Driving to Romania 2013
Ana and I decided to drive from her house in Newport on the Isle of Wight to her mother`s home in Romania instead of going by air. Most people won't contemplate such a long journey by road, especially if there is only one driver. Normally if you travel by plane from the Isle of Wight, it's necessary to pack bags weighing no more than 20 kg, get a bus or lift to the ferry. Then on the other side a National Express coach or taxi to Heathrow airport to catch a flight to Bucharest Airport, then be met and given a lift or catch a bus to your destination. So many operations involved, relying on the help of other people whilst carrying heavy cases from place to place. In addition, if you need a car you have to hire one once in Romania.
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| The boot and back seat was full of luggage |
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| All ready to leave Newport |
Before beginning the long trip there is some organisation to do. For instance, there are two ferries to book, breakdown and personnel insurance to arrange and certain equipment to buy to satisfy the regulations of the different countries being passed through.
Because we live on the Isle of Wight there are two ferry companies who operate to the mainland and a choice of three different routes. People who live on the Isle of Wight get slightly lower fares, although it is still mighty expensive to take a car. After a bit of research, the least expensive route was between East Cowes and Southampton with a 20% discount code which I found amongst my emails. The Red Funnel period return fare was £58.71 for a car and two people and takes an hour each way.
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| Items to take in the car when driving through Europe |
I then had to consider the most suitable route to the continent. For us the best cross channel route was Dover to Dunkirk by DFFS Ferry, that used to be known as Norfolk Line ( Norfolk Line was much easier to remember) I made a booking, then the next day decided to change the ferry, I was booked on for coming home. For this change, I had to pay an extra £10 for the company. The return fare then totalled £69.20 for the two-hour crossing.
I took out European Breakdown cover just in case my 10-year-old car broke down during our three weeks away. I had Green Flag UK roadside assistance cover so I contacted them first, but they wanted £95 which I thought was too much. I used the `compare` function on the Internet and found the Co-op offered full European cover for £41. I took it out only to discover when I had read the details, Romania wasn't listed, although other eastern European EU countries were. It was a good job I had bothered to read the small print. I cancelled this breakdown and took out one with`Start Rescue UK` for £48 which covered Romania as part of Europe.
I purchased some headlight deflectors to change the dipped beam in the headlights on the car from right to left for £5 and a breathalyser for £5 which you now have to carry in France, although I anticipated being in France for only a short time.
Also, we purchased a box of non-perishable food to take including tea bags, coffee and long-life milk to use on the journey and to supplement our food whilst in Romania. There was also a small camping stove, kettle and saucepans to brew tea or coffee and cook food on the journey and of course water.
The advantage of going by car and having the back seat free is that you can take almost as much luggage as you want. Ana took many presents and useful items for her family including plants and clothes. I took plenty of bits and pieces including my cycle that was put inside a bike bag and placed across the back seat. For a long journey, it is not a good idea to hang a bike onto a bike rack on the back of the car as this will increase the fuel consumption of the car. It is best to keep the car as streamlined as possible.
I also had a GPS with European maps which makes driving so much easier for most of the time but should be used in conjunction with proper maps and a printed route. The driver should have an idea of the route himself knowing the major places to head for.
The day before leaving I drove the car to Sainbury`s and filled the fuel tank with 44 litres of diesel at £1.35.9 per litre. I also checked the tyre pressures and put an extra 2Ibs in each tyre to give better fuel consumption.
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| Leaving the Red Funnel in Southampton |
On April 23rd at 4.45pm, we left Newport all packed and drove the 4 miles to East Cowes and caught the 5.30pm sailing to Southampton. The journey across the Solent and up Southampton Water takes about one hour and the ferry docked at 6.30pm at Royal Pier, Southampton. I set the GPS for Dover Docks and the fast route was 153 miles. This fast route from Southampton is like a semi-circle. Up the M3 to the M25, anti-clockwise then the M20 to Dover. The journey was good until we were delayed for 40 minutes for roadworks on the M25, but arrived at the DFDS ferry terminal at 10pm with the journey taking three and a half hours. Never be tempted to take the route from Southampton along the south coast. It looks shorter but will take an excessive amount of time because of the many towns that have to be passed through where traffic is slow.
On reaching the DFDS ferry terminal we showed our passports and ticket and were directed to lane 50 to await departure. I tried to put the RAC headlight deflectors on but did not really understand the ambiguous instructions written on the packet. Then the wind blew away one of the small discs that have to be stuck on. I wasn`t very happy about this.
We boarded the ferry that was due to leave at 11.59pm and found a seat. I went to the on-board shop and bought another set of deflectors for the headlights of a different make where the instructions were clear. Then tried to get some sleep as the crossing was two hours. I must have slept because soon we were entering Dunkirk Harbour. When the car deck was unlocked we headed down the stairs to the car, I successfully applied the headlight deflectors. It was 3.15am French time on Wednesday when we left the ferry and followed the route out of the docks to the road. The GPS was set for Brussels and we were on our way. It's a good idea not to trust the GPS when it is first switched on. It takes a while to settle down. Mine kept telling me to turn right which I ignored. The car in front made a right turn and disappeared while still in the docks and no doubt his GPS told him to do this.
Driving on the right is not much of a problem and becomes natural very quickly, but it's better to keep your speed down until you get used to it. Care has to be taken at roundabouts as often the layout is different from home and the right-hand driving position makes it sometimes difficult seeing car rounding the roundabout from the left especially if they take a wide berth.
At about 6.30am I felt tired so pulled into a lay-by and had a short sleep until 7.30am, then continued and Ana set the GPS for Wien (Vienna). At 8.30am we reached the German border after 193 miles
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| Ana ringing her family |
At about 6.30am I felt tired so pulled into a lay-by and had a short sleep until 7.30am, then continued and Ana set the GPS for Wien (Vienna). At 8.30am we reached the German border after 193 miles
The advantage of driving through Belgium ( including 21miles through France, 17 miles through Holland ) and then Germany is that they charge no road tax for foreigners, just as UK roads are free for visitors. If you drive through France tolls are payable on most motorways and this can add up to over £20 to cross the country.
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| Sunset on the motorway |
It had taken five hours to reach the German border and the only way you know you have reached it, is when your GPS tells you the new regulations, such as speed limits for that country. Germany has some of the best roads in Europe so the journey was swift and pleasant. At 11.30am we filled up with diesel for the first time since leaving home after 480 miles. This caused a bit of confusion as there were two different types of diesel to chose from and I mistakenly chose the more expensive type which was unnecessary for my car ( v-power diesel) so I bought only 3.05 litres, paid 5 Euro for it, then put the 37.27 litres of cheaper diesel in the tank (fuel save diesel). And paid 54 Euro for it. It works out at £1.24 in sterling, less than I paid in the UK and I was paying motorway prices. At this service station there was a man wanting a lift. You have to be careful, best just to say no. Luckily we did not have the room to take anyone else so it was easy for us.
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| A break in Germany |
On the motorways, it's easy to find places to have a rest and stretch. Not like the UK where there are big signs saying `Tiredness Kills, Take a Break` when there is nowhere pleasant to stop. At 1pm we stopped in a lay-by near Frankfurt Airport and made tea and food and watched the planes just about to land. Later at 7pm we halted near the River Danube and had a walk by the river. There were many little villages visible from the motorway and we were impressed by it all.
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| A walk by the River Danube |
In Germany on many of the motorways, there are no speed limits and great care has to be taken when using the fast lane. There are many big powerful cars, often black ones doing at least 140 miles per hour, my own 80mph would seem like snails pace at times when these cars went past. Also they get very impatient if they have to slow down, so it`s a good idea to keep out of their way. My opinion is that it is dangerous and reckless to allow these sorts of speeds on a public highway, but I recommend the use of your mirror often if the fast lane is used.
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| A picnic in a lay by |
Before we reached Austria the GPS stopped working and it was a mystery why it would not calculate the route. In the end I was forced to do a factory reset which resulted in it working again, so I think it just became overloaded with information and couldn't take any more. The journey through Germany 436 was miles and took many hours with stops and rests.
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| Ana made a special drink of coke and coffee to keep me awake |
At about 10.15pm we crossed the border into Austria and stopped and bought a vignette. Austria charges visitors road tax and the minimum you can buy is 10 days at 8.30 Euros ( mysteriously coming home it went up to 10 Euros) even if you are just passing through, like us. It was time to fill up with fuel again and I bought 32.28 litres for 50 Euro. In sterling, this works out at £1.32 per litre. Still cheaper than the UK. The journey through Austria was about 209 miles and we arrived at the Hungarian border at midnight.
I did not want to buy fuel in Hungary as they don't use the Euro ( you can pay in Euro but they use an exchange rate well in their favour) and anticipated we would have enough diesel to reach Romania. Again we had to purchase a road tax. This time it was 13 Euros (£11.14) for ten days. ( If you pay in their own currency, it`s only 2975 Huf, that is £8.54 ) So they really rip you off. Sometimes at the borders, there are people who want to wash your windscreen. Often it`s a two-minute job and they expect several Euro and seem annoyed or unsatisfied if you give them less. They don`t always take no for an answer and if you see them approaching, just wash your own windscreen with your windscreen washers and wipers and they just have to walk away. At the Hungarian border, a man wanted our Austrian vignette. It was still valid for 10 days, so I suppose there is a black market for them.
Hungary has some good motorways with less traffic than Germany or Austria. You often meet a convoy of lorries that are travelling at sixty miles per hour in the nearside lane. When meeting one such convoy I pulled out to overtake and had passed about ten lorries and had another four to pass when I noticed a big black powerful car coming up behind. There were no gaps between the lorries to move over so I held my overtaking position until I reached the end of the convoy then signalled to pull over to the nearside lane. I expected the big powerful black car to quickly pass me, but he pulled in front of me and slowed down and I nearly hit his rear bumper. He then speeded off. I think it was to tell me not to hold him up, but I think I must have held him up for about thirty seconds. When the story was told to Ana`s family on reaching our destination in Romania, it was said the car must have belonged to a Romanian gipsy. In Romania, the gipsies are blamed for everything. They are mainly poor but there are some very rich ones but they have different behaviour to ordinary Romanians.
Also in Hungary, another car tried to stop me on the motorway by driving diagonally across the lanes of the motorway in front of me waving a hand from the window. I had to slow down and I thought at first they needed help, Ana screamed not to stop so I drove around them. They then seemed to chase me but could not catch me up. My two-litre turbocharged diesel engine came in very useful. We agreed they must have been motorway pirates up to no good.
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| Sunset on a Hungarian motorway |
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| Driving along the motorway |
The roads in Hungary are good with plenty of stopping places to rest on the route. The terrain is very flat and you have to keep dipped headlights on all the time by law. The distance we covered in Hungary was 269 miles before we reached the Romanian border at Nadlak on Thursday.
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| Parked in a German rest area |
In Romanian many of the car and lorry drivers take the most amazing risks, overtaking on blind bends just to get in front and little patients is shown on the road. If there's a delay horns are sounded. This attitude is a complete contrast to the attitude Romanians have when they are doing anything else but driving when they seem to have all the time in the world. In Romania beware of horse-drawn carts in the villages, stray dogs, drunken cyclists, drivers on mobile phones and zebra crossings that don`t show because the paint has faded.
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| A brief rest outside the car |
The way to find out how much you are paying for fuel in sterling is to take the cost of the fuel. Say it costs 5.47 Ron per litre in Romanian money. Find out the current exchange rate from pounds to Ron. Currently 5.089 Ron to the pound. Simply divide the cost of the fuel by the exchange rate. eg... 5.47/5.089 = £1.07 per litre... The same can be done for any currency if you know the current exchange rate for that currency.
When we entered Romania at Nadlak at the border checkpoint. We had to show our passports for the first time since leaving England. We knew we had to buy some Romanian Road Tax to last 30 days. The garage where we stopped to buy the vignette was full of gipsies trying to make money. They would not leave us alone so we drove on and found a place to buy the vignette. Ana went and bought it while I looked after the car. She had to use a machine to make the purchase for 6 Euros and received a ticket with the registration of the car stamped on it. We continued our journey through Romania.
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| Much of the driving was at night |
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| Another roadside picnic |
We reached the Carpathian mountains after dark and I continued to drive. There were many lorries travelling along the mountain roads. They probably did the same journey every night and knew every bend in the road. It was a nightmare of a journey being tailgated by these lorries who would overtake and speed off. I would then catch them up on a steep hill where they had slowed to 10mph and had to overtake and the process would be repeated. Some of the bends were so tight that if it wasn't for the sat nav that gave me an indicator of the shape of the road ahead, I'm sure I would have driven into a wall or off the edge of the road. I was delighted when I was through the mountains and daylight was on its way. Everything seems so much better when the sun shines.
About 14 hours later. 10 miles from our destination in a village called Amara there suddenly appeared the flashing lights of a police car behind me. I thought at first he wanted to pass, but he wanted me to stop. It was dark. I wound my window down, turned off the engine and the policeman approached with his torch. In English, he asked for my documents in a very serious manner. The interior car light would not work and it was difficult to find everything he wanted to see as I had so many receipts and papers in the pouch. He asked me to follow him to the police station, which I did. Inside I eventually found everything he wanted to see, including MOT, insurance, driving licence, passport and car registration document. He then asked for the Romanian road tax receipt. He said we had only paid for one day, but luckily Ana in the Romanian language was able to prove that it was for thirty days. He then checked his computer and said our road tax wasn't in the system. Ana explained how it was bought. There was much shouting going on, I thought they were having a row, but it was only a discussion. The policeman said we would have to buy the road tax again and pay a penalty ( a fine) of 125 Ron ( about £20 ). I protested it was not my fault and he should investigate the machine near the border, but he kept saying it was not his problem. We had two days to pay the fine so the next day in the village of Milosesti I went to the local office and paid the fine.
I wanted to complain as I felt I had been fined unjustly, but as I don`t speak Romanian and few Romanians speak English it felt hopeless. Later in the week when we travelled to Bucharest, we visited Ana`s friends one of whom was a major in the Romanian army. He could also speak English. I explained about the penalty and showed him the papers. He made several phone calls, then emailed a letter and attached all the papers relating to the Romanian road tax and the penalty to the authorities. Later I heard that the original road tax I had bought at the border was good and I should not have been fined. The authorities said they would refund the money including the fine and were upset that a visitor had been treated wrongly by the police. I eventually got the money back after six months and if I hadn`t been persistent it would never have been refunded.
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| You have to be careful of unlit carts in the villages |
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| Where you buy the road tax |
The car had used about 137 litres of diesel and achieved about 12.3 miles per litre or 56 miles to the gallon...Working out the average cost per litre for fuel, the journey had cost £179, just for diesel
Taking everything into account including ferries, breakdown, road tax etc, the journey by car to Romania and back again cost about £300 each.
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| A full moon...... Help ! Hope Dracula is not about.. |
From the Romanian border at Nadlac we travelled towards Arrad, Sebes, Sibu, Ramnicu, Valcea, Pitesti, Through Bucharest toward Urziceni then after turning off the E60 road at Cazanesti then through several villages including Cocora, Reviga to Ana`s village of Milosesti in the county of Ialomita.
We arrived a 5am on Friday morning ( 3am UK time ) It had taken me about 14 hours with rests. A Romanian friend told Ana he could do it in 10 hours. Good Luck I thought.
The whole journey door to door was 1700 miles and with two ferry crossings ( one cross channel and one to the Isle of Wight ) and had taken 60 hours. ( two and a half days )
We arrived a 5am on Friday morning ( 3am UK time ) It had taken me about 14 hours with rests. A Romanian friend told Ana he could do it in 10 hours. Good Luck I thought.
The whole journey door to door was 1700 miles and with two ferry crossings ( one cross channel and one to the Isle of Wight ) and had taken 60 hours. ( two and a half days )
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| Another roadside break |
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| Just arrived at Ana`s house after 1700 miles. It was 5am ( 3am UK time ) |
The End
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