the good sisters
By loading the map, you agree to Google's privacy policy.
Learn more
This post is about a 21km walk from Rod to the Orlat Monastery. I get lost in a forest and end up pitching my tent in a nun convent.
I had slept well in the meadow. When I woke up it took a while to dry my things in the morning sun, and since there was nobody around I got naked and took a sunbath. Then I started walking. I decided not to go back to the road. Instead I kept to the dirt path that had led me to the meadow.
enclosures
At some point I ran into a man and two women. They were plowing a field with their horse. It was a very small field and a very healthy-looking horse, and they looked well-dressed and content. I wondered if this was more of a hobby to them.
They pointed me toward an enclosure. I opened it and went in, but I didn’t see any animals, only the tracks that their hooves had left in the grass. A few minutes later I arrived at another enclosure. Then I was back on the village road.
the sunk-cost fallacy
Maybe the night in the meadow had made me cocky. Or I was just tired of seeing and hearing cars. Anyway I left the road again after a while, and I followed a dirt path until it lost itself in some fields. It was one of those moments where I knew that turning around would have been the wise thing to do. And yet I couldn’t. I had already come this far. The grass looked a bit more yellow over there, that had to be the way!
It reminded me of a walking day more than 10,000km earlier, somewhere in the East of China. That day I had gotten lost in the mountains and ended up in a tunnel. This time my search for the way took me into a forest.
the Orlat Monastery
It was very quiet and very beautiful in the forest. There was a path that led through it, and I followed it until it came out on the other side. There was a farm that had a bunch of chickens, a horse, and some bunnies that hopped around, quietly nibbling on the grass.
I arrived at a gate with a cross after this. Behind it lay the Holy Trinity Monastery of Orlat. It was a nun convent, but I went in anyway to ask if I could pitch my tent somewhere on the premises.
Much to my surprise, the nuns said yes, of course. I could pitch my tent next to the chapel in the center, and they showed me the fresh water fountain and the toilet.
blessed
Then a group of people drove three cars in front of the chapel. They opened all the doors and windows, the trunks and the hoods. Then they cleaned their cars a little bit, and then an old priest came out of the chapel, spoke a prayer, and sprinkled holy water on the drivers and their cars.
I wasn’t Orthodox, I said, but could I, too, maybe get a blessing for the Caboose?
pictures
walk from Rod to the Orlat Monastery:
enclosure
village house near Rod
the road to walk from Rod to Orlat
this gentleman showed me the way
Romanian country road
a field
a village near Sibiu
village selfie
dirt path
good doggo
in the forest
gate of the Orlat Monastery
Orlat Monastery
group of believers
the blessing of the cars
the blessing of the Caboose
Orlat Monastery chapel
Orlat Monastery chapel at nightfall