Sunday 30 October 2016

People I met on the way #1

I met a lot of people on my trip, not just my favourite aunties and old comrades. Here are just a few, most of whom haven't yet featured in this blog. Thanks for helping make my trip so memorable.

A fisherman takes a break on the wharf at Muscat, Oman.

A member of a theatre group parades through Bilbao, Spain,

Alfonso celebrates getting his final stamp on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, Santiago de Compostella, Spain.

Martin and Markéta, members of a Moravian folk group I met at a festival in Romania's Apuseni Mountains.

Cheesemakers Helen and Pepe, who gave me a lift in the Picos de Europa Mountains, Spain.

Kind (but rather shy) school canteen cook, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

Natalia, possibly the most glamorous police officer I've met, and her mum Nina at the Merry Cemetery in Sapanţa, Romania. Natalia not only gave me a lift while I was hitch-hiking to this curiously jolly graveyard, she also insisted on paying my entry fee.

Village woman selling blueberries gathered in the forest, Sighetu Maramaţiei, Romania.

Ioana, keyholder to a medieval wooden church in Ieud, Romania.

Irina, my 70-year-old self-appointed guide when I was looking for a path between the villages of Ieud and Botiza, Romania.

Polish brothers (and avid hat collectors) Jacek and Marcin at a hat stall on top of the Prislop Pass, Romania. The brothers gave me a lift halfway across northern Romania, saving me at least a day's travel and a gruelling bus ride through the mountains.

Marius, a shepherd from Romania's Ukrainian-speaking minority, keeps an eye on his flock near Sighetu Maramaţiei.

A highly entertaining goatherd I met in the hills above Sighişoara, Romania. I didn't need to speak Romanian to understand the grubby jokes he was telling about his goats.

I met this lady when she was trying to sell some kittens on the main street of Chişinău, Moldova. She was there from dawn until after dark. The kittens were priced at 35 lei, about NZ$2 each.

Brother Ifiemi was a lovely orthodox monk I met at Orheiul Vechi in Moldova. The former electrician had spent the past 13 years living in a cave carved into a cliff side.

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