So I am back from the big journey to Transylvania.

I had my hiking shoes with me, but I don't think I really planned to go hiking there because of the bears. Nevertheless I did, spontaneously. I think I put my hiking shoes into my suitcase because we had planned to take part in the pilgrimage to the Perkö on August 20.

On August 13 I spontaneously decided to make a trip to the Murerer Lake/Gyilkostó/Lacul Rosu on the next day. I remembered the hike around the lake from my hiking book and figured it would be too touristy for the bears. I had already made research about (theoretical) public transportation to that destination earlier, so I just picked a random taxi number from the internet and rang up the driver and told him that I was going to arrive at Gyergyószentmikós train station on the next day. The ride with the taxi was not cheap, but together with the train tickets it was more or less a normal price for the journey. Buying the train tickets was a difficult birth though, because the lady at the ticket box only spoke Romanian. But I guess I could have bought the ticket online as well. In theory there is a bus to the lake, but there is not enough time until the return ride, so you have to spend at least one night at the hotel at the lake.

The "hike" itself is nice and easy and short, for the most part it's a walk but at the end right before the viewpoint over the lake it gets a bit steep and rocky. There are a lot of tourists but not as many as in Hallstatt. About three quarters of them are Hungarian, Romanian and German (the Germans are everywhere), and the rest from all over the world like Isreal or Dubai (I actually saw a muslim lady there). Most visitors don't go to the classic viewpoints but just stay at the tourist zone, as you have to walk around the lake to get there.

I must say, I really don't regret that I went there, and I think I have to study that hiking book thoroughly in order to find more destinations that are not dangerous in terms of wild animals.

But I think actual hiking is absolutely impossible in Romania, not only because of the bears, but above all because of the dogs. One day I made a trip to Kézdivásárhely from Kézdialmás with the "train". On the way to the train station I had to pass an uninhabited area at the end of the village and two or thee dogs began to bark so loudly, but luckily they did not come close to me. Form the train I saw several wild dogs at the edge of the fields barking at the train. They were really frightening.

All of the photos that I took at the Gyilkostó are quite popular on Pixelfed. This is the least popular one, but it also has more than 80 likes:

On August 20 we actually went up to the Perkö, but with a taxi. At the end of the religious ceremony my mum fainted, fell and hurt her back and hip, but luckily she didn't break any of her bones. She is still in great pain though.

This is the view from the Perkö, it's a smartphone pic:

For the ride from Budapest to Sepsiszentgyörgy we chose the Corona express, which is really terrible. In the shadow there was 37 degrees celsius, and since there is no air condition, you can imagine how it is like inside the train. The windows need to be open because of the heat and therefore it is also very loud. It is not even possible to watch a movie with headphones. I think the couches are at least 50 years old... Nevertheless it is pretty difficult to get a train ticket, and you have to buy it at least one month in advance.

For the way back to Budapest we chose the plane. I think that's really the only recommended way to travel to or from Romania. However, I requested special assistance three days before the flight for my mum, and didn't get any reaction. I filed the request via email, there is a special email address only for that, because the waiting time on the phone was like two hours. The airline was of course Wizzair, as I think it's the only airline that flies between Brasov and Budapest. And there are no direct flights between Brasov and Vienna (yet?).

Just one more thing: the actual purpose of this journey was not travelling for fun, and it wasn't a photography trip either. Of course we visited my father's grave. And there were also several family meetings, that was quite nice.

Sometimes I wonder... the Széḱely people are so conservative and traditional - how could I end up as a Linux expert? Most of my life, I have spent trying to conform to my gender role. I had planned the perfect female life. But it turned out as an epic failure. Most people have the opposite problem.

My next plans are: autumn around Budapest (as mentioned earlier) and hopefully in March, I will travel to Miami, if I have enough money. Well... I guess the months until spring will pass quickly, nevertheless, I miss the ocean so much...