📆 Day 13 | 9 August

📍Route: Eșelnița → Rock Sculpture of Decebalus → Orșova

🚴‍♀️ Distance cycled: 26 km

🏰 Places visited: Rock Sculpture of Decebalus, Tabula Traiana, Ponicova Cave, Macronia Monastery

We started the day slowly, without rushing. The view was beautiful, so we took our time to enjoy it. Our goal for the day was to reach the Rock Sculpture of Decebalus, which we were both excited to see.

After packing our things, we got back on our bikes and continued our route. The road went slightly uphill, but it wasn’t too hard, and we could still enjoy the scenery around us. It really was stunning.

When we arrived, we decided to take a boat tour — and it turned out to be a great choice. The breeze was refreshing, and the captain explained the important landmarks along the way. First, we passed through the Cazanele Mici (“Small Boilers”), a narrow section of the Danube where the water is rough and swirling, which is how it got its name. Then we entered the Cazanele Mari (“Large Boilers”), where the river is wider and is even more impressive.

We also saw the Tabula Traiana, a Roman inscription carved into the rock more than 2,000 years ago to celebrate Emperor Trajan’s victory in Dacia. Then we entered the Ponicova Cave, which was very impressive.

After the boat tour, we visited the Mraconia Monastery. We could admire its architecture both from the boat and up close — it’s a small but very picturesque building right on the riverbank.

By then, we were hungry, so we stopped for lunch by the Danube, enjoying the view while recharging both ourselves and our phones (our power banks were also nearly empty).

Later in the afternoon, we headed back to Orșova so we would have some time the next day to explore the town and get everything ready for the next part of our trip.