The riverbank is endless wall of tangled bushes and vines from which birds swoop, sway and dive to catch the morning bugs. Its a lovely morning until one dog of the 1000’s security dogs yaps and the whole village is woken to a morning chorus of yap, woofs and howls. The birds swoop back to their nests just before the windows crack open then pots, pans and screams are all hurled at the dogs.

We drove and drove and drove with the occasional pit stop until we reach the border crossing. At Bors we stop to have our papers and passports checked before entering our 26th country, Romania. The queues were huge to get in to Hungary and so glad we are going the opposite direction. A much simpler vignette to enter Romania at €10 for 1 week with no restrictions. Alternatively, you can log on line (cheaper) but we can’t get a good enough signal.

As soon as we entered Romania it felt different. Everything was bewildering, strange and wonderful. After all the bad UK press about Romanian people my head told me not to like this place and no matter how many head conversations I had my heart won. I fell in love with Romania in an instance.

Within half an hour we were parked up on the outskirts of Oradea and debating what to do. The heaving city centre made parking a nightmare, so we parked up on a monastery. After a bite to eat we walked inside the monastery grounds to an instant wow. Nothing like we imagined, they were beautiful. Around the edge the nuns quarters with colourful flower baskets and in the middle a church set in beautiful gardens with several shrines and places of worship. As we walk around the outside of the ornate church a nun starts to play a tune on what looks like a block of wood and two hammers. It was amazing, click here to see video or scroll down to the bottom of the page.

We were invited in to the church. We stood a gaze at all the beautiful detail then all of a sudden, the nuns started to shuffle around. From behind the alter, a very tall priest starts to recite prayers as he blessed all the religious imagines. He walked all the way around the church following a nun with a candle. As he walked close by, he reminded us of a young Christopher Lee rather spooky in his long cloak.

Outside a rather old but equally beautiful wooden church. To the side, the chapel to remember passed souls. Inside, two baths/troughs of running water with lit candles. A nun turned and smiled and invited me inside for a look. She was collecting all the old candles from the bottom of the bath, scooping them in to a bucket and changing the water.

Our Bumble Verdict: monastery great absolutely amazing

Mac cooling down

It was a hot and sticky night, so Craig bolted our fan on to the underside of the bedroom shelf. We’ve not had much need to use the fan this year but even if we only use it the once, its been worth it, its blinking brilliant.

Our motorhome sleepy spot: Oradea, quiet space at the side of the monastery.

Wild Camping GPS position Oradea N047.051803, E021.99927

Route: Tokaj, Hungary to Oradea, Romania