Radio România Internațional

Tag: trail

  • Long-distance hiking and cross-cultural bonding

    Long-distance hiking and cross-cultural bonding

    Via Transilvanica is Romania’ s longest hiking trail. It
    connects sites that have been included on UNESCO World Heritage List. Via
    Transilvanica is also a vital connection between the local communities and various
    aspects of the heritage, including both built and natural legacy, but also the
    immaterial tradition. Via Transilvanica is rated as a most remarkable achievement
    for the Romanian Heritage, so much so that the European Commission granted Via Transilvanica
    the European Heritage Award 2023.


    Anna Szekely is Tasuleasa Social’s executive manager and
    the author of the Hiker’s Guide to Via Transilvanica. Anna told us it is Romania’s
    first long-distance hiking trail, running through the entire Romanian territory,
    north to south-west.


    This long-distance hiking trail was created
    in a bid to show Romania’s entire beauty and ethnic and cultural diversity. It
    was thought out in such a way that the hiker or the cyclist, or whoever comes
    to visit Romania, should discover Romania the way it is. First of all, I’ve
    told that before and I will say it again, it is also very important that we, the
    Romanians, rediscover the beauties of the country as we’re not aware of them
    just as yet. We cut through 400 communities with Via Transilvanica. These communities are very diverse and along the way
    we get to know more than 18 ethnic groups. We’re speaking about a stunning
    cultural and ethnic diversity. The heritage, we come across it everywhere, every
    step we take. Also, we cut through lots of rural areas, of which some are
    almost abandoned. There are villages on the brink of extinction, with a couple
    of elderly people who are still there but we don’t know for how long. And yet, since Via Transilvanica crosses those
    particular regions, the youngsters are invited to return to those areas. The
    rural areas have a tremendous diversity, we can find all sorts of traditions,
    food, we can have our fair share of very impressive culinary and cultural
    experiences.


    On the official site, at viatransilvanica.com,
    hikers even have a blog of their own, they even have an interactive group on Facebook,
    labeled Transilvanica Official Group.

    Anna Szekely:

    There people open the
    page and ask how they can take a hiking trail, they find their hiking companions,
    they also ask technical questions. There are very many useful pieces of
    information, yet most of them can be found in the Hiker’s Guide they can access
    on our website. The guide is translated into five languages. I really love
    speaking about it, as I am the one who wrote it. Together with my women
    colleagues, we documented the entire trail and we compiled this guide where all
    the needed pieces of info can be found, for those who are into taking up a long-distance
    trail. Also, it is downloadable for free. As a rule, we redirect everybody to
    the blog, so they can get info on accommodation, on the trail, of the trail
    map, on the regions, on the areas we cross. We have a verbal description of
    that, but we also have lots of technical data that re very important for a
    trip.


    Accessing the Hiker’s Blog, the tourist can find it easy to
    pick the segment of the trail he wants to take, as the trail is divided by
    days. So, a one, a two-day or a weekend-long hike can be planned, or a
    fortnight-long, or even for the entire trail. Even the organizers themselves
    answer the more technical questions. With details on that, here is Tasuleasa
    Social’s executive manager and the Author of The Hikers’ Guide to Via Transilvanica,
    Anna Szekely.


    There we teach prospective hikers to plan
    their hike in such a way that they should avoid getting lost, also planning
    their overnight stays, we inform them on the places where springs can be found,
    shops, or the emergency numbers. There are all sorts of very useful pieces of
    information. And we did have a great many foreign hikers. We ‘ve had most of
    them this year. We have foreigners from all over the world: from Australia, from
    Canada, from the United States of America, from Great Britain, from Germany,
    Switzerland, Spain, France. They have been very impressed with how the trail is
    marked. Let me also say one of our first foreign hikers was Christine
    Thurmer, who, two years ago, was a thru-hiker for the trail. She is one of the world’s
    most hiked women, with a record of more than 60,000 or 65,000 kilometres she walked
    around the world, on long-distance trails. She was the first woman to have had a
    thru-hike of this trail all by herself. She was the one who provided the greatest
    and the best feedback, for us, saying that through the andesite milestones
    marking every kilometre and which have various sculptures, we practically have
    the world’s longest fine arts and sculptures exhibition.


    Specifically, there are 1,400 such milestones marking a
    truly unusual hiking trail, and a full one, at that, in terms of the experience
    we can have, says Tasuleasa Social’s executive manager and the Author of The Hikers’
    Guide to Via Transilvanica, Anna Szekely. The uniqueness of Via Transilvanca has
    also enjoyed recognition since it was declared the winner of one of the
    European Awards for European Heritage, the Europa Nostra Awards in 2023. The
    Awarding ceremony was held in Venice in late September, with the vice president
    of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas,
    attending. The public’s award was granted also in late September. So Via Transilvanica
    was the most highly-appreciated European heritage project, for which 27,000 people
    cast their votes in favour.


    It is
    a great honor for us to enjoy international recognition, with that coming from the
    European Commission itself, and we keep our hopes alive we can live up to everyone’s
    expectations. I invite anyone from abroad or from Romania to come over and become
    familiar with the beauties of the country as they do their hiking, since it is
    one of the best and soundest ways to know the highs but also the lows of a
    country. This the best way to know and love Romania.


    Through its 1,400-kilometer-long trail, Via
    Transilvanica crosses 400 de localities and 10 counties, being divided into
    seven cultural historical regions. The trail connects 12 sites included on
    UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The construction of Via Transilvanica lasted for
    about five years, being completed with the support of 8,000 volunteer workers.

  • Romania’s beautiful mountain scenery

    Romania’s beautiful mountain scenery


    Today we’re heading towards the Calimani Nature Park in northern
    Romania, an asset where tourists are welcomed with a very generous offer. In
    winter, the ski touring is practiced, while in the summer you can go hiking for
    fauna-watching purposes. Moreover, since 2013, the administration of the park has
    opened a modern visiting center where educational exhibitions are mounted,
    promoting the tourist assets of the region. It is also here that the products
    are presented, manufactured by local craftsmen. Then you can take up a theme
    pathway, especially arranged for a two-hour journey in the invisible world of
    the Saru Dornei Tinov. Liviu Hutanu is Calimani National Park’s tourism activities
    official.

    Liviu Hutanu:


    It is one of the Calimani Massif’s
    protected areas, encompassing the upper third part of the Calimani Mountains. It
    has been declared a protected area since 2000. Here we protect numerous species
    of plants and animals, their habitats. We have been trying, to the best of our
    abilities, and in addition to the preservation activities, to develop long-lasting
    tourism or ecotourism, to use a trendier term. It would be unfair for us to block
    access to so many natural assets. The purpose of a natural park is preservation,
    but also the promotion of tourism in a given area, yet that is being done without
    affecting the preservation part of our work.


    Ski touring through the snow can provide unforgettable
    experiences. In the company of a park ranger specializing in the observation and
    interpretation of nature, you’re highly likely to discover traces of wild
    animals, you will be initiated in the secrets of the life and habits of the beasts
    in the forest. The route will be selected taking into account the timeframe the
    tourists opted for and in keeping with the weather conditions, over
    December-May. It roughly takes a seven-hour hike to carry the program, which
    also includes a rest break and a traditional snack. The fee for that starts from
    120 Lei and varies, in keeping with the number of people participating.


    Liviu Hutanu:

    We have more than 120 kilometers of
    tourist routes. We also have two theme pathways: the theme pathway of the 12 Apostles
    and the one in the former Calimani Sulphur exploitation. We have a marathon
    route, Via Maria Terezia, of which one third stretches
    along the protected area. Camping sites have been arranged, in the strategic
    points, near springs, we also have three tourist shelters. Actually, the
    tourist infrastructure has been properly taken care of and appropriately marked,
    especially for backpacking hikers. Therefore, we promote the non-polluting and
    environment-friendly activities..


    But what are the most important tourist objectives in
    the Calimani Nature Park?

    Liviu
    Hutanu:


    The most-often visited
    such asset, which is also the most beautiful one, which is also included on our
    logo, is the 12 Apostles Nature Reserve. Here you can find a cluster of rocks,
    of various shapes which, in time, have been given all sorts of names, stirring
    visitors’ imagination. We have, among others, The Marshall, Nefertiti, the Lion.
    Of these rocks, the one standing out and which is the most photographed, is
    named The Old Man. It is a big rock, 30, 40 meters tall, which, if viewed from
    three different angles, has the face of an old man. Most of the times it has
    been compared to the Sphynx in the Bucegi Mountains. It is a natural asset, but
    we also have an anthropic tourist asset. It is the Sulphur pit. It was opened
    in 1976. Thanks to the excavations there, since the Calimani Mountains are
    volcanic mountains, a cross-cut section could be created, of a volcanic cone. We
    can thus have the chance to see how the inside of a volcano looks like. It is
    something almost unique in Europe.


    Every hiking activity should begin from an information
    point. Here is Calimani Nature Park’s tourism activities official, Liviu Hutanu,
    speaking about that.


    Available for tourists is the Calimani
    National Park Visiting Centre as well as the other information points, with our
    park rangers being always there. The visiting center is one of the main attractions
    of the Dorna Country eco-tourism destination. The ecotourism destination
    certification was granted four years ago by the Tourism Ministry. The center
    has been thought out in a bid to enhance the destination’s attractiveness, but
    also with a view to increasing the park’s capacity to secure an accessible communication
    with the visitors. The latter are being kept abreast of the hiking routes, tourist
    assets, or the restrictions that are in place in a national park. Here tourists
    can find an educational exhibition focusing on the assets of the park, there is
    also a corner of the items hand-crafted by the locals. In the courtyard, a
    theme hiking route has been arranged, along which the area’s craftsmanship
    activities are presented. The Saru Dornei Tinov Reserve can be found close by.


    For the near future, the Calimani National Park Administration
    has been carrying a couple of projects which are ongoing. Liviu Hutanu once again.


    We intend to set up a research center
    in the former Sulphur exploitation. We also want the center to be a Salvamont,
    Mountain Rescue Service basecamp. We also want several children’s playgrounds
    to be set up there, for the holiday camps we have in the region. On the
    territory f the park, as we speak, we have only one mountain biking trail and
    we intend to create two more such trails. We welcome all to come visit us, from
    the bottom of our hearts. Those who would like to visit us need to know the
    Calimani Mountains are not very steep, the trails are relatively easy to take
    and even accessible for families with children. The scenery is unaltered and we
    have hundreds of hectares of primary forests. We brag about the fact that you
    can walk around the park for three, maybe four days without meeting other human
    beings. So, for all those who want to live a wildlife experience, which is at
    once accessible, the Calimani Nature park is one of the best options for them.


    The invitation has been launched, In the hopes that we have
    talked you into visiting the Calimani Nature Park, next time we’re waiting for
    you with a new tourist destination.

    (EN)