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THE BALKANS 2008

ROMANIA. MARAMURESH, BIHOR MOUNTAINS AND TIMISOARA (Sept 2008)    photos

First, how did we come up with the idea of this 5-week trip to the Balkans? Because of unemployment! We both didn't work so we decided it's now or never. I specialize in low-budget travel, so we could still afford it.

Romania

Our first impression was not good, but with time we got used to some inconveniences, like horse drawn wagons without lights after dark or people walking on the road. First we visited villages Șurdești, Budești and Ocna Șugatag in Maramures, north-west Romania. Their main attraction are beautiful wooden gates and Orthodox churches. We made a mistake of taking a small road which was supposed to be a shortcut, but we ended up in terrain suitable for 4x4 and had to camp along the way. After the initial sunny spell it started to rain and it didn't really stop until we left the country. Our car broke down and we spent 2 days to fix it. It was difficult to communicate and I called Mihai from Hospitality Club. He and his parents were kind enough to offer accommodation in Cluj-Napoca and helped us a lot with our car. Without their help, it would have been very difficult to get going again.

Mihai shoved us a lot of mountain photos, and we decided to go to Padiș in western Romania. There are over 1500 caves in the area and we needed a way to hide from the rain. First we visited Scărișoara Cave, where the biggest underground glacier in the country is found. The place is stunning, with huge stalagmites made of ice. The next day we went to Ponorolui Cave, which has 2 entrances and there is a stream flowing along the bottom. It was a great adventure and a memorable experience, since everything was wet and slippery. We emerged dirty but happy from the darkness of the cave. We went to some other caves in the area and finally traveled south to Timișoara. It was a big surprise to find such a beautiful city and we liked it very much. We thought it was the most beautiful city of this trip.    photos