Seeing the Mud Volcanoes (Paclele Mari) close to Bucau was one of the things that I had planned from the really beginning of this trip. Little that I knew that at the moment that I arrived at the neighboring campground, the volcanoes where the really last thing I was caring about.

It was one of this rare moments you can`t plan and would never expect. Upon arrival I saw a whole group of travelers occupying the rest area talking, laughing and chilling in the shade. The people and stories being as diverse as the places they arrived from or where going to next. Even though it seems  that there are always hordes of people overlanding (driving by car, truck or bike long distance) it is quite rare to meet them while traveling yourself. So full of joy and excitement I engaged into conversations with everybody around. I heard plans and stories of just coming back from Iran with your family (Jonas & Steffi – ReisePost), being on the way to Mongolia with your family, just travel around Romania or having traveled half of the world already. It instantly felt like one big travel family and was cheer pleasure to experience. I`m thankful that I was part of it and sincerely hope to meet again somewhere, sometime, somehow! Cheers to everybody!

The next morning (after staying up till 1:00 talking) I went up to actually see the mud volcanoes that I have come for actually. If you ever go to see them go there really early in the morning. The light is beautiful and you will be there all for yourself. As the pictures show, it’s an impressive sight and you really feel like being on a different planet.

Leaving the campground later that day left me with amazing pictures from the mud volcanoes, but with outstanding impressions from the people I`ve met there! Heading to the east for the Black Sea I did travel a bit more than usual because the area in between has a lot of agriculture but is without any highlights worth seeing or mentioning, just farmland, everywhere. After one sleepover stop I got to the Danube Delta. There I met with Katja (who was at the Volcano place as well) and we spent some more time chatting and hanging out together. A few days before that I got a message via Couchsurfing from Julian who is traveling with his Girlfriend Claudia by car to Iran as well. So I was waiting to meet up with them there to see if we can maybe align our plans for a bit. Even though they are going on a different route, I hope we will be able to meet in Iran again. At the time I`m writing this, they already made it to Gerorgia and I`m still in Macedonia. I will have to see what the future will bring…

Even though we couldn’t align plans we still went together on a boat-tour to see the Danube Delta together. The nature and wildlife there is amazing and we were happy that we did the tour with the husband of the campground owner (http://www.camping-dan-pescarul.ro/en/) who is a fisherman and took us to all the nice insider spots.

Now even though I was really close to the Black Sea, I haven`t seen it up to this point. So my next stop was at a free campground right at the Oceanside that was recommended to me by Jonas (Reisepost). Since I`ve done a few more kilometers each day than planned at this point I decided to stay there for a few days to relax, swim and relax some more. This worked out perfectly and so without knowing I was prepared for the grand finally of my Romania trip – Vama Veche

Get ready for the final Chapter; Happy Metal Camp, sleepless nights, classical music and Slovenian company…