After almost two months of walking, Alin Useriu crossed the finish line on Saturday, the day of the official inauguration, at the southeastern end of the Carpathians.

A victory-flavored achievement for this head of an NGO dedicated to the environment, who in 2018 threw himself body and soul into the project born of his wanderings along the Camino de Santiago and the American Pacific Crest Trail.

"My only goal was to revitalize rural areas and all the friends I presented the concept to were enthusiastic," Useriu, 52, told AFP.

Despite "difficult beginnings" as he admits, the adventure generated popular momentum and donations finally poured in.

Fifteen people were recruited and more than 10,000 volunteers mobilized to trace and mark out the route, which covers more than 400 municipalities.

Radu Moldovan runs a guesthouse in Sapartoc, in central Romania Hervé BOSSY AFP

An unprecedented initiative in this Eastern European country of 19 million inhabitants which, despite strong economic growth, is still experiencing a massive exodus of young generations and the void they leave in these rural areas with exceptional landscapes .

"A path that unites"

In the hamlet of Sapartoc, perched between the hills of Transylvania, the houses are in ruins and their facades are decrepit.

At the corner of a street however, arise two cyclists.

Helmeted and covered in mud, they stop in front of a pretty house transformed into an ecotourism guesthouse.

Via Transilvanica travels 1,400 km in Romania Ionut IORDACHESCU AFP

One of them, Sergiu Paca, is full of praise for the Via Transilvanica.

"This is the first project since the revolution (from 1989, to the fall of the communist regime, editor's note) that really brings us together, which allows us to discover landscapes and people that we would not have met otherwise", testifies this renter 42-year-old mountain biker, echoing the slogan of the project celebrating "a path that unites".

"I could not have dreamed of better for Sapartoc", abounds Radu Moldovan, who welcomes the two travelers to his farm.

A 35-year-old agricultural engineer, he decided to buy and renovate this building with his wife, even though the Via Transilvanica was still in its infancy.

A hiker on the Via Transilvanica in Romania has his "passport" stamped, Saschiz on September 15, 2022 Hervé BOSSY AFP

"We wanted to put into practice all the beautiful theories we had learned at university and be a living example," explains the 30-year-old trained in environmental issues and rural development.

In this village of 22 souls populated by a handful of farmers, the bet was risky but this new path came at the right time for the couple, delighted to be able to devote themselves to their pension in addition to their agricultural activities.

First baby in 47 years

In Archita, another stopover village, George Silian, at the head of one of the largest truffle farms in the country, also welcomes a more "lively" atmosphere.

"I moved back here after several years in Italy," says the 58-year-old man under his felt hat, while browsing his plantation of oaks and almond trees.

"For three years, tourists have reappeared and come for a meal or a night. This allows me to discover and sell my truffle-based products: salt, palinka" (plum brandy), says -he.

Anxious to preserve fragile ecosystems, these pioneers of tourism in the region take care to limit the number of beds, respect traditional architecture and train travelers in good practices.

Gheorghe Silian, truffle grower in Archita, a village located on the new GR Via Transylvania in Romania HERVE BOSSY AFP

A movement against the current of mass tourism practiced elsewhere in the Carpathians or on the Black Sea coast, popular regions of the millions of visitors identified each year in Romania.

“We have determined the maximum attendance at 300,000 people per year, and we are far from it!”, reassures Alin Useriu, who is delighted to see the first fruits of his project, contrary to the rural depopulation movement.

"My wife gave birth to our son a few months ago, this is the first birth in the village of Sapartoc for 47 years!" Radu Moldovan smiles.

© 2022 AFP