Piatra Craiului and Bran

Romanian train service hadn't disappointed us again, and we arrived to Brasov on time, heading straight to the Autogara 2 - and from there to Zarnesti by bus. This logistic procedure was performed successfully (I was pleased again with the availability and reliability of public transport in Romania) and in the late morning we arrived to Zarnesti to start our hike in Piatra Craiului mountains. It was a sunny and warm day and we had no idea what was expecting us on our way up to the Cabana Curmatura. Soon after we gained some height - we entered a very snowy canyon with almost vertical walls. It seems that the heavy snowfall that was here just a few days ago accumulated in that crack. At first the snow was just about thirty centimetres deep, but soon at each step we had to carve our way up in a almost meter deep layer of soft snow. Pretty soon one of my walking poles got broken and I had crawl my way uphill.

Good thing we met on our a way a pair of huge and fluffy dogs that apparently came to assist us . The dogs not only helped us to carve the way, but also cheered us and made the climb much more fun.

Our saviours at the top of the ascent

Finally, after many hours of crawling we arrived to the top, and were rewarded by a great view from the mountain-top to the valley below. We thanked we dogs by giving them salami and smoked meat that we had, and headed to the cabana which was nearby.

Unfortunately, when we approached the hut, a huge St. Bernard - resident of the hut chased out friend dogs away. Besides a dog and a cat, the were two hosts in the cabana which offered us a not only hot wine, dinner and a breakfast, but also a place to sleep and dry shoes after our little journey.

A resident of the hut

Another resident of the hut

The next day - we enjoyed a much easier hike from the hut to the town of Bran. It was actually more like a walk, from snowy forest and mountains of the ridge, via villages, hills and forests to the town. Although I am sure that these place are mostly visited in summer, I liked them as they were, partly covered in snow but already pretty warm.

Village of Magura

The town of Bran is mostly popular because of the Bran Castle, residence of Vlad Tepes - I think the only serious tourist trap in the area. We celebrated our arrival to Bran with wine home cooked dinner and stayed for the night in the town. In the morning, our host had a special occasion for two reasons. The first one - it was Easter morning and we got special treats for breakfast, and the second one was that her cow went into labour and was giving birth to twin baby-calves. We thanked out hostess and wished her and all of her livestock all the best and walked to the Castle.

Bran Castle

Castle from the inside

Easter eggs

Kürtőskalács - a local treat

The Castle was preserved pretty well and you can find a lot of interesting old stuff inside. Also you can see some animals in the forests nearby. Since it was a holiday (or it the usual thing in this area) there was some kind of fair with food, drinks and souvenirs.
We planned to take a bus to Brasov but since it was Orthodox Easter - the bus service was off. That wasn't such a problem since the train service was still working and we walked to a nearby town named Rasnov for a train to Brasov. But that's already another story.