Waterways and Cathedrals.

Today we went to Alba Iulia. Here I will meet Veronika and together we will travel through Romania by car for 10 days. Veronika has been collecting donations for Romanian orphanages for decades and has also been visiting them from time to time.

It was an amazing day with partly challenging routes through the mountains.

My first "shortcut" was a disaster. It was a very narrow mountain road that was supposed to lead me back to my main route on an unpaved road. At the beginning of the gravel path, the way was not clear, it split into three directions. I was supposed to go right, extremely steep and loose gravel. Luckily, there was a shepherd on the side of the road. He gestured with his hands and feet that this was still the good section. Further up, only forestry machines would be able to pass. No chance with the motorcycle. It was better to turn around, which I did.

On the other hand, the next "shortcut" was great. Challenging sections with lots of mud and deep puddles. But it was fun. The highlight was a river ride or using a waterway. The path led about 500 meters through a river with slippery stones that were a little more than ankle-deep before it returned to a paved road.

Berta and I also managed that very well.

There wasn't much else to shortcut. Almost only heavily worn forestry roads on both sides. I would have dared to do it together, but alone there is always a certain risk of not being able to get the motorcycle back on track if you throw it away. Or even turning around on narrow and muddy paths can be a challenge, especially since Berta was fully loaded again.

So we continued with more or less rain on nice curvy mountain roads to Alba Iulia.

Once I arrived there, Maria welcomed me. She works for Caritas here, and we stayed at the Caritas guesthouse for the next two days.

Alba Iulia has a lot to offer. A very well-restored fortress, a great Orthodox cathedral with gardens and facilities. And a beautiful fountain that will surely bring a lot of fun to the children in summer.

It's worth making a stop here for travelers.

Tomorrow we will continue. Where to? I don't know yet, Veronika has planned the next 10 days.