while . My effort at Romanian was rewarded with a shy smile from the girl behind the till and as I walked out two little girls waved from their car as they left the gas station . We passed them again in the town and this time their father joined them in waving , before they passed us a third time as we pulled in to check the map . This final time all hands waved out of the window and the horn blew several times to wish us a final farewell .
Just a little further down the road a procession of black wedding cars overtook other vehicles forcing us to the side of the road but leaving us with enough room still to keep going . A bit unexpected but nothing too bad , the view was good so I could see them coming . And small bikes need only small spaces for avoidance .
Wending our way up into the mountains we stopped to take in the view , a hazy 360 degree tableau of mountain after mountain . Every colour , shade and texture imaginable . The road ran out of tarmac and we had a good time on the gravel before the tarmac returned and the longest stretch of roadworks I ’ ve ever seen began . This was the first time we really began to understand the rules of the road .
After five sets of slow traffic lights , spaced close together , a car came flying past us as we sat waiting for the green light . Overtaking five or so queuing cars just as the lights changed to green , he forced himself back in at the front just in time for the road going down to a single carriageway . He jumped the next red light completely . He ’ d obviously had enough of the waiting and no-one was getting any younger . I was told later that this is nothing unusual , particularly for bikes who can squeeze into passing places far easier . All I could think as I set off at the time , vaguely amused , was that I hoped another like him wasn ’ t coming in the opposite direction . He made the boy racers in front of us look like cautious drivers . After all , they were only vying with each other for first place at 60 mph in the 20 mph roadwork- and blind bend ridden mountain pass . Later a woman passed us at a good speed , hitting the substantial gravel ramp as the tarmac reestablished itself and almost losing her back end . She never slowed her speed for a second . I remember sitting next to Mickey at the next set of lights laughing wildly at it all in a slightly bewildered way .
We arrived late in the evening in the city of Deva to be treated to youths on mopeds riding up the wrong side of a dual carriage-way main street as if it was perfectly normal . Weary from a long day of riding on highest alert , we pulled in to the hotel we ’ d booked earlier in the day after not finding any campsites in this part of Romania . It was clear that Romanian roads played by different rules but so far none of it seemed malicious so we just needed to adapt .