With "Eva Hin und Weg" through the Carpathians
The Carpathians - finally I can explore this mountain range with all its ups and downs, roads and paths, legends and clichés. Actually, a tour through the whole of south-eastern Europe was on the agenda, but Corona... Well, as the word "Romania" alone makes many eyes light up, it will certainly be great. The way to the Carpathians inevitably leads via the Wilbers base BTB Boxertechnik Berlin, where Josi's guardian angel Franco not only changes the starter, but also changes the oil and checks Josi once again. For a few weeks I have been riding with the Wilbers suspension, so now I am perfectly prepared for everything that may come.
Via Görlitz, the Zittau mountains and Prague I drive first south and then east - the first of many vagabond overnight stays in an industrial area and an abandoned transformer house is on the agenda. Again and again I cross borders (CZ-PL-SK and sometimes back and forth), which in the end mean nothing - and that's great!
I regularly come across traces of the socialist-military past - be it the guy who drives tourists in his tank for 15 minutes through a nature reserve, or at the car cemetery where discarded, rusty speedboats are lying. And supposedly I'm not allowed to take any pictures of it - I'm actually asked to delete pictures taken and drive on quickly.
After a few days I finally reach the Carpathians in Slovakia. The High Tatras are a part of them, there is even the highest mountain of the Carpathians, the Gerlachkovky Stit. The High Tatras were already a popular destination for hikers and skiers during the socialist era and still are. Everywhere the nature and the towns have been changed by the tourist industry. But people are on their toes: because of a 6 Euro parking ticket that was not drawn, Josi is shut down. After a long rainy day, on which I wouldn't have driven on anyway, I call the police and can free Josi from the captivity of socialism. The nice policeman even lets me off the 60 Euro fine.
On unmarked, curvy roads I then drive through dense forests, steam rises from trees while rays of light break through the trees. With the proverbial permanent grin on my face, I let cars overtake me to enjoy the ride and to be able to stop at any time to admire or take a photo. In a Hungarian ESSO trucker shower I freshen up for the passage through Hungary and the arrival in Romania. At the Hungarian-Romanian border crossing I actually see the first street dog - someone seems to make sure that the clichés are fulfilled.
The Maramures are a small, half mountainous region in the northwest of Romania and are rural in character. This means here that families actually rake the hay together, that horse-drawn carts - sometimes with a stubborn calf in tow - are always on the road, that melons, plums, potatoes and much more are sold from their own gardens or from roadside communities. If you are lucky (me!), Danina and Bogdan will give you a glass of Palinka, home-made plum brandy, poured from the 1.5l plastic bottle in Uromas crystal jar. Holla, that stuff burns! But driving, especially on broken roads, is so much smoother.
The big main roads are properly asphalted. For the smaller main roads this is less likely, and certainly not for the smaller side roads. They consist either of cobblestones or of torn asphalt in which the potholes have joined together to form long craters. Or they are sand-gravel paths that can keep up with any off-road course. I am glad that I can rely on my Wilbers suspension and concentrate on the meters in front of me. Some of these roads end after many kilometres deep in the forest in front of dilapidated houses, where I can easily imagine the dilapidated children's homes that were discovered at the turn of the century.
I follow the Carpathians clockwise, crossing their mountain ranges several times over different passes. The density of the forests is unbelievable - I can't help but think that there are forest spirits living there as well as bears. One highlight marks the end of my Carpathian tour: the Transfăgărășan. The 117-kilometre-long pass road is a pure joy to drive - and the best way to end my journey.
Eva Strehler - Motorcycle tour author
"There and away - as a motorbike vagabond through the USA"
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