biketripmaramel

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12th of September to 18th of September The first 3 days in Sibiu we were occupied cleaning all our travel stuff as best as possible. Of course we also discovered the city. It was indeed beautiful and most buildings looked freshly renovated. Also the typical "eyes" which looked down onto the pedestrians from the rooftops were quite funny. Once seen, it was hard to not feel observed. Especially did we like the walk along the 3rd wall of the city: There were no cars and not too many people, so we could let Norok walk freely. He still didn't like the leash - with it we mostly had to wait forever until he decided to continue walking. Without it he followed us without problem. We learned also more about what's needed to cross borders with a dog. We read that to Canada it was only possible to cross the border as the rightful owner. We were very unsure if that was still possible. Right now it was not our name registered on the chip. So Mara wrote plenty of e-mails until a woman could help her. In the end it was only important what's written in the European passport not on the chip. So as long as there is one namenof us inside we shouldn't have any problem. Also should we make sure that we get the stamp at the Swiss border as proof that we officially imported Norok to Switzerland.  One day we visited the Cruzea te pe dealul gustereti. For that we had to walk through the whole city. Since we took Norok with us it took us over 4h one way eventhough we carried him at least half of the way. So we ate lunch in the restaurant Prima one our way to the cross instead on our way back. It had decent food for a very good price. As we reached the cross we were a bit disappointed about it - it was an ugly steel construction. However the view over the city and the mountains was worth the walk.  Another day we went to the sub arini park - we met another couchsurfer for a walk. He brought the dog of his host. It was perfect that Norok could socialize a bit. In the evening we met him again and 4 other guys for a drink. In the end we ended up in their hostel. The common area was awesome for chilling and chatting. And definitely cheaper as a bar.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CjdrQstsVK4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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141st day (9th of September)  In the morning we wanted to say hi and also thank you to the family which treated us so nicely. Unfortunately the German speaking couple left earlier back home to Austria. Their Parents however were offering us food so many times that we felt like not having a choice as accepting it. Hence we had a second breakfast with Cheese, sausage, fried eggs, tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, bread and coffee. Since the parents didn't speak any English or German they called their other daughter who was working in Salisbury, UK. She then translated for us and also chatted a bit with us. Around 10 am we started biking. Our way led through Santamaria-Orlea, Subcetate and Streisangeorgiu / Orasul where we had for lunch a pizza each. It was take-away so we ate in a very cute park just in the center.  The next bigger city we passed was Orăștie. Mostly we were biking through the countryside and had fortunately almost no traffic. We biked until we reached the Camping Aurel Vlaicu because we were assuming to be in the bear area now. The camping was quite fancy - it had a covered common area, clean bathrooms, nice grass and even a swimming pool was there. Most of the people were German speaking. An Austrian couple also adopted a dog, but from Greece. It was as shy as Norok and very gentle in contact. Two other guys lented us some chairs so we could sit next to the tent and watch the moon.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CjXpIsoMyU3/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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140th day (8th of September)  The next day welcomed us with a beautiful morning. We biked up to the highest point: the TransSemenic. A marvelous view over the hilly area far in front of us made it worth. Then we had probably the longest going down of our complete bike trip. It got steadily down for the next 40km. The steeper part however was in probably to worst shape we have ever seen in Romania (still better than in some places of Poland though). There were some parts of the street which completely broke down. Mara told herself that she won't go for a car ride in the mountains /hills with bad weather conditions since the roads don't seem to be too stable there.  As we reached Slatina-Timis we had our break in a beautiful park with covered areas. Norok also had a lot of fun playing in the gras, barking at the creek next to the park and observing the children who left the school next to us and went home for lunch break.  The continuous road was in better shape. In no time we reached Caransebes. It surprised us with quite a nice center. A lady with a Shibu crossed our way. We thought perfect opportunity to socialize Norok - he didn't agreed with us though: he got scared and hid between Maras legs eventhough the Shibu didn't do anything except trying to sniff him… we continued until we reached Bautar. We were a bit afraid that we had already entered the bear area. So we decided to set up the tent in a green, kinda hidden area in the middle of the town close to the creek. After we ate dinner and stored food and kitchen stuff  50 m away from our tent, a lady saw us. She started to ask us something. As she heard that we spoke German she went for someone to translate. We both were worried that they are probably the owner of the field and they were angry that we just set up the tent there. We were completely wrong: They were just curious. They were offering us food, coffee and a warm shower. Since it was already late we kindly declined everything. They told us to come for at least a coffee in the morning and explained to us how to get to their house. Before they left they also assured us that in Bautar there are no bears. So we also had a calmer rest.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CjR70P-M2Hw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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139th day (7th of September)  On the 7th we continued our way. First we met one more time with Marius at the vet clinic because the system didn't work the day before and the registration couldn't be completed. After that we cycled up towards Secu. On our first stop before Secu we saw that Norok was actually already lying in a crooked position in his transportation box. We realized that we won't be able to continue collecting stamps and that Norok will probably only fit in the Box for a few more days. Instead of biking to Secu we went straight through Cuptoare and managed to get to Wolfsberg / Garana. The whole way pleased us again very much. We biked 44 km and 1500 m up. So basically more than we did for crossing the Transfăgărășan. Nevertheless it didn't feel as exhausting, probably because it was also going straight and down from time to time.  In Wolfsberg the community hall, where they would have had the stamp, was already closed. We went to a free camping spot just at the exit of the city. We were surprised how nice it was: for once no garbage, the grass was mowed, there was a creek next to the spot and only two other couples were there. We set up the tent in the last sunlight. As we were occupied, Norok was attracted by the sound of the creek - and managed to fall into it. He swam to one elevated place and then didn't move further because he was afraid. Mel had to fish him out. Luckily there was still some sun to help him dry faster because at night it got freezing cold. https://www.instagram.com/p/CjR6HJysuav/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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137th & 138th Day (5th & 6th of September)  On the 5th of September Norok had to get his 2nd vaccine against Parvovirus. We went to the Vetlink clinic which Marius recommended. We got the Vaccine within 30 minutes and for once there was a Vet who spoke English fluently. He explained to us that he can only implant a Microchip if there is a Romanian person for the registration. We both heard that the first time and realized that we now have a problem. Without Microchip no border crossing is possible. Mara asked Marius for help and he agreed to help us and register his personal Information for the chip. So he basically became Noroks legal dad😄. Norok didn't like the big needle for the Microchip (understandable with the huge diameter). Unfortunately he had to get sting even twice, because first the chip fell out. Afterwards we celebrated in a bar with Marius. We stayed one more day so we could get everything done. Mel wanted to go for some hikes: we climbed up the stairs to get to the viewpoint of Resita. The other day we walked to the highest hill next to the City. That way was going through an oak forest and pleased us a lot. https://www.instagram.com/p/CjDAxC9sS2Q/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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135th & 136th day (3rd and 4th of September)  The weather and also Norok were better, so we continued our trip. Only 6 km after we left, Mara got a flat tire. As we changed the front wheel, the host of our Hotel in Anina passed us twice - he was a Taxidriver too. In Carasova we made a stop for a short hike along the river. It was beautiful and there were 2 small caves to check out. We then continued to Iabalcea. There was a camping so we set up our tent there. The camp had plenty of fruit trees, a nice sitting area and also a BBQ place. Additionally there was a wonderful view onto the village from a view point close to it. As the owner arrived it was already getting dark. We were surprised how many languages they spoke: German, Croatian, English and Romanian. Before they left, we got another stamp in our bocklet. In the night it got quite cold and also in the morning we were enjoying our hot coffee mostly because of the warmth. For reaching Resita it was only 20 km left. We used the opportunity of the cool morning to hike to a ruin close to Iabalcea. It was a wonderful hike with a wonderful view onto Carasova. We arrived around 1pm in Resita. Our Warmshowers host Marius offered to host us. We could stay in a house he bought a few months ago. It was still in the process of being renovated but had everything we needed. The garden was perfect for Norok. While Marius was busy for the afternoon, we used the opportunity to shower and have a nap (since we got Norok we haven't slept a night through because of Norok waking us up). At 7pm Marius picked us up with his children who were very keen on getting to know Norok. Afterwards we went for a drink and food to the center and had a nice time with Marius Family and we got a super cute drawing from the oldest daughter Elsa ☺️ https://www.instagram.com/p/CjC-Z8tsbpK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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132nd day (31st of August)  The next morning the weather was better. We left the cabana Pescarului JIM to Mehadica. There we took a mountain road which connected us back to the 57B. It was a very nice passage and definitely better than the busy main road. Around 2pm we arrived in Prigor and went to the Pensiunea Prigorel for getting another stamp. For 110 Leí we got a small hut. We rented it for one night, so we also could leave our luggage there and went to Putna to check out the Monastery. It had a golden roof and was already visible from far. The Monastery had a ton of detailed paintings inside, hence was very impressive. On our way back we walked a part so Norok also would be tired for the night. As we passed an old shepherd he was saying something to us in Romanian. We didn't understand so we just smiled. As he grabbed Norok we thought maybe he wanted to show him the cows because Norok looks like a young romanian shepherd. He grabbed Norok quite cruelly so Norok cried out loud. As Norok wanted to run back to us the shepherd stood in his way and blocked with his stick all escape attempts of Norok. Then Mara realized that the shepherd wanted to keep Norok. She immediately went to Norok and picked him up in her arms. Afterwards she got angry at herself, because she didn't intervene earlier as he grabbed Norok in such a cruel way.  In the night there was another thunderstorm so we were happy having a solid roof over our heads.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CieiORzIlYO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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131st day (30th of August)  Today we continued our trip. After preparing some coffee for Costi and Camelia (basically the only thing we could offer😅) we went to Baile Herculane. On the way we stop for checking out the Haiducilor cave. It was nice but also quite dirty. As Costi told us: Baile Herculane must have been once a very fancy a beautiful city. Nowadays however the buildings and luxury hotels of the city are slowly falling into pieces. Eventhough we thought that's a shame it also had something mysterious. We then continued towards the next city on the Viatransylvanica: Crusovat. As we arrived there we saw that the store which would have had the stamp was closed. We used the opportunity to have a rest next to the church. Not long after, two women asked us something in Romanian. As we told her we only speak English or German she immediately organized somebody who was speaking German too. A family with two kids came. The mother translated our story to the Romanian women and asked all the questions. They were fascinated by our tour. And again we were amazed of the hospitality from Romanian people: they filled up our water bottles, brought us an ice cream and cake and then some snacks for our further way. The kids of course where very into Norok. After petting him a while the boy wanted to feed him and went somewhere to organize dog food. Unfortunately when he came back Norok had fell asleep deeply. So the Son gave us the food on the way. Because some heavy dark clouds came closer and closer we both started to get nervous and wanted to continue. The daughter Amelie had Instagram, so we exchanged contact before we headed off. We didn't even bike 500 m as we suddenly saw some thunderclouds from the front too. Mel remembered that the next city had actually a hotel which had even the Viatransylvanica stamp. We managed to get to Cuptoare and checked in a very luxury but small hotel. It was with 200 leí almost the double as we usually spend and calculate for hotels. But thanks to all the hospitality in the last days we saved some money and could afford it and were still in our planned budget.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CiegzShI2p4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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130th day (29th of August) In the morning we hiked up to the Cascada Cociului. It was a steep but wonderful hike. Norok was at first a bit afraid of the height. As we arrived at the waterfall he forgot about it fast: the sound of the water excited him. Since the waterfall was more of a rivulet, we let him play with it. There was a thunderstorm broadcasted around noon so we only stayed a short time. Just as we came back to the tent we heard the first close thunder. We just had time to make something to eat quickly and then hid in the tent for about 1.5h until it was completely over. Norok got very scared and hid himself in a corner of the tent. Since our lunch hadn't been that filing we got some more food from a stand close to the camping: Churros for Mara and Micis for Mel. In the afternoon a couple arrived: Costi and Camelia. They both spoke English so within a short time we were talking with each other. While Mel was going for a swim Mara enjoyed their company. They also showed her two water wells: one was sadly not drinkable anymore but the other one had wonderful fresh and cold water. Norok went with us of course. On the way back he got hot. Camelia put a cold bottle under his belly while carrying him and he immediately got quiet and enjoyed the walk again. In the evening they invited us for dinner with delicious eggplant salad, home-grown tomatoes, zakuska and grilled meat. We didn't have anything with us to contribute so Mel got a round of beer. Costi also brought a white wine (solo quinta) with him which was just exquisite. We had a wonderful time with each other and talked until late. https://www.instagram.com/p/CiVVOXPorNI/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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128th day (27th of August)  After having breakfast we cycled to Ponoarele. As much as we know, it's the only natural stone bridge which is strong enough for cars driving over it. Except for some short ups we could mostly bike down until we reached the bridge. It was indeed impressive. Only that there was an asphalt road over the stone arch took the magic a bit away. Next to it was a huge cave. Norok loved it - probably because it was comfortably cold there. We spent quite some time walking around and playing with Norok. He now starts to get a bit suspicious towards strangers - when he sees them first he wiggles his tail, but when they start to pet him too strongly he runs back to us for hiding.  In Baia de arama we bought our groceries and then we biked to the next Viatransylvanica stop: Onarasi-Closani. As we arrived a woman next to the street greeted us. While we were discussing what to do next she asked if we needed help. As we asked if she probably knew of a camping place close by, she said that they have some free rooms. Because it was going up steep for about 4 km they offered to bring the bags up with the car so we can afterwards pick up the bikes. We gladly accepted the offer. At their place Cosmina, Claudius and his parents invited us to a traditional dinner: wood-oven baked corn cake, bean-pork soup, onion salad - everything so delicious 🤤 and the talk very pleasant.  After having our bellies filled, we went back down. There was still some time before sunset so we walked again one part back of the Viatransylvanica. On our way a man stopped his car: he thought we stole his dog. After he saw Norok from closer he saw it wasn't his and had a short talk with us. In the evening we could watch the stars in the sky like hardly ever before - there were no other houses close, hence no light pollution.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CiN1yS8IxvH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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127th day (26th of August)  Today we headed to Isverna. Now that we were in the hilly area it was just wonderful to bike even uphill. In our first break we found out that Norok actually likes tomato, cucumber and blackberries - the dog food instead he didn't want to eat at the same moment. We arrived in Isverna around 2pm. Since there was no camping we checked into an hotel. We wanted to get the stamp for our Viatransylvanica bocklet. Sadly the community hall nor the hotel which both should have had a stamp were open. A thunderstorm was moving towards us. So we also canceled our planned hike to the mountains. Nevertheless we enjoyed the afternoon relaxing under the roof of the Gardenhouse of the hotel. Also Norok was quite happy because now we had time to play with him.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CiLHsXAogHN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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124th - 126th day (23rd - 25th of August)  The next day it was raining the entire morning. Additionally we seemed to have been eating something bad again. Stomach pain and Diarrhea were bothering us. Additionally we realized that we couldn't get the vaccination for Norok in time if we continued the route. So we decided to stay in the mobile home until Friday. Mara slept until 2pm while Mel went for a hike to a cave. Im the afternoon we walked a short part of the Viatransylvanica. We enjoyed the view onto the hilly, foresty area. The following day we wanted to visit a grote close by. It was only 3 km away from the mobile home so we walked. We took in the end the wrong hiking trail and landed on the top of a smart hill instead of a cave. Nevertheless it was marvelous! The 25th of August was the day for Noroks first vaccine. We biked down to Drobeta with a huge to do list - the 60 km and 1100 m of inclination should be worth cycling.  We split us into two teams: Norok and Mara first went together to the Vet. Afterwards we went to the Petstore Animax. There we bought a cage for the back rack of Mara's bike. The security guy first didn't let Mara in - "dogs not allowed" . After assuring that Norok won't get out of the front bag, he let Mara pass, kindly asked her to try hiding the puppy. Otherwise he suddenly gets problems. Mel instead went to the Post. Sadly they only accept international parcels on another day. So he had to bike back up the 700 m with everything. Then Mel went for groceries. After that we met and were ready to climb the mountains again. Norok didn't like his new cage. He cried and cried and cried. We made stops every 10 minutes to calm him and let him out but every time he was back he complained again. At one point we decided to just ignore him, otherwise we would never arrive back to Ciresu. Suddenly he got quiet and seemed to accept his new transport box. Just as it got too hot he started crying again. As Mara cooled down his Belly with water and blew some air on it, he immediately relaxed and a few seconds later fell asleep. https://www.instagram.com/p/CiHqLcxIWGm/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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121st - 122nd day (20th - 21st of August)  The camping had everything we needed (except drinking water). So we decided to stay 3 nights. On the next day we decided to visit the Decebal Face. The road to there was quite nice: slight ups and downs, curved and view onto the danube. The Face was worth seeing and looked very well cared for (we thought it's already ancient, later we found out that its only about 20 years old). Close to it was a small church with amazing paintings inside. We had a stop there and immediately people where coming to us for petting Norok. At one point it got exhausting: as a woman - without asking - just picked up Norok and turned around to show him her Friends, Mara definitely had enough. Instead of making a scene Mara could still control herself and told the woman with a smile that it would be appreciated if she had ask first.  There were also all the faces of the kings Romania had - for seeing those we had to climb down some stairs.  The next day we didn't do much except a short hike with Norok. Well, we walked while Norok was mostly sleeping in our arms.  Mara's phone got connected with the Serbian net, which she didn't notice. She got a text that she reached CHF 50 of data and when passing the limit of CHF 100 her plan will get blocked until the next month. She of course checked immediately in her yallo app but couldn't see anything yet. Within 5 minutes she got a second Text that she now surpassed the limit. That was very unfortunate since we were not prepared for that and there was no Wi-Fi. https://www.instagram.com/p/CiCVyDCoyuo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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120th day (19th of August)  Today we started early to reach Dobreta in the morning before it gets too hot. In a Pet-Pharmacy we first bought a tick and flea prevention for Norok. They also weighted him - he gained 300 g in 3 days and was now 1200 g. We were happy to hear that. We then slowly walked towards the center by the way the students recommended us. After passing the water tower we had our first break. With Norok we now got even more attention. A lot of people stopped by and asked us about our trip and him. One woman passed us and then came back to give us 20 Lei. We first didn't want to accept it but she insisted and pointed towards Norok. She couldn't speak English. Probably she assumed that we got him from the street here and wanted to show her approval and support us somehow? Or maybe she just thought we looked too savage for taking care of him 😂 We first stopped by the Cetatea Medievala a Severinului and then visited the Museum. Norok slept the whole visit in the bag. Afterwards we played with him in the museum garden under a tree. We got hungry and decided to try out a recommendation and went to the Agape. We had to wait too long, so Mel stood up and got a waiter himself - and for that it really takes a lot. But the food and the wine was good afterwards. We couldn't finish all, so we got the leftovers as take away.  We continued around 5 pm. It was still hot but now at least supportable. The road to Orsova was along the danube. The view was marvelous but the road was horrible: it was not that wide and there were a lot of trucks. Every other 100 m were bridges. Instead of the sideline there was an elevated sidewalk. So we had no other possibility than biking on the street - if there were cars on both sides they couldn't pass us anymore. And due to the curves sometimes semis had to break down quite hard for not rolling over us. From Orsova to Esinita it got way better - but we had to bike up for 3 km with a 8 % inclination before we could bike down to the camping Cazanele Dunarii.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CiA7B1xIR_2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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119th Day (18th of August)  We spent 2 nights there because the next day was just too hot to continue. For cooling down we went to the creek right next to the Taverna. There we met some students from the next bigger city. They were a few years younger than us amd enjoyed their vacation with some drinks. After they noticed we didn't speak any rumanian they started to speak with us in English. Afterwards they invited us to join them for one or two drinks. They even had country wine. We both liked it quite a lot - it was more sour than normal wine. If it had been iced, it would have been just perfect. We had a marvelous time while Norok enjoyed sleeping in the high grass in the shadows. Until he smelled the BBQ meat- then he got quite active and Mara got busy keeping him away from it.  The man of the camping recommended us to do the Viatransylvanica. We could collect stamps in every city on the route. The round is meant for walking, horse riding and biking. However not all parts are bikeble, especially not with such a heavy load as we had. Nevertheless we liked the idea, since we had much more time in Rumanía now. In the evening we enjoyed some Spaghetti with a bottle of red wine. The owner of the camping cooled it down for us - we thought in the fridge, but as we got the bottle back we found out it was the deep freezer. The wine was frozen. Since it was so hot it melted fast and we actually could enjoy it with dinner. Afterwards Mara had the pleasure of getting a bee sting - everybody had quite a good time when she jumped around holding her pinky while swearing in swiss german. https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch-px9qoH9u/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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118th day (17th of August)  We left Târgu Jui. We didn't really know where we should head to now. We knew that camping in the wild is not a good idea anymore because of Norok. Too many foxes, shakals and wild dogs are strolling around. So we preferred to look for a camping spot. We definitely wanted to see the stone face of decebal. But that was too far for us - especially with the Puppy. In Baloteşti we saw that the Taverna Gradetului also offered camping. It was 89 km, so still a long way for Norok. But he managed it great. Especially in the beginning he was complaining about being in the front bag for so long - We couldn't blame him because it got quite hot. So we were thinking of how to make it a bit more comfy- Mara had a silk scarf she hadn't used yet. It was perfect for making a wet cover of the front bag. So it was offering a cooler shadow and yet still let air pass through to Norok. Nevertheless we had to take more and longer breaks. If the break was too short Norok didn't peed or pooped and continued to turn around in the bag, because he had a full belly bothering him. So we just had to stop again until he had enough time.  We could follow the street 67. It was comfy to bike but nothing special. As we left this main road the area got more hilly again and since we were already quite late the hills glowed in the evening sun and it was marvelous to bike through.  As we arrived we first thought the camping was closed. Just as we wanted to turn back we saw a man and he let us in. They had 4 dogs which made us feel unsure about how to deal with the situation. We showed them the puppy and they assured us that all of them got all recommended vaccines and don't leave the areal either way. So we estimated the risk of Norok getting sick not to be relevant. Especially the biggest of them - Arthur - was very keen on getting to know Norok better. As he gently pushed and sniffed on Norok, his best Buddy got jealous and started to bark. Norok usually enjoyed the contact with the other dogs. Just when they all came at once he got scared and started to scream for help.  https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch6u-ByovD1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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116th - 117th day (15th - 16th of August)  We started around 8 am. It didn't rain but it cooled down quite a bit in the night. Some mystical fog slightly covered the lower parts of the hills and slowly raised into the sky as we ate our breakfast.  Maybe 30 minutes after our start just before Milostea Mara suddenly saw something small white / black moving next to the street. She immediately screamed "a baby, a baby". Mel, who didn't see a thing, thought now she went completely nuts. Mara stopped and walked back to the small fur ball. With a towel she picked it up and saw that she was right - it was a very young, week, malnourished and partly wet Puppy. She started crying thinking of how cruel somebody has to be just to leave such a cute puppy by itself, basically knowing it will die at such a young age. We made a stop at the next possible spot for discussing what to do - well, basically Mara continued crying and telling Mel that we must take this Puppy to the next Vet to take care of it. Mel had no chance to say no. We biked until Târgu Jiu where the Blue Vet was open. They told us for vaccinating the Puppy in this state its to risky. First it has to gain strength and be free from worms. We booked then for two nights a Hotel room which aloud Pets. First we wanted to give it away but with every hour we felt more in love with the puppy. So in the end we decided to keep it and call it Norok (noroc is rumanian for Luck or Cheers).  We of course discovered Târgu Jiu as well. The downtown is very nice and has wonderful parks with plenty of sculptures / statues. One of them was the Arc of Kisses where we had to take a picture of it. Norok accompanied us in the front bag of Mara's bike to all of those places. Mostly he fell asleep after a few minutes, which was quite comfy for us. So we didn't have to worry that he would fall out of the bag all the time.  https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch6gomaonqt/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=