A few stats: about 33 km, about 762 m elevation gain, about 10:30 hours with breaks. We took the Dorolea stamp from Pensiunea Elis and the Bistrita stamp from Amaretto Caffe.
We hadn’t decided how we wanted to do this, only Dorolea, or Dorolea and Bistrita. We said we’d make the final call at Dorolea.
After waking up and enjoying the cat that was at the place we camped, we started our hike. Once again, people would just wish us a good hike, so nice.
At a spring stop we met 2 more hikers, I don’t remember where they were from. The woman had done the section we were about to do before, and warned us about the possibility of meeting huge shepherd dogs. The shepherd is able to keep the dogs under control, but she wanted us to be ready in case we ran into them. I also knew about this possible encounter from the guide. After a chat, and wishing each other a good hike, we went on.
We met a cute dog at another stop, and then out in a field we met the Italian group again. We did see one sheep herd, a bit further away, and a smaller one closer by. Only one dog came over, and it didn’t bark. We ended up somewhere in the middle of the Italian group, they were a big group, 20-something people.
We got to chat with one of the women, so nice, but in the end everyone went at their own pace.
When we got to Dorolea, we were taking a break in a park, and the mother of a family with 3 kids came over to offer us chocolate biscuits. We’d just eaten a croissant each, so we politely refused, but it was such a heartwarming gesture that it stayed with us.
We decided to continue on to Bistrita, so after even more road walking, we ended up in a forest, such a nice break from the road. When we came out of the forest, we chatted a bit with two women before continuing our hike.
We were now back on asphalt, on the sidewalk, and I was so done with walking on sidewalks, when a kind man driving by stopped his car, rolled down his window, and wished us a good hike. That was the push I needed to finish the last bit. Gestures like that, people taking the time out of what they’re doing to wish you a good journey, are what give you the little pushes you need when you feel so tired and so done with the day.
We finished the day with a burger and french fries, and instead of camping in Bistrita, we stayed at a hotel.
The next morning we took the train back to our home city, and with that, our 10 days on Via Transilvanica ended.