Getting deep inside the soul of the traveller reveals unspoken impressions and feelings almost impossible to tell in words. Amidst the high tempo of the day-to-day life, engulfed by the hectic pace of the society, who doesn't cherrish the moments of peace and serenity spent in a remote corner of nature or among the best friends ? It's hard to rank these feelings, they are equally important to you, but one thing is sure: that you'd like them to repeat over and over again and never end.
I've collected here some of my own feelings and I trust I can add more and more to the collection as the time passes. Without any particular order, here are the top five.
1. Joined by the best friends, I went once to the Ratei cave in the Bucegi range. It was the beginning of the summer, one of those royal summers: warm air, blue sky and green mountains. We entered the cave in the afternoon, when the sun was high in the sky. Each cave has a particular microclimate and this was no exception. The air was much colder than outside and what struck us most was the lack of any kind of smell inside. The atmosphere was like somewhere in the space, in the void. After more than five hours of exploration in that microclimate, we went out.
I'll never forget the feeling I had then: outside it was dark, with huge bright stars spotting the sky and a sudden wave of warm air which struck us. But the most extraordinary thing was the smell of the nature. Have you ever felt the smell of fresh grass ? The smell of the trees, of the stones ? For us, amplified tenfold after the odourless air in the cave, the smell of nature was like coming back to life. If you have the opportunity to visit such a cave, do it, if not for the cave itself, at least for the feeling of leaving it and returning to the smell of grass.
2. Putna village is home to the beautiful Putna Monastery. Being there with a group of friends, after a long tiresome walk, the night came with its bright stars, so much bigger here in the mountains than in the polluted cities. Having visited the monastery, we took a walk in the village, and we took off the shoes and walked barefooted on the grass and on the paved streets. The magic summer night carressed us and feeling the warm ground under my feet in that place loaded with history was one of those feelings I want to retun to over and over again.
3. Another summer evening, this time in the Apuseni Mountains. Missing the bus in the village of Albac left us with no other option than to walk the 15 kilometers or so to Garda de Sus. At the beginning we didn't like the idea as we thought that we shouldn't waste the time like this, but use it for walks in the wild. But as the night began to fall and the stars and the moon to kindle the horizon, we thought we were very lucky we'd missed the bus after all. Because as the road winded towards the heart of the mountain among the green hillocks spotted with haystacks and as the moon guided us with its light, we began singing and feeling like explorers in a new world. Our Terra Incognita was there, awaiting for us to discover it. When we finally reached the destination, after three ours of walking under the stars we were tired but happy.
4. Leaving the ground we are so used to, can be a painful experience. But it can also be a very exciting one. Near Targoviste, where I took the first lessons of paragliding, I had one of the most fantastic feelings. The feeling which a bird must have when it leaves the nest for the first time. The feeling that another dream of mankind has been accomplished.
My first flight with the paraglider was after all no big deal: leaving the ground for five-six seconds at a height of at most four meters above the ground sounds probably childish. But for me there were five seconds of magic, five seconds like five centuries, moments I wish they never ended. Try it yourself, but be aware that you may get addicted to it.
5. In the thickly forested Bargau Mountains, up North in a land of ancient traditions, I was once travelling with friends, looking for a place we had only heard of: Colibita lake. The winding unpaved road from Muresenii Bargaului to Colibita leads you among the green lush hillocks, passing by small wooden houses with colorful gardens with triptychs and people bidding you "Go with God". You think you are in a timeless land, especially if you use a horse-driven carriage as we did. The road goes up hill and you don't know what to expect on the other side. And suddenly, reaching the top, the marvelous view of Colibita lake opens up. Amidst the green mountains, spotted with flowers in all colours of the Universe, with haystacks and a few wooden houses, the blue mirror of the lake reflects the warm summer sky.
Sorin Cristescu, November 2004
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