This year’s fifth trip

To my big surprise I manage to push in another trip this year. Apparently it’s true what I say; there is always time for another trip!

A couple with whom I did the EC trek with sent out a message saying that they were going on a trek in September, asking if anyone wanted to join. After a bit of thinking and coordinating with work – while a fourth member of the EBC trek also signed up – I ended up buying this year’s fifth vacation. Oh dear.

7^th of September

Coming home from Turkey Wednesday the 4^th I will be leaving again the 7^th in the early morning flying to Romania. After taking a couple of trains I will end up at my goal, Brasov, north of the capital, near the centre of the country.

8^th of September

We will spend the first day trekking the Piatra Craiului Mountain which has some of the country’s richest pastoral areas. The walk will bring us to Seven Stairs Canyon and in the end ascending us almost 1000m. Returning to Brasov at the end of the day.

9^th of September

After moving to Bran we will trek the Bucegi Mountains which are considered a spiritual place. The area has quite a few rock formations which we will be able to see from the higher elevations we will reach after a difficult climb. Return to Bran in the evening.

10^th of September

The day will be spend trekking some of the most beautiful mountains in the country, the Piatra Craiului (The King’s Rock) National Park. It seems to be a quite interesting area with wildlife; despite the mountainous area only covering 1,5% of the European surface west of Russia, it has almost a third of Europe’s large carnivores. Estimated there are app. 6000 bears, 3000 wolves and 2000 lynx. Interesting!

11^th of September

We will be leaving Bran this morning for the last time to visit Bran Castle, also known as Dracula’s Castle. This will be followed by a transfer to first Sambetei Monastery, and from there we will walk into the Fagaras Mountains to the Valea Sambetei chalet where we will spend the night.

12^th of September

Today we will trek to the summit of the tallest mountain in Romania, Moldoveanu Peak (2544m). The climb to this point will take up most of the day, so I am expecting it to be a challenge compared to the previous days. Having returned home from Turkey and climbing Mt. Ararat (5165m) I suspect I might have an advantage in being acclimatized.

13^th of September

From the chalet we will spend a couple of hours descending to Sambata Monastery and from there transfer to Viscri village where we will spend the night.

14^th of September

A small tour around the village is followed by a drive back to brasov, ending the trip. We will continue with train to Bucharest where will we like will go our separate ways. I will be finding a hotel, hopefully close to the centre of the city so I can have a little sightseeing in the morning before leaving.

15^th of September

Return to Copenhagen in the afternoon.