Because I want to stop at a bigger town, Sibiuis my goal today
The shoulder was 6 to 8 inches wide. While riding on it, my bags went just over the white line. If I had kept riding, these jerks would have hit me or, at best, their windstream would have sucked me into them. They knew that and passed into me anyway. There is song from the 60's that applies to how I felt about them: It is called "If I had a rocket launcher."
A horse drawn wagon on the other side of a sunflower field next to Highway 7
A pretty hill running north of Highway 1
I saw more evidence of prostitution today on Highway 7. It disturbs me that one of the 'better' ways women here have to make a living is prostitution. Poverty drives that sort of thing and poverty is a very evident fact of life here. Child adoption from Romania is another poverty driven problem, just as it is for Guatemala, the Latin America country I am most familiar with. I know this isn't relevant to riding here, unless you are looking for a good time (?), but it definitely is part of the riding experience.
Today's sharpest experience was watching a women get into the passenger side of a fancy BMW at a road side pullover and then, almost immediately, get out again. The BMW pulled out past me and I saw a middle aged man driving it. The woman, who had seen me watching, yelled something at me as I rode past. I don't know if she was pissed that I was watching or thought I might be a potential customer. I also saw a Mercedes drop a woman off at a pullover and then head back the way it had come. Another middle aged man was driving, but I have no idea if he was a customer or her pimp.
Miercurea Sibui, a pretty town with a big ridge behind it
You can see Highway 1 switchbacking up the ridge
Miercurea Sibui, as seen from near the top of that ridge
Highway 1 comes in from the left center in this image
The hill was about 200 meters tall and marked, at the bottom as 8 %. I've seen lots of hills marked with percent grade at the top, but this is the first one I've sen marked at the bottom. I think it is because many vehicles here might have trouble with that grade, especially one that are overloaded. I went up that hill almost as fast as some of the bigger trucks and faster than some overloaded cars that had to stop repeatedly because of overheating.
After Miercurea Sibui, the road has a great shoulder all the way to Sibui
The last hill before Sibui
You cans see one of the problems with a great shoulder, too many vehicle drive on it!
I was not pleased this morning when my hotel charged me a higher rate than they had posted. It was still sub $35, but it was annoying. That hotel, the Hotel Deva, was rather dreary, but everything worked, including the room darkening curtains, and breakfast was excellent. My previous night I was at Hotel Marem in Arad, which, for the same charge, was air conditioned and rather elegant, but didn't work as well. Tonight, for 10% less, I'm at a Motel in a nicer room that either of the hotels. However, when I took a shower, it leaked and flooded the bathroom. When I went to open the wardrobe, the knob came off in my hand. At the Marem, when I first sat on the toilet, the entire seat assembly slid off. That could have been painful. The control lever on the sink also came off in my hand. Its set screw appeared never to have been tightened.
In the Hotel Deva, the only weird thing was that the main light fixture (tonight's room has good lighting, the other two did not) strobed after it was turned off. It flashed, apparently forever at about one flash every ten seconds! I wondered why the bulb was unscrewed when I got the room. The bed and bed clothes where also strange, but I slept well.
Tonight, I had an excellent dinner, one of the best of this tour, for just over $6. I mean excellent in quality, preparation and presentation. You couldn't do as well for less than about $30 in the States. And that $6 includes half a liter of beer and a esspresso after dinner. Of course I won't sleep as well because of the dinner, but it may have been worth it. Burp.