mercredi 16 mars 2016

Budapest - Cluj


Day 12: Budapest - Debrencen by train and then Debrecen - Marghita: 70 km.
Day 13: Marghita - Zalau: 80 km.
Day 14: Zalau - Cluj by train and afternoon in Cluj.

Taking our bicycles on the train to Cluj was apparently not allowed so we decided better not to give it a try after having already made the experience of being kicked out of a train once in Serbia 5 years ago. 

Instead we got a train ticket to Debrecen, in the East of Hungary and about 200 km away from Cluj. We cycled through empty streets in Budapest (it was Sunday) to catch the 6:20 am train. We got to Debrecen just before 10 and could thus still enjoy a normal touring day. The 30 km to the Romanian border where flat and the Wind was favorable so that we got there in less than 1,5 hour. The contrast between Hungary and Romania was really astonishing, the first villages we crossed were very poor and looked deserted. We could see remainings of huge agricultural infrastructures from the collectivisation period. The landscape became more hilly, the roads quite bad and crosswinds were strong so it took us some time to cycle the 17 km from Sacueni to Marghita. But we really liked these kinds of landscapes and for once it felt like really traveling again (not only merely following a cycling freeway to get from one place to another). The initial plan was to camp along the way but we did not see suitable spots and did not feel totally safe about camping in the area. Luckily we found a really nice place to stay in Marghita with the receptionist speaking very good English. 


We left for Zalau the next morning and wanted to take a picture of the gigantesque photovotaic field outside of Marghita when we noted we had forgotten our camera at the guesthouse. Kim went back quickly and got it back!  Yey! The road to Zalau was very nice, we crossed many pretty villages with children very happy to greet us. That day we also faced our first switchbacks to get up a 50m hill!  ;) We reached Zalau at the end of the day, an industrial and very soviet style town and slept in the probable old communist hotel (see picture), which was very nice and modern inside. 


The question when we woke up was whether to cycle the 80 km to Cluj on a main road that did not seem very safe or to go for a 3,5 hour train journey to Cluj!!!  As it was snowing, the decision was quickly taken and we cycled to the train station. We then spent the afternoon walking around Cluj, had dinner with nice people from the hostel and then went for a beer with Maria, a Swedish friend of Leila, met in Quito in Ecuador in 2009 and studying in Cluj. It was really nice to see her after all this time and to learn more about life in Cluj.
Crossing Romanian villages 
Beautiful Marghita ;)
Cluj 
Our hotel in Zalau 

Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire