Last weekend we signed up to plant trees as volunteers in an area of the Danube Plain suffering from desertification. The area was 210km away from Bucharest near the village of Dabuleni also known for it's water melon plantations. The areas near the Danube are very poor, shockingly poor, having suffered from record floods 2 years ago, from constant heatwaves during the summer when temperatures rise to 42C and from the neglect of every government that came to power.
We left Bucharest at 7:00AM by a coach hired by one of the companies funding the eco project, and took the road to Alexandria (number 3 on the map above). The road was in good condition but traffic rules are not followed at all.
Then we entered the county of Teleorman and the scenery started to change
We eventually arrived in the city of Alexandria (again number 3 on the map) which is the Teleorman county's capital. The city was shockingly small and in somewhat decay. Life there seemed very boring, all we could see in the city center was a local market and some little stores. Our journey continued to the town of Turnu Magurele (number 4 on the map). Before getting there we had a break at a gas station. There people tried to use the toilets but imagine 6 buses trying to fit in one toilet. We stayed there for about 30 minutes.
Then we left and in Turnu Magurele we were shocked to see the road leading into town:
And then the main street:
Then we got out of that sad, little town which once (before 1989) an industrial port on the Danube. We got out and then we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere, on a road which was under the Danube waters in 2006. Pictures are worth 1000 words.
Then...the asphalt disappeared (which in Romania doesn't mean one can't drive fast) 
This was the road to Corabia (number 5 on the map). When we thought we saw everything there was to see things got from bad to worse as we approached the bridge over the River Olt (one of the biggest rivers in Romania).
We managed to cross the river without the bridge collapsing under the weight of the coaches. Then it was a drive on the difficult road to Dabuleni. Cars were almost entirely replaced by horse-drawn carts. Although the road is straight, speeding is not recommended as driving is stressful when there are holes in the road and horse-drawn carts everywhere. I can't even imagine how it is to drive at night on such a road.
At 12:30 we arrived in Dabuleni, the place where we were supposed to plant trees.
There were 4000 people on the site, the media was present and of course politicians whose presence we suspect was only to attract votes.
In the end we had massive fun plating trees, giving interviews and hopefully giving new life to a barren and deserted area. An area of a country member of the EU yet an area where people live like they lived 100 years ago, an area that hasn't seen any government funds let alone EU funds.
Our only hope is that our effort won't be like a drop of good will in an ocean of neglect. We hope that the trees planted by us and everyone else will give new life to an area abandoned even by nature itself.
