After breakfast at the guesthouse next door to mine, I began the day climbing the road away from the Danube. This led me to another part of Dubova, with a shop. Thinking perhaps I did not drink enough at breakfast I bought a can of something that said zero percent alcohol and had a picture of a lemon on it. I drank it at the seat outside the shop while eating a bar of chocolate. Opposite a coach stopped and disgorged what I took to be a large walking group, out for a Sunday ramble, like many such groups across Europe. Unlike my club in England however, the participants were much younger. They headed off on a path that led to the edge of the Danube gorge, whereas I was heading deep into Romania's interior.
I was following a trail marked with vertical red and white stripes, one I will stay on for the next few days. Almost all of today was through mixed woodland, all very green in the sunshine, it reminded me of wooded parts of the E3 in Bulgaria. It began by climbing up a steep sided valley with a stream at its base, where I spotted a sizeable waterfall through the trees, other times the track followed a ridge, although with no views owing to the trees. In one area beech trees had grown to a great height, tall but relatively thin, impressive massed together. There was one stretch of high grassland, where blue speedwells lined my path. A few wooden towers suggested the area was preserved for hunting rather than grazing domestic animals. Except for one small, overgrown section, the forest tracks I was on were in good enough condition, regularly used by forestry vehicles and hunters.
I met no-one on the trail, there were no houses or villages, it was truly empty of people until I reached Bigăr. Surprisingly this is a Czech village. In the area I am crossing, called the Banat, there are a number of such villages. Czech families were settled here by the Hapsburg empire in the 19th century to occupy empty land. They worked in forestry and were allocated an area to farm as well. I had tried to get a room in one of the houses as according to the internet accommodation was available with dinner and breakfast. I thought it might be an interesting homestay but attempts by email and phoning them in this village and the next failed (I asked a hotel receptionist to do the telephoning to avoid language difficulties). Places were either reported full or the phone had been disconnected. However, Bigăr does have a basic campsite where I have pitched my tent, making a financial contribution via PayPal as a sign suggested. I had expected to be joined by two others as there were two rucksacks with camping equipment leaning against a bench by the church (which was locked). There was no sign of the backpackers.
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