Romania and Bulgaria to

Istanbul, Turkey

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The one positive outcome of the communist reign is that there is relatively little habitation along the Danube... much of it below Budapest is a wilderness

The Danube cuts thru the Carpathian Mountains here

Orsovo, Romania

Fruit and vegetables were very inexpensive... for a few dollars, we  bought more than we could eat

The Iron Gates Dam

To conserve water, the locks are a double lift... a center gate separates the main chamber letting water from the upper chamber to the lower. When they are level, upstream and downstream boats switch positions thereby cutting the water used in half.... a major advantage during the summer low water.

Used books galore...

Ceausescu honored Vlad the Impaler, Dracula, as a freedom fighter.... most remember him for terrorizing the countryside by impaling tens of thousands of opponents. Over 20,000 live Turks and Bulgarians  were impaled at one time during a battle in 1462.

We discovered a way to determine river depth downstream... we looked at the depth markings on up bound barges. "21" means 2.1 meters.... we needed only 1.8 meters, about 6 feet.

We had traveled over 2,000 miles and were only 60 miles from the Black Sea when the whole trip went to hell.  Our luck had run out, and we ran aground with a 2 knot current sweeping us up on a sand bar. We struggled for an hour before we freed ourselves..... knowing full well that no one was around to rescue us.

We were in a wilderness, no markers, the charts were wrong and the channel was no longer where it was supposed to be. We pulled alongside a Romanian barge which had also run aground. With much hand waving pointing, pantomiming  and anguish we tried to understand how to get thru this stretch of river.

It was unbelievable that with 2,000 miles of relatively well marked channels, that we were coming to a dead end... with only a few miles left to reach the Black Sea.

We later discovered that there was a bypass that shipping took to the Black Sea thereby avoiding this stretch of the Danube.

Constanta, Romania

The Constanta harbor was not equipped to deal with "sportboats", but the harbor officials were incredibly helpful. The crane and operator cost 40 Euros per hour

The next morning, the crane operator picked the best crane on the dock and "gently" stepped Polaris' mast. This was another nerve wracking day... although I considered the crane operator an expert, the crane's clutch slipped badly. I had visions of the mast going thru the bottom of the boat.

"Hey Mom, are you sure this is really the latest fashion?"

Orthodox churches with all their icons and glitter are quite a contrast to our western churches

The Blue Mosque is one of the tourist highlights in Istanbul

 
Ottoman palaces dot the shores of the Bosphorus in Istanbul

Although the palaces glitter outside, the interiors lack the opulence and art of western contemporaries

Turkish Delight is a popular gummy treat

Constantinople's city walls still stand today

Thousands of small shops line the streets of Istanbul

Unlike American shops, Turks of the same trade stick together. This neighborhood was lined with dozens of shoe stores... selling shoes that all looked the same

Need a goat head for dinner? This is the neighborhood where you will find butchers

Istanbul was my original destination, but once there, I realized that it would be too expensive to store the boat there for the winter.

The original cruise destination was Istanbul. However, it soon became apparent that wintering in Istanbul at the Atakoy Marina would be very expensive, and the cost of repair work was outrageous. In addition Istanbul occasionally has freezing weather.

Based on information from other boaters, I decided to continue my journey another 511 miles to Marmaris, Turkey on the Aegean Sea

Rod Heikell's book "The Danube a River Guide" mentions heavy pollution in the river from the industrial plants along the river... that was 1991. Today the industrial plants are mostly all abandoned and in various stages of decay. The good news is that we saw almost no pollution.

This is the land on Transylvania... home of Vlad the Impaler, Dracula

The scenery here was some of the most spectacular of the trip

We asked these farmers when the market closed... they laughed at us and said that it never closes. They sleep under the tables until the produce is sold or rots.

Although, Romania and Bulgaria are separated by only a few hundred feet of river, they have almost no contact. There are few bridges or ferries.... the communists did not permit communication in order to isolate the people.

The Greek Orthodox religion is practiced here... monasteries and convents still exist, but we were told their populations were declining

The Iron Gates Dam is an amazing engineering feat which opened in 1972. Up until that time the Danube was a wild torrent in this stretch that took many lives. Today it has not only tamed the Danube but provides hydro electric power to both Romania and Bulgaria.

The total elevation change is 230 ft and the dam is 4220 feet across.

This could be the next fashion craze in the West!

I was amazed at the number of strangers who asked me to take their picture... some knew it was a digital camera and wanted to see their image on the screen

So why are Romanians called "Romanians", since the Romans only briefly occupied their land?.... no one seems to have an answer.
Most of the guard towers are abandoned today... this one in Bulgaria kept an eye on us.

Although fisherman dotted most of the Danube, in southern Romania there were almost none

Only after reaching the Black Sea, did we realize that there is a bypass to this almost un-navigable stretch of the Danube

Efnrie, Romania

My first marina in one and a half months! I was forced to drink free scotch with these crazy Romanians all night at their first ever regatta

Varna, Bulgaria

Nice hat!

The ruins of a Roman bath in Varna

Istanbul, Turkey

The Bosphorus ..... the division between Europe and Asia

The Haga Sophia was one of the first Christian churches and one of the largest structures in the world for many years

Most Christians do not realize that their fate was determined by one man... Roman Emperor Constantine in 325 AD when he declared the Roman Empire would be Christian

Mehmet the Conqueror finally brought down the Byzantium Empire (the eastern half of the Roman Empire) in 1453

It is interesting to note how the Roman Empire self destructed. First the stronger eastern half (the Byzantium) refused to help the western half (the Catholics) when the Vandals and Goths pillaged Rome. The Catholics then attacked the Byzantium during the Crusades and finally refused to assist Byzantium when they were over run by the Ottomans.

The Ottoman Empire collapsed as a result of World War II

Spices from the Orient to attract the tourist

Contrary to popular belief, Turks do not drink coffee... their national drink is tea.

An underground Roman cistern to store the city's water

The Black Sea and surrounding waters are pretty well fished out, although this fish market had some interesting species

Symbolic of the economic devastation in Romania is this unfinished bridge... the good new is that the European Union is revitalizing Eastern Europe

Trajan's Tablet

The Roman Emperor Trajan built a road along this stretch of  the Danube in 100 AD.... the tablet was originally  230 feet below the present water level resulting from the Iron Gates Dam.

Thousands of Romanian vacationers come to the mineral springs in this area

There were huge piles of fruit and vegetables, but during the few days we were in Orsovo, there seem to be little purchased

Bucharest, Romania

We tied alongside some derelict barges in a decrepit harbor in Giurgui to travel inland on a hour bus ride to  Bucharest. One person remained behind to guard the boat.

Gypsies were surprisingly rare on the streets of Bucharest. But I still managed to have my wallet stolen descending down to the subway.

The communist tyrant Ceausescu tried his best to destroy the magnificent city of Bucharest... today there are signs everywhere that the city is being restored to its previous elegance.

Trajan's Column... celebrating his defeat of the Dacians about 100 AD. This was a short lived victory and the Romans under Hadrian pulled back to the Danube and the Rhine where they established the eastern boundaries of the Roman Empire
 

The last miles of the Danube were total wilderness

No markers, many choices, and charts that were no longer correct... a very bad situation. With no one around to assist us... it appeared that our journey had come to an end.

The Canal of Death

Finally reaching Cernavoda, I was a nervous wreck after my brush with disaster.

We tied to a dock in Cernavoda to consider our options... a barge captain came down to talk to me. He said that the Danube Delta was a dangerous place and that someone would have to guard the boat day and night. At that point, I decided to give up on the Danube and take a shortcut, the Canal of Death.

It is called the Canal of Death, because over 100,000 slave laborers died here constructing the canal in the 50's and 70's.

Six hours later and 150 Euros lighter, I was in the Black Sea.

"Gee, I just can't decide what to wear" or "Do you really think, I would look good in jeans?"

Hard to believe, but just a few miles from here, women are covered from head to toe

I spent a month in Istanbul at the Atakoy Marina sightseeing and working on Polaris' bright work

Mosques and the wailing of prayers are seen and heard everywhere in Istanbul

The last of the Ottoman palaces... isolated from Western Europe, the Ottoman Empire slowly lost power and the race of technology as the Industrial Revolution began in Europe

The Harem was typically run by the Sultan's mother. He usually had four wives and a hundred "favorites". Competition was fierce among the women to see that their offspring would advance to Sultan

Weeks could be spent trying to visit every shop in the Grand Bazaar... probably the world's largest if not the oldest indoor mall

Portions of the Roman aqueduct still remain

Istanbul is a man's world... women are seldom seen in the work place

Istanbul is the largest city in Europe with over 15 million residents

Click here to continue the cruise thru the Aegean Sea.

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