A Day on the Via Transilvanica

There is a trail that runs 1400 kilometres through Romania. From the northern border with Ukraine to the southern border with Serbia and Bulgaria.

The Via Transilvanica is a recent project designed to tie communities together and to highlight the various cultures that have been historically present here. It is meant to be “the road that unites.”

It’s a trail for hiking, cycling and horseback riding. Painted markings and signs mark the route, and individually carved andesite bollards have been placed every single kilometre, possibly making this the longest art gallery in the world.

We’ve been roughly following the southern section of the trail but in places it’s just too difficult with a loaded bicycle so we find routes around the steepest, roughest bits.

We spent a day this past week on a section of the trail taking us through forests and fields from one small village to another.

It’s practically void of any traffic and the scenery is at times spectacular.

In Pui we stopped for a break when a sign for langosi enticed us to do so. Langosi is a deep fried slab of dough that’s served with a choice of toppings: fruit, sour cream, cheese or Nutella.

The two ladies in the roadside stand were duly impressed by our cycling endeavour and happy to explain our options. The langosis were made in a flash, along with cappuccinos topped with whipped cream.

With this deep fried calorie bomb on board we continued on a small road into the hills toward Serel.

Soon, the asphalt ran out and we were on gravel. The scenery opening up as we came out of the forest or crested a hill.

We had lunch on a bridge over a clear-running creek in a nameless hamlet in the shade of large trees.

As we climbed out of the hamlet, a rough section of road with deep ruts from farm machinery forced us off the bikes to push up a steeper section that just was not rideable but before long, we were out in the open with sweeping views in all directions.

This day just kept getting better…

…and better…

…and better.

The heat was formidable and we looked for shady spots to take breaks. Even the smallest town will have some kind of mini market or a place to buy a cold drink.

We continued in a westward direction with the end goal of the day being a campground we found on the map in the hamlet of Râu de Mori.

Near the end of our journey that day, the trail angled at an impossible angle over a hill so we chose to do a 6-kilometre-long detour. It was mostly downhill on a small, paved road and definitely faster than it would have been to push our bikes over that hill.

We bought some cold drinks and groceries at the two small stores in Râu de Mori before heading to the Balta Roşie campground, a kilometre south of town.

We found a beautiful campground built with love and pride by a local family. We called the posted number and Paula, the daughter of the owners, arrived a few minutes later. She showed us the rustic but very functional facilities, including a flush toilet, shower and kitchen, fully stocked with all the equipment needed to cook a meal. And she presented us with a jar of homemade blueberry jam. Could this be any better?

A thunderstorm rolled through in the evening but we were under cover in the kitchen making dinner. It was the perfect end to a perfect day, or as our friend Pierrot would have said: “Best day of my life.”