Similar in fashion to the Monastery field trip we recently made with local students from Targoviste, our group was again invited by a different school to participate in a hike at the base of the Carpathian Mountains. The day started at 7:40am, as several volunteers met at one of our regular bakeries; used as a landmark and to load up on our daily sugar/carbohydrate fix. From there we made our way to the part of town in which the participating school is located. After introductions to the students and a bit of socializing among volunteers we loaded up the tour bus and left Targoviste around 8:30am.
A few short stops, a couple small towns, several treacherous switchbacks and about two hours later we were at the head of the trail. As we unloaded the bus and loaded our packs for the journey we were introduced to Marius, a history professor from the school. Through translation, Marius relayed, in a quick huddle to the forty of us a brief description of what lay ahead. “We are glad to have you all here. This will be a moderately difficult hike, about three hours in and three hours back out. We will stop at the Cabana Bolboci for a one-hour lunch break. Gata?” It became clear after the first kilometer that the Romanian definition of “moderate” was more like the American definition of “difficult.” Add to the variant definition of difficulty, a vastly underestimated distance and we were left with a much more “adventurous” trip than any of us had originally bargained for, let alone those members of our group that are 60+. The “three hours in” quickly became five as we made several lengthy stops to allow all members of the group to reconnect*.
Despite the failed expectations in complexity, the trip was absolutely nothing short of incredible, hands down the most interesting and beautiful hike I have ever been on. The scenery was quite similar to what you might expect from the middle stretch of the Appalachian Trail, in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, yet parts were reminiscent of Yellow Stone National Park with giant flat bare rock formations towering over us in the distance. The trail followed an active stream the whole way with several seemingly rickety though well maintained bridges. The streambeds themselves consisted of giant bright white boulders, similar in color to limestone but presumably more resistant as they have clearly experienced years of rushing water. Several waterfalls dotted our journey, large ones in the stream itself and smaller ones coming down from the mountainside that fed the larger body of running water. Following Marius’ example, and ignoring our resident Peace Corps Doctor’s advice, we drank from the fresh water, which was impeccably crisp and refreshing.
Along the route we encountered a handful of dwellings whose owners were actively tending to their gardens, various other chores or grilling for an afternoon barbeque. Throughout the day we came across locals that were simply stretching their Saturday afternoon, leisurely enjoying each other’s company along side bottles of wine, beer and undoubtedly the local Romanian home brew, tuica. At our midway point, we meandered around the bottom of the Locul Bolboci dam to our lunch destination, Cabana Bolboci. The ski chalet inspired Inn featured rooms for nightly rent, a descent menu, good staff and squat toilets. Never has a beer tasted so good as the Ursus I enjoyed on their log deck overlooking the lake, mountains and free grazing pet cow.
Once our guide arranged a ride back for those not interested in making the return trek on foot, the rest of us headed out. Though no easier than the trip in we made vastly better time as our smaller group quickly pushed forward in an effort to avoid hiking in the dark; we only paused for about ten minutes halfway back. As we emerged from the woods, we found that our bus wasn’t at the predetermined rendezvous point. A quick phone call to members of the group that had been ridden down revealed that the bus driver wasn’t interest in traversing the extra distance to pick us up, so we regrouped and trekked the extra four kilometers to meet up with our colleagues. After the two-hour bus ride back to the school and a twenty-minute walk across town, I returned to my Gazda’s bloc around 10 pm to a well-deserved shower and piping hot Ciorba de Pui; perfect end to the best day I’ve had in Romania.
Though I expect to be quite sore tomorrow I seem to be doing fine on this Sunday afternoon. All the donuts and other sweets my Gazda has fed me today in addition to the regularly sized meals I’ve received will likely all but cancelled out the calories I burned yesterday. So it goes in Romania.
This week is more of the same: practicum at a local high school, continuing language classes (though my group has a new instructor), and a one-on-one interview with a site coordinator. No plans thus far for next weekend, so I hope to use that time as a consolidated review as I complete the fifth week and midpoint of my Peace Corps Pre-service training.
*I will say that I was pleasantly surprised with my own performance on this hike as I was able to maintain pace with the group-leader the whole way in. As an additional aside, a smaller group of us dislodged from the herd and managed a return trip in only two hours. This later experiment made identifying future hiking buddies rather easy.
“Best day yet” translates into “Cea mai buna zi de pana acum”
All the best!
i’m glad you hiked! It’s one of the best things to do in Romania and I’m glad you went to Bucegi Mountains, they’re the most complex mountains in Romania and my favourites. Hope we go on a hike together sometime!
Till then, see you next week :))