June Update 17/6/08 Brasov, Romania (6,729 km) 
Leaving the Ukraine behind we exited at larger border to see if they would know how to process us... they didn't! We were squeezed into a very small shed and poked at by a customs guy - well the Mog was poked, we were just asked questions! “Do you have any cigarettes?” “Do you have any narcotics?”, “Do you have any guns?”... we were waiting for the punch line bribe question “Do you have any money for me?” but it never came. After taking a cursory look round the back and under the Mog we were waved on to deal with the paperwork. This was my job and I was taken from room to room before I finally realised that they were trying to put us into a category so I said “Auto camper” and there was a big sigh of relief from the three women trying to sort out our paperwork! One then started with questions, “Do you have any Ukrainian money?” So I showed her the £20 equivalent I had, “Do you have any Euros?”, “Do you have any Dollars?”, “Do you have any Sterling?” – my reply was “No” to each. She then looked me up and down, gave me an incredulous look and said “You have no money at all?” So I whipped out my Barclaycard and said “VISA” to which the girls all roared with laughter!
Once in Romania we sauntered along to Suceava and found a cash point and bought some good maps from a local bookshop. We then drove to the Dragomirna Monastery and settled into the car park for the night thankful that the road signs were now plentiful, correct and in Latin script once again. The monastery is wonderful. It was founded in 1608 and has been used ever since even during the communist era, seven stoic nuns remained defiant and refused to leave the monastery.
Click on any picture to enlarge.
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Front tower, Dragomirna Monastery |
Dragomirna Monastery courtyard |
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Beautiful fresco over
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Cow image - we found this symbol several times but never found out the significance. |
We moved on to the painted monastery at Suceviţa, which was even more beautiful than Dragomirna. The monastery was built between 1582 and 1601 with the exterior frescos dating from 1590. Story has it that the frescos were painted to entertain the assembled troops waiting to defend Romania from the invading Turks. Many of the troops were illiterate soldiers and peasants. The frescos are almost cartoon-like in design told biblical stories to educate and entertain the troops who were forbidden to enter the church. It really is an amazing sight, with the colours still vibrant after 400 years of weathering and sunshine.
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The painted monastery at Suceviţa |
A nun beats time on a strip of wood - no idea why though! |
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Each church faces East as it is believed that the light of god shines in the image of the rising sun. |
The order of heaven & |
We moved on to the final monastery we wanted to visit – Moldiviţa. This is a much smaller monastery and is enclosed within quadrangular walls, corner towers and a beautiful church in the centre. The frescos tattoo-like appearance with dark blues and bright golds lend a more sombre air but the delightful courtyard with rose beds is the epitome of peacefulness – that is until a coach full of Germans arrived! Unfortunately over the years people have seen fit to graffiti the outside of the buildings, scratching their names into the paintings – the earliest example of graffiti I saw was dated 1831. Despite this the frescos remain truly stunning .
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Frescos at Moldiviţa - click on image to enlarge it. |
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We moved on from the monasterys and travelled south towards the weird and wonderful lake at Lacu Rosu... which I will tell you all about in my next update.
Kate, Oz and the Mog