Day 6: Sebes to Drobeta-Turnu Severin

I made the decision to ride the Transalpina rather than the Transfagarasan. Maybe this was a mistake and I guess I�ll only know when I go back and try it. The road itself is a mixture of tarmac and gravel in parts. There was no consistency to the road surface, you never knew what to expect around the next corner. In the end we only did half of DN67C as the time taken to do the first part was long enough and we would probably not make it to the next city in time to find food and accommodation.



















We pulled off onto road 7A and headed towards Petrosani and then stopped for lunch. Parked up on the pavement and thought nothing of it, until the bikes attracted the attention of the local police. I�m summoned over for a brief informal chat, ahem, they tell me that they have us on video/CCTV parking on the pavement and it�s not allowed. We�re almost finished our lunch and they�re ok with us leaving within a few minutes. No real worries here.

Post lunch destination is Drobeta-Turnu Severin on the banks of the Danube. The road to here was uneventful, nothing really stood out, except if you�re the owner of a blue Ford Transit pick-up, registered in Cork Ireland � yes it�s still on it�s Irish number plates and was up for sale.

Our hotel:



Theatre in the process of being renovated.



A church near the hotel.




Day 7: Drobeta-Turnu Severin to Berane

We leave our former communist hotel and head in a northwest direction to cross over the Danube and into Serbia. Another drama free border crossing � something�s not right here!





The roads in this part of Serbia are a complete contrast to Romania. Fairly quiet with very little traffic. We have a quick stop for a quick break, a car stops and asks which way to Romania � �That way� shouts Rob.




We are making good progress on these southern Serbian roads, no trucks on the roads and we do not have to go through many villages/towns. The route was roughly Kladovo � Zajecar � Paracin � Novi Pazar (via the Kopaonik National Park). The national park was nice but there was heavy rain on the way up which made the conditions difficult. There�s a ski resort up there if you�re interested.

On the ride through Serbia I am really surprised by the heavy police presence in the towns we went through and along the route. It was inevitable that we would be stopped, and this was by a biker cop. There was some discussion about a visit to the local police station and after a phone call with his boss we were allowed to go with a warning. After this incident the decision was made to ride directly to Montenegro.

Serbian border post looms into view and �.. we get through without any issues. Border control for Montenegro took a few minutes longer as they requested the vehicle documents too. Your passport gets a stamp with a little car to indicate you drove in. The road from the border heading south is fantastic. There are mountains all around and the first section is a mini gorge.





We ride down (road 2) towards Rozaje and onto our overnight stop in Berane.

Thank you Montenegro for this fantastic welcome:




Warm shower, food and some wine and the day was over.