Satu Mare, the city were we crossed border is a trade Center with some nice buildings. It is a very good starting point for the rumanian Carpats. On former travels I've crossed the border at Arrad and Oradea. Since the civil war in Yugoslavia the road from Arrad to Bucuresti is one of the main routes to Turkey, that does not necessarily mean a longer stay at the border but forces to pass heavy truck traffic. Oradea is a new and huge checkpoint which is useful to go directly to Transilvania.

In my opinion riding along the Carpats is the very best, so we went into the Carpats to a small Village called Izvoarele to camp there near the river. Close by there is a Lake with a private Campground beside a Bar, the official Campground marked in the Maps ceased service since the revolution. We found out, that nearly every Campground in Romania is no longer existent or closed. Everybody is camping were he likes and so we did, that's maybe the reason therefore. But everywhere in the Mountains are still cheap Hostels to stay and Cabanas (small wooden cottages) to rent.

Just putting the tent somewhere in the loneliness of the mountains is one of the real great thinks to do. Loneliness in the Carparts often means real loneliness, help is far away if something happens and nature there is still nature. Once I had a visit from a bear, try to share food with me, luckily it was an harmless meeting - just destroyed my tent.

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