Alone on foot across Romania 👣 🇷🇴 A Walk Across Europe 7
Vložit
- čas přidán 3. 08. 2024
- Leaving Satu Mare I was genuinely nervous about what lay ahead in Romania, anxious about the fierce Carpathian sheepdogs and bears... finding out my first hotel had a reputation for murder certainly wasn't going to help either...
I tackled my worries head on by walking across Romania on roads and mountain trails. Episode VII documents what happened along the way.
LINKS TO BOOKS/MAPS I USED:
[Amazon Affiliate links - if you purchase via these links I get a small commission at no extra cost to you]
Guidebook I used: amzn.to/3pTwEEg
Updated guidebook (I've not used): amzn.to/3oQDUzr
Bucegi Mountains Map: amzn.to/3pNT8GQ
DiMap sheets 16, 20, 11.
Scene Select:
00:00 Titles
01:13 Route Map
01:33 Satu Mare
05:48 Maramures - Brasov
09:12 Brasov
16:16 Zarnesti Bear Sanctuary
19:09 Bucegi Mountains
24:00 Targoviste
28:28 Bucharest
29:32 Roads to Bulgarian Border
-----
In 2018 I walked 2,567 miles across Europe from Vienna in Austria to Cape Greco on Cyprus. Playlist containing the full 10-part series: • A Walk Across Europe (...
Wow - I really loved the footage of the Bucegi mountains. Looking forward to the next part of your journey.
It's really a beautiful part of the world. Thanks for watching
I'm starting my walk from Limoges (France) to Santiago de compostella this march. And I just wanted to say that your videos are a huge inspiration and a great joy to watch. keep it going Ashley :)
Thank you very much and good luck on your camino :)
Hello mate this episode was great.... the history, stories, buildings, police hospitality and them wild mountains and forest were so incredible to see and hear about!!!! A place i feel many would not venture.... massive respect on your journey so far mate!!! Nice one Ashley, looking forward to the next one!!! Cheers
Cheers Jodz :)
views of Brasov and the music is beautiful
I watched this half an hour almost like documentary and it felt like only 5 minutes past. Amazing to see my country from this kind of perspective. Congratulations!
Just to clarify a few things though, as unfortunetely Romania gets a lot of bad rep for things that are true, but also for things that aren't:
1. Roads in Romania are probably the most dangerous roads that you can find in the EU. You get heavy traffic on small roads due to the lack of true third millennium infrastructure. I can imagine how walking on the side of this kind of roads could feel (nightmare probably). Things are changing slowly as motorways (and some railways) are under construction all over the country. Small roads should clear up in time.
2. Romania ranks as one of the safest EU countries when it comes to crime rates or murder rates. But one thing any Romanian knows is that you should avoid Gypsy villages by all means. I can tell you that we all feel ashamed when tourists need to learn this the hard way. It's extremely hard to integrate Roma people into the normal way of living, they simply refuse. However, the government and private organizations are continuously making efforts for this.
3. All bear attacks in Romania happen when bears come into remote farms to eat small animals. Farmers fight back to protect their animals, bears fight back because they are bears. Sometimes this doesn't end good for either of them. Wolf attacks on humans are non-existent, at least I've never heard of anything like that. Indeed, shepherd dogs are crazy, but from my own experience hiking remote mountain routes where you encounter big flocks, if you have some food on you, the dogs are gonna stop barking and foaming at their mouths the moment you throw some bread at them.
4. Romanians are extremely hospitable with tourists. 9/10 times more friendly then they are beetween themselves, which is kinda odd. Someone might find their straightforwardness a little bit rude (or raw) but trust me, their intentions are always good and they are extremely happy and genuinely interested into speaking with you.
Just to sum-up everything, this place will not be boring, and even it might annoy you sometimes (we are working at getting rid of our corrupt politicians), at the end of the journey you will end up loving it.
Thanks very much for watching Alex
Do you have some advice on how to avoid gypsies and how to recognize their villages? I've heard so many bad experiences people have with them that specially as a tourist I don't want to end up stranded in another country because I got robbed. So any advice helps
And btw, what's so strange about the horses? There are also in the United States, in their agricultural area. It's not our fault the EU has abandoned small agriculture and there is no good and tasty food in West.
I'm sorry I don't understand this comment, when did I say anything about the horses being strange?
@@AshleyGDean Hey Ashley. It's about the way you said about "poor" people that are still using the horses for the short trips and working with them in the fields. Actually, many "poor" people are richer than some people from the cities. County side has land, farms, animals and a healthy lifestyle, cars (even the luxurious ones), tractors, trucks etc. . In the cities we have polluted air, corrupted politicians and a lot of concrete. I can tell that you can't understand some parts of our culture because of the "modern" lifestyle in the UK. In our country, the county side it's been respected all the time, because of the fair and honest work and lifestyle. Visit more of your country county side, UK people from there they still have the pure spirit of the nature in their souls. Relax your soul in your own UK county. There are your roots. Thank you for the documentary. Try to make romanian friends. We are usually open heart, soul, mind and spirit. You will understand many good things only when you are living in the country for a while. With respect
Just amazing!
Thanks Valentin!
Love following the journey Ashley. Romania is one of my favourite countries too! I get a real sense of proper wild when I’m there.
I’d love to see a video on breakdown of costs of the entire trip a video on gear used, weight of your pack etc
Also how you plan the trip don’t think there is any one guide on e4 as I understand the Romanian e4 isn’t well marked
Hope to walk it myself one day
Looking forward to the next episode
John
Hi John, thanks for watching!
I'll make a video on gear and one on my route once I've finished the series... though I didn't walk the E4 in Romania, I took my own route through the Carpathians instead, but I'll cover that in the future video on the route. Take care, Ashley
also a nice Video from you,i like the mixed hiking,cultural and history mix
Thanks very much, just trying to mix things up a bit... Europe has a lot of interesting history as well as nice scenery to explore
You walked in Romania more than me. I left Romania 20 years ago.
Good job, now I am jealous.
It's a beautiful country! Thanks for watching!
spijkerpoes sent me here and I'm glad he did! Brilliant adventurous channel watching this now but will start from the beginning of the adventure later! :-)
Thanks very much for checking them out 👍🙂
wonderful man! I have always wanted to hike that ridge in Romania after Clear Water Rising. Your excellent and soulful videos are not getting the attention they deserve. Go on a self-publicity binge imo. Well done on your achievements! wow
Thanks Paul. Funnily enough I was sorely tempted to ditch Bulgaria to go hike the Fagaras Ridge as I loved Romania so much, but settled to go back one day for a couple of weeks. Would like to do the Piatra Craiului ridge as well, which you can see in a couple of shots when I'm climbing up into the Bucegi. Thanks for watching
I might come and join you! :-)
This area is called Transylvania
Hi, I am considering doing a hike through Romania very similar to the one you took, I was wondering if I could get some advice from you regarding trails, packing list, etc? Thanks!
Search Via Transilvanica ...
Wow amazing adventure ! The only documentation you need is ur passport right ? Pre brexit anyway . And what litre pack do you use ? thanks
Thanks very much... Yep all you need at the moment is a UK/EU passport, freedom of movement applies. I used a 70L Osprey Aether backpack as I was carrying full camping gear :) Thanks for watching
Ashley G. Dean ahhh nice thanks , stay safe out there !
it is a verry nice movie from the european long distance path E8 the part from the E8 in Dutch and west Germany i will use in the next Time
Da hier offensichtlich auch viele Deutsche unterwechs sind: Das sind sehr schöne Impressionen vom Europäischen Fernwanderweg E8 in Rumänien, auch wenn ich zunächst mit den Wegen E8, E9 und E11 in Deutschland und Holland beschäftigt bin.
if sheep dogs are this vicious, maybe one should be carryonf bear maze forprotection. sorry for the dogs, but if they are trained to kill then better have bear maze as protection.
Still, WHY THIS TITLE if Romania has become your favourite country? And where did you ever hear about murders in Romania? Or our nomad minority killing in West?
The title refers to two specific scenes in the video. An early scene where I discovered my hotel had been the scene of two murders, and a later scene where I am followed down the road by a large group of Romani Gypsies asking for money.
The videos I made in this series have titles which reflect "dramatic" scenes in the video. It's admittedly a form of mild clickbait, as here on CZcams you only have a thumbnail and title to make an impression (that doesn’t make it right, but unfortunately the numbers show that this approach works).
However, yours is the second comment I've received regarding the title. I can see that my choice of title is too negative on your country and people. It's not my wish to insult anyone from Romania so I apologise to you and I'll look today at how I can change it. I appreciate the feedback, and hope you can understand my reasoning for the title and that it does point to specific scenes in the video, and my experiences in your country. I should point out though that my overall impression of Romania is very positive (as you say, it’s one of my favourite countries), and that really is what the video (and the overall story) is about.
@@AshleyGDean Poor guy! Tell me, you say the word "awfull" , after you look in the mirror?
@@AliceRo1 This is video about Romania is good, please! Just the title not...
@@AliceRo1 d'aia si plecat de acasă ,in "drumețiile "astea ca să nu mai fie nevoit să se uite în oglindă .
He ashley ... what music is that stay wild ???
www.jamendo.com/track/1410714/stay-wild
Romania more safe then America and UK.
Haha, you went to a gipsy town :) It is like with the dog, show no fear and ask for money yourself.
The video titlu is weird!!..Murders??.. Gypsies?/ we`re romanians!!! wtf!!
Ugly title
Hi Ashley,
I am sorry to be the first to inform you that most of your history about Romania is completely wrong. First thing you said is watch out for bears and then dogs. Let me tell you the reality. The bears come down form the mountain for one reason (food) why? Because people are kind to feed them and enjoy there presence. About the dogs you can hardly see any dogs and they are very friendly because they only want food. Next you talked about the roads the only road you been was through the mountains. Most of your journey was through mountains and forest. Then you said we miss treat the bears NOT TRUE. As you received a comment in regards to this subject I will skip this one. Most of you feedback and OPINIONS about Romania was negative. Let me educate you for a minute. Some people are afraid of what they don’t understand and they choose to think negative things about what they do know when they encounter something different. Romania is one of the most interesting country in the world for our customs. I have been living in UK for 7 years and I have nothing negative to say about the country. Why? First because I chose to think positive and just for you to know for future travels every country is different not bad just different. On the you’ve tried to recover by saying they Romania is amazing and know is one of your favourite places. Two different options?! What I don’t understand is you traveled 500 miles of dangerous bears, dog, people killed, bad roads, missed informed on history and then you’ve changed your opinion and Romania have become one of you favourite country!!!!!! Mate please.....
Hi Ashley, awesome videos!!! I have added links to some of your videos to my website walkacrossacountry.com if you don't mind. Very inspiring, definitely want to go here! cheers, Mark
Hi Mark. Great idea for a website, thanks for adding my videos! Cheers, Ashley
I watched your Bulgaria&Greece videos and was impressed with how nicely you documented the journey.
I was appalled when I watched this video, sadly it’s very offensive to us, Romanian people. I have never seen such a negative “travel” vlog about Romania in my life.
Clearly you were in a very fragile state of mind when you visited this country and that is what you transmit in this video. You are the first one who speaks negatively about Maramureş, Romania’s one of best kept traditional areas. It’s shocking that you’ve read an article about a murder and you act as if murder and violence is something you haven’t heard of in the UK. Mind you, I felt less safe in the UK with all the drunk people and homeless drug addicts on the street than I ever felt in Romania. Still, I appreciate and love the UK despite it’s high crime rate.
One can also tell you didn’t research enough before you got here and all you fear of bears comes across. FYI, bears avoid human as much as they can, but you need to be mindful it is YOU who goes into their territory, and not the other way around. Just make them acknowledge your presence, always have a whistle, sing etc. They usually stay away from people, unless it’s a mama bear that protects her cubs and you’re a threat to them.
You barely documented anything on so many hundreds of miles.
Come back in a better state of mind and access all the mountaineering Facebook groups that can give you proper information on how and where to go.
Surely you haven’t heard of the red line trail that transverses the entire Romanian Carpathian ridge.
Next time come in through Timisoara, then hike through the Retezat Mountains, Parang Mountains, Fagaras Mountains, Piatra Craiului Mountains, visit Sibiu, Sighisoara etc.
Romania is an amazing country and the people are very friendly and hospitable, such a shame you pictured us as Gypsies and murderers.
Nu mai fiti atat de sensibil.
Those bears were saved by circus or accidents: they stay in "sanctuary" till they'll be healthy to go in the wildless.. I'm not surprised- you love to say bad things about my country: crimes?!! awful things... but curiously, everyone here is so kind with you....
Yes there are some bears in the sanctuary that are brought in for medical assistance and then released once healed. However many were saved from mistreatment and now live in the sanctuary. This was the focus of the tour and video presentation as well as the small cage a bear was formally imprisoned inside, which the tour guide led us past on entry to the sanctuary.
I’m sorry that you feel I’ve been too negative on Romania, this isn’t my intention when making the video. This video and it’s story is a true representation of my experiences on the road, both the good and the bad, but I’ll take your comments on board for the future as feedback.
Hike till you can because brexit is approaching