Transylvania
I should just let the pictures do the talking about this province of Romania. It is covered by the Carpathian mountain range which runs for thousands of kilometers and touches eight countries in Eastern Europe.
We are doing a 5 day assisted self guided walking tour with accommodation, food and our luggage transfers organised. So all we do is walk from place to place with maps GPS and tour notes to help us navigate. We were met at Brasov station by a Utracks staff member and driven the 50 minutes to our guest house in the tiny village of Magura. The way in was up a windy forest gravel road. Tractor tracks connect the village to closer sealed roads but these are impassable for regular cars after any rain.
On Day one we did a 2 hr walk to the next village, which involved maybe 300 metres of up and down. This tested my mental reserves as it was my first walk after the bike misadventure. I knew I wasn't going to die anymore but I still suspected that I had two broken bones.
A horse became rather to familiar with us nudging, butting, and even trying to block our path. We must have smelt like carrot, I guess.
On day two Clare fortified me with drugs of various sorts, I added inner soles to my boots, dressed for hiking in shorts and told myself i could do it.
It turns out that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. We both managed the 14 kilometers to Bran Castle which markets itself as the inspiration for Draculas Castle in the book by Bram Stoker.
Its most famous inhabitant was Vlad Tepes, a Romanian Prince who fought against the Ottomans but also fell out with the Hungarians who ruled Transylvania at that time. He was imprisoned at one time in this castle and somehow has been linked to the Dracula legend.
We are doing a 5 day assisted self guided walking tour with accommodation, food and our luggage transfers organised. So all we do is walk from place to place with maps GPS and tour notes to help us navigate. We were met at Brasov station by a Utracks staff member and driven the 50 minutes to our guest house in the tiny village of Magura. The way in was up a windy forest gravel road. Tractor tracks connect the village to closer sealed roads but these are impassable for regular cars after any rain.
On Day one we did a 2 hr walk to the next village, which involved maybe 300 metres of up and down. This tested my mental reserves as it was my first walk after the bike misadventure. I knew I wasn't going to die anymore but I still suspected that I had two broken bones.
A horse became rather to familiar with us nudging, butting, and even trying to block our path. We must have smelt like carrot, I guess.
On day two Clare fortified me with drugs of various sorts, I added inner soles to my boots, dressed for hiking in shorts and told myself i could do it.
It turns out that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. We both managed the 14 kilometers to Bran Castle which markets itself as the inspiration for Draculas Castle in the book by Bram Stoker.
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| Bran Castle |
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| Vlad The Impaler |
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