We say goodbye to Brașov and drive to Racoș further north, where three natural sights are close enough to each other to leave the car at the parking lot, and hike to them all in a loop. A look around reveals beautiful Transylvanian countryside on rolling hills; I can even see a herd of sheep with shepherd and dogs.
Vulcanul Racoș is about 12 million years old and extinct—there is no danger of it erupting again. We can see two craters surrounded by beautiful layered rock faces and red (oxidized) earth everywhere; nature is reclaiming the area with sparse vegetation after slag (scoria) was excavated. I didn’t expect this volcano to be so engaging, but I find it very beautiful. From here, we start walking to the Emerald Lake—the hike takes us through wet meadows high up and around the lake, slowly snaking our way down to it.
Lacul de Smarald was still an active quarry for basaltic lava (mainly used in road construction) in the beginning of the 2000’s. As the mine deepened, a spring emerged and it, together with rain and snowmelt, formed the lake which is still rising by a few centimeters every year. The emerald colour comes from green algae and suspended rock flour that reflects the sunlight. I can see different rock textures in the old quarry walls around the lake and enjoy the peace and birdsong. We also watch an angler trying to catch fish… I can’t help but wonder how fish would get up into a quarry lake, and the fisherman tells us, while he continues to spin fish, that they were brought up and released into the lake.
As we walk towards the Coloanele Bazalt, I encounter two large natural rock sculpture that my eyes interpret to be two giant songbirds. Well, my friend agrees on one of the rocks, but insists that the second looks like a frog. I can see her point, but stick with the birds in my own imagination. The basalt columns are about ten meters high and were formed as the lava from the nearby volcano’s eruption started cooling down. They are not quite as impressive as I had expected, but still worth seeing once you’re there anyway.
After hiking back to the car, we have tired feet and hungry stomachs, so we make our way to the only restaurant of the small town (or village) of Racoș, run by a Hungarian family. The host is incredibly hospitable, even though they have two big groups to attend to. He even brings out a couple of home-made pălinca’s (fruit brandy), which smell delicious, but I can’t partake because I am the driver. He is happy to have one with my friend though. The food is simple but good, and we enjoy our stay there.
With filled stomachs and rested feet, we drive from Racoș to Șinca Veche, where we visit a cave that used to be an orthodox monastery. A tented roof is installed over top of the cave, and a nice little park is arranged around it. A guide meets us at the entrance to the cave and talks to us in English about the use of the different parts of the cave (see photo of sign). There are scaffold shores in some of it to ensure its stability, and religious icons are placed throughout. The walls are all scarified by equipment that was supposedly used to remove graffiti.
The only impressive part of this cave is the tubular chimney-like cave, which the guide said was used as hidden entrance to the cave from above. There is a spiral carved into it, and it has a certain beauty. After we are done in the cave, we walk through the park and up the steps to a souvenir shop in a little dome house, which I find cool from the outside. And we visit the chapel where supposedly fragments of the bones of some saint are on display. Paintings of saints and other religious icons take up every inch of the chapel’s walls, and I find it oppressive, so we leave very soon. Overall, I can’t say that Șinca Veche was really worth a visit—for me personally.
We make a little detour to Poiana Narciselor, the meadow of daffodils, on the off-chance that the flowers might have emerged already, although we know it’s a long shot for the time of year and cool weather in the mountains. We find the meadow and can see that it would be a great spot for families and picnics in the summertime, but no daffodil is showing any proof of its existence. It’s rather cool and rainy, and the meadow is soaking wet, so we don’t spend any time here and drive to our next spot to stay a couple of nights in Avrig, Patatul Brukenthal. More about that in the next post.
Well if the big one hits you will probably sleep through it! Lol
Good for you for getting you feet in shape for hikes like these ones!
A so you are driving! Got my answer.
C
Thanks for sharing Dee, definitely not one of the most interesting places you have shared however very peaceful & very surprising no sign of Daffodil’s perhaps a ploy to get visitors 🙂
The red earth reminds me of Prince Edward Island! We did not have any volcanos however and I’m surprised that Romania does!
Well, Romania also has earthquakes – a big one every 40-50 years. The last one was in 1977, so… do the math.