The Bugeci Mountains
The cliffs were impressive but that was about all. We hiked into the Bugeci Mountains in Translyvania today and we're still debating whether the hour and a half wait at the Bustemi cable car, that took us to the Cabana Babele where we started, was worth it. The cable car, once we got on, whisked us to a height us 2206 meters in twelve minutes. Every time the cable passed a support tower there were cries of "Woe" from the passengers packed inside. There were moans of disappointment when the scenery disappeared into thick clouds and whisperings of "Ah" when we emerged on top of them.
As the car climbed higher we raced toward the front of a giant cliff - fast. It felt like we and the cliff might become one. Then we pulled up over an alpine plateau into the docking station. The hiking looked flat, with rolling hills extending to the edge of the cliff that was still cloaked in fog. Initially it looked like it might be a nice outing. But quickly our impression changed. We are outdoor people; we like to see nature protected and cared for. The first thing we saw was a huge pile of cans and paper heaped into a mound along the trail. From there we saw trails of erosion leading in every direction. A road had been built on the plateau and, where it was impassable, trucks maneuvered around to create more destruction. We thought we had escaped the belching truck fumes of the city to a place where our throats might begin to heal. But at Piatra Arsa, we had to jump onto a hill of debris to avoid being hit with flying rocks as one truck tore down the road in front of us.
We decided to continue an hour and a half to the Sinaia chair lift and head back that way. Along the trail we passed a training track (at least that's what we thought it was), then herds of sheep, cows, cow patties and plenty of dogs, even horses. But the horses weren't running through the pastures. They were standing perfectly still, their front two legs tied together. And then we saw something that we couldn't identify until we got close. From a distance it looked like an garbage dump. Up close, we saw raised buildings who's rubble had been left where it fell.
The final leg of the hike up to the chair lift was an ecological disaster. Erosion was so severe that the original trail had disintegrated. New trails were in every direction. Plant life had been destroyed. Feeble attempts at erosion control - stacked sticks tied to larger logs, fenced off by barbed wire - were broken and running down the hill as fast at the dirt that carried them. In the Winter this area is used as a ski resort. We had to wonder how many accidents there are with skiers falling onto hidden barbed wire or broken hunks of cement.
Eventually at the top of the hill we boarded the chair lift and then another into town. As the jagged cliffs shrunk to tiny peaks in the distance they looked impressive; we both agree that what we had seen on the other side of them most assuredly was not.
