Out on the flat Romanian plain east of the Olt river, the village of Crâmpoia sits among endless fields of wheat, maize and sunflowers, and its name has a place in Roman history. A Roman earthen fort near the village stood on the Limes Transalutanus, the frontier line that the Romans built east of the Olt in the early third century, running from the Danube northward toward the Carpathians, a long earthen rampart with forts and watchtowers. The local name Reduta Tătarilor, the Tatars' redoubt, reflects a common habit in Romania of attributing old earthworks to the Tatars or other invaders, long after the Romans were forgotten. The site is part of the UNESCO-listed frontier of Dacia.
What survives is earthwork: banks and ditches in the fields, sometimes hard to distinguish without a map or guide. The landscape is open and the horizon wide, and on a summer evening, with the sun setting over the fields, there is a melancholy beauty to the place.
The riding is flat and straight, with long roads across the plain, linking villages of low houses with gardens and wells, and little traffic apart from farm vehicles and horse-drawn carts. Road surfaces vary, from good tarmac to potholed and patched sections, and some village roads are unpaved. Summer heat can be intense, often above thirty-five degrees, and there is little shade, so carry plenty of water. Winter is cold and windy, with snow. The Olt valley, to the west, offers some variety, with river views and willow groves.
Dobrotești, about eleven kilometres away, and the larger towns of Slatina and Caracal, further afield, have fuel, shops and restaurants. Villages like Crâmpoia have small shops and perhaps a bar, but services are limited. Local food is hearty and simple: ciorbă, sour soups, mămăligă, polenta, and grilled meats like mici, small sausages served with mustard. The Danube is about fifty kilometres to the south, and the Roman city of Sucidava, at Corabia, with the remains of Constantine's bridge across the river, is worth a visit if you are following the Roman frontier.