, we were only in Budapest and didn't really see much of the countryside. Unfortunately we're not spending much time in Hungary this trip either... just two nights as we cut across into Slovakia.

We got up early Saturday morning so that we could go for another wander around the town of Oradea, Romania. 

Back on the road

We have to drive almost 2,000 kms (1,240 miles) to get to the top of Denmark for our ferry crossing to Norway June 1st. And we have 18 days to do it in, so that's an average of 110 kms (68 miles) per day.

Easily doable, but of course we want some rest days in there as well. And we try to keep our driving days under 200 kms (124 miles). We're trying to avoid the motorways and toll highways as much as possible.

Yet another adventure!

When Ruth and I were married 38 years ago yesterday, I promised her that our life together would never be boring. So in keeping with that promise, we did an adventurous canyon hike on our anniversary!

Our friend Gabi had told us about Ramet Gorge (Cheile Râmețului), a fairly short but tough hike through a canyon where you are aided by chains and steel rods to get through some of the more difficult sections. Sounds like an adventure to us!

Vietnamese breakfast in Romania

We are heading out today. We were actually planning on tomorrow, but Gabi told us about a canyon we need to visit that it sort of along our route and he was going to take us, but something else came up. So we will head out today in Max, see the canyon, and perhaps spend the night up there before heading up to the Hungary border tomorrow.

We've had a great time here though! I wanted to tell you more about Gabi and Ha. Gabi is an avid budget traveler like ourselves, so we have a lot in common in that regard. 

A civilized way to buy wine!

They were calling for an afternoon storm, so we had a good breakfast and then headed out for a late morning hike. Gabi drove us up to a trailhead about 30 kms (18 miles) from Alba Iulia.

Only a short hike of about 4.5 kms (2.8 miles), but it was still some decent hills and another nice day.

Take a Scenic Tour of the Australian Outback in Style

Air tours are inarguably the most stylish way of travelling across the Australian Outback. As technology advanced, speed, convenience, and comfort features became more accessible to discerning travellers.

Travelling in a private jet adds another layer of pleasure exclusive only to a select few. 

Stuck in the mud!

We got up early and drove Max down from his beautiful spot and parked lower down so that we had a better cell signal. 

We're sitting there having our morning tea and hot chocolate when I hear some bells. You know, the type that sheep wear. Sure enough, I see a couple of sheep out the side window. Then I see more, and more... and before you know it Max was completely surrounded by sheep!

One of the most beautiful places in Romania

Our friend Gabi had told us about a place here in Romania that is very beautiful, but a bit of a hike to get to. It's called Fundătura Ponorului. 

From where we were parked, we mapped out a route that said it should be around 14 kms (8.7 miles). There are a lot of different trails in the area though, and it's difficult to know exactly which one to take. 

We haven't seen another motorhome or campervan in probably two weeks.

We said goodbye to Valentina and her mother and headed out at around 10:30am. Made a quick grocery stop in town, and then on to Gradistea Muncelului - Cioclovina Natural Park. It was only about 60 kms, but it took over an hour.

I had read about a great overnight spot that had room for only one vehicle, so we had our fingers crossed that there was nobody already there. 

Why do they make it so complicated...

One of the many reasons we want to get resident status in Europe is so that we aren't having to play "the Schengen shuffle". The Schengen visa area in Europe encompasses most European Union (EU) countries as well as some non EU countries. It means that we can only spend 90 days out of any rolling 180 day period in those Schengen countries.

So it takes some advance planning.

Well that turned into an adventure!

I think I've used that title before. We always seem to get into some kind of unplanned adventurous situation! 

This time, we went on a bike ride to a couple of waterfalls, and then parked the bikes and hiked in the rest of the way. It turned into quite the hike!

Out for lunch and a nice hike

They kept saying it was going to rain, and it looked like it was going to rain, but we got lucky and it never did. 

We took Valentina out for lunch and even sat outside on the patio. Afterwards, we went for a hike in the hills in behind Valentina's house. Some great photos!

Such a beautiful area

Valentina's place is located on the border of Retezat National Park and it's such a beautiful area. We could live here... except that they get winter! Lots of snow, and she said they were down to -25C (-13F) a couple of times this past winter. She goes to Egypt or Israel quite often to escape the cold!

Anyhow, yesterday morning she drove us in her car up into the park to have a look around.