During the 7-mile drive to Dracula’s castle, the brakes started making an ominous sound. So on the road to Bucharest, we pulled into a mechanic shop – no go. Then, we pulled into another mechanic shop and a bunch of men in overalls huddled around the wheels loudly sucking in their breath and saying things like “no safe” and “broke bad.” We kept going. We found another mechanic shop where all the men were wearing official looking jackets over their dungarees. Immediately, the credibility went up. I pantomimed a brake pad, and surprisingly, was understood. This service station could get four Opel brake pads and one disc for the “broke bad” wheel, but it would take a day and a lot of Euros. Augustine drove us to a hotel in town, smiled and pointed in the direction of a pub. He said he would pick us up at 10am tomorrow. Thirteen Romanian beers and two plates of cheese fries later (the cook and waitress expressed their admiration for both), Helen and I made this video of the London launch day:
Driver info for Romania: You need to buy road tax, called vignette, in both Romania and Bulgaria when you cross the border. They have stands just at the border and you can also buy it in petrol stations. In Romania it cost 5 Euros to buy. You don’t need it until you leave the country, when you have to show it to get out. If you don’t have it, you get fined. One team said the guards fined him more than 100 euros but he negotiated down to 40.
In Romania, there aren’t always speed limit signs so be careful. There are policemen with radars everywhere and I saw numerous people pulled over. I got fined 80 euros for going 98km in a 50km area (there was no sign but all towns are 50km/hour). Oncoming cars will often flash their lights at you to let you know there is a policeman ahead.
Driving at night on the way to Brasov was a little nerve wracking. Lots of drivers weaving, trucks going really slow, broken headlights and super steep mountain bends at the end. I recommend staying in the old town of Sibiu if you are driving late.