For breakfast I cooked an omelette and enjoyed it with tomatoes and cheese, then after packing up, searched out my genial host at the house next door to say goodbye. I found him by the hens and a cage of fluffy, yellow chicks. After shaking hands with him several times, and him giving me incomprehensible advice in Romanian, I went to the shop for a cup of coffee from their machine. The village had more people out and about than those I had visited previously. Most gave me some sort of greeting, from a brief nod or raised hand to the full "buna dimineata" (good morning). Ladies almost all wore headscarfs, the older ones were all in black.
My plan today was to walk up the Nera Gorge. First I walked down a gravel track then a narrow path to see "Lacul Dracului" or Devil's Lake. I was pleased to see that trees that had fallen across the path had been cut to remove any obstruction to my progress. Devil's Lake was a deep pool of unnaturally blue water surrounded by cliffs on three sides.
Unfortunately I had to retrace my steps for several hundred metres, climbing steeply to return to the place where the E3 followed a path up the Nera Gorge. A sign warned that it was a difficult route. Initially the path was reasonably good, fallen trees had been cut away and it was clear where the route went. However the trail became more challenging. It began sloping towards the river and in places had fallen away. Saplings were spreading across the route obstructing my passage and at times it was difficult to see where I was meant to go over fallen, mossy rocks. In places the path was cut into the side of the cliff above the fast flowing water. On one of these sections, a short piece of cable was attached to the cliff to help you over a gap in the path, a few metres below were rocks and the foaming river. I climbed the steep slope after this bit only to find my way blocked by a wall of sapling branches. I could have forced my way through, but I had lost confidence in the integrity of the trail. I did not want a broken leg or similar. Although I had a satellite device to call for help in the likelihood of no phone signal in the gorge, it would be very difficult for help to come and extract me if I had broken bones.
I decided to retrace my steps to a side trail that would take me out of the gorge. Hugely disappointed but given there was a lot of gorge ahead, where the path was in an unknown condition, I thought my decision was the prudent one.
My side route, marked with red triangles, involved a steep climb through trees before eventually surfacing in grassland. It led to the village of Sasca Română, where I managed to buy a Coke and croissant-in-a-bag at an ice cream parlour that was not really open, however the helpful owner was around. After the village I was on the "alternative" route listed for the E3, that avoided the gorge altogether. It was not altogether without a frisson of fun. There was a wobbly suspension bridge where you walked on rather dodgy planking, at least one plank had broken, but the supporting cables looked in good condition. There was a pleasant walk among trees and passing a field which a tractor was ploughing. Storks were pecking at the newly turned over earth with their long yellow beaks. I then joined a continuation of the track that went down the canyon, coming from the northern end, but here the path was in good condition, if a bit high above the river. Maybe it was once the bed of a narrow gauge railway. The track was cut into the side of the cliff and there were a few tunnels.
As I was now in the Cheile Nerei-Beușnița National Park, large signs warned I should camp in designated places. The next one was a lengthy walk up a gravel road beside a river. On the way I briefly visited Văioaga Waterfall, one of many cascades in the area. There was a restaurant beside the camping area which I had assumed would be closed. However I arrived at 6:45 pm and it closed at 7:00 pm, so with the help of a workman who spoke English I soon had a supper of fried fish and mămăligă. I was assured that the fish was very fresh, caught that day from the fish farm a little further upstream. It was coated with a peppery spice. Mămăligă is what I had mistaken for polenta before, it is similar and made of yellow maize flower. Service was brisk as the ladies wanted to go home. I set up tent in the campground, which had a couple of chemical toilets and a picnic table under a shelter, basic but at least the ground was flat and I was well fed.
A gpx track of the route I took today can be found at on wikiloc.
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