Hiking in Fagaras mountains

Hiking the Fagaras Mountains is like entering in a world of natural beauty. Even with an average altitude of only a little more than 2000 meters the mountains are sometimes rough. Beginning at the hilly part in the east, you sonly let the last trees behind you and reach the ridge, from where you can almost see (with a little imagination) the whole trail. Hiking the ridge trail is an extraordinary experience. On the right there are the steep valleys on their bottom you can see the mountain villages (in Romania the mountain villages are apparently those villages which are closest to the mountains, even they are still at their bottom). On the left, on the contrary, there are the long and peaceful valleys on the south side. Even hiking on the ridge means a lot of elevation gain and loss during the trip. Each day ends in a hut. But be aware, the cabins are not on the ridge, but down in the valleys. So you can either enjoy going down or already thinking of climbing up again the morning after. The hospitality of the Romanian people is unique. Staying in a hut or being in the city, you always meet friendly people. Forget about all you might have read or heard about Romanians in western media. You will hardly meet friendlier and more hospital people anywhere. Traveling with a guide like Iulian is a guarantee to get in contact with interesting people and to see a lot of fantastic places. Even if hiking in the mountains is your main goal you should not miss the opportunity to visit Barsov City and the church castles located in the villages around. There are a lot of cultural monuments for all kind of interests: churches, castles, cities and so on. In most cases the pearls are a little hidden. But Iulian knows them all. Many building that look quite unspectacular from outside but are full of beauty inside. So do not miss the possibility to visit a country of so much beauty as long it is untouched from the mass tourism that is destroying the beautiful places all around the world.

july 2002 – Kern Daniel,Switzerland