Off Road Adventure Romania

Easter 2008

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Easter Month brings nothing but surprises for everyone. This year, Off Road Adventure Romania chose to go in a number of isolated villages in the county of Banat, Romania.

As everyone would have expected, the road there and back was not a walk in the park. Everybody met by the two trucks that were rented for carrying the presents in front of the warehouse before the dawn. Coffees and breakfast were rather in order and after everyone received their sticker with the number, just like in a contest, we set off. Again, all makes of cars were present, from Lada Niva to the Land Rover Defender, all worked together towards a common goal, disregarding the life-long quarrels “this brand is better than the other”.

The Easter Caravan was composed of more than 30 off road cars and brought to the locals everything they would need for a good holiday: electricity generator, lamp gas and flashlights, toys, school supplies, food and many more, totaling over 20000 pounds.

We reached the town of Cornereva which, as the mayor stated, is spread over an area larger then Bucharest, but the forty villages that it’s composed of are scattered around, together with small clusters and isolated houses.

Three old people who were looking at the caravan draw into the town hall parking lot said: “These people must be from France or Africa”, even if everybody who got down spoke the same language as they do. Their hands looked more like shovels, with unbending fingers and tensed muscles. Instead of shoes everybody wore boots made out of car tires, because they were the only ones they felt comfortable in. A pair of shoes costs 40p and the man that makes them is immobilized from the waist down and can only do so much to make a living after a car rolled over him when he was young.

Of all the places that the off road club visited until now for humanitarian actions, this was the most isolated, with people carving into the mountain for the creation of a flight of stair used to reach their homes. This had a strong impact on the people’s lives, as their food supplies had to last for a whole six months, especially in winter time when roads become impossible to use, even with a carriage or a horse.

As we reached Dobraia, we noticed that the people have built a small church, inside a crack in the mountain, and were told that there is only one ceremony a month, because the priest can only get there by horse from far away. Even without him, people come to the church every Sunday from all around, to pray and kneel in front of the altar. Here, in these forgotten parts of the world, honesty and poverty make good friends with kindness and wonderful soul. Mister Vasile, a man from one of the isolated houses did not accept our Easter presents, telling everyone that he would not allow himself to receive help of any sort, nor food or goods that he himself didn’t work for.

R.T.
4x4OffRoads.com