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The
trip takes place in the Bihor Mountains, in the middle
of the Apuseni Mountains or West
Carpathians. The sweet landscape
host lovely authentic villages along the valleys and on
the mountains. The trips take place at altitudes between the 600 and 1400
m. The landscape is very varied with wide plateaus cut by deep valleys, with open meadows
and dense forest.
Lots of the hiking trails follow the tracks used by
the local population since ancient times. The region is inhabit by the
Moti (pronounced Mots). They are masters in woodcarving and you'll visit
an artisan craftsman during the trip.
You
walk through very authentic regions, some settlements
even didn't have electricity up till a few years ago. Special for some villages in the region is that
the whole population of the village moves to the higher alms during summer.
Unique is that they move with all their animals and stay for 4 to 5 months
in very primitive huts.
The
region is also very known for its magnificent caves. You will
visit the biggest ice cave of Romania.
There
are many endemic plants and you're walking several days in the
nature park Apuseni.
Your
trip ends in the village Albac where
you can make a kayak trip on the Aries River. Optional you
can extend your trip for this activity.
You
stay at 3 different very comfortable guesthouses, all
of them have rooms with private bathroom. You make from each guesthouse 2 roundtrips and you
make the connecting trips between the guesthouses.
The Romanian people are worldwide known for their generous hospitality. You’ll enjoy daily
traditional dinners, prepared with mostly homegrown products. In the morning
you have an extensive continental breakfast, at noon a lunch packet.
We provide you with maps and a very well
described road book. Besides the description of the road, we’ll give you
extensive information about the region as well.
You
can watch a short video clip by clicking the link:
We've
included a special page about the Apuseni Mountains:
click
here
Highlights of
the program:
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woodcarver,
ethnographic museum and in the village Patrahaitesti.
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Virciorog waterfall
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Old wooden
church in Girda de Sus
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Athentic villages and settlements.
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Ice cave of Scarisoara
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Ordincusa
Canyon
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Kayak trip
on the Aries River (optional)
The
program
Day
1 Arrival in Arieseni. Arieseni is a mountain
village near the ski resort Virtop.
Day 2 Roundtrip to the Varciorog Waterfall: You
climb the Varciorog valley, visit the waterfall and
walk in a wide circle on the Alpine meadows on the
slopes of the Biharia mountain to the Piatra
Graitoare peak (1578m). You descend via the
settlement Vanvucesti back to Arieseni.
Hiking time: 5-6 hours, 720m climbing and 720m
descending.
Day 3 Roundtrip to the woodcarver in the
authentic village Patrahaitesti. You climb towards
Patrahaitesit along the Cepelor Valley. Patrahaitesi
is a very picturesque village on the slopes of the
Biharia ridge. There is a woodcarver that makes the
bucium (typical horn for the region) and other house
hold items. You walk back to Ariseni via the
settlement Steu.
Hiking time: 5 hours, 500m climbing and 500m
descending.
Day
4 Hiking trip to Girda de Sus. You leave Arieseni
and enter the "nature park Apuseni". You
climb along the Cobles valley to the Arsurii hill. The
trip brings you through authentic villages, open
meadows and patches of forest. You descend via the
settlement Golgocesti to Girda de Sus, along the Aries
River. Hiking
time 6 hours, climbing 560m, descending 700m.
Day 5 Roundtrip to the authentic villages on
the slopes of the Biharia mountain. You
leave Girda along the Iarba Rea Valley and climb to
the settlement Biharia. There is also a woodcarver
here. You walk via the settlements Iarba rea and
Gligoresti back to Girda de Sus. Day
6 Roundtrip to the Ice Cave "Scarisoara" After
a short visit to the Poarta Lui Ionel cave, you climb
to the settlement Hanasesti and further on to Ghetar.
Ghetar is famous for the spectacular ice cave where a
huge block of ice covers the bottom of the cave and
keeps the temperature below zero so that even in the
hottest summer you can enjoy the splendid stalactites
and stalagmites of ice. Hiking
time 5-6 hours, 540m climbing and 540m descending.
Day 7 Hiking trip to Albac.
You leave Girda and walk along the Ordancusa Canyon to
the settlement Negesti at 100m altitude. You walk
along the ridge parallel with the Aries river over the
settlements Runc, Costesti, Sohodol and Fata to Albac.
A trip with splendid views.
Hiking time 6-7 hours, 400m climbing, 580m descending
Day 8 Roundtrip to the Albac Monastery and one
of the most difficult accessible settlements Potionici
where no car can get. You
walk by the settlements Rogoz, Dupa Plese and
Tamboresti along small farms, patches of forest and
meadows.
Day
9 Roundtrip on the northern ridge along the Aries
and Bistra River. It is a trip through the forest and
the settlements Tomusesti and Paltinis. Day
10 Trip ends after breakfast
| map of the trip |
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The moti |
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The inhabitants of the region call themselves "Moti" (pronounced moots) They might descend from the Celts, although they don't agree much with that. They prefer to have Dacians genes...
They settled in the higher mountains where they specialized themselves in woodcarving. Still now they are skilled masters and make wooden barrels, all kind of farm- and household equipment. They travel around to the villages at the other sides of the mountains with their typical long wagons, pulled by 2 powerful horses.
As everywhere in Romania, life in the mountains isn't very easy. Most people have several small incomes, agriculture is often the most important source. Because the narrow valleys along the Aries and its side rivers don't offer much grass or agriculture land, people were obliged to move with their stock higher in the mountains to the plateaus. In the beginning only during the summer season, later on they moved on the plateau to stay there year round. The population grew further and also there they were obliged to search further away new grass land. Now, a lot of farmers from the villages Ghetar and Casa de Piatra move each year to the huge Calineasa Meadow where they have enough grassland. They built there primitive wooden timber houses and stay from 20 May till end September in primitive conditions. This transhumance -where farmers normally only move sheep or cattle- went a stage further when the farmers move each year not only cattle or sheep, but all what they have; chickens, pigs, horses, wife and children. This happens because farming alone doesn't provide enough income and they cut timber as well. The men generally cut the timber, women and children herd and milk the animals.
Most of the authentic houses up in the mountains are made from wood. In the lower valleys the houses have a foundation from local rocks or river boulders and the first floor in wood. Unique for the region are the very steep roofs that you still can see at some barns in Ghetar or Casa de Piatra. This roof is not made from straw but from evergreen branches. Several layers of branches and tree bark are skillful put together, up to 1 m thick. Look also at the rafters. People use trees that grow near the margin of a canyon and have a typical half round shape. Most of these authentic houses disappeared, but the barns, built in the same style, remained. |
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typical
summer village in the Bihor Mountains |
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the
alphorn or "bucium"
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the
woodcarver in Patrahaitesti |
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saw mill |
a young
family |
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selling wood
and wooden barrels |
church in
Casa de Piatra |
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early
retirement is inexistent |
building
covered with evergreen branches |
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