Thursday 25 June 2026 - Bran to Magura

After a good breakfast featuring poached eggs and no doggy bag requirement we set off past the castle and across the river to join the path to a saddle, the Magura Mica Saddle, some 700 metres above us. 

The gradient was brutal but the views, when available through the trees, were great.

Bear poo littered the path. They need to eat 20kg of grass every day to produce this black stuff.

We eventually reached the saddle, after pausing for breath several times. The next picture looks back to the notch we passed through a couple of days ago. 

Resting in a shady spot during a fruitless search for the blue triangles that were supposed to mark our onward route.

The saddle area was marked by a variety of limestone constructions, both natural and man made.

We finally gave up on looking for blue triangles painted on rocks and headed down a grassy slope. We had met a guided party approaching the saddle - they must have come from somewhere.

What should we then find? Blue triangles on a field path that appeared out of nowhere. 

We descended happily on the narrow path, soon reaching a church in the village of Magura.

Shady steps outside the church proved a good spot for lunch.

A few metres further on, beyond a verge of Melancholy Thistle, was our home for the next two nights, Villa Hermani Guesthouse. We'd reached it in 4 hours after 8.5km of walking and over 700 metres ascent.

Next, a 'bear observation programme' that we had rushed to reach for a 1pm start. We waited... and waited, and eventually discovered that we would be served, along with three Germans, dinner at 4pm before a 5pm hour's drive to see the bears.

We spent well over an hour watching with Katerina (our guide for this 'event') from a hide that had apparently been used for Ceauşescu's hunting parties.

It was well after 9pm before we got back to the villa, so this brief entry may warrant some editing.