Home » Romania » Romania Travelogue - 7th June - Sinaia

This morning we had to pay an extra 20,000lei because we exceed our 200,000lei breakfast voucher. Our original plan for the morning was to get the cable car from Sinaia centre and continue trekking from the cable car descent. Thanks to the hotel receptionist we found a shortcut to arrive to the centre of Sinaia by taking a secondary road behind the hotel reception, passing through the forest in front of the lovely Sinaia monastery and finishing in the centre after 20 minutes.

Romania Travelogue - 7th June - Sinaia

Mike Krupel
2006-06-28 19:34:29

Displayed times (last time: )

This morning we had to pay an extra 20,000lei because we exceed our 200,000lei breakfast voucher. Our original plan for the morning was to get the cable car from Sinaia centre and continue trekking from the cable car descent. Thanks to the hotel receptionist we found a shortcut to arrive to the centre of Sinaia by taking a secondary road behind the hotel reception, passing through the forest in front of the lovely Sinaia monastery and finishing in the centre after 20 minutes.

Like the other centres so far, Sinaia centre is basically Boulevard Carol I which is lined by various shops and taxis at every corner. When we arrived at Hotel Montana where the cable car is located our luck abandoned us because the cable car was closed for maintenance. We tried to locate the natural history museum for assistance on nature trails but apparently the museum was completely closed down. We resorted to our lonely planet trail map and decided to get a taxi to Hotel Furnica, which is only a few meters away from Hotel Economat, and ask the receptionist for assistance. This time the plan worked and the receptionist indicated northwards from her location towards two trails, a blue one and a red one. We choose blue.

The first part of trail is a normal road with no attractions whatsoever except for a solider s quarters. Romania is littered with urban camouflage soldiers carrying a Kalashnikov especially in tourist attractions. The trail is a constant ascent probably leading to Cota 1400 where the cable car station and Hotel Alpin lie. There are so many trail markings that even a plant can complete the trail. The trail path is excellently maintained and clearly delimited.

Since the trail is constantly uphill it is quite tiring but as soon as we arrived at the peak the breathtaking scenery erased our exhaustion, yet the best part of all this had still to come. A few meters after we started our descent back two large birds flew off in the forest and instinctively my better half raised her head and spotted a young Ural Owl perched in the tree above. I started hyperventilating in excitement and awe while she struggled to get a memorable photo. After our eyes feasted on such a beauty and we decided to leave, we spotted another one, then another, then another. Just as soon as we left the poor owls in peace one of their parents flew off from another tree. Orgasmic experience!

Although the Ural Owls were without any doubt the loveliest animals they weren't the only ones. The first week of June was brilliant for birds because most of the species were with their young. Most of the young were struggling with their first flight so it was easy to spot them. Chaffinches and black birds filled the whole forest floor with their hustling of leaves and lovely song. A collared flycatcher was also nesting in one of the trees. In the morning, while we were walking towards the centre of Sinaia there was a spotted woodpecker's nest with young on a tree just besides the pavement. At the end of the hike we saw dippers also with young, at a small river for the joy of my loveliest.

The last thing worth noting about this ultra active day was the discussion between myself and the train station attended. I was asking about tomorrow's trip to Tulcea and she thought that I wanted to go to Turkey. Thats what I call importance of correct pronunciation.