Monday July the 26th
Total distance driven: 3.565 Km
Today’s distance: 206 Km in 4:47h
Walked distance: 5,6 Km

On Monday, there were just few cars left in the parking and the road was empty!

I pinged Alex on Signal and asked if he was still up for a coffee together. He offered me to stay at his place with his family for lunch. I was thrilled and immediately accepted.

The ride to his place was about 2 hours and I truly enjoyed every meter and every curve, making some exciting encounters!

Decelerate, set the right gear, set sight on the curve exit point, counter-steer, lean, enjoy the adrenaline and open the throttle. Repeat.

Practice makes better and I feel I’m getting pretty good at this. On hairpin curves I learned to play just a bit with the rear break, in case I need to close the trajectory. The luggage is not at all in the way and the Multi makes most of the pavement disconnection disappear, thanks to the electronic suspensions.

When I reached Lake Vidrau, my sat nav proposed to take the road on its right for some enduro.

After about 7 Kms of stones and mud, I passed a camp site and soon after there were roadworks. Two big trucks coming from the opposite direction, could not go around a bend due to a parked car. The way was completely stuck. Behind the trucks two BMW GS were also waiting for the situation to evolve. No chance to overtake, even off-road. A quick assessment and I decided it was going to take longer for them to find a solution than for me to drive back.

Once I was again on the paved road, within 10 Kms I encountered three bears!

Around 12:30pm I arrived at Alex‘s place and met his wonderful family: his wife Diana, their son Constantin and their little daughter, who is just 2 months old.

Diana had prepared many local dishes like „Varza cu Carnati“ and they even had fresh apple juice from their garden. It was so great to stay at their place and eat and talk together. I felt blessed for such kindness and opportunity. Again, the people made the journey special. Thanks Alex and Jana for the hospitality and delicious meal 😃

Alex took also the time to discuss the best route for my next stops and added some local insights and hidden roads. I left with new friends, a hearth full of joy and discovered the real Transylvania.

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In the evening I was in Bran, the town of Dracula’s castle and spent the night in the “Vampir Camping”.

One of the best days of the journey so far.