We were up early to head back to the station and jump back on the train to Bucharest where we switched trains to take us to Busteni. We came to this area in the winter to go skiing and on that trip we stayed in Sinaia and Azuga. This time we were there for hiking and plumped for the small town of Busteni, half way between the two, as our base. We rented an apartment for the duration of our stay so we could save a bit of cash by cooking some of our meals. The choice on offer however wasn’t great with it being peak season and we had booked last minute. It was more expensive than we had paid anywhere before and the standard was pretty low, think communist chic. Oh well, it will do and it was only a short walk to the town.
Busteni turns out to be a pleasant enough place with a main street with all the shops and restaurants you need. It was really busy however and as it’s on the main drag from Bucharest to Brasov, the high street was constantly clogged with traffic. This doesn’t really matter though as the town is set in a stunning valley with the craggy cliffs of the Bucegi mountains looming menacingly over the back of the town. This was our focus for the trip, to get up into the mountains.
We were up early (ish) the next morning to set off on our trek to the top of the cliffs and the rock formations near Babele Cabana. The walk to the start of the walk was quite a trek in itself. We believed the trail started from the cable car station ( trekking info is sketchy in Romania) which was a fair way from our accommodation. We finally found the cable car station and the national park headquarters. We had read that you needed to buy a pass for the park but the HQ was shut and the ticket machine was out of order. Well we tried to pay! A souvenir shop had a map so I quickly purchased one and I was happy with that, always happy when I have a map even if I am useless at map reading. Our trail started on the road behind the cable car and we could see the peaks rising high above us. It looked very steep and we hadn’t done much trekking for a while, we took a deep breath and put our best boot forward.
Our trail entered the forest to the right, while the trail to the left went to the waterfall. Most sensible people were heading to the waterfall. The trail through the forest was lovely and we were quickly climbing up and up. It was tough going but we were making good progress. As we came out of the forest the path became even steeper but we were rewarded with incredible views back down to Busteni. At least we could see the distance covered and height we had gained.
We pushed on and on but were astonished to encounter a large glacier blocking our path. We thought all the snow would have gone by July! We had to clamber over it to continue on the climb. I hadn’t thought to bring crampons. We reckoned that would be the toughest bit but no, the path turned into a rock climbing expedition now. Not quite, but we had to climb and scramble over some rocky parts but there were chains to help you up so it wasn’t too bad.
We could now see a hut on the top so we were nearly there and we plodded on with our goal insight. Soon we summited over a rise and were on the edge of the cliff at Caraiman Cabana. The cabana had seen better days but the view back down the valley was amazing and we felt we had got up the steep path in a decent time. We had a brew while we took in the vista and rested our weary bodies.
After a break we carried on towards Babele Cabana but at least now it was relatively flat and we could amble along. We had only encountered 6 people on the trail but now there were people everywhere. Oh yeah, most people get the cable car up to wander amongst the rock formations and then get the cable car back down. Lazy gits! There were nice views over the surrounding hills and there are lots of trails starting from here if you have the time or inclination. Babele Cabana didn’t look open either so doing multi day hikes in Romania would be tricky if no cabanas actually function. Apparently you could walk over to Bran from here and I really fancy attempting that trek one day, but not today. The plateau is studded with lots of strange rock formations and this is what people come to see or more precisely, stand on and take selfies. The modern world hey! One was called the sphinx but is wasn’t obvious which one, so can’t have been that good. We found a place away from the hoards to have our picnic and take in the scenery.
After lunch we hiked to a couple of view points before heading to the cable car to head down the mountain, yep we were going to cheat. Believe me it was a struggle getting up, but there was no way I was climbing down those rock faces and a glacier. I almost changed my mind when we went to buy a ticket for the cable car. 90 lei one way per person ! Are you having a laugh, that’s about 18 quid, nothing in Romania is that much. Our choice was cough up or get back on Shank’s pony. Reluctantly and Emma will attest to this, very reluctantly, I got my wallet out. To be fair it was a very spectacular ride down the mountain but only lasted about 5 minutes. Once we had walked back to town I needed a beer to recover from the walk and the exorbitant cost of the transport.
We woke with aching legs so thought we might opt for an easier hike today. Our plan was to take the waterfall trail like everyone does but then carry on through the forest to Sinaia and then hop on a train back to Busteni.
We had to do the same slog back to the cable car station but then we were soon in the forest heading towards the waterfall. It didn’t take long to get there and it was quite a nice spot. A seller was cooling beer in the pool but it was too early for that and we had to plough on towards Sinaia. Most people head back to Busteni from the falls so the next part of the walk through the forest was lovely and quiet.
The next leg of the trek ended at the small village of Poiana where we had to navigate the main road and pick up the trail in the forest again. This was more tricky than we anticipated with couldn’t find a marked trail but we did find a forest so we set off in what we thought was the right direction. We emerged at one point onto a dirt road and with no trail visible we decided to head down it as it must lead to Sinaia, mustn’t it ? We tucked into our picnic beside a small stream and then not long after that we could hear traffic and realised we were not far off Sinaia. By my reckoning if we cut right off the road through the forest we should emerge at Peles Castle. What could go wrong. We bundled our way through the undergrowth and we did indeed blunder out at the back of the castle through an area which was cordoned off to the bemused looks from the tourists taking pictures of the castle. You have arrived at your destination said the sat nav. After a quick cold Stella in the café overlooking the castle we headed down into the town to catch the train back to Busteni.
Apart from the fantastic hikes from Busteni, the only tourist attraction is Cantacuzino Castle and we had heard that there was an art exhibition being housed there with works by Mattese , Munch and Picasso, so we had two reasons to visit. The castle is a short walk from town across the railway line and we bought our ticket for the tour of the castle and also the exhibition ( 30 Lei ). We had time before the guided tour set off to look around the grounds. It is actually more a very impressive country manor rather than castle, built around 1900. Not as over the top as Peles but still a great building and set in lovely grounds. We were taken on a tour of the rooms, unfortunately for us this was in Romanian, but they gave us an info sheet in English with the basics on, so that was perfect. Then we went upstairs to view the art.
Now I was a bit dubious that they would actually have the famous Scream by Munch as they claimed in the blurb. The security was a bit lax for such a collection of priceless paintings and I was already planning a heist. They were of course reproductions which they probably got in Athena ( showing my age now) but it was nice to see the art and the building. On the way in we had spotted a bar on the terrace so we had to check that out. We enjoyed a cold beer as the sun set on the cliffs we had climbed the day before.
We really enjoyed our stay in Busteni and will definitely come back to do more trekking. It feels a bit more real than touristy Sinaia and there is more to it in terms of restaurants etc than Azuga, so yep a good base for the Bucegi mountains. I still can’t forgive them for the price of that cable car though!
