High Altitude Offroad Hitchhiking, (part. I)

Another weekend and another trip. And once again alone, as the rest of the students went to Sibiu and Sighişoara, where I have already been.

But this time my route was much more spontaneous. I read in a guidebook just a few sentences about Muntii Capatanii, which spread more or less in the area between cities Râmnicu Vâlcea and Târgu Jiu. A week ago when I was hiking in Muntii Bucegi, I only had to take a train, get off in Busteni and after 10 min I was on the path. But this time it  was a real challenge, as all the paths about which I read before, start deep in the mountains, about 20-25 km from the nearest asphalt road. There is only one steep gravel road to this place, going in a beautiful valley along Latoriţa River.

 So hitch-hiking was my only hope. At 11 am I arrived at the place where this road begins. There were not too many cars there, about.... 1 per 45 min. The 3rd one stopped and took me. It was a Romanian family on a weekend trip to the mountains. Here, 'family' doesn't mean 2 parents + 1-2 children. No, here 'family' means at least 7 people. So we travelled for the next 2h in a cosy ford transit with 11 passengers (thank you once again!) The road was getting worse and worse, but was more and more rocky and beautiful. We were stopping from time to time for a 'popas' by the river or artificial lakes (there are a few of them there).

One of the guys offered me to take a seat at the chair, when he had to stand during the whole ride. VERY VERY hospitable people! (No, pigs did not travel with us, we just met them on the road).

 

But finally I had to leave the car and go up on foot. It was 2.30 pm and still I had almost 4 km up the hill to the beggining of the path. I arrived there about 4.30. 

I was a little bit dissapointed. Ok, it was my fault that I did not have any map, and that I read only a few sentences about this place. There were no maps of the routes, only some road leading in different directions up in the mountains. It wouldn't be a problem just to go up, but the next day I had to be back in Bucharest, and still I had 25 km ahead of me to the nearest road where I could start thinking about hitchhiking back home. 

A whole day spent in a car, and finally no time for hiking in the mountains. Well, I had expected that it may finished like this. 

I started climbing up but after 15 min I gave up and simply took a nap admiring the approaching sunset.

Finally at the saddle point where the paths were to begin. On the road signs it was written something like '25km left - village, 20 km right - village'. Very motivating.

No people, no cars, nothing. Absolutely nothing. A truly pristine landscape. 

And suddenly, on this narrow path up, appeard.... "The four horseman" in a Suzuki Vitara. Out of nowhere. I was completely surprised that it was possible for a car to ride on those rocky paths. The guys were very happy to meet a foreigner in the middle of nothing. They offered me a ride up to the mountains. I got in without hesitation.

What a ride it was! With all the sheeps, cows, horses, donkeys, dogs and birds it was like a safari. In 2 hours we took all the peaks that I planned. 

2000 m a.s.l. there many roads suitable for cars. And it is legal to drive if you want. There are so many mountain chains in Romania that there is enough space for all kinds of tourists.

This Cioban really lives there, with the whole family, children etc. It took us 1h with a car (which they don't have) to get to the nearest village, so I wonder whether these children go to school?

As far as I remember it was my first time in a cabrio :)

And we finished a ride at 9.30pm in a village Horezu, exactly where I wanted to be the following day! They even helped me with finding a place to put a tent, in the garden of some guesthouse. For free, because once again, the owner was very happy to meet a backpacker from Poland.

That was not the first time in Romania when I was so lucky meeting hospitable people. Whatever I do here, it always ends well. It is even getting a little bit dangerous, because we all know that luck kills responsibility.

Saturday was over and Sunday was coming....

To be continued.....

Muntii Bucegi

It's weekend and on weekend hard working people from Bucarest leave the city and go up into the mountains (at least some...) So did I. This time Muntii Bucegi. The morning train (quite comfortable, incomparable to the polish ones) took me and dozens of other hikers to Busteni, a popular touristic village 35km south from Brasov.

Buildings in Busteni

Buildings in Busteni

I didn't have time for a closer look at this elegant and quite prestigious resort, as I had a long way ahead.

The planned route: Busteni - C. Caraiman - Babele - Crucea Eroilor - Omul - Bran. Later I changed Bran for Busteni.

The route started behind the cable car station. First it was 2,5h of a very steep way up. From the beginning there were parts with chains and railings mounted. It was very tiring, but entertaining too. After that 2,5h I got to the first mountain hostel, Cabana Caraiman. From there it took 30 min to get to the upper cable car station on the famous rock formations - "Babele" and "Sfinksul". This area is crowded with hundreds of families, children and grandpas, taking photos with the rocks in the background. All thanks to the cable car. But actually these rocks are nothing in comparison with the panoramas. Pure beauty....

The way up

Cabana Caraiman...

... and the staff there.

 

Views from the upper station of cable car.

"Cioban" on right is talking on the phone. Probably selling stock or buying Swiss franc.

In the mountains there are as many dogs as on the streets of Bucharest.

After a longer break I continue towards Crucea Eroilor, where once again I was rewarded with beautiful views. In this place there is a huge metal cross located at the peak, illuminated during the night, in memory of heroes. The only thing is that I couldn't find out in memory of which heroes and from which side.....

Some tourists there warned me that some football team made a reservation in the mountain hostel at the peak of Omul and there are no places left. Omul was my destination that day, so it forced me to change my plans. Unhappy, I had to go back to Cabana Caraiman and spend a night there.

The following day I set out towards Omul once again (i was already bored going along the same path for the 3rd time) and after 2,5h I got there. Omul turned out to be... little spectacular. Only the hostel, a simple wooden barn, was lovely glued to the giant rock. Or maybe after 24h I just got used to the beauty of Muntii Bucegi and I was not so much impressed anymore?

The hostel at the peak of Omul 2507 m asl.

After a break I went down to Busteni, which took me about 4h, where luckily I caught a car straight to Bucarest. 

At the foot of Muntii Bucegi there are 3 villages: famous Sinaia, Busteni and Azuga. Azuga is also a litlle known Romanian brand of beer. Litlle known but in my opinion one of the best. And it has a heartbreaking label:

That's not the one I saw on the bottle, but at least similar to that. I will update it If i find it one day in the archives...