The day didn't start so well. Getting travellers cheques cashed took a long time as did our search for a pump to replace the one that we'd lost on arrival. We were both feeling that we should have left Sighisoara earlier, though it was nice chatting to the daughter of the pension owner and her Australian husband. To add to this the road out of Sighisoara was a nightmare with next to no hard shoulder and heavy traffic. We both were in bad moods until we got onto a quieter road.
After leaving Sighisoara we passed from the region historically inhabited by Germans to one by which Hungarians dominate. Ask a Hungarian about Transylvania and if they are historically minded they may tell you that it forms a part of greater Hungary. With the European Union embracing both Hungary and Romania such considerations as 'Greater Hungary' don't matter much any more to anyone other than those of questionable political leanings. However it makes interesting viewing. By what I've read the local Hungarian community is proud of its heritage, which is as it should be, and works hard to maintain its Hungarian-ness. The area had a much more prosperous air to it than the one that we left and I drew the totally uninformed conclusion that this was somehow related to the continuity of the Hungarian community, something lacking in the German area since the Germans left.
With the change in community the appearance of the towns immediately changed, the almost identical buildings of the German area disappeared. The 'theme' here was an intricately carved wooden gate. Every residence with pride seemed to have one, no matter how much its owners may have embraced anonymous styling for their house. We passed through a couple of larger towns which had quite a few buildings which exuded a Central European feeling and I was reminded that the Habsburgs had ruled this region until the beginning of the last century.
The really warm weather on us today. and we needed frequent shade breaks.
We camped for the night in a field behind a small pension.
Distance 62km
GPS position N 46°26.074" E 25°23.264"
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