Frustrating ride to Hungary

I knew I could reach Hungary with a couple of days of hard riding. The question was where could I find accommodation. Zalău, a large town 70 km North West of Cluj seemed the obvious choice. Within minutes of starting, I encountered roads signs mentioning Zalău. But there was a catch: Those roads would have lots of traffic and no shoulder.

So I chose a lot of detours on smaller roads. 18 km from Zalău (26 with detours), I stopped for lunch. I consulted Google Maps. There was a pensiunea near Boghiș ! If I cycled the rest of the day, I can just reach it.

The next day I started cycling to Marghita at the crack of dawn. After 20 km there were too many trucks and the road was too worn out, in part due to construction of the A3. So once again I diverted to back roads.

First river to ford
Heavy equipment on the back road I chose
Construction of the A3 motorway
Second river to ford for the day

In Buciumi there are some ancient Roman ruins. These stairs and funicular allow tourists to visit the site. Except there aren’t any visitors.

The church in Crasna

A train fresh out of Hungary