Day Four: Into Romania

We left Szolnok, filled up with Hungarian petrol, and headed east down another minor road to the Romanian border. We arrived there about midday and were through in about an hour. It was easier than we had expected with no hassles, and the customs man never even asked to look in our car.
We drove the 14 Kms to Orodea, stopping to buy a map at a gas station. We immediatley turned north on a very small road. We knew we were in a different country straight away (and not in the EU) because the road condition deteriorated markedly, and all the churches had silver spires. We had to drive very carefully due to huge potholes. But, before long we saw lots of horses and carts, chickens on the road, and lovely handmade haystacks in the fields. The villagers grow gardens on the road side right through the village and sell fresh vegetables at small stalls.
Driving conditions in remote northern Romania are very different. There are not only the horse and carts and cyclists and pedestrians everywhere, but there are also very slow moving trucks that pump out voluminous clouds of black smoke, and there are crazy local drivers ("Rogue Romanians", as opposed to the "Mad Magyars" driving in Hungary) who go like a bat out of hell and overtake on blind corners, and in the middle of villages.
We made it to Satu Mare, a regional town, and found another grand hotel with a stunningly beautiful facade, but still totally cheap. There are no decent camping grounds in Romania, it seems.