Photos of the Danube DeltaHere's the message from Ron on 23 September at the end of week 2:
Hi Ellen,
ATMs, Internet connections, flush toilets, all the conveniences of home. Now if I can find some glue to fix my broken plastic water bottle holder.
First the outline: Train to Braila, bike to Isaccea, spent two nights, biked to Tulcea, spent one night, then to Mulicu and now back in Tulcea.
The Danube, after eight European countries, spreads out in the Delta to flow into the Black Sea. Designated as a Reservation for the Biosphere by UNESCO, the area is being protected and is beginning to see some tourists who are interested in the more than 300 species of birds and 110 types of fish and plants.
Last night, Wed Sept 22, I stayed in our guide's partner's house in Maliuc, in the Danube Delta, with a Swiss couple (both retired teachers) after a wonderful all day boat ride through parts of the Delta: narrow channels, huge lakes, beautiful flora and an amazing variety of birds from terns and swans to white pelicans and eagles, all identified by Daniel, our guide, and pointed out in the handy bird book.
Walking around Muliuc in the afternoon was like exploring a mystery. A wide cobblestone street along the river, the street lined on both sides with large beautiful trees, with a large park in the middle near the main dock in front of the hotel, a disco, school, soccer field, flowers in bloom, and behind the row of large apartment buildings on both ends of the street was a wide array of farm life, out-buildings and walkways with chickens, turkeys, geese, pigs, horses, dogs and cats. I could tell that this was quite a place in its time, but now it was uncared for: the horses had burrs in their manes and tails, the dogs (and there were lots of them) were uncared for, the buildings were in need of maintenance, everything needed painting, the hotel seemed empty, the disco unused in years, weeds were growing everywhere, and only the school seemed used, other than the hotel patio bar, a tiny store, and a small pool hall. My impression was people up to around 16 and then over 35. The village was small and surrounded by water. What happened here?
Last night, over vegetable soup, salad, and bread, I asked Daniel, our guide, if he knew the history of the village. He did, and he told us the fascinating story. As a young boy (he is now 24) he grew up here in an idyllic paradise from his child's point of view. Ceausescu, the dictator, wanted to change the Delta, grow a different, more productive and useful reed, introduce a different fish, and bring the area under cultivation. The village was created by building dikes around the area on the other side of the river from an existing village. He build a huge research center here, in the large unidentified building I had seen. The large apartment buildings were furnished for the people who came to work in the center. Everything they needed was provided by the government. Daniel's father was a teacher in the school.
But the ideas didn't work, people were just acting like they were working. When the revolution came in Dec 1989 and Ceausescu was overthrown, the village got no more support and the experimental center died. There was a flood or a fire in the village on the other side of the river, and many of the people moved over to Muliuc, and others moved to Tulcea.
Daniel's father gave up teaching to follow his passion: ornithology, the study of birds, and his mother is now the teacher (maybe principal). Daniel was exposed to a wide variety of people growing up, speaks several languages, and is also an expert on the bird and fish life in the Delta. A unique 24 year old who is an excellent guide.
Irina, the daughter of Daniel's partner, was also a very interesting young lady. She will turn 20 on Sept 28, and will start college on the 27th. She had to compete for admission against 80 others for 30 slots, and her test results got her admitted.
In Tulcea, trying to find out how to get a boat down the river, I met the daughter of Daniel's partner (Irina), who told me her father could take me. I explained that I prefer to not hire my own boat, but look for either the public ferry or shared boats. She accepted that, and as we talked I was asking about where I could bike in the Delta and she explained about the dikes/levees that are build to control the water and river, and I could see them on my map. She said her father's partner knew about bicycling and took me to her house to meet him. Well, one thing let to another, and before long I was invited to dinner. A Swiss couple had just arrived, having made arrangement for a tour long ago. So I was invited to come along for as many days as I wished on their boat. I agreed to go for one day to Mulicu, and then the next day I planned on catching the speed boat to Sulina, at the mouth of the Danube. However, the speedboat broke down so I returned to Tulcea.
You can check out Daniel's web page at http://www.netcolony.com/members/ibis/
The route along the Danube, which I expected to be flat, turned out to be like the Blue Ridge Parkway, with long climbs over the fingers of the mountains that descended to the river, with the road being built high above the flood plain.
People have been the interesting thing so far. On the train there was a guy from Moldavia, a veterinarian, who could speak some English. Turned out he had no ticket, but hung out with me in the first class car, along the window. But the guy who owns the hotel in Isaccea was the most interesting. He used to be a rich man in Bucharest with several cars (BMW) and a couple of houses, but the government decided to take from the rich, so they took everything he had. His son needed an operation so they left with just suitcases. When he arrived in New York he drove a taxi to survive. But he made it again, and decided to do it on his own in Romania. Bought a bankrupt and abandoned pig farm about 18 months ago, and is building it back up. He will grow wheat to supply his mill (being brought from northern Romania). The mill will support his bakery in town, next to the hotel/bar/restaurant he build. He also has 500 sheep to supply milk for his cheese making operation. A large building on the farm is a warehouse for his store in town. He wants to export pork. Has his own refrigerated truck he brought from New York. But his really large vision is to build a ferry to cross the Danube to carry 40 tractor trailer trucks a day. The farm today is probably worth several million, and the place is still not really finished. He drilled two wells, has his own generators, and acres of buildings. An interesting fellow.
Part of the scenery from the bike has been beautiful, overlooking lots of water in places, and in other areas inland, long rolling mountains. Being out of shape and climbing with a full load, has reminded me why I was supposed to get in shape before I left. Taking a break one day, two ladies were walking along with big buckets. They stopped where I was resting and gave me two very large bunches of grapes, one red, one black. They were really sweet and perhaps the best I have ever had...or perhaps the time, place and exhaustion affected my taste buds.
I wanted to turn before Isaccea and visit the Nifon, in the Macin Mountains, but decided to go on to Isaccea because of the time of day and my tiredness. However when I got to the intersection, the sign said 2 km to Nifon. So I decided I could do 4 km. But first I asked about a restaurant, and was shown a set of steps to carry my bike up. Sure enough, at the top was a large restaurant and a guy behind the counter was grilling up a bunch of fish. So I ordered fish and salad along with a bottle of mineral water. He brought me a different kind of fish (cold) which was very good, and later brought me the small hot fish I had seen him cooking. The second was an experience in having the most bones and the least flesh of any fish I have ever had. When I went to pay, he wouldn't accept any money and just said it was typical Romanian hospitality.
The first 4 km of the 2 km trip was one lousy road. Part of it was sand, which made for very slow going. The rest was very uneven, which required a lot of weaving back and forth at slow speeds as I climbed up and up. Then I got to a sign that said 18 km to Nifon and realized the sign at the intersection must have been broken off so that only one 2 remained. So I gave up and returned slowly down and back through the sand, stopping at the soccer game near the intersection until I was so surrounded by kids I couldn't see the game, so I went on.
It was Sat afternoon [18 Sept] when I arrived in Braila. As I biked to the center of town I passed several churches, all of which were having weddings. Gave out a few new shiny pennies to be given to the brides for good luck. That night in town all the restaurants were filled with wedding parties, so it was difficult to find a place to eat. Ellen will enjoy the fact that one of the wedding parties had live flute music which reminded me of my favorite tape. The others also had live music, but not flutes.
The hotel in Braila was a dive for $6 and I could never find the common shower. In Isaccea it was a wonderful room for $12 with a very large modern bathroom with hot water. In Trulcea, it is about $17 and just OK. The trip to the Delta was whatever I wished to pay.
All in all I like the Romanian people, find them friendly and sharing. I have not been hassled, and even the beggars are polite. The women, especially the younger women, dress well, have no hips, and wear very high heeled shoes making them look very tall and slender. The men, while they don't dress as well, have also been kind and interesting.
Enough for now...the Internet connection is really slow and I have been at the computer for almost three hours ($3/hr). Hard to write this in all the noise around me. The far right part of the text is off the screen, and it is complicated to keep shifting over because of the screen within a screen problem. Didn't run spell check as it takes forever to run. [I corrected lots of spelling errors and typos! -- Ellen]
Maybe heading south tomorrow morning to a place called Babadag, and may stay a couple of days if I like it before heading south to Constanta.
I love you and am looking forward to seeing you in Istanbul.
Love,
Ron
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