Day 2

Roșia Montană - we'll start at the end, even if our day started 75 kilometers (~45 miles) away, because it's hard to ignore the beauty surrounding our campsite. Thanks to the help of the Eastern Orthodox pastor, we can sit on the hills of the "Golden Town", looking at the church towers and the mountains hiding gold deep within.

But back to the beginning: we might have arrived here in beautiful sunshine, but back at the beginning of the day it didn't seem like we could get away untouched by rain. We were awoken by the wind trying to topple our blue canvas tent, and hints of rain. The morning weather looked so disheartening, that we almost gave up cooking our throw-it-all-in omelette. Fortunately Boti decided that it would be a shame miss out on it, and breakfast got made through a team effort. We dried our tents after eating in the half-hour pause of rain, and set out with lightning speed to leave the valley behind, since the rain clouds were approaching at break-neck speeds. 75 kilometers (~45 miles), a lot of climbing and even more descents were still ahead of us. We advanced at such speed that we outraced the bad weather and by noon we already were resting on the plateau above the village of Horea.

An intermezzo is in order here, for we had witnessed a first-time even in the history of our expeditions. Surely some of you remember those legendary times when Sanyi Szathmáry, our former head cyclist recruited cows into our party. Well this time we tamed a horse - Antika, while waiting for the last team to arrive at the top of the climbs, had become such good friends with a horse that it loyally and without any objections let anyone ride on its back. Zsolt took the opportunity to ride down the hill on it, switching from the horsepower of the panel van to the horsepower of this beautiful creature. We even made a group picture in which it gladly posed with us. 

Having grown tired of horseback riding, we got on our two-wheelers and descended into the Arieș Valley. 20 kilometers (~12 miles) of mountain roads are, needles to say, the dream of every biker. A short ice-cream break at the "La Mama Tanța" restaurant - we thank them for allowing us to use their space - and we were already going forward to Câmpeni, where we would get our mobile kitchen ready to throw together a lunch of pate, cheese and tomatoes. Then followed the final section, 15 kilometers (~ 9 miles) of cycling, out of which 7 (~4 miles) were the Roșia Montană climb. A paved road leads to the heart of the once-flourishing mining town, which unfortunately wasn't rebuilt for purposes of tourism, but for the possible use of a certain corporation for extraction purposes - fortunately it still isn't a reality, and though the fight isn't over, for the moment it seems unlikely that cyanide-based extraction will begin anytime soon. Our friend Tică was already waiting for us in the town center - he's a twenty-something lad, who moved to Roșia Montană to fight for the survival of the settlement, by, among others, founding a Boy Scout organization. He showed us our camping site and we hope he will visit us for dinner.

While writing this post, we are staying busy around the campfire on the property of Eastern Orthodox Church. A BIG thanks goes to the pastor and Mr. Sorin for making all of this possible. Meanwhile the gulyás is cooking nicely, and we invited the volunteers of the "Adopt a house" project for dinner too. There will be one important thing left to do after dinner: our cook, Boti Fehér is going home tomorrow at dawn, because by Wednesday he already has to be in the United Kingdom. Don't tell him, but this evening we will be giving him a gift, an expedition flag signed by everyone. A few days before the expedition it looked like he couldn't be able to join us at all, but he came anyways, if for only two days, to help build the team and, naturally, to coordinate our cooking efforts. We will miss him, but even this assistance, to be in tune with our surroundings, is worth its weight in gold.

Unfortunately tomorrow we will have to leave this stunningly beautiful place too, but hopefully Tekirdag's shores will be worth the loss. Thank you for yesterday's comments and please enjoy the pictures. 

Balázs: Today was great too.

Antika: Istanbul, ooh, Istanbul. (t.n.: song lyrics)…

Tulkos: By the time I got there we ran out of water, so I wish you a stinky good night.

Gergő: The biscuits made quite an impression.

Attila: Todays most important part, the Roșia Montană climb, was a very tough one.

Farkas:  Though we aren't that far away, we already went over many mountains. I feel great. P.S. Take care of Angel!

Szabi: That past two days may have been hard, nonetheless I haven't rode in the car. Though that day will come. Greetings to my loved ones!

Cs. Robi: I'm fine, everything went OK, but on the Roșia Montană climb I had to get on the trailer.

Z. Orsi: Today was great as well, but cherry on top was the evening shower. Kisses to everyone! By the way, our tent is fragile.

Kevin: My throat was a little sore in the morning, but I biked through the day nonetheless.

Zsófi: {t.n. untranslatable first sentence). My message to Melinda is that she should take herbs and spices too, maybe that will make the taste better. I'm fine otherwise.

Lilla: We're fine and happy. I can't wait to get on the bike.

J. Orsi: I often think of you, and I'm happy when I get your messages from time to time. I'm fine. Keep reading the blog! A flood of hugs to you!