15–day Holiday
(14 nights, 10 days riding)
"Carpathian Adventure"

In Transylvania, the land beyond the forrests, the mountains await your discovery on horseback.
The Romanian Carpathians are the only place in Europe where wild animals live in great numbers in the immediate vicinity of man. Because the Carpathian Mountains are not without a human population.
They shelter and feed people for thousands of years.

Here people have learned and still remember to live in harmony with Mother Nature. They don’t consume her because she looks after them.

Vast areas of virgin forrest are still untouched by human hand and on the mountain sides, far from civilisation in, in hamlets strewn between the valleys, people continue to live. They feed from the forrest, gathering fruit and mushrooms, grazing animals on alpine pastures, drinking from pure springs trickling out of stone or from streams that gather the forrest flavour on their way.

These people depend on horses as working members of the family: they transport people and provisions to link them with the wider world. This mutual dependance and partnership is centuries old.

The Romanian Carpathians are inhabited by the largest number of prey carnivours in Europe. Here roam in freedom more than half of the brown bears and over a quarter of the woolf and lynx population of Europe.

In this magical land we invite you to join us in a riding adventure to discover Nature in its full splendour.

We do not take you into museum or a reservation but in a corner of Europe where time has stood still and history froze into legend.

We invite you to ride over mountains and valleys where peace has its origin in the clean mountain air alongside the locals and their children in hamlets and villages forgotten by the fog of history.

This time we shall explore two of the most beautiful mountain ranges belonging to the Carpathian arch, the Cindrel and Sureanu ranges. (see the map)

Day 1: arrival, welcome cocktail, meet your hosts and discuss your holiday plan.
Dinner and accommodation.

Day 2: Get acquainted with your horse, warming up in the manege, ride around the Rahau village, 3 hrs, 20 km.

Day 3: Rahau - Deal - Carpinis - Fantana lui Marga - Valea Nedeiului - Martinie, approx.4 hrs, 24 km. Trout fishing and traditional dinner.

On the first day of our riding adventure we shall start early in the morning and we shall ride towards the mountains. On country roads and forrest paths we shall reach Deal and Carpinis in the Cindrel mountains and then we shall change direction and head south-west towards Fantana lui Marga.

At this point we can admire from a vantage position the panorama of the Sebes Valley and see far into Sibiu County towards the villages of Jina and Poiana.

We shall pass through beech and oak forrests, home to wild boar, wolves, deer and lynx and after a steep descent towards the Sebes river we shall cross Valea Nedeiului to reach Martinie, a small mountain village where we can try our hand at trout fishing and taste the local fare our hosts have prepared from their own farm.

Day 4: Martinie - Plesi - Vf Stroia - La Cruci - Carari - Curmaturi, approx. 5 hrs, 30 Km. „Outlaw” Dinner

On the second day of this trail, we shall rise high above Martinie and continue our riding adventure on mountain ridges with spectacular views far into the distance: we shall see as far as Sebes and Alba Iulia to the North and Jina – Poaina to the East.

High above Loman and Martinie, on winding sandy roads at 1200-1400m altitude, trot becomes canter and smelling freedom, Arab horses will need a reining in if they are not to break into a head-to-head race (willing riders may do this when your group is ready).

The wide open spaces alternate with stream valleys always in the shade, towards Plesi and Stroia Peak folowing the roads and passes used by shepherds to guide their flocks to alpine summer grazing.

Gradually the beech and oak forrests are replaced by spruce, pine and alpine meadows. In the villages below, for hundreds of years the yearly departure of flocks to the mountains is celebrated with a feast.

The shepherds gather the sheep from the surrounding hamlets and prepare to spend the next few months away from any civilisation. In the sheep folds, sheep are milked manually every evening and cheese is made from recipes handed down by generations. Stored in wooden barrels the cheese is transported down to the villages in the autumn and shared among the owners of the sheep.

Dinner with „outlaw” specialities is prepared by the Mihaila Family at Curmaturi chalet.

Day5: Curmaturi - Tomnaticel - Lac Canciu - Stana Prisacii - Poarta Raiului - Lac Sureanu - Luncile Prigoanei, approx. 6 hrs, 40 km. Bonfire Night and Party Songs.

From Curmaturi we shall rise to 1400 m altitude at Tomnaticel and will pass by Lake Canciu. Through Stana Prisacii towards Poarta Raiului (Heavenly Gate) we reach 1700 m altitude with wide alpine meadows walking the same paths as the wild prey carnivores.

Admire the glacier Lake Sureanu and head North-East to Luncile Prigoanei. After a long and hard day you will appreciate a strong tzuica and the warmth of the bonfire.

Day 6: Luncile Prigoanei - Lacul Oasa - Oasa Mica - Steflesti - Platoul Diavolului - Iezerele Cindrelului - Cindrel, approx. 6 hrs, 32 km

From Luncile Prigoanei we will start early in the morning towards Oasa, a large man-made lake 6 km long and cross at Tartarau to Valea Frumoasei.

From here we shall leave the Sureanu range and enter the Cindrel Mountains in the County of Sibiu heading for Cindrel Peak at over 2000m altitude. We shall travel through Steflesti Pass at Cindrel Springs (Iezerele Cindrelului) and the Devil’s Plateau to Cindrel Peak.

From this high altitude through the clean and rarefied air you can see far into the distance, you can see above smaller peaks and below the scattered summer houses seem like toys, linked by entertwined paths. WE shall stay overnight at a mountain lodge close to Niculesti sheep fold.

Day 7: Cindrel - Iujbea Rasinarului - Canaia - Serbanei - Raspantia Contu - Rozdesti - Gatul Berbecului - Muncel - Gradina Oncesti - Paltinis approx. 6 ore, 30 km. Romanian Night.

From here at Dealul Secarea, through the Batrana Mare and Batrana Mica sheepfolds we shall reach Muncel; from here we shall take the path to Gradina Oncesti and we shall stop at Paltinis, a mountain resort with its own ski slopes and holiday chalets.

After stabling the horses, we can take a stoll in the resort to check-out the pubs before dinner. In the evening we shall take part in a Romanian Night with specific food and possibly folk-dancing.

Day 8: Paltinis - Poiana Lupilor - Tomnaticu - Poiana Trandafirilor - Macaia Vanatorilor - Cisnadioara, approx. 6 hrs – 30 km.

Day 9: Cisnadioara - Prislop - Rasinari - Poplaca - Gura Riului - Orlat - Fintinele - Sibiel, approx. 7 hrs, 35 km. Highlight: visit to the Museum of Glass Painted Icons and Outlaw Evening.

Starting at Cisnadioara we shall pass through Prislop and Rasinari the birthplace of French Writer and Philosopher of Romanian origin Emile Cioran and following mountain paths through Dealul Cetatuii, Trainei, we shall reach Poplaca.

From Poplaca through the hills Magereaua and Dumbrava, through Gura Raului, Orlat and Fantanele, we shall draw a large circle through the mountains to reach Sibiel where we can visit the Museum of Glass Painted Icons; set up in 1969 from public donations it houses a valuable collection of Glass Painted Icons from various centres all over Romania. The museum has also wooden icons, peasant ceramics, furniture pieces, home textiles and antique Romanian books.

Day 10. Sibiel - Fantanele - Gura Raului -Rasinari - Poplaca - Orlat, approx. 6 hrs, 40km. Highlight: Transylvanian Evening with Sergiu Cipariu - a famous folk singer.

Starting at Sibiel we shall pass through Fantanele and Gura Raului and following mountain paths we shall reach Rasinari, the birthplace of Emile Cioran the French writer and philosopher of Romanian origin.

From Rasinari to Poplaca we shall take a wide circle through the mountains to reach Orlat where we shall meet Sergiu Cipariu, a virtuous of folk and ballad music.

Day 11: Orlat - Sibiel-Vale - Saliste - Gales - Tilisca - Rod - Poiana Sibiului, approx. 6 hrs, 30 km. Highlight: visit to the Ethnographic Museum Barbu Constantin

From Orlat we shall head toward Sibiel and from there to Vale, Saliste and Gales where we can visit the Ethnographic Museum Barbu Constantin. The museum has an indoor pavillion and several constructions in the garden with an inventory of 1300 pieces.

We will see tools and implements used in agriculture, sheep breeding, bee-keeping, fruit gathering and crafts: potter, hatter, carding, leather-making with illustrations of local customs.

In the garden we shall see a Saliste House with specific interior and a sheep fold from the 19th Century. From Gales we will pass through Tilisca and Rod toward Poiana Sibiului.

Day 12: Poiana Sibiului – Dobarca - Garbova – Reciu – Calnic - Rahau, approx. 6 hrs, 30 Km. Highlight: cheese and wine lunch at the Garbova vineyards.

From Poiana Sibiului we will start, passing thru Dobarca, towards Garbova. Here we are going to enjoy a real gastronomy feast by testing our traditional cheeses and local wines coming out of farmers wineyards of an area well known for its products.

After lunch we will head towaerd Calnic, via Reciu, where we going to have the opportunity to visit the Farmers’ Fortress. Build up by the Transylvanian Saxons in the 13th Century; the Fortress was the residence of the Saxons’ Greavs until the year 1430, when the last descendents of this noble family sold it to the farmers’ community in Calnic. From Calnic, we will be back to the Club, at Rahau, in time for dinner.

Day 13: Relaxation at Country Club or day-trip to Sighisoara.

Day 14: Relaxation at the Country Club or day-trip to Sibiu. Highlight: farewell dinner at Mesteceni.

Sibiu is one of the 7 Citadel Cities (Siebenburgen) built in the XIII-th Century by the Saxons who colonised this area to guard the mountain passes of the Carpathians.

An old mediaeval city, Sibiu or Hermannstadt by its German name is now preparing to become Europe’s Cultural Capital in 2007. Those keen on fine arts, can visit the painting collections of the Bruckental Museum and the old city.

On the outskirts of the Sibiu you will visit ASTRA, the largest open air museum in Europe with old houses, anexes and workshops from villages all over Romania depicting their ancestral way of life.

Day 15: Breakfast and Departure