a blog about Carpathian shepherds on the road, and other journeys

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Thursday 13 December 2012

You'll never walk alone!

Transhumance may be dying out in Europe but it's not quite the end of the road for wandering shepherds: next year, some Polish shepherds are going to retrace the old sheep walk from Romania to Valassko in the Czech Republic.  Starting on 14th May, they'll be heading in a semi-circle, encompassing part of Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia before reaching the traditional Romanian shepherds' winter grazing area - Valassko from Vlach land - in September.  Polish shepherds' transhumance 2013

Meanwhile, by harrowing the internet you can find a flock of other sheep walk revivals: in Aubrac, northern Aveyron, France for example, where if you pay 195E, you can follow the cowherds for a day, plus meals and accommodation: A day on transhumance in Aubrac 2013

And in Marseille, Theatre du Centaure is organising a theatrical transhumance event involving Morocco, Italy and Provence - and they're inviting participants to take their horses: see their details http://www.mp2013.fr/transhumance.... What's it all about: have a look here and see if you can work it out!  Theatre du Centaure Transhumance 2013

Meanwhile I'm planning a trip to Northern Caucasus to look for traces of Romanian shepherds there, and will soon be posting more about the village of Jina in the mountains where it all started.