One of the most beautiful places in Romania

Our friend Gabi had told us about a place here in Romania that is very beautiful, but a bit of a hike to get to. It's called Fundătura Ponorului. 

From where we were parked, we mapped out a route that said it should be around 14 kms (8.7 miles). There are a lot of different trails in the area though, and it's difficult to know exactly which one to take. 

We set off at about 10:00am.

We left Max behind.

As you can see in the photo above, our doggy friend George had stayed the night and was lying at our front door when we got up. He came with us for the entire hike.

At the first turn on the paved road, we met a shepherd with a dozen or so sheep. He spoke zero English, but he asked if we were going to Fundătura Ponorului, and we told him we were. We understood that he wanted us to follow him, and he led us to an unmarked trail that was not showing on my map. It turned out that it cut a couple of kms off our route. 

Ruth, with our shepherd friend Andre.

Looking back at the village.

Leading the sheep.

Andre and his sheep.

We got to an intersection where there was an informational sign and I wanted to go in the direction that sign pointed. But Andre said no, pointing in another direction. I checked my map, and it was going to be an additional 7 kms (4 miles) to go that way, but he insisted. And I didn't have a cell signal so couldn't use google translate to question why. 

So we went in the direction that Andre suggested. And a little further on, we came across this sign.

Yep, sure enough that's where we want to go!

Beautiful scenery.

Enjoying the views.

Romania is such an easy country to explore, especially with a hiking in Romania guide to show you all of the best routes along the way.

Heading higher.

The route was uphill, but it was fairly gradual. It gains about 550 meters (1,800') over maybe 8 kms (5 miles).

Just a beautiful day.

The road we came up on.

We made it to Fundătura Ponorului.

Fundătura Ponorului is actually just a couple of big meadows surrounded by hills. There is a pretty stream of water running through the meadows. There are also several big sinkholes, and the stream disappears into a wall of rock and goes underground. The area is uninhabited during the winter, but there are several summer properties where farmers tend to livestock in the fertile meadows.

You can drive there, but it requires 4 wheel drive.

An old Romanian style cottage.

Once you arrive, there is a circular route that goes around and through the meadows.

Sure enough, it's a really pretty spot.

Can you see the cows down there?

Heading down to the meadows.

Traditional haystacks.

Field of yellow flowers.

George and a horse.

The stream.

Even the cows look like they're enjoying the beautiful day.

Where the stream disappears underground.

At that point is where the map said we were supposed to cross the stream. But it was too deep, and there was no bridge. Yes, we could have taken our boots off if we had to, but instead we backtracked a bit to find a fence that looked strong enough to get across...

Yep, we made our way across!

George is saying "why didn't you just run through it like I did?"

The view from where we sat and had our lunch.

Where the stream disappears underground.

Ruth and George.

He's such a good dog.

Ruth, where we sat and had lunch.

Time to get going.

One more look back.

On the way back down, we took the route that Andre had said not to take up. We now know why, or at least we think we know why. It's very steep! I mean, it was okay to hike down, but it would have been slow going to go up. And, not nearly as scenic as the longer route we took coming up. We're glad we listened to him!

Inside the old mine entrance looking out.

George is wondering if he should follow me!

So our planned 14 km hike turned into 18 kms (11.2 miles) and we were gone five hours. It was a wonderful hike and in perfect weather. George did the whole thing with us and when we got back to Max, he had a drink of water and plopped down in the shade underneath. He was done!

Later on, we were sitting outside having a drink and a pickup truck pulled in behind us. A friendly young guy got out, came over and shook my hand, and said a few words in Romanian. I said we spoke English, but that didn't change a thing. He gestured at Max, and the view and George and said something else. Then he picked up George and brought him to his truck and drove away with our dog!

Of course it was never our dog to begin with. It was likely his! He was fairly well fed, but was covered in ticks and fleas. Such a nice dog though, and very smart. We'll miss him, but we enjoyed our time with him. 

We woke up this morning, and who was lying outside our door? Yep, George. We gave him a few treats, but had to go. Fortunately he didn't try to follow us. He just stood there watching us drive away.

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