Day Off - Part II

When we left our struggling heroes, they had just found out that they were stuck at the top of a mountain in the middle of Romania with only a few hours until sunset.....

Cell-phones are wonderful inventions. As soon as we found out we were stuck, we started calling around for options. I joked with Bogdon about getting a helicopter up to lift us away and he just laughed. After getting Lavinia and Bubba on the phone, they said that there were only two options: A) Start hiking down the mountain. We should get to the bottom by sunset. B) Check into a hotel that was a short walk from the cable-car and catch the first train back in the morning. We didn't like either options. The first option was the better of the two but some in our party were not regular hikers and were already tired from our trip to the cross. The second option was not so good because we were starting to run low on funds and probably couldn't afford the hotel AND the train ride back (plus meals and the cable-car).

Bogdon said that he thought we could walk toward a hotel that was clear across the mountain-valley and we might be able to find someone with a car to drive us down the mountain. We all agreed that this was a nice option (although we were surprised there was a road out of this location). After making a few calls, Bogdon secured a car to come get us at 8:00 so we started walking toward the hotel. Our perception was that the hike would take us 20 minutes or so but looks were deceiving. Ultimately it took us about 2 hours. Half way across the valley was a deep ravine that was thought would be impossible to cross. However, with teamwork and vague recollections of rope-courses, we helped each other past the obstacle.

After more walking, we finally reached the hotel. Bogdon called the driver and confirmed the pick-up. He said he might be an hour later. We had plenty of time for dinner at the hotel and then we sat in the cold mountain air looking across the valley for the car. As we waited, we talked about movies, food, family, other travel adventures, and generally just got to know each other better. We also wondered if the guy was really going to come get us at all.

Finally, around 9:00, when it was beginning to get dark, we saw the car come around the corner. He was a long way off and we wondered if he was pulling a horse-trailer of some other type hook-up. As he got closer, Mike told us that he could see a tarp on the back of a pick-up truck. We knew then that this would be adventure. As the guy pulled up to the hotel, we started laughing at the fun we were about to have. It was an open-air safari tour truck and was not in great shape. In fact, when he hoped out to wipe down the seats, the clutch slipped and we about lost the truck down the hill.

Jumping in the back, we started off down one of the bumpiest roads of our lives. We laughed and joked as we bumped and bounced. We waved at shepherd as they watched their flocks. We giggled at seeing the Safari cows. We hooted every time we hit a big bump or looked out the back, straight down a steep cliff. We howled as were thrown from our seats and helped each other back up. It was likely one of the most fun rides of my life and we enjoyed every minute of it.

But the fun and learning wasn't over. We arrived at the train station at 10:15 to find that the last scheduled train was at 9:40. Only God could get us back to Bucharest this evening. We went to the ticket counter expecting to be told that there was nothing to be done. The agent told us that the 9:40 train had been delayed because it hit a bear along the route and would be there at 11:00 if we wanted to take it. We couldn't believe it. God had done it for us.

When the train pulled up, it overshot the platform and so we had to RUN, RUN, RUN to get on the right car. Trains don't wait around too long to get passengers. After more laughs and shared moments, we settled into our seats to sleep on the ride back home.

It was an awesome day with events that we couldn't possibly have foreseen or planned. However, we would not have traded it for any other day-off adventure.