Travel log Greece. Day 2. To Alba Iuia, Hațeg, Băile Herculane, Orșova and Pojate

This day seems good. I woke up early and I started hitchhiking at 7. This gives me plenty of time and make me feel confident I can get to Sibiu today.

I go to the great spot I saw on Hitchwiki and I start the job. Not more than 15 minutes later an old man takes me in. His name is Marian and he is going straight to Alba Iulia. He is heading to Reșița. He seems pretty worried about a friend who’s in Cluj at the oncology institute.

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In Alba Iulia I am left at the end of the city towards Sebeș, right under the bridge. I walk a little further down the road to find a new place to hitchhike. A dog in a truck park starts barking and running towards me, but I keep walking my way and he quits.

Halk a kilometer after a bridge, there is a roadblock and cars barely advance. I walk on the sideway and I car horns me, telling me he can take me to Sebeș from here. I hop on and thus I meet Radu. He convinces me to change my plot from Bulgaria to Serbia (Alin and Radu, who hosted me the day before, contributed to this decision too) and he tells me about a nice serbian place to eat at pass the border.

He is a great story teller, jez. Once you hop on somebody’s car you don’t expect to hear tales and myths about places you pass through by car. Witches, mountains, cursed villages, mountain inhabitants that were never Christianized and that live completely isolated, superstitions and not only the tales, but he even told me the logical explanation of those events, which is great. Ticera, Bulzestii de Sus, Peter Pan from Rusca Montana and more.

Besides stories, Radu gives me exact indications to arrive in Thessaloniki, tips about Serbia, he tries to buy me food and, amazingly, finds me my next ride: a friend of his from off-road contests Calin (and I hope I remembered his name correctly). I didn’t even have to try to hitchhike in Alba Iulia, nor in Hațeg and I already head to Caransebeș.

Initially, Radu was thinking it would be better to head to Reșița, then to Oravița and then cross the border, but Calin thinks the car traffic would be bigger from Caransebeș. So I take the input and I reconfigure my journey.

In Caransebeș I stop in the city center and I have a nutritious lunch: nuts mix and dried fruits. Tasty enough for me. The fruits are sweet and they give me the dopamine I need to continue. Next stop is the south end of the city, where I will try to hitchhike.

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Almost three hours pass and I am still here, in the proximity of Caransebeș. I walk, I hitchhike, I stop at the gas station to hide from the sun and I walk again. I start to analyse the land around me, to check places for camping in case I don’t find any ride in the next 3-4h.

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In Buchin I stop at a bus stop, to hide once more from the sun, to rehydrate and to have another snack. I still have plenty of water: 0.75 l which can last me the day.

After a 15 minutes break in the village, under the roof of the bus stop, I take my backpack on the road and I start hitchhiking again. I find a little bit of shade under a road sign and I hike from there. In 20 or 30 minutes, Ciprian takes me from Buchin and takes me to Băile Herculane. He is the first monk with whom I can talk like with a friend. No exaggerated politeness, no sinner guilt on my side, nor any fear to ask anything besides church and God. Cool.

Ciprian makes me a surprise and takes me in a guided tour of the city. I must say it is amazing. Here are some pics.

After this short break, I must say goodbye to Ciprian and try to hitchhike towards Orșova, 20 and something km away. The time is in my favor so there is no rush. But Ciprian makes me another surprise and takes me in front of the border. This day is amazing. Now I can only focus on crossing the border.

I ask the officer if I can cross by foot, but he says I must take a car to cross.

For you to understand, I have never talked with people with their cars stopped (toll stations, semaphores, blockages nor border cross). I do not have the courage to knock at their windows, while they wait in the queue, and ask them if they can take me across Danube. So I stand here, on the sidewalk doing nothing for quarter hour. I randomly ask a truck driver if he can take me the other side, though I don’t get any answer from him. He just walks away and pays bills and taxes at a window. I am a bit embarrassed after I asked him.I will try again to talk with the officers and see what other options I have. But this guy, the truck driver, makes me a sign to come to his truck. He says he knows little English, but he will take me to Serbia. His car plates are Serbian and he is called Dorin.

After a short cargo check at the border we head South, towards Pojate, close to Purcin and 100km North Nis.

Dorin likes dogs and he trains them. Not only that, but he competes on an international scale dog contests. He also owns a few trucks and he has a crew of drivers, but he decided to take this cargo himself.

He has a daughter studying Computer Science in Novi Sad. He wants the best for her and he wishes her to leave Serbia for a better living in U.S. He is disappointed of the way Serbia evolved and he lost the hope for a better living in the country. I ask him why Serbia hasn’t adhere to E.U. and he thinks politicians are the cause.

Then we talk about Tito and Ceaușescu and their friendship. Dorin tells me he traveled to Germany and Netherlands when he was young, during communism.

We have driven for a long time. In the meantime I felt asleep for an hour or two. Dorin has to take a half hour break then we can start drive again. But surprise, I just got a free ice cream from him in a Gas Station. Good treatment during a hot day of August.

In Pojate I arrive late and I am pretty tired. I spend some time to inspect the fields around the highway and I decide to camp close to the road. I don’t pitch my tent for the night and I put my base behind the bushes. I am in a stealthy, quiet place and now I am going to rest. Tomorrow I must start hiking at the turkish truck rest area nearby.

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