We've made it into motherland Romania. At times, places feel like distant memories.
At times, I'm piecing together fragments of my childhood.
Fisherman’s Nirvana
On the bank of a great lake protrudes a jetty with ramshackle fishermen’s caravans parked on it. Today we tried our hand at foraging and cooking on a twig fire. This was mainly born of necessity as we have largely run out of gas and fresh food.
Words: Hugo Pullen | Photos: Dora Damian
Pibo the cat & the not-so-hot spring
Pibo is a cat who frequents the hot springs looking for love and food. In Dora he found both affection and a ready supply of soy pate, served up on an enamel platter. Pibo lives a life of opulence and doesn’t care for travelling around Europe in a London ambulance. This makes sense, but makes the humans very sad as Pibo is the kind of cat you could imagine waking up to. Farewell Pibo.
Words: Hugo Pullen | Photos: Dora Damian
Bin Raiding Bears
I awoke from a deep sleep desperately needing to pee, naturally I yielded and padded out of the safety and comfort of the van to the nearest bush to let nature run its course. On returning to the van I noticed a furry shape in the dark… Only four metres away stood a Slovakian brown bear. Heart racing I quickly shut myself back into the van to wake Dora up and opened the front curtains to watch a mother bear and her two cubs rummage through the bins only two metres from the comfort of our bed. Occasionally she cast furtive looks to the van, then back to rummaging to feed her cubs. After tipping the bin to get the last of the juices out, mother and cubs slumped back down the trail and into the woods.
Words: Hugo Pullen | Photos: Dora Damian
Mountaintop Wildcamping
We met our friendly Slovakian man of the mountains today. He took great pleasure in telling us of all the things that are forbidden in Slovakia. A lot of the mountain trails are forbidden, we walked them. Picking wild fruit is forbidden, we picked it. Wild camping is forbidden, we camped.
Lukaš was the best guide we could have wished for, tailoring the mountain climbing to our needs… mainly our need to stop and photograph the vistas. Our second day took us to the top of Jahňací štít (2229 m) in the high Tatras. Illicitly we set up a discreet camp of sleeping bags and roll mats, shared a chocolate bar as the clouds rolled in and the sun set. From our clandestine vantage point we had a view of Slovakia on one side, and Poland on the other.
Words: Hugo Pullen | Photos: Dora Damian