Day 25, Wednesday, July 15, 2015

I woke up in the morning before everyone else, went outside to the outhouse and to a little washing area coming off a stream to wash my face and brush my teeth. It was so peaceful.

I had heard Romania was beautiful but I didn’t expect anything like this. Suddenly I felt like I came alive again. Felt rejuvenated.

I met a young woman at breakfast from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, who was traveling by herself; went up to her when I heard her talking with a seemingly American accent. When I heard she worked with kids I told her about my book. Maybe she’ll even get it.

Then Oana and I hiked further up another 40 minutes (Garpar didn’t feel like trekking more) up an even steeper trail and got into some gorgeous scenery. We didn’t go further because we still had to hike down for those 40 minutes and then down another 3 hours to the car.

We took a different trail down, which led us through a narrow canyon with towering cliffs on either side. Truly impressive!

After a while I walked on ahead and just relished being in solitude in nature in the mountains. I was so happy they brought me there. But my legs were killing me. I tried to stretch out as much as possible as I waited for the other two at the car, and that saved me some, but I can imagine the stiffness I will encounter over the next two days.

On the drive home we stopped in Brasov, where Oana grew up, to eat and have a look around. The old part of this city in the mountains is really wonderful. Amazing buildings. Plus we walked up what had to be the narrowest street in the world; walking up the middle I spread out my arms and touched the buildings on both sides. Then it was on to Bucharest, where Oana put me in a hotel within a stone’s throw from her house.