A day in which I had to divert off the E3 due to difficult or non existent paths.
This morning I found a tiny tick on my left ear. I had been rubbing my ear not realising I had an insect attached to me rather than a mere bite. After peering in the bathroom mirror I eventually removed it with the smallest of the bright green "hooks" I have for the purpose. Now I keep wondering if I have any more ticks in places I cannot see. I cannot feel anything, but I am worrying about every itch and tiny black spot I see!
This morning I walked out of Brad to rejoin the E3 on the road to Ribita. Soon I was at the village itself. Near the entrance was another monument to the 1784 rebels and their attacks on the Hungarian Nobles. I diverted to the church as it had been advertised as sight to see, however the door was locked and the outside was no more splendid than other Orthodox churches. There was one advantage to this diversion, it took me passed the local shop where I bought a Coke and chocolate.
Leaving Ribita I was leaving the wide valley in which Brad lay, and entering a smaller side valley. After the village of Uibaresti the valley narrowed and its tree covered slopes closed in. The tarmac road I had been following turned into a muddy track beside a stream.
A little way along I encountered many parked cars, tents and people, some of them sunbathing others wandering about. A sign directed people to the "Womb Dome", a makeshift building that was presumably a meeting place. By the dress some were wearing and the decorations of multicoloured tassles I assumed it was a weekend "New Age" event. A lady said "Buon Giorno" to me and I replied in kind. A man looked at me as if I did not belong, which I felt was true so continued on my way.
The next section followed the stream up a narrow valley and I had noted that the route might be questionable. Finding no sign of a path on either side of the stream, I assumed I would have a few kilometres of walking through the water. It was too deep to keep my books on but I could have changed into my "hotel" shoes to keep my socks and boots dry. Nevertheless, I worried there would be slippery boulders to cross and fallen trees, I did not want to risk slipping and injuring myself. In my planning I had worked out two other routes, one to the east and one to the west. Of the path to the east I could see no sign, however, once under the trees at the side of the valley the track to the west was well defined. I climbed up this trail through the trees to a road which I then followed as it wound uphill, eventually levelling out and then loosing some of the height I had sweated up to gain. At a bend on the downward stretch I joined the E3 at a covered picnic table with benches. By taking the alternative route I had missed out a "natural bridge". As it was close to the point I had now reached I headed back down the E3 to see it. After a steep descent I admired the feature, where the stream had dissolved a hole in a wall of limestone. More of a tunnel than a bridge through this great slab of rock. The stream above the tunnel cascaded over boulders, splashing down in a series of small drops. Sadly, I then had a steep climb back up to the picnic table beside the road. A man and his dog were now sitting there, after a brief greeting he watched me put a plaster on a blister on my heel that was giving me trouble.
At the start of the village of Bulzestii de Sus the E3 took a path across a field then up a hill. After crossing the pathless field I reached a long line of brambles and other impenetrable vegetation at the spot where the path should be. There being no evidence of its existence I followed the road north.
After progressing a few kilometres I was in a quandary. I did not want to leave the road and start on the next section of path, because once I started on it there were no sources of water known to me for the next two days of walking. So I have found a secluded, if sloping, spot in the words to pitch my tent, near the road but not visible from it. Tomorrow I will continue to where there should be a shop and water source, fill up, and so be ready for crossing a range of high mountains.
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