“Over the hills and far away”

Time: 6.00 am

Place: The bus station

Reason: To catch the Cluj Napoca- Abrud bus, to travel up to Campeni and from there to continue our journey by foot up to Rosia Montana. Thank God that people seem to be nice and friendly up there and they are willing to give one a ride to town.

We walk around the town and I discovered that it was much bigger and more deserted that I imagined. Beautiful old houses, with nice details and wooden windows were on the verge of collapsing and still their impact on the viewers remain intact. Most of the ruined houses had “Property of the S.C. Gold Rosia Montana” while the others had “The Road of the Gold” or “This property is not for sale” written on them.

While we left our tents, sleeping bags and other stuff at the information center, we thought about visiting the old mine. The guide was a nice old guy, ready to answer any of our questions about the mine (build by the roman, previously name Ablurnus Maior), about the village or about the places around.  The guys from the information center were also pretty nice: they gave us a ride, indicated what was worth visiting in the village and chatted with us several ours.

After almost 1 hour of hiking and climbing through the forest (well, it should be less, but we kinda are couch potatoes for most of the year), we got to the place where the Fan Fest was held every year. Not this year though, but still people were up there, by the fire, in tents, drinking, bathing in the lake, singing, chatting all in all having fun. We kinda walk around the camping, seeing both amazing views and deserted factories that spoiled all that.

Pluses: nice place, friendly people, great views

Minuses: if one doesn’t fancy sleeping in a tent, there is only one hostel, with fiew rooms available, and believe me, during the night, it is really, really cold in a sleeping bag.

Baffy Castel – Bontida

Build between 1437-1543, this castle has both baroc and renascentist architecture. Changed and destroied through the years, it has been used as a campaign hospital for the German troupes during the World War II and as a CAP during the comunist era.  Today, the restauration of this piece of Transilvania’s history has begun under the protection of Price Charles of Wales.

From Cluj – Napoca you can arrive there taking a 30 minutes train ride up to Bontida village and then a 6-7 km walk through the village. By paying 2 RON you get both the opportunity to visit the ruins and a nice postcard, and I tell you, it is worth visiting.

The place is far engouh from the village, from the main road and it is not often visited by tourists. The piece and quiet have a relaxing effect on the visitors. When I arrived there, the only people inside were some art students, living in a restaurated area of the castle, which came for painting or taking photos. Entering the gardens, on the left hand side, the restaurated buildings, white and beautiful, are for the moment closed for visiting. One of them though has inside a coffee place (called Art Cafe), where you cam sit and enjoy the view. I look throug the windows and, inside these buildings, some works of art (most of them partially destoried by a fired put by the German troops).

On the right hand side a the ruins. Buildings that are not restaured yet. You can go inside, explore the basement, walk through the galleries and look at the sky (since the roof is missing). You can imagine that there they were, ages ago, the ball room, the library (full off old books and manuscripts), and dormitories for the counts and barons living there. Unfortunatly, the ruins are now, place of disposal for PETs, beer cans and plastic bags.

Every year, a medieval festival takes place here. Maidens and Prices, horses, musicants fill up the place, bringing it back 5 centuries ago.