Carl Sagan once said deep down, at the molecular heart of life, the trees and we are essentially identical. No truer words have been spoken. Last Saturday the Trebujeni hills were alive with the sound of #Devaider feet. 25 km worth of beauty and splendor have opened a new world for these brave soldiers. Read on.

Alina Chebes: It was the kind of trip when on the 20th kilometer of it you do not really know why you’ve decided to abuse your body so much but the next day wake up with a great sense of accomplishment and gratitude. We saw some beautiful sceneries which definitely made me fall in love with Moldova all over again.

Sanda Mihailov: The trip was a blast! Even though it was challenging, and didn’t think we were going to make it till the end, we did, and it was totally worth it. We ended up with some nice memories, great pictures and sore feet. Would I do it again? Definitely!

Me: I’ve been dreaming of an autumn hiking trip through Moldovan forests for a very long time. Luckily, I was introduced to Andrei Golovei, an orienteering ninja from Galata Sports Club, who offered to be our guide for a 25-km long hike including lowlands, a walk in the forest, a narrow forest trail along the Răut river, as well as a steep hill ascent. We were very courageous to accept this challenging route and I am very proud that our group managed to complete it without someone giving up on the hike in the middle of it.
Apart from the breathtaking scenery that we’ve been seeing the whole day, we managed to defy our fears of not being good enough and proved to ourselves that we’re fighters.