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Romania 2015
- Thread starter ratrace
- Start date
So, we have so far, certs on:
Ratrace, Chas, Shayne and Lyn with the prospects of some additions such as Ram, if he wakes up in time
4 trucks is OK, I'll be the fifth for days out at my location
Ratrace, Chas, Shayne and Lyn with the prospects of some additions such as Ram, if he wakes up in time
4 trucks is OK, I'll be the fifth for days out at my location
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2013
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Perhaps being announced at so early a date has limited the likelihood of late participants on the trip . Go back to the beginning of the thread and the banter and excited chatter one would expect is all there , iirc there was about 10 hopefuls at one point all keen to see Romania . But here we are 18 months after Ratrace first suggested the trip and of course we have lost more than a few participants along the way . Those of us that will be going made our decision way back in 2013 so the thread has lost momentum and i've no idea how to bring that initial anticipation which is probably what caught so much original interest back into the thread - no t-shirts and stickers for me thanks 
If any body is reading this with anything more than idle curiosity please say hello as i'm sure we would all like to hear from you , we are not a closed group of close friends far from it , I've met Chas a couple of times at 4x4 meets but everyone else is a stranger to me . We are a bunch of like minded people all keen to drive our trucks to Romania and there is no back door in a convoy so if you fancy tagging along
If any body is reading this with anything more than idle curiosity please say hello as i'm sure we would all like to hear from you , we are not a closed group of close friends far from it , I've met Chas a couple of times at 4x4 meets but everyone else is a stranger to me . We are a bunch of like minded people all keen to drive our trucks to Romania and there is no back door in a convoy so if you fancy tagging along
most are going to Morocco now, Sorry but i like to think and plan trips at least one year in advance because of family, other trips and work.I have got another trip plan for Portugal in 2016, plus am working on a trip to North Spain in 2017 After that maybe Bulgaria and Romania over a two week trip And now back to the hard work
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I don't think there's anything to be sorry about ratrace, these things happen and nobody can say "if only I'd known sooner" can they?
I'm certainly looking forward to meeting up and spending some time with you and the others coming, and if a few more sign up nearer the date, all the better. It's not a bad show so far IMO, what looks like to 5 trucks is not a bad turn-out.
BTW, I've been browsing back through this thread and your earlier posts of possible routes are all viable, I've actually made an effort to run them this summer. Theyre not tough at all but not asphalt, so I'm sure everyone will be willing and able to run them.
There's also some touristy castle and village and scenic trips so you'll all get a taste of rural Romania.
My only disappointment is not progressing with the extension as I'd originally hoped. This is life it seems.
Anyway, the countdown is on...
I was mad keen to come and booked the time off but in the end too many other people backed out for their own reasons to make it compelling enough for me I'm afraid. I have said before it was the Cruiser Convoy that I found so appealing. Hence me throwing my lot in with the Morocco trip instead. I'm sure it will be a great trip and Romania will be a fantastic destination. I look forward to seeing what I missed. Not least meeting the legendary Clive and his clan. We're now having a holiday in Greece to keep the family happy which I suspect was what they really wanted all along rather than 2 weeks inside a Landcruiser. No I don't get it either.
Legendary? I've been called a variety of things Chris, but have to admit that's a first
We're not going anywhere, so there's plenty of time for you to come over this way, convoy or no convoy, you're welcome any time, and that goes for anyone in the club.
I hope I can keep those that do come interested while they're here, we'll certainly get out and about as much as possible.
Enjoy Greece and a bit of Land Cruiser-free time
no, I don't get it either 
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You have nothing to apologize for RR , I think it was Lyn that asked recently "is this trip still happening?" which is what prompted me to explain why the thread is so quiet .
Helen and i can't wait to set off despite still having doubts if my trailer will be ready in time , I can always buy a tent if needs must and i will not be deterred come what may .
The trip appeals to us in so many ways its difficult to be specific , we have never traveled outside of the UK other than on package holidays and here we are preparing for a 2 week jaunt through Europe culminating in a stay in Romania , a country that has always intrigued me not least because of Clive's comments (unrelated to this thread) of his life in a foreign land , which for me suggest an idealistic rural existence .
Helen and i can't wait to set off despite still having doubts if my trailer will be ready in time , I can always buy a tent if needs must and i will not be deterred come what may .
The trip appeals to us in so many ways its difficult to be specific , we have never traveled outside of the UK other than on package holidays and here we are preparing for a 2 week jaunt through Europe culminating in a stay in Romania , a country that has always intrigued me not least because of Clive's comments (unrelated to this thread) of his life in a foreign land , which for me suggest an idealistic rural existence .
Living in the City (Bucharest) life is very much similar to life in the UK. All modern amenities exist, I mean modern cars, mobile phones, internet and the like.
However, rural Romania is a bit like stepping back in time by 70 or more years. The horse and cart is is still prevalent and its not unusual to find villages where many houses share a common well for drinking water.
So "idealistic" rural life is all very well for me and visitors, but truly, you can see that many of the population have little or no monetary income and life is matter of self sufficiency and tough.
As an expat I love the place, but as a born and bred Romanian peasant, I wouldn't blame anyone wanting to leave as soon as possible.
It's changing, that's for sure, but how long will it take....? BTW, they're installing a sewer pipe in our lane at the moment, it will be another year before it's finished, but there's progress!!
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Of course i understand all that Clive and i am talking from a personal perspective , I grew up in a little mining village (or at least that's where i consider home we did move a lot) on an Island 32 miles long and about 14 miles wide with a population of about 100k , yet "Foxdale" (my home) is still considered hillbilly country by one and all . I was dragged kicking and screaming as a kid to live in Douglas which is the capital and hated the place , in my young mind it may as well have been London ! . The town i live in now is the biggest in Wales with a larger population than the whole Island so its not hard to see why rural Romania fits the bill for my idealistic daydreaming .
AndyCook
Well-Known Member
Hey, Clive - we still get our water from a well - via an electric pump and no "mains" sewage - we have a septic tank in back garden - both very common in rural houses where i live in NE Scotland.
no horse and cart though
I would like to visit Romania again, i spent 2-3 days in Bucharest once on a business trip, and enjoyed that.
no horse and cart though
I would like to visit Romania again, i spent 2-3 days in Bucharest once on a business trip, and enjoyed that.
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Hey, Clive - we still get our water from a well - via an electric pump and no "mains" sewage - we have a septic tank in back garden - both very common in rural houses where i live in NE Scotland. no horse and cart though
Hi Andy, where I lived in Wales before coming here, we had a septic tank, but water was on the main. There's nothing wrong with having a well, with electric pumps and good plumbing, there's no difference from being on a local water supply.
But it's noticeable here in some of the villages, you see old ladies carrying buckets of water several hundreds of meters from a common well in the street, no pumps no stand pipes, dropping a bucket down on a winding handle, raising it and then carrying it back home. Now that is a different matter.
Still, as a visitor, all these things add up to the "flavour" of the country and remain in your memory of a visit.
As I said before, if you can't make it this August, you're more than welcome to pass by or stay with us anytime you please.
BTW, it may be of some use to those coming, the currency here is the "Leu" plural "Lei", Romania is yet to adopt the Euro.
Euros will be useful in France and Germany, but Hungary is still the "Forint".
So, as long as you have an ATM card, you'll be able to get local currency as you need it, in Hungary and Romania.
Just don't expect to be able to spend Euros here, because with rare exceptions, you can't. You'll have to exchange them at a higher rate than the ATM and therefore lose out unnecessarily.
Neither will you be able to get Lei from your bank in the UK (unless things have changed lately) because it's not an international currency like the Dollar or the Yen.
Currently there's 6.29 Lei to the pound and 4.50 Lei to the Euro.
Euros will be useful in France and Germany, but Hungary is still the "Forint".
So, as long as you have an ATM card, you'll be able to get local currency as you need it, in Hungary and Romania.
Just don't expect to be able to spend Euros here, because with rare exceptions, you can't. You'll have to exchange them at a higher rate than the ATM and therefore lose out unnecessarily.
Neither will you be able to get Lei from your bank in the UK (unless things have changed lately) because it's not an international currency like the Dollar or the Yen.
Currently there's 6.29 Lei to the pound and 4.50 Lei to the Euro.
House Extension Update
In Summary, not a lot of progress this year.
After realizing that the builder (who did the core of the extension construction work) had used a sh!t mix when he did the leveling concrete above the foundation slab, we had to remove the top 50mm in the hallways, because tiles would not have had a good base for the adhesive.
That set us back, it took my local guy, who I trust 100%, two weekends to remove the gash stuff and another weekend to place a tidy mix. He's now just coming to the end of tiling the hallways.
He's skimmed the plaster-board ceilings to the hallways and done most of the tiling, by the end of next weekend, he says he'll have finished the hallways 100%
The main hall that the four bedrooms access (the new entrance door to the house is behind me)
The new entrance door (can't call it the front door 'cos it's on the side of the house!)
The narrower hallway that used to be an open "balcony". The main (original) house entrance is through a door at the end on the right.
Sadly, a lack of funds has prevented any progress on the new bedrooms. As you can see, they need the ceilings and wall plaster-boarding to be skimmed and painted, and the floors will be in larchwood, tongue & grooved. It's all stored at my neighbour's place, it's been there for 2 years seasoning (drying out under controlled conditions to stop warping).
Then there's the en-suite bathrooms for each of the 4 bedrooms, they need tiling and furnishing with showers, toilets and washbasins....
This weekend (apart from about 2 hours of sunshine yesterday) has been wet and misty. At least it should be greenish when you guys come...
For the last 3 weeks it's been hot and dry, low to mid 30's C, so this rain is very welcomed. I hope it's not too hot when you come here, by the end of August it should be mid to high 20s C, which will be perfect.
In Summary, not a lot of progress this year.
After realizing that the builder (who did the core of the extension construction work) had used a sh!t mix when he did the leveling concrete above the foundation slab, we had to remove the top 50mm in the hallways, because tiles would not have had a good base for the adhesive.
That set us back, it took my local guy, who I trust 100%, two weekends to remove the gash stuff and another weekend to place a tidy mix. He's now just coming to the end of tiling the hallways.
He's skimmed the plaster-board ceilings to the hallways and done most of the tiling, by the end of next weekend, he says he'll have finished the hallways 100%
The main hall that the four bedrooms access (the new entrance door to the house is behind me)
The new entrance door (can't call it the front door 'cos it's on the side of the house!)
The narrower hallway that used to be an open "balcony". The main (original) house entrance is through a door at the end on the right.
Sadly, a lack of funds has prevented any progress on the new bedrooms. As you can see, they need the ceilings and wall plaster-boarding to be skimmed and painted, and the floors will be in larchwood, tongue & grooved. It's all stored at my neighbour's place, it's been there for 2 years seasoning (drying out under controlled conditions to stop warping).
Then there's the en-suite bathrooms for each of the 4 bedrooms, they need tiling and furnishing with showers, toilets and washbasins....
This weekend (apart from about 2 hours of sunshine yesterday) has been wet and misty. At least it should be greenish when you guys come...
For the last 3 weeks it's been hot and dry, low to mid 30's C, so this rain is very welcomed. I hope it's not too hot when you come here, by the end of August it should be mid to high 20s C, which will be perfect.
Ignore the PM Clive, I've just read this post.
Too late but never mind, eh?
but never mind, eh?
