Hi Richard. I've found your channel and have been enjoying this series but was wondering if you remember how you found out about the routes you did. Most searches I do relating to walking in eastern Europe throws up guided tours. All I need is a pointer to what kind of thing you found useful in planning this trip (if you remember!). I'm really enjoying this series so far - it looks amazing. Many thanks for sharing your experience
Benjamin Kettleborough cheers Benjamin! It was mostly a mixture of trawling the internet, asking local guides, looking at cicerone guidebooks and finding paths using digital maps on my phone.
Hi Richard. Thanks for the great movie. We’re going to trek Fagaras ridge from East to the West or the other direction. We plan to do that in 8 days from Turnu Rosu to Zarnesti. Please tell me why did you go from the West to the East? What was the main reason? The Distance and the gain are almost the same. From what I see the hardest part of the trek is around Negoiu. Am I right? I’m 67 and in good shape but I prefer to hike the hardest part and the most dangerous going up not down. As a guy who has done this what advice do you have. Thanks
Hey Kaz, cheers for watching! I can't remember why I chose west to east to be honest... probably because that was what was recommended when I researched the route. But yeah Negoiu is the hardest bit, as it's got some scrambling, so if you'd rather do that section going up, then go west to east. Have a great trip!
I think you described the logging problem very well, how it (unfortunately) comes with development. Thank you for having filmed and edited these awesome videos! I hope to one day go to the Carpathians as well, put first I'm gonna cut my teeth in smaller mountain ranges like the Ardennes/Black Forest!
Seb Brown thanks for the kind words Seb, your plan sounds sensible. I’d love to hike in the Ardennes. And yes, some use of a countries’ resources is necessary to sustain development but by all accounts I’ve heard from residents of Romania, the amount of logging going on there is way beyond what is ethical, and it is actually destroying Romania’s greatest ‘resource’: its irreplaceable wildlife and unique ecosystems. A real tragedy.
when did you do the Fagaras traverse in 2017 ? i did it twice last year 1-8 of july and 2-9 of september - both time we had interesting weather :D hail the size of golf balls - and on the second trip we had a hurricane...
@@RichardHartfield no ... we were on the ridge in the beginning after Turnu Rosi - so we took our tents down (they collapsed/broke) sat behind a huge bolder (we were 6 - i work as a guide) for 6 hours until dawn came and wind died down a bit - and walked down back and took a ride around to where the road crosses the fagaras - so we missed that part - quite interesting ...
Correction to your remark: "I guess now the country is developing now the first thing they are going to do is to exploit any natural ressource they got in abundance". Actually, Romania is exploiting the woods without mercy since a very long time. The first industrial scale lodging was started when the soviets were importing wood from Romania through the SOVROMs (joint venture company between USSR and Romania) but Romania was getting like the lower part of the deal, exactly like it's happening today with the Austrians as they are the major beneficiary of the wood exploitation.
Mind giving a quick comparison between the Pyrenees and the Balkans, the good and the bad? At least cheaper I´d guess? How about steepness, distances between populated areas, trail markings etc...? And I have to say, that glacier looked super scary, glad you made it across :)
Hey. It's difficult to compare directly really. There are so many mountains in the Balkans and Eastern Europe that I never got to visit on this trip, so I can only relate to what I personally walked. The Pyrenees certainly felt much bigger than anywhere I went on this summer's trip, in terms of the overall size of the mountain range. But that's not surprising really when you look at it on the map. This year, I rarely encountered any terrain as technical as on the HRP, the main exceptions being the section of the Fagaras around Negoiu, the ascent of Maja Jezerce in the Albanian Alps, and the ascent of Kom Kucki in Montenegro. The waymarking was generally much more frequent on most of this years' trip than on the HRP. The HRP often had very little, apart from when it coincided with the GR10 or GR11. Because the ranges I hiked this year were smaller than the Pyrenees, it was easier to get down to a town or village more frequently on this trip. And yes that 'glacier' was terrifying! Massive crevasses everywhere! haha!
Nice, thanks for answering! Proper mountains anyway, looks amazing! Still planning my own HRP for next year and looking for a shorter 1-2 week prep trip, these definitely go on the list of possible routes. Will you be uploading the rest of your trip?
Esperando en las 3 partes si te ligaste una guajirita rumana ,........ y te fuiste en blanco. Waiting in the 3 parts if you seduce a Romanian girl, ........ and you went blank.
![Hiking The Bulgarian E4 - The Rila Mountains [Balkans Ep4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tZQkgbH-WG4/mqdefault.jpg)
![Hiking The Bulgarian E4 - The Rila Mountains [Balkans Ep4]](/img/tr.png)
![Hiking the Romanian Carpathians - The Retezat and Tulisa Mountains [Balkans Ep1]](/img/n.gif)
I went on these mountains for a hiking in July 2015 and I found this country so amazing that I didn't take my plane back. I stayed 3 years...
I can understand why- Romania is a beautiful country and the people are lovely!
I am so glad you had a good time in my home country ! I went for a short trip to the Parang mountains about 7 years ago and enjoyed it tremendously !
Such amazing mountains, loving it.
Thanks for watching. Romania is a beautiful country.
wow.....this is brilliant. i have always wanted to hike Romania. this is beautiful. awesome
Great video! Amazing places!
Thank you
Thanks for the kind words, and for watching :)
really enjoyed watching . thank you
Matthew Casey thanks for watching!
Nice video! Welcome to Romania.
I run this year, trail marathon 46k in Fagaras Mountains 😀 Awesome mountains. 🏔️ Awesome vlogging there.
Wow that’s gonna be an amazing run! Best of luck to you! And thanks for watching :)
the video and all is just amazing
Hi Richard. I've found your channel and have been enjoying this series but was wondering if you remember how you found out about the routes you did. Most searches I do relating to walking in eastern Europe throws up guided tours. All I need is a pointer to what kind of thing you found useful in planning this trip (if you remember!). I'm really enjoying this series so far - it looks amazing.
Many thanks for sharing your experience
Benjamin Kettleborough cheers Benjamin! It was mostly a mixture of trawling the internet, asking local guides, looking at cicerone guidebooks and finding paths using digital maps on my phone.
@@RichardHartfield thanks Richard. Keep up the good work
Enjoyed it, hugs from Romania
Emkill thanks for watching!
the " opening" music is hungarian btw... hungarian lyrics singed by a gipsy to be accurate
Hi Richard. Thanks for the great movie. We’re going to trek Fagaras ridge from East to the West or the other direction. We plan to do that in 8 days from Turnu Rosu to Zarnesti. Please tell me why did you go from the West to the East? What was the main reason? The Distance and the gain are almost the same. From what I see the hardest part of the trek is around Negoiu. Am I right?
I’m 67 and in good shape but I prefer to hike the hardest part and the most dangerous going up not down. As a guy who has done this what advice do you have.
Thanks
Hey Kaz, cheers for watching! I can't remember why I chose west to east to be honest... probably because that was what was recommended when I researched the route. But yeah Negoiu is the hardest bit, as it's got some scrambling, so if you'd rather do that section going up, then go west to east. Have a great trip!
Thanks Richard, I really appreciate your quick answer.
I think you described the logging problem very well, how it (unfortunately) comes with development. Thank you for having filmed and edited these awesome videos! I hope to one day go to the Carpathians as well, put first I'm gonna cut my teeth in smaller mountain ranges like the Ardennes/Black Forest!
Seb Brown thanks for the kind words Seb, your plan sounds sensible. I’d love to hike in the Ardennes. And yes, some use of a countries’ resources is necessary to sustain development but by all accounts I’ve heard from residents of Romania, the amount of logging going on there is way beyond what is ethical, and it is actually destroying Romania’s greatest ‘resource’: its irreplaceable wildlife and unique ecosystems. A real tragedy.
Completely agree - I just hope that the government or the people's sense of responsibilities/duties kicks in and can stop it in time
when did you do the Fagaras traverse in 2017 ? i did it twice last year 1-8 of july and 2-9 of september - both time we had interesting weather :D hail the size of golf balls - and on the second trip we had a hurricane...
Kaare Meldgaard Hahaa! That does sound like interesting conditions! I did it late July/August time. Where did you escape from the hurricane? A refuge?
@@RichardHartfield no ... we were on the ridge in the beginning after Turnu Rosi - so we took our tents down (they collapsed/broke) sat behind a huge bolder (we were 6 - i work as a guide) for 6 hours until dawn came and wind died down a bit - and walked down back and took a ride around to where the road crosses the fagaras - so we missed that part - quite interesting ...
Correction to your remark: "I guess now the country is developing now the first thing they are going to do is to exploit any natural ressource they got in abundance".
Actually, Romania is exploiting the woods without mercy since a very long time. The first industrial scale lodging was started when the soviets were importing wood from Romania through the SOVROMs (joint venture company between USSR and Romania) but Romania was getting like the lower part of the deal, exactly like it's happening today with the Austrians as they are the major beneficiary of the wood exploitation.
Great treks, really enjoyed the views and vibes!
Cheers!
Mind giving a quick comparison between the Pyrenees and the Balkans, the good and the bad? At least cheaper I´d guess? How about steepness, distances between populated areas, trail markings etc...? And I have to say, that glacier looked super scary, glad you made it across :)
Hey. It's difficult to compare directly really. There are so many mountains in the Balkans and Eastern Europe that I never got to visit on this trip, so I can only relate to what I personally walked.
The Pyrenees certainly felt much bigger than anywhere I went on this summer's trip, in terms of the overall size of the mountain range. But that's not surprising really when you look at it on the map.
This year, I rarely encountered any terrain as technical as on the HRP, the main exceptions being the section of the Fagaras around Negoiu, the ascent of Maja Jezerce in the Albanian Alps, and the ascent of Kom Kucki in Montenegro.
The waymarking was generally much more frequent on most of this years' trip than on the HRP. The HRP often had very little, apart from when it coincided with the GR10 or GR11.
Because the ranges I hiked this year were smaller than the Pyrenees, it was easier to get down to a town or village more frequently on this trip.
And yes that 'glacier' was terrifying! Massive crevasses everywhere! haha!
Nice, thanks for answering! Proper mountains anyway, looks amazing! Still planning my own HRP for next year and looking for a shorter 1-2 week prep trip, these definitely go on the list of possible routes. Will you be uploading the rest of your trip?
Sounds like a good plan! Glad I could help. And yes I'm currently editing the footage from the Bulagria-Greece section!
Wow....such amazing inclines
Great video!
Thank you very much for watching! :)
Esperando en las 3 partes si te ligaste una guajirita rumana ,........ y te fuiste en blanco.
Waiting in the 3 parts if you seduce a Romanian girl, ........ and you went blank.
Sorry to disappoint you Julio, I think I smelt too bad after all that hiking to seduce anyone 😆