14th-15th - Viscri, Brasov and home

In the morning we were up early for breakfast before three horse carriages came to pick us up to give us a ride through the village and show us some of the local industry.

First stop was an elderly couple who show us how they make charcoal. A lengthy process and not something I would ever want to try. Wood gets piled up and covered in dirt, the wood gets set on fire and then the heat has to be kept for 14 days. The charcoal is sold to people who bring it to Brasov and other places. Apparently they are renowned for the very high quality.

Next stop on the drive around was at the village’s fortified church. It was basically an old, relatively simple, church surrounded by a bulwark with rooms where people could live if necessary. We were able to climb up the tower of the church from where we had a relatively unhindered view of the surrounding area.

Last stop was a brick maker where we were introduced to the traditional – and still used – method of making bricks from digging out the clay, shaping it, drying and burning it. It was quite interesting and as they apparently are the only ones who supply the village with bricks they always had something to do. As opposed to the charcoal makers they only make bricks for the village, but as they are the only ones doing so they are always busy.

After some free time and lunch we were back on the bus and left for Brasov. When we arrived we got on a train to Bucharest where we said our goodbyes and found the hotels we had reservations at. My roommate and I decided to stay roommates one more night so we left for the hotel I had a reservation at, managed to upgrade to a twin bed room, had a quick dinner and relaxed in their bar. Nice and comfortable.

After getting up early I had a short walk near the hotel before we were picked up by our shuttle at the hotel to go to the airport.

The home flight went fine and all I could do now was to prepare for the trip to Morocco in one week.

The fortified church from a distance.

The pile of wood isn't even close to finished. In the end it'll be app. double the height.

Viscri from above.

The brick maker.

The oven. It was app. 2x3 meters, and the bricks are piled more than 2 meters high before being baked.

9th - Bran and the Bucegi Mountains

Most important topic first; when meeting in the morning we found out that the hospital visit had resulted in a cast – the wrist had been broken in the fall. Woops.

After breakfast we went down to the market again to pick up lunch before heading for the bus which transferred us to Bran where we would be spending the next two nights. Arriving in Bran we offloaded our luggage, the injured and who else needed a break from yesterday. From here we drove a short distance to get to the trail.

From here we started ascending on the first part of the day’s trek. Like yesterday we were walking through the dense forest, but this only lasted the first couple of hours before we came out and into the open. Almost from the beginning we had been approached by three stray dogs that ended up escorting us all the way up – at that point one of them disappeared but the two others followed us all the way back down again.

Coming out from the trees at around midday and still ascending we had a great view of the surrounding hills and areas. Hills covered in forests, with rocks sticking out here and there.

Coming towards the highest point of today’s walk we met a couple of herders with their large groups of sheep and their sheep dogs. Some interaction was had between the sheep dogs and “our” dogs, but it was obvious that the sheep dogs didn't really give a damn while “our” dogs made sure that no one would hurt us. It was quite fun to watch.

Coming back down again we were picked up by the bus, the dogs disappeared and we returned to the lodge.

Some steep passages now and then.

Out of the forest, ascending.

One of the strays.

A sheep herder.

On the way down again.

Small break.

8th - The Piatra Craiului Mountains

We started the day going to a nearby market getting food for our lunches before we loaded up in a minibus which drove us to our starting point. We quickly got out of the centre of Brasov into the less populated areas before we ended up in nice quiet wooded area.

We dismounted and started what would be a more dramatic walk than planned. The plan was to ascend app. 1000m where we would have our lunches, have a small walkaround before descending again.

The ascent was surprisingly tough. We were walking through a forest with slightly soggy ground, so it was humid and heavy moving around, especially when it got steeper going up. At one point during the ascent we were supposed to be able to walk up through a narrow – but apparently beautiful – canyon. Unfortunately when we passed by, the scaffolding we were supposed to utilize was being maintained, so we had to walk around instead. This didn’t really matter much, though, as the forest was quite pleasant to walk in.

Reaching our lunch spot we had a beautiful view of the surrounding area, including Brasov. Afterwards some of us continued upwards to the area’s tallest point. It was a stunning view, from where we could see the Bucegi and the rest of the Piatra Craiului mountains, in which we were standing.

Coming back down to the lunch spot an hour later we realized that we had gotten company from a couple of local donkeys. Some of them were very social, something one of the group members had personal experience with.

After a good laugh (the unfortunate group member not so much) we were on the way back down again, by a different route than up. It was still through the dense forest (there wasn’t much else around here), but the path way was less steep and easier to walk. At some point on the way down our guide – local – admits that there has been a certain miscommunication between him and the travel agency. He had apparently expected people of a much higher physical level than we could present which was why we were quite a bit behind schedule – our afternoon return would be closer to an early evening. But then he had a background as a mountain guide/trainer for the Romanian military, and often did private tours for experienced mountaineers. So, we had quite a lot to live up to, which we apparently didn’t do so well.

Trying to cut some corners shortening the trip down us in the front were suddenly stopped by shouts at the rear; apparently one of the girls had slipped and had problems getting up again. She admitted her wrist was sore, but she had no problems moving it around, though. After only a couple of minutes it had swelled up and looked like a parody of the elephant man, so it wasn’t very promising.

We came back to where the bus picked us up, and back at the hotel we went out for dinner except for the guide, the girl who slipped and her sister. They went to the hospital to get the arm/wrist checked out to try and find out what was going on.

The canyon we should have been up through.

View halfway between lunch and the top.

View from the top.

7th - Departure

I had a horrible early departure from Copenhagen as the best flight to Bucharest would be with a layover in Frankfurt, and after arriving in Bucharest I still had to get to the main train station and from there go on a 3-4 hour train ride to Brasov, and then a taxi from the station to the hotel.

Apart from the entire “early”-part, the flight to Bucharest was uneventful – Lufthansa is indeed one of the best airlines I have flown with. From the airport things got a little interesting. I found a booth where I could get a ticket for a train – I would have almost two hours until departure, so plenty of time. I was then pointed outside where I was to find a shuttle to take me to the train that would take me to the main train station in the city. So I went out to wait. Soon a shuttle stopped, and I asked the driver if this was the one. He looked very confused, he apparently barely understood any English at all. A couple of locals came to my assistance, and by translating he apparently said that yes, this was the shuttle, but he didn’t recommend me going with him but take a taxi instead. I asked him why that was so, but apparently “taxi” was the only thing he wanted to say.

Got a taxi, the meter was exactly what the locals recommended me to pay when arriving at the train station. Apparently, at that exact same time, the driver lost all ability to speak English, and with only gestures and a number written down I realized he wanted me to pay double – because, as he pointed out, the fare was not including him getting back to the airport. I got visibly pissed, but he kept pointing at the price. There wasn’t anything I didn’t want to do, beginning gently by shoving the meter up is scumbag POS ass, but I realized there was nothing I could do. I paid the bastard, got my bag and stomped into the train station.

With 45 minutes until the train departed I had time to cool down and trying to figure out what all the numbers on the tickets meant. I ended up finding a random seat in an otherwise almost empty carriage, and enjoyed the view the following many hours on the way to Brasov. Beautiful country, no doubt about it.

Arriving at Brasov I grabbed a taxi to the hotel, and got royally screwed there, too. I can’t feel too bad about it, though, as I could have saved quite a bit of money if I had been a little observant regarding price/distance and the actual distance to the hotel (as opposed to the first driver which basically just told me to go an eff myself).

Arrived at the hotel and found my room half an hour before the intro meeting which I spent walking around, getting an initial impression of the town. There was a small fair with a group playing cover songs. I can hereby testify that I have heard the worst cover of Hotel California. Ever.