Dmitry Kudryavtsev

Climbing La Om Peak in Romania

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 18:00:01 GMT

During my recent trip to Romania, I have decided to climb the La Om Peak. There is very little information available in English for this climb, so I wanted to share my experience, and the mistakes I made, so you can prepare better.

Why La Om, and why me?

La Om is not the highest peak in Romania. At 2,238m, it is 307m shy of Moldoveanu peak, which is the highest peak in Romania and sits at 2,545m. And indeed, Moldoveanu was my first choice. However, from the information I could gather, summiting Moldoveanu takes about 17 hours out-and-back, and so you either push really hard, or do an overnight stop. The overnight stop is usually done at Cabana Podragu which is located at 2,136m. But I booked my accommodations before I decided on which peak to climb, and I had no plans to bring a big hiking backpack, sleeping bag and mat, and cooking equipment, so Moldoveanu was not for me this time.

Another popular peak is Omu. Located in the Bucegi Mountains, Omu is 2,505m. But Omu is very accessible. There is a Cabana named Omu close to the peak, and the nearby city of Busteni has a cable car that brings you to about 2,100m, making Omu peak very touristic. I, however, wanted something more secluded. So, La Om it is. Moreover, the descriptions of La Om caught my curiosity: an exposed limestone ridge, shaped like a saw and regarded as one of the most beautiful sites of the entire Carpathian Mountains.

I have some experience with climbing peaks in the past. The first peak I ever did was Batur Volcano in Bali, which sits at 1,717m. In New Zealand, I climbed mount Robert which sits at a shy 1,421m. And relatively recently, I climbed Volcano Acatenango in Guatemala, which according to my Apple Watch was at 3,612m. Before that, I climbed Pacaya in Guatemala, reaching to about 2,200m. So I’m not entirely new to climbing mountains, but I was not prepared for what was to come…

The Plan

The initial plan was simple. I was staying in Brasov, and I’m a sucker for hotel breakfasts, so I intended to wake up at 6:45, arrive at hotel breakfast by 7:00, and by 8:00 be ready to leave to Cabana Plaiul Foii which is the trailhead. The drive takes about 50 minutes, so I planned to start my hike at around 9:00-9:10. I had two days reserved for the hike, in case of bad weather: Friday the 5th of September, and Saturday the 6th. Both days had great weather, so I did the hike on Friday.

I was planning to do a loop from Cabana Plaiul Foii, which goes to Refugiul Șpirlea, up to Vf. La Om. Then I’d go on the exposed ridge towards Refugiul Ascuțit, and descend towards Refugiul Sperantelor and back to the Cabana. A moderate 15km track that according to OsmAnd would take about 10 hours. It was way too optimistic in both the distance and the time.

The actual hike

Cabana Plaiul Foii to La Zaplaz

The first part of the hike was very enjoyable. It starts in an open field, and follows the river into the forest. Piatra Craiului National Park, like the rest of Romania, is a home of brown bears, so it’s important to have a bear spray. For the entire hike up to La Zaplaz — I was alone on the track. Hiking alone in bear territory is not recommended, but it is what it is. Make sure to make some noise (speak out loud, clap your hands) to let the bears know that you are there, avoid eating while hiking, and make sure your food does not smell.

View of Piatra Craiului Mountains from Cabana Paliul Foii

I started my hike at 9:20, and by 10:45 I was at Spirla Shelter. The signs said it will take between 2 and 2 and half hours to get to Spirla, so I was moving faster. Good start.

15 minutes before reaching Spirla

At Spirla I did my first 15-minute break, had some food and rest, and moved on. From Spirla it takes between 3-3.5 hours until you reach the peak. There is a short section of about 20–30 minutes of forest, after which you reach the exposed limestone mountain which looks like it’s 90 degrees, and you have no idea how you are going to climb it.

Exposed limestone edge. How the hell am I going to climb it?

La Zaplaz and La Lanțuri

After leaving the forest, you will enter the technical part of the track. For the next 2 to 3 hours, you will scramble, walk on scree, and use secured cables to reach the peak.

I was not prepared for this. This was nothing like my previous hikes. In my previous hikes, I would mainly gain elevation by walking up; here I had to scramble, often with cables for assistance. I never used cables for assistance before, and I did not have a helmet or gloves. I tried to research before to make sure there are no cables involved, but failed to find any credible information. It’s a bit ironic because this part of the track is called La Lanțuri which literally translates as “At the Chains” from Romanian.

Climbing using cable for assistance

More cables

And some scrambling

My focus was sharp, I was moving very carefully, slowly gaining elevation as I was approaching the peak. I met two people who were going down, and closer to the top I met another solo hiker who was also going down. Every section I conquered, I looked back down to appreciate the beauty of this mountain.

The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm. I was climbing from the west side of the ridge, meaning I was mostly in the shade. About 40–50 minutes before reaching the peak, the sun was in zenith, and I stared to feel the heat.

Closer to the peak

And then, after about 3 hours and 30 minutes of climbing, I have reached Șaua Grindului — a shelter at the ridge about 15 minutes from the peak. From there I saw La Om peak. A quick 15 minutes hike, and I was at the peak at 14:59.

Vf. La Om

Me at the peak: Vârful La Om, Piscul Basciului, 2,238m

At the peak, I took a well deserved 30 minutes break. I ate my cheat meal of a Milka chocolate bar, together with some tortillas, cascaval cheese and pastrami. A glance at my phone revealed that I was at about 8km in distance. With the sunset at 19:57, I had about 5 hours to get down in order to avoid walking in the darkness in the forest. After some rest, pictures, and chat with other hikers — at 15:30 I started to move again towards my next point: Ascuțit.

View from the peak towards Bucegi Mountains

The signs said it will take between 2 and 2.5 hours, but I assumed it will be faster — in the end, it’s mostly flat walk on the ridge. It turned out to be anything but flat. You traverse the ridge up and down all the time, on a narrow path and in some places you have a foot length of space. I knew about this part, and it’s indeed mentally challenging, especially if you have fear of heights, which I don’t, so I was moving at a good pace (or so I thought). As I was walking for about an hour and a half, I have reached a point where I saw the markings of the trail, but had no idea where to go next. My strength was fading out, and I started to lose my focus.

Walk on the ridge

I have opened my map to check on my progress, assuming I’m almost at Ascuțit, but I was barely half way. And then I sat and decided to reassess my situation. The time was about 17:00. I had at least one and a half hours until Ascuțit. And who knows what’s afterward? Is the way down as challenging as the way up? Although based on the topography, the ridge looked less wide than the one I did during the climb. This could mean a steeper slope with potentially harder scrambling and cables. Nevertheless, I had a choice to make: push forward into an unknown path, risking getting stuck in the darkness; or go back the way I came. Sure, I could get caught by the darkness, but at least I know the way, I walked it a few hours ago.

I have decided to trust my gut feeling and turn back.

It took me 50 minutes to get back to La Om. As I was approaching the peak, I saw a person there. I was never so happy to see a stranger in my life, hoping that maybe they are like me, going down, and so we could go together.

When I reached the peak, I spoke with the guy, and he told me he plans to stay with his two friends, who are still behind, in Ascuțit shelter for the night. Realizing that I will have to go down by myself, I wished them luck and went on. As I reached the beginning of the way down, I saw a sign: “Spirla 4h”, “Cabana Plaiul Foii 5-6h”.

I didn’t have 6 hours, let alone 4. I had to be at the forest before dawn. There is no way I could descend with a headlamp. Being in a forest with bears and headlamp could be manageable, but if I get stuck on the edge when the sun is down…

There is cell reception at the peak, and so I sent my wife — who knew my entire route and the time estimates (as well as how to contact rescue services) — that I’m preparing to go down, and it should take me about 3 hours, so 4 with a buffer. I made sure the message was delivered, and at 18:10 — with an hour and a half of sunlight left — I started to make my way down.

The way down

I guess at that point my body was running on adrenaline. I took 3 liters of water with me, but at that moment I had less than a liter left, so I tried to conserve as much as I could. The way down was relatively smooth. I was using a technique where I would sit on my butt, make sure my hands are firm, find a contact point with one of my legs, and put the other one down. In some places I was doing a little slide on the scree while sitting. Not sure if this is the “proper” way to descend, but it worked for me.

I made one mistake when going down, where I could not safely reach a point of contact with my feet, so I had to do a little jump, maybe half a meter. At the moment I didn’t feel any pain, but as of publishing this I still have a slight pain in a muscle around my knee. Hopefully it will go away.

I saw a chamois. It was standing there, looking at me. So beautiful. My phone was running out of battery, so I put it in my backpack connected to a power bank, and I didn’t take a picture.

I also met a family (I believe) of 3 on their way up. They didn’t speak good English. We wished good luck to each other, and they were the last humans I would see for the next 2 and a half hours as I descend into darkness.

I don’t remember the exact time the sunlight went out, but I had my headlamp prepared about 40 minutes before sunset. As I was in the mountains, going down into a valley and a dense forest, I wasn’t hoping for twilight. When the sun went down, everything went dark. Luckily, by that time I was off the edge and the scree, making my entrance into the forest.

By that point I ran out of water. As I no longer needed my hands for support, I took out my bear spray, removed the safety pin, and held it my hand for the rest of the hike.

I had a mental model of the path in my head. I knew that by the time I reach Spirla, there would be about an hour left. After Spirla, you walk along the river. I also remembered that there would be a shallow and narrow river crossing about 10 minutes before you exist the dense forest, and so these were my marks. I tried not to look at my phone too much, as the bright screen would blind me in complete darkness. My only mission was to move from one trail marker to the next.

At 20:21 I reached Spirla in complete darkness. I was considering to do a quick snack break, as I had an apple which could provide the needed water, but I decided to move on. There was a cell reception zone around Spirla, so I wrote another messages to my wife: “one hour to go, let’s take one and half”.

After Spirla the road was mostly flat, and I was moving fast, like really fast. My average speed was around 5km/h, which considering I was going in a forest, in complete darkness (aside for the light from my headlamp), is not bad at all. As I was moving, I was making a noise every 15 seconds to let any bears know that I’m there. Every odd noise, every shadow cast by my headlamp — would make my heart race more and more.

And then, at around 21:05 I have exited the forest, and at 21:23 I was by my car near Cabana Plaiul Foii. I had another bottle of water in my car which I drank until empty. After an hour of driving, I arrived back at my hotel in Brasov.

This concludes the entire hike which lasted for 12 hours and 3 minutes. Below you can find the GPX for my hike. Keep in mind that elevation gain/loss is inaccurate, and in reality, should be close to 1,700m.

Aftermath and tips

As I said I have experience climbing peaks and gaining a lot of elevation. This hike was difficult physically, but not challenging. I think it was way more challenging psychologically and mentally. Knowing that at some places, if I misstep I could fall down, demanded a lot of mental energy and moving slowly and carefully.

Every place I read recommended taking at least 3L of water, and I did, but I ran out of it. Maybe because the weather was really sunny. In case you plan to do this ascend, I recommend taking 4L of water.

I also had all the layers in terms of clothing, but didn’t really need them. A fully charged powerbank and a good headlamp are a must. I would also take helmet and gloves for the scrambling part.

I believe it was stupid to rush the way down and navigate the forest during darkness, but I had no other option. The decision to turn back was correct, there is something in the brain which allows you to navigate easier, and be less stressed, when you already know the path. Ideally, I would spend the night at Șaua Grindului near the peak, or worst case scenario at Spirla, but I did not have a sleeping mat and bag, and had no water. I planned to go up and down the same day.

Doing it solo is also more dangerous, so I would recommend doing it with another person, and definitely leave your plans with someone else. There is cell reception at the peak, and at some places on the route, but most of the route has no cell reception. I did it on Friday, and as I mentioned, there wasn’t that many people. I saw 3 people when I was going up, about 5 people at the peak, and 3 more on my way down. Maybe on weekends there is more traffic.

Lastly, I would start early. It’s better to stay at Cabana Plaiul Foii (or any other Cabana nearby), instead of driving from Brasov. The sun rises at around 7AM, so you get almost 13 hours of sunlight (at least in early September), and it’s better to use it in case of emergency like running out of strength or stamina. Needless to say that you should not attempt to ascend in bad weather. With rain, the scramble will be slippery, and with fog, you will put yourself in danger on the ridge as it is very narrow. Monitor weather, and allow for alternative days. I had 2 days planned for the hike, Friday and Saturday, but Friday turned out to be very sunny, so I used Saturday to relax.

Closing notes

This was definitely one of the hardest things mentally and psychologically that I ever did. I did some stupid mistakes like climbing without proper gear and navigating a bear territory in complete darkness, but I was careful when climbing up and down, and had a headlamp and bear spray on my way in the forest.

I’m kind of happy that there weren’t that many people, as I had the opportunity to enjoy solitude while climbing this magnificent mountain. Being there by myself allowed me to reflect on a lot of things that are currently happening in my life.

After coming back, I was reading some more about La Om, and from the information I could gather, La Om ascent from La Lanțuri is considered one of the hardest peaks in Romania. And so now I have an achievement and an experience that allowed me to push my limits and better understand and trust myself. I also learned a lot about the way we, humans, operate in stressful environment. It’s important to trust your gut, despite the fact that you might feel like you want to push it. I’m a bit upset that I wasn’t able to finish the full loop, but at the same time I was confident in my decision to turn back the way I came. I struggled recently with understanding the difference between fear and gut feeling, and at the moment when I took out my phone and realized I might not make it, I strongly felt my gut telling me to go back.

Overall, I think it was one of the unique hikes / climbs I ever did. If you decide to do it, just make sure to have enough water, enough time, and proper gear.

5 days in Romania

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 18:00:00 GMT

Recently, I went on an extended weekend in Romania. I’d like to share some of the activities I did there. It’s important to note that I no longer travel for the cities, and look more towards beautiful nature. Being located in the Netherlands, you get tired of the flatness, and so the purpose of the trip was to get to a country farther away — I’m kind of tired of Germany and France — with stunning nature and mountains. Romania delivered in that regard.

One bag

It’s not the first time I travel with one bag. I have learned about one-bagging from the /r/onebag Reddit community long time ago, and as courtesy to them, I’d like to start by sharing my one-bag setup.

Electronics

USB-C to USB-C 100W cable (usually for my laptop which I didn’t take, but it always stays in my electronics bag)
USB-A to USB-B charging cable (for kindle and powerbank)
USB-C to Lighting cable (for my iPhone and Airpods)
UGreen USB-C to USB-A adapter (sometimes cars have USB-A port for CarPlay / Charging, so instead of carrying two lighting cables, I carry this adapter)
UGreen 100W charger
Tomtoc electronic bag

In terms of electronics, I don’t carry much, only the 3 needed cables and a charger.

Miscellaneous

Sea to Summit dry bag
BlackDiamond Spot-R rechargeable headlamp
Labello lip balm
Casio G-Shock GW-M5610U-1
Sun glasses
Supr Good wallet
Anker PowerBank
Apple Airpods
Two Field Books
A pen
Passport
Kindle

As most of my trip was around nature, there are some hiking related items.

First aid kit

Deuter first aid kit bag
Sterile pads
Tooth picks
Tick removal tool
Disinfectant
Painkillers
Gloves
Triangular bandage
Big and small bandages
Bandage scissors
Band-aid in a roll
Assortment of band-aids

Nothing much to explain. I usually take this first aid kit every time I travel.

Fun story: just before my big hike, I accidentally dropped the first aid kit onto a bridge. It bumped off the bridge, and fell into the river below. The river was shallow, so I was able to fish the first aid kit, but most of the stuff in it became wet, so I had to throw the contents away and replace with a new kit I got from Decathlon.

Dopp kit

Gravel Explorer Mini toiletry bag
Two travel sized Sensodyne toothpastes (one was almost empty)
Chicago Comb Carbon Fiber Model 2 travel comb
Wild deodorant
Hand cream
SPF cream
Jordan toothbrush

Underwear and socks

6 pairs (5 + 1 extra) Calvin Klein underwear
5 pairs of Levis socks (4 black, 1 white)
1 pair of SmartWool socks (for hiking)
eBags small packing cube

Warm clothes

Patagonia button up shirt
Patagonia nano-puff coat
The North Face wind and rain coat

Packed clothes

Amazon Basics Sun Hoodie (blue)
Patagonia short sleeve t-shirt (gray)
Patagonia long sleeve t-shirt (gray)
Sun buff
The North Face hiking pants

Clothes I wear on the flight day

Clothes I wear on the flight

Uniqlo pants
Bamboo black t-shirt
Levis white socks
Calvin Klein underwear

Shoes

Vivo Barefoot Primus Trail hiking shoes (packed for the flight)
Vivo Barefoot Primus Lite Knit Natural sneakers (worn during the flight)

Everything laid out and packed

Everything laid out

The items that were not pictured before:

Buff hat
Osprey Day Lite Plus hiking backpack (it was packed inside the main backpack, to be used for day hikes)
A couple of garbage bags (leave no trace)
KleanKanteen water bottle
Minaal Carry-On 3.0 backpack

Everything packed

The Plan

Day one - car pickup and drive to Brasov

Thursday, 4th of September, I catch an early 9AM flight from Amsterdam to Bucharest. I grab some breakfast at the airport, and board on a 2.5 hours flight. Upon arrival at 2PM, I pick up my rental car from Sixt.

I always get nervous when I rent cars. There is always a potential to get screwed: a scratch that you missed, a deposit that was not released, or sleazy sales people. I usually rent with Sixt, as I had mostly good experience with them. I rented a few cars from Sixt in the Netherlands, twice in Germany, once in Croatia (where I had the worst experience), and now in Romania. Otopeni airport is awful, in addition there is big construction going on. Sixt rental office is about 4-minute drive / 15-minute walk from the airport, but there should be a shuttle. Since I was not able to find the shuttle, I decided to walk to the rental office. Upon arrival, a Sixt employee told me that I needed to check in at the desk in the airport 🤦‍♂️. The shuttle took me back to the airport, where I checked in, and then brought me back to the pickup point.

And, my spidey senses of getting screwed worked correctly. When I paid for the car, I used Revolut virtual card. Upon checking in for the car, I was requested to leave a deposit using the same card, presented physically. I tried to explain that I don’t have this card physically, only in Apple Wallet, to which the employee told me they require a physical card and can’t charge the deposit on the virtual card. I offered another credit card, physical, in my name, for the deposit, but the employee declined my offer, citing the contract that I need to arrive with the same card I made the booking with.

We came to an agreement to cancel and fully refund my order, and place an immediate order for the same car with the same conditions, except for… the price. I would have to pay the price of today, rather than what I paid when I made the order. Bummer. I tried to argue with him, but it didn’t really work, and I needed a car, so I ate the €90 price increase, and got my car.

As of today, my deposit was released, my original payment was fully refunded, so so-far everything is good. Aside from me not reading the contract, the experience was fine this time. Tip: don’t use virtual card for car reservations.

I also got freaked out at the end of my trip because Romania has a system of toll roads for which you need a vignette. A vignette costs a few euros for a few days, and I knew that, but somehow forgot about it. After reading, I realized that the fines could be up to €100 per violation, and I drove at least on 3 roads that were classified as toll roads. I was able to, eventually, find a government website where you can input the license plate + the VIN number to check whether the car has an active vignette, and it did. I also asked the Sixt representative at the end of my rental whether the car has a vignette for toll roads, and he told me that it does. But always remember to ask your rental company, and don’t rely on my words, whether the car you rent has a vignette.

After picking up the car, I headed straight to Brasov — a city in the Carpathian Mountains — which would become my home base for nature trips. The drive from Bucharest to Brasov is about 3 hours, but since it’s a mountain road, expect delays. I planned to stop in a town called Sinaia, where you can view the Peleș Castle (no, it’s not the Dracula Castle), which is on the way, and have some lunch there. When I arrived in Sinaia, there were road closures and congestions, and I needed to arrive in Brasov before 8 PM since I had to buy a bear spray. Because of the time I lost in traffic, I decided to skip Peleș Castle, with a hope to stop by on my way back.

I arrived in Brasov at 18:00, checked in at my hotel, and wanted to take a shower and walk to the city center for late lunch / dinner, as well as grab my bear spray. The only problem was that the shop was closing at 19:00, rather than 20:00. The hour 20:00 came from the fact that I forgot to account for 1-hour difference between the Netherlands and Romania. I needed to get the bear spray as Romania has the biggest brown bear population in Europe, so I decided to skip the shower and the walk, and drive to the city center. I arrived at the shop 15 minutes before it closes, and… they ran out of bear spray. The guy at the store was very friendly, gave me a lot of tips about behavior in Romania nature in relation to bears and shepherd dogs, and suggested I take a 15-minute drive to big shopping center to a store that might have the needed spray. I did that, bought the bear spray, and headed back to the hotel.

I was starving, but I still needed to do one more shopping run: buying food for the hike. Luckily, there was a Carrefour nearby, so I took a shower, and went to get the needed food for the hike. And then, finally, at around 21:00 I had my late lunch / dinner in the city center, strolled a bit on the main street, and went to sleep.

Day two - the big hike

The next two days were reserved for hiking. I had one big hike planned: ascending La Om peak, either on Friday or Saturday, depending on the weather. Friday weather turned out to be great, so I had breakfast at the hotel, and by 8AM drove to the trailhead.

The climb deserves it’s own post, so you can read it here: Climbing La Om Peak in Romania.

Day three - no more hikes

Climbing La Om turned out to be more demanding than I though, so I allowed myself to sleep in for as long as I felt, and rest more. I took the first half of the day easily, waking up at 9AM, having breakfast at the hotel and driving to a pharmacy to get muscle cramps relief cream.

However, I have this problem that I can’t really relax. This is why I don’t like laid-back vacations on the beach where you are not active, I have to do something. So, despite the fact that my legs were killing me, I decided to take a car and drive to Bran to take a look at the famous Bran, sorry Dracula, Castle. Fun story: Vlad Dracula never set foot in that castle (at least there is no historical evidence that he did so). The reason that Bran Castle is associated with Dracula is pure luck, it was not mentioned by Bram Stoker, and the most logical explanation I found is that it resembles the castle that is described in the novel. This did not prevent Bran, and it’s castle to turn into a touristic trap.

View of Bran Town and Bran Castle

I didn’t visit the castle, because the reviews said it’s mostly empty, and many people recommend visiting Peleș Castle instead, which I tried to do on my way to Brasov. Instead, I had traditional Romanian lunch, and a traditional Romanian dessert called Papanasi (which was way too big for me).

Papanasi

I strolled a bit around Bran, and decided to come back to the hotel, rest a bit and go to Brasov before the sun sets, but… I couldn’t get out of bed, so the rest of the evening I spent at the hotel.

Day four - Brasov to Bucharest

Initially, I did not plan to got to Bucharest. I’m kind of over the type of tourism where you stay in big cities. But I figured that I probably won’t come back specifically to Bucharest, and since I was there already, why not spend a day at the big city?

But before leaving Brasov, I wanted to at least take a look at this city in daylight. I packed my stuff, threw everything in a car, and drove to the city center. In previous days, it took me about 15–20 minutes to find parking near the city center, but today was Sunday, and on Sunday parking is free. I did 5 or 6 rounds, and couldn’t find parking. Eventually I said fuck it, and parked at an overpriced hotel parking near the city center.

I strolled a bit around the city center, and drank a cold coffee.

Live for the moment you can't put into words

At around noon, I left Brasov in direction of Bucharest. But as I told you, I can’t just relax, I need to be in motion, so before reaching Bucharest, I had two stops planned: a hike from a town called Busteni, and lunch in Sinaia with a peek at Peleș Castle (attempt no. 2).

Usually, a drive from Brasov to Busteni takes about 45 minutes. But with my luck it took me an hour and 45 minutes. I was stuck in traffic congestion 9km away from Busteni for 50 minutes.

Busteni is a town surrounded by the Bucegi mountains, and the view is breathtaking.

Busteni town with Bucegi Mountains at the back

I really want to come back there one day. In Bucegi I did a light hike that supposed to be 45 minutes, but took me an hour and a half because my legs were still sore. This was more easy going hike with the “jeans and sneakers” type of hikers compared to the one I did two days ago. In my opinion it wasn’t worth it, but I pushed it because I’m that kind of person. At the end, I saw a nice waterfall named Urlătoarea.

Cascada Urlătoarea (Bușteni)

Busteni to Sinaia is a 15-minute drive, which again took more than that because… Romanian mountain roads. For some reason Sinaia city center was closed again, and there were a lot of people (maybe because it’s Sunday). I decided to grab something to eat, but had no time to visit the Castle. I still had almost 2 hours of drive to Bucharest, and I wanted to have a night out in Bucharest, so I decided to skip the castle. Maybe next time.

I arrived at Bucharest around 8PM, checked in to my hotel, took a quick shower and an ~~Uber~~ Bolt to the city center. I really wanted to get to a place called NOMAD Skybar, which is a rooftop bar. On Sundays, it’s usually easy to get there compared to Fridays or Saturdays, and so I had a couple of non-alcoholic cocktails and some dinner, and decided to take a walk back to the hotel while strolling a bit around Bucharest at night.

Day five - Bucharest and flight home

I woke up a bit early, ate breakfast at the hotel, packed all my stuff and checked out from the hotel. It’s really liberating when I have all my stuff with me, and I don’t need to leave my luggage at the hotel. So I just took my backpack and ordered Bolt to the city center, strolled around, then took a metro from the Old Town to Piața Romană to drink some cold coffee. Afterward I took a walk along Calea Victoriei towards my hotel as I needed to take my car and return it by 2PM.

I paid for the parking at the hotel, and drove back to Otopeni Airport, stopping at a gas station before returning my car. At 4 hours left before my departure time, I decided it’s not worth to go back to the city, so I just passed security and slowly killed my time in the airport.

In the evening, I was back home.

Conclusion

It’s the third time I travel by myself. The first time I went long time ago to Hungary, and then last year to Germany and Czechia.

I must say that Romania surprised me in a good way. I guess this country has some of the best mountains I have seen to this day. The amount of peaks you can climb, and the vast amount of outdoor activities you can do. I saw a lot of Romanians doing various outdoor activities like hikes, mountaineering, mountain bicycling, and ATVs. There is indeed enough nature for every person.

I also enjoyed unique Romanian architecture, and their tasty food. At times, I also saw poverty and lack of maintenance of infrastructure. The roads are not always great, and most nature hikes — especially the popular ones — have a lot of garbage.

Regardless, every person I met — from the hikers on La Om peak, the guy at the outdoor shop Annapurna in Brasov, the waiters at restaurants in Bran and Sinaia, and even the shuttle driver from Sixt who took me back to the airport after I returned my car — were very nice and welcoming.

I hope to one day come back and enjoy this country some more.

The Maya Civilization

Sun, 03 Sep 2023 22:00:00 GMT

Me, looking at Temple I in Tikal National Park

Coincidentally, but Guatemala turns out to be the cradle of the Mayan civilization. From there, Maya expanded north to Mexican regions of Chiapas and Yucatán, and south down to the border of Costa Rica.

Armed with that knowledge, I visited two national parks: Yaxha (pronounced as Yash-ah), and Tikal (the biggest and most powerful Mayan city).

Mayan’s civilization had vast knowledge in astronomy, architecture, engineering, agriculture, and mathematics. And I want to introduce you to Maya through some numbers.

0 - Mayans were the first civilization to use the zero. This allowed them to count to very high numbers, as well as perform complex calculations.
1 - the one god that Maya believed in. Contrary to popular belief, Mayans were monotheistic. The other “gods” such as fire, crops, water, etc—are in reality energies.
3 - the 3 worlds the Maya believed in: underworld, our world, and next life. Maya believed in life after death.
5 - the 5 ceremonial days per year the Maya had. In addition to that, the Mayan calendar had 18 months with 20 days per month. If you do the math, together with the 5 ceremonial days, you will see that Mayan year was 365 days.

There are still descendants of Maya living in the highlands of Guatemala. There are 22 Mayan languages left. But the knowledge they possessed—is long gone. Big thanks to bishop Diego de Landa from Spain, who burned the majority of the Mayan books.

Why did the Mayan disappear? 3 main reasons:

Over population. Tikal alone believed to have population between 1.5 to 2 million.
Deforestation. Sustaining big cities, required burning wood. Maya were among the first civilizations to use mortar, which required a lot of fire to make.
Deforestation lead to droughts, which lead to diseases, and civil wars. In addition to that, the soil was exhausted and not suitable for crops anymore. Most Mayan cities were abandoned, and survivors moved to highlands.

It was a great civilization that existed for more than 3000 years (from 2000 B.C. to 1519 A.D.).

The slow demise of the Mayan civilization, and the problem they faced—might be sign to what awaits us.

Hiking volcano Acatenango

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT

While nomading in Antigua, I couldn’t help myself and find the most crazy adventure you can do there. Hiking volcano Acatenango — was that adventure for me.

Acatenango

Acatenango is a stratovolcano that is joined with Fuego volcano, and together they form a complex known as La Horqueta. Acatenango last erupted in December 1972, and is now considered dormant. Fuego, on the other hand, is active and throws ash and lava every 15–30 minutes.

Hiking Acatenango requires 2 days. Some people do overnight hike, when you start ascending at night, and descent in the morning. But I did the regular overnight hike.

Finding a tour operator

Like many activities in Guatemala, hiking Acatenango on your is dangerous. Even though Acatenango is a national park, the hike goes through corn fields before you reach the entrance to the national park. And it’s known that robberies occur on such roads. So it’s always important to hike with an organized group.

There are many tour operators located in Antigua. I’m not going to cover all of them, but I’ll write a bit about the one I went with.

Wicho & Charlie’s

W&C is tour operator that does Acatenango hike. They are located in Antigua, and they are very cool.

Firstly, they have the best base camp location among all operators. You sleep inside a hut, and not a tent, and the windows of the hut overlook Fuego. This is very handy as you can stay in the comfort of your sleeping bag, while observing the eruptions from Fuego.

Secondly, they provide gear rental. You can rent everything from them, although I would not recommend renting clothes. My wife and I, had all the clothes we needed, but we did rent backpacks and hiking poles. They have a relatively good selection of gear, and I was happy to see Osprey backpacks available.

Thirdly, they provide you with food. Their food is vegan/vegetarian, which might be a bummer for some, but as a meat eater—I enjoyed their meals. And you have to carry your food, which is a nice bonus for me since I came for the adventure, and the suffering.

Note: you can pay a porter to carry your backpack. I find it useless, as carrying my own gear is part of the challenge for me.

Lastly, their guides are very experienced and speak English.

I highly recommend you check them out at Whicho & Charlie’s.

The first day

The day starts at W&C office where you will have breakfast, rent the necessary gear, and have a briefing. At around 9am, you will board a bus from Antigua, and will be taken to a small town called Aldea La Soledad. The town is located at 2200 meters, and there you will start your ascent at around 10:30 am.

The ascent takes between 4 and 6 hours, and is very steep. You will cross some corn fields, and after about 1 hour you will reach the entrance to the national park. From there, the ascent will continue, and you will pass a cloud forest, and an arctic forest, before reaching the base camp at 3600 meters.

Temperature will change drastically. You will start, hopefully, during a sunny day, and will end up in a very cold environment. So it’s very important to have at least 3 layers and a waterproof jacket. During my hike we had rain, so the waterproof jacket was very helpful.

After reaching the base camp, you will have two options: (1) rest and (2) ascent Fuego.

Option 1: Ascending Fuego

The ascent on Fuego starts at 4 pm, so you have to reach the base camp by that time. Keep in mind that if until that point the hike was hard for you, Fuego ascend will be much harder. It’s a 4-hour hike (in addition to the 4 to 6 hours you already did), which goes down a bit, and then turns into a very, very steep ascend on gravel road.

Neither me nor my wife did Fuego ascent. When we arrived at the base camp, it was very cloudy with zero visibility of Fuego. From the people in our group who did Fuego ascent, we understood that they saw nothing.

Option 2: Rest and recharge

If you decide to skip Fuego, you will be given some time to rest and recharge. You will be able to chill near a fireplace, and at 8 pm you will have dinner before going to sleep. By that time, the group that decided to ascent Fuego, should be back already.

Day 2

As with the first day, here too, you have two options.

Option 1 - be ready at 4 am sharp

The base camp is located at 3600 meters, while the summit of Acatenango is at 3976 meters. After getting some sleep (which will be very minimal, trust me), you will have the option to be ready at 4 am for a summit sunrise hike. The summit hike takes about 2 hours, of which you will spend about 20–30 minutes at the top, meeting the sunrise.

Acatenango base camp. Fuego on the background

Nobody from our group did that. We set our alarms for 3:40 am, but woke up to the sound of intense rain hitting our metal roof. So. Option 2.

Options 2 - meet the sunrise at the base camp

The second option is to wake up whenever. However, if you want to meet the sunrise, you need to be awake at around 5 am. Which we did, and it was amazing! All the rain ended, the clouds cleared, and we had an incredible opportunity to witness an unobstructed Fuego and a few eruptions.

Fuego on sunrise. The clouds cleared quickly

It’s easily one of the most magic views I ever saw. Being there, at 3600 meters, high above the clouds, near an active volcano.

Then at around 7 am you will have breakfast, and start to descend. The way down is much easier, and takes about 2 hours. By around 10-11 am you are back at Aldea La Soledad, and by 12 am—1 pm you are back at W&C office to return the rental gear and go rest.

Frequently mentioned questions

I’m a very organized person. And I care deeply about my life and my health. Therefore, before attempting (most of) crazy adventures in my life, I do a proper research. This time was no different. And so I want to address some common questions you might have, because from what I read online it’s the hardest thing people ever did, and you can die from altitude sickness.

How difficult it is?

As I said, some people online claimed this hike to be the hardest things they ever did. I know that people like to exaggerate, but I rely on reviews and opinions online, so here is mine.

Neither my wife nor I are in athletic shape. My wife does a lot of yoga; I do gym and boxing. Neither of us are runners. We do like walking though.

This hike was challenging. The ascent is constant, and you get about 15-20 minute section of flatness. It’s a total of about 1600 meters of elevation gain. Our calf muscles were hurting for the next 3 days. But it’s far from the hardest thing I ever did in my life.

It’s doable if you are somewhat active, and in shape. I highly recommend you get hiking poles. I usually oppose hiking poles, but during this hike they were very useful both on the way up, and the way down. The soil is very soft, and it’s raining often, so additional points of contact are helpful.

It’s also worth noting that none of us did either of the summits. Maybe if you do the summit, it will be the hardest thing in your life.

Weather

I want to say a few words about the weather. From my understanding, August is the beginning of rainy season. We had rain on the way up, and it was raining all night. It also got very cold on the top. I don’t know what temperature it was, but I suspect it dropped below zero Celsius. Keep in mind that different seasons will have different weather.

Can you get altitude sickness?

I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. I used my Apple Watch to measure SpO2, and the lowest I got was 88% (everything below 95% is considered dangerous, according to internet experts). Keep in mind that Apple Watch is not as accurate as a dedicated blood oxygen measuring device.

Technically, you can get altitude sickness above 2500 meters. It’s recommend that you stay in Antigua for a few days before attempting the hike, since Antigua is located at 1500 meters. This can give you some time to get used to the altitude.

The other thing that I know, is that when you summit Kilimanjaro—which is 5895 meters—the guides carry blood oxygen measuring devices, and supplemental oxygen. Neither of this was carried by our guides, and so I assume altitude sickness is not that big of an issue on Acatenango.

From our group only one girl had symptoms of dizziness on the way up. But she hiked Pacaya (2550 meters) the day before, which is in my opinion—not a smart thing to do.

If you have any concerns, consult with your doctor and the tour agency. It’s also recommended to take a day of rest before the hike. And stay hydrated. The group is moving in a relatively slow pace, and the guides make sure everyone is doing okay.

Happy hiking.