Cluj Napoca, Transylvania and getting in to Budapest

So very, very, behind on this blog, Oy. Trying to keep up after a long day of riding is tougher than you think. Any who…on with the show!

When last we left you on this blog, Greg got us to Sighisoara. From there we hopped over to the last Romanian city on our Transylvania tour, Cluj Napoca. Whilst there we stayed at a lovely hostel owned by a young Romanian woman and her American boyfriend. Having both a local and a native English speaker show you around were a nice bonus. We did our usual thing when in a town for a few days-walked around like locals, did some sidewalk sightseeing, ate food, saw a movie, and planned our escape from Romania. We decided for yet another train, opting for the quick ad easy route over the Carpathians and past the possibly boring countryside of Hungry (not a lot of towns or campgrounds) into Budapest. The ride was uneventful through lots of fields; basically nothing much to see, so I’m glad we decided on the train.

wise words for a lot

A very tall tower in a park on a hill...

that gave this view

See the dark colors? Yeah, that's why we took trains to Transylvania 

More churches

Vampire culture a plenty in this region

 When we were in Cluj the hostel recommended the salt mines, Salina Turda a few towns over. They run extremely deep and it's utterly other worldly

a simple hobbit entrance

down a kilometer trek into the mountain side

Historic retired mining equipment

And an amusement park of sorts for visitors

Saltwater pond complete with row boats

Salt crystallization forming from the ceilings

This picture doesn't do the scale justice, we were so deep underground

another view of the pond 

Ping pong, Ferris wheel, playground and seating for concerts

a common sight in Transylvania 

We loved this house, it had a secret garden courtyard

Then we left. As mentioned we took a train over the Carpathians, which form a ring around the region, into Budapest. The countryside is beautiful but the ride would've been boring going into Hungary