Leaving the Countryside - Sighet to Sibiu Romania

After leaving Sighet and beginning our return to the South we stopped in a couple of larger cities.  This meant leaving behind much of the rolling hill country, the sheep farms and horse-drawn wagons.  One of my favorite countryside sights is the distinctive Romanian haystack.  We stopped and took several more pictures of those.

And we stopped for one more flock of sheep on the hills, too.


Update - next morning.

Linda described some of the charms of Romania for her friends and I always like to borrow from her descriptions:

"Why Romania?"  many have asked.  Romania is absolutely charming, especially the countryside.  Words can't begin to describe the beauty of the farms and herds of sheep dotting the wide valleys between the snow covered mountains or the charm of the country houses decorated with designs we never see in MN or the fascinating groups of gypsy women in such color combinations that our adult imaginations would never conceive. 

My fascination with Romania is with the gypsies and I'm in "gypsy heaven" here.  I see them every day and I love it.  Luckily they stare at me since I look so different so I don't feel bad when I stare at them.  Rationally I know they have a tough life but I find the idea of their life very romantic.  Most gypsies in Romania are settled in housing and their houses are as colorful and decorated as the women are.  They are every color of the rainbow but in the brightest hues and the roofs are adorned with lacy aluminum scallops and curlicues. All I can say is "Wow!"

It's an easy country in which to travel; hotels are modern, food is plentiful and Romanians love Americans.

Well, that probably calls for a few more pictures:
 
 


Our guidebook says that one third of Romania is mountains, largely forested.  One third is hill and plateau.  One third is plain mostly intensively farmed.  That seems about right to me.  A close friend who had been here some years ago suggested that I would find it much like western Oregon and Washington and he was right on target with that description.

Here is a "windshield shot" of our approach to the Carpathians from the north side.