So for our next trick, we drove the 560km from Istanbul to Romania. We basically spent the whole night driving, rinsed through the border crossings (easy), and drove all night through Bulgaria. I’m not gonna claim to have actually travelled Bulgaria, as due to time constraints we sadly had to blast through it in the space of one evening. Nice driving on the roads in the early hours of the morning though…

 

So we crossed the border into Romania and ended up at this awesome beach place called Vama Veche, just in time for an epic Black Sea sun rise. This place was heavily recommened by Radu who has spent several months here and I can see why!

 

Radu knew some people and sorted us out with a caravan we could stay in that was on the beach and provided us with a little base camp for operations.

 

This place to me really was something pretty special to be at. It is a small beach with a string of bars’s and mini clubs along the sea front. I was happy to see a sign exclaiming “no camping”, “no dogs” etc. In the gallery pics you can see plenty of all of this happening regardless of what the damn sign was saying.

 

So what was so special about Vama Veche? To me it embodied a very clear and definite ‘free party’ type of vibe. Each of the bars had LOUD music blasting out across the beach front 24/7. There were no tickets for the bars, and there were no restrictions on taking drinks from one bar to the next.

 

We could happily float around this place dancing to all the various types of music that each place was playing…and there was a big range here from 80’s, classic rock, drum and bass, dirty dubstep, breakbeat, electro, Romanian pop music…

 

I am told that there are places where you can dance on the beach to actually decent music etc. in places in south-east asia etc. that I am on my way to experience…but this place was definitely unique for me. Being in Romania, this was no tourist place. I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that me and Lisa were the only non-romanians there that evening!

 

Other than that, drinks were bare cheap, and food was awesome including a great fish bbq grilling fish caught from this little boat that went out from the beach to some nets in the sea. At points when I at least just wanted to chill out, have a nap etc…we did have to contend with Radu who had a very specific idea of how Vama Veche “should be enjoyed” (which does not include napping) but whatever, if you are not in disagreement with Radu about something, then that means you are not properly with Radu 

 

To me, Romania seems like a great up and  coming place in the European scene…things have changed massively over the past 20 years or so and if you are travelling around Europe, to me it’s one of few places I’d consider unmissable.

 

We also visited Bucharest briefly on our way to Ukraine, via Moldova. Bucharest is a really nice city with a lovely old town with loads of bars and clubs in it. It’s cheap and I just kinda like the Romanian vibe. And also their pop music selection ain’t too shabby IMO. Peace OUT.

 

And big thanks to Radu for showing us this special place!