The Transfăgărășan and Craiova

September 5, 2022 to September 11, 2022

5th

Woke up to cows running past my tent and the farmer standing laughing, was time to get up and leave... I met the same shepard with his wife that I spoke to yesterday and walked with them as he moved his sheep.

Sat around in another field for a while making some plans for the future, I thought the climb wouldn’t take so long so no need to rush. By mid-day I started climbing a gravel track that would link up to the road later on. This took a few hours with some long breaks looking for porchini mushrooms for dinner. I met two loggers and one told me that the path doesn’t carry on anymore and I should turn back. I decided not to listen to his advice and carried on up the steep path in the forest to find out for myself. Was pretty disappointed to find a dead end, there was a footpath and a stream that I could try through the bear infested forest. I scouted out the stream but that lead nowhere and I could just about make it up the steep slippy footpath but this disappeared into thick shrubs with no way though for the bike. although I was only 100m away from the road I headed back down the path in acceptance and reached the bottom by 15:30.

Before I accepted I have to go back down

On the way up on the tarmac this time multiple people shouted "urso!"(bear) out the window. I was pretty scared but I had to keep going as there was no other way. I spoke to some dutch motorbikers in a layby and they told me they were just 2 turns away and warned me about finding other options. I tried hitchhiking for a while but had no luck so rode on feeling nervous but excited. I approached the second corner slowly and could see a mother bear and two cubs! They were pretty occupied with the people feeding them in the car so I casually rode on relieved after my first bear encounter!

It's not just bikes the dogs like to chase

Today is not the day the teddy bears have there picnic

The pass was challenging both mentally and physically and it was getting dark by the time I reached the top but I had made it and felt proud. The original plan to hike up to the top of the mountain didn’t seem as appealing in the dark so I found a quiet spot overlooking the pass and could finally cure my ravenous appetite.

6th

Wanted to get down from the mountain asap as it was freezing being 2000m+ high, it took over an hour to get out of the clouds and into the warmer altitudes. Definitely felt awake after being chased down the hill by 2 angry stray dogs gnashing at my legs.

The road continued down to a 10km long lake where I decided to take the other route though the forest along a dirt track. I soon saw a bear about 20m away in the track, I stopped and shouted, luckily it ran off into the woods. Was a beautiful moment seeing one in its natural habitat rather than on the road. I felt like I had so much added resistance cycling though the dirt and there was a surprising amount of uphill along the lake.

Finally found a decent spot 2 hours later to cook breakfast and replace the tent pole I snapped this morning (thank God I bought those spares ). Was rained on by caterpillars and found loads of porchini mushrooms.

My new pet's teeth didn't survive the gravel track unfortunately

Rejoined back onto the road and immediately saw lots of fat tourists standing next to their cars taking photos, was happy I took the other route. Spotted a 5th bear on the pass waiting for people to feed it, it's a little sad that this is their life and how they're so used to humans. I didn't feel in danger at all, didn't want to get too close though.

I was pleased to meet Eric who was cycling the other way. Originally from Scotland, he is a well traveled man and cycled from Aberdeen to Australia!! We spoke for some time and was then joined by Raz, another bike torturer from Romania. Was exciting to see some more travelers after such a long time (Czechia?).

Felt so stuffed after cooking dinner and still had to cycle out of the town i chased by dogs in the dark to find a fairly hidden spot to sleep by the road.

7th

The amount of food that I ate right before bed didn't sit well with me. I felt sick all morning and was throwing up anything i ate. I spent the day laying in the grass feeling weak and tired. I did watch a movie called Janapar, which was very inspiring, although probably not the best use of my low battery.

By 4 pm I finished my oats and had just enough energy to climb a mild hill where i passed Tobias from Germany. He was on a similar route to me but heading north just to complete the transfagarasan, hopefully we can meet up at some point as he wants to travel to the pamir highway also!

Bought some food at a small shop and spoke to the owner for a while. I cooked soup on the bench outside and relaxed into a standard Wednesday evening in this small town as families came and went.

8-9th

Felt better the next day but not perfect and the 65km ride felt like a big effort. Cooked up very greasy mici for breakfast that the shop owner last instead I take which made me very sluggish. It's so evident when you're cycling the effect the quality of the fuel makes. Felt sick again later in the day and the amount of sugar I was eating didn’t help.

Not far from Criova I met Cosmin, a local cyclist who escourted me into the city and helped to fend off the dogs.

Met Alex my warm showers host who welcomed me into his flat and showed me around the city. We had some great conversations about life and and shared lots of music together.

Today's ride: 350 km (217 miles)
Total: 7,310 km (4,540 miles)

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