Then I turn the lead over to Peter, and off we go for his tour of the city. We head east, toward the mountain and go up, to a semicircular path which skirts the old city from east to south to west and follow it along. A light mist has begun but under the trees we stay mostly dry. We circle around, looking out over the city, to the west a couple towers (one black, one white) on the mountainside. We walk by an oval track, with sand pits in the center (a school or city sport facility?) and some lovers are sitting below in the covered stands. We descend slowly to a lower level, and pass by the white tower we saw from across the way. I am too tired to climb the hill so we walk back into the city, and to the car.

Peter then has a surprise for me, says he has to visit someone he wants me to meet; OK. We drive for several blocks, finally ending up on a street running along the side of the mountain, across the street are tall apartment buildings. But on the mountain side are concrete stalls, perhaps 3 meters deep and 8 meters wide, spaced some distance apart and in which are large covered dumpsters (if you face the dumpster you can open it by rotating the lid to the back); to my surprise this was being done by a group of bears! They come out every night to scavenger from the dumpsters and are one of the city’s major attractions. We saw a mother bear with three partially grown cubs, sitting on top of the stall wall, reaching over and rotating the cover off the dumpster so she could check out the contents! Several taxis with tourists creep slowly by; occasionally a police car comes by (flash photos are not allowed but we tried anyhow). Anyhow, now time for bed and I return to the pension. Peter has outfitted his Subaru for camping with all the necessary gear (pad, sleeping bag, etc.) and elects to sleep in the car when away from home. He usually finds a park or other safe spot where he can park overnight; occasionally a police car will come by and check him out. The next morning he had to take an injured nearby camper (cut his leg with an axe trying to chop firewood) to an emergency room before picking me up.

Next - Ciucas Mountains