19/07/2018 - 24/07/2018
After our first stop in Romania, Timisoara, we really got a sense that we had landed in a country that we would love exploring and so it was time to hop on yet another bus and head into the land of bloodthirsty vampires, Transylvania. Some may think that this place is all but fictional but let me tell you that it really does exist and it's a pretty exceptional place too, bordered by the stunning Carpathian mountains meaning 'The land beyond the forest' where one can get their fantasies flowing among the endless medieval watchtowers, castle turrets and cobblestone laneways.
Our first stop in Transylvania was the city of Sibiu, voted the 8th most idyllic place to live in Europe by Forbes in 2008. We spent our time there walking the cheerful streets and admiring the Germanic architecture of the old town, built by the12th century Saxon settlers, a type of architecture seen throughout Romania when the Saxons came to help defend the region. We also had a giggle at the slit windows in many of the buildings roof tops which resemble a pair of peering suspicious looking eyes. We climbed the council tower to get a birds-eye view of the city and that night we were privy to a ballet show in the main square performed by the Sibiu Ballet Theatre, an art form I have never watched or taken an interest in but one I actually throughly enjoyed that night, or maybe I liked it so much because it was a free performance, and as a backpacker on a budget, anything you can get for free is a bonus!
The next day we ventured deeper into the Transylvanian country side to get a glimpse of Romanian rural life. We rented two mountain bikes from the little town of Cristian and headed on our merry way through some villages towards lake Gura Raului. On our cycle, immediately the phrase 'stepping back in time' rang incredibly true for us, feeling a little like we had gone through a time warp. I feel it is these little towns and villages of Romania that will really steal your heart and something you must experience if you do decide to visit. It's true here that famers still use horse and cart to transport everything from wood to their daily harvests and many of the roads are well trodden (good thing we had mountain bikes!). Little old men and women sit outside their houses on their wooden benches gossiping or just sitting in silence, often turning their curious heads at us, clearly the foreigners of the town, but if you give them a wave they will be happy to return the gesture. In the villages, the houses all face one another, each having a large archway which leads to a narrow courtyard where the horse and carts reside at the end of the days labour, where chickens roam free and where the vegetables and fruit are harvest.
We had a steep climb to the end of the road where the lake was and on the way, herds of cattle and horses were roaming freely at the side of the road, something the locals didn't seem too surprised by and obviously a daily scene in these parts. After a lot of heavy breathing we reached the end of the road but there was no lake to be seen, only a fast flowing river and a few weekend campers. There was definitely a lake here, going by google maps anyways but there didn't seem to be a way down to it. After a while, thankfully a few young fishermen led us in the right direction to a rusty old fence where we parked up and rested our tired bodies and admired the tranquil views around. On the way back from the lake we paid a visit to the sleepy old village of Fantanele, unbeknownst to us, another uphill cycle with the heavy mountain bikes but we got there in the end. From here then we got back to the town of Cristian just in time before the heavens opened and the rained poured down. The bus wouldnt be arriving for another 30 minutes but luckily for us a friend of the household where we rented the bikes was heading back in the direction of Sibiu so we delightfully accepted his offer of a lift. We were absolutely ravenous that night so we treated ourselves to a sneaky McDonalds and I have no shame in admitting that it was absolutely glorious!
So because transport in general in Romania is infamously unreliable and slow (I think we were probably spoilt in Serbia with their transport) and since there was so much we wanted to see in the Transylvania region, we decided to splash out and rent a little 1.5L Dacia Logan, a car brand that is actually manufactured in Romania. For the next few days we got to cover a huge amount of ground visiting firstly the largest citadel in Romania, Alba Lulia with its star shaped walled exterior and medieval centre and Orthodox church. From here we made our way to arguably the prettiest village in Transylvania, Rimetea, which is surrounded by the stunning backdrop of the Trascau Mountains and best known for its traditional white painted houses with green windows.
Our final stop that day on the way to the city of Cluj-Napoca was the Turda Salt Mine. A spectacular old disused salt mine that has been turned into a 112m deep underground games room where you can spend time playing anything from crazy golf, table tennis and bowling. They even have a amphitheatre that you can rent out, a ferris wheel and a lake where you rent row boats and gaze high up at the salt formations high above. This was a hidden gem for us and something that we have never experienced before on our travels and so were quite mesmerised by. That night we we stayed in the city of Cluj-Napoca and ate a deliciously tasty traditional meal in a little restaurant called Roata to make up for our not so traditional MacDonalds we devoured the night before.
The next day we ventured to the Turda Gorge, a natural reserve 6Km West of the town of Turda. The 1 hour walk through the gorge was flat and thankfully shaded with heading turning views of the gigantic granite cliff facades on either side of the gorge. I really wanted to get a view of the Transylvania landscape so dragged Paul up the side of a hill where I happend to spot the reminants of a gravely path. Here we caught our breaths after the steep incline, ate our ham, cheese and crisp rolls and admired the views of the rolling hills and shepards tending to their sheep below.
The next day on our way to Brasov we visited the medieval town of Sighisoara, another fairy-tale like fortified city with a history dating back to the 1100s and where cobbled streets and colourful buildings are evident at every corner. It is supposedly the home of Vladimir the Impaler, the real life Dracula and whose nickname is testament to how he killed his enemies.
Our final stop on the way to Brasov would see us visit the tiny little village of Viscri where time has once again lost track and where there is a beautifully preserved fortified church. For a couple like us who would not be overly religious we sure have visited some amount of churches on this trip so far, Romania in particular! Just be aware if you go to this village you will be met with possibly the worst roads we have ever seen with crater sized potholes. We really didn't think the tyres would carry us through but thankfully our little beauty of car didn't let us down. On the drive into the town you will see ducks, geese and chickens all roaming free. The local women of the town will be sitting out knitting or merely observing the daily activities around. If you haven't gathered yet from my other blog posts I am such an animal lover so to be honest I would have been happy enough to sit on the grass and admire the abundance of animals without visiting the fortress but I suppose it would have been shameful not to once there.
Translyvania is a mystical adventure and we thankfully still had one more city in its mountainous valleys to explore, onwards to Brasov.
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