In the eastern part of Mureș county, near the boundary with Harghita, the hills rise towards the volcanic mountains of the Eastern Carpathians, and the villages are mostly Hungarian-speaking. This is part of the Székely Land, home to the Székelys, a Hungarian-speaking people who settled here in the Middle Ages to guard the eastern frontier of the Kingdom of Hungary, and who maintain a strong identity, with their own runic script, carved wooden gates and fortified churches. Câmpul Cetății, the field of the fortress, is a village near Eremitu, and the site of Cetatea Săcădat is one of the elements of the Roman frontier listed by UNESCO, on the eastern edge of the province of Dacia, where the Romans built a line of forts and towers along the foothills of the mountains.
Sovata, about ten kilometres away, is a spa resort famous for its salt lakes. The most remarkable is Lake Ursu, the Bear Lake, a heliothermal lake: a layer of fresh water on top of salty water traps the heat of the sun, so that the water a metre or so below the surface can be much warmer than at the top. Bathing in it is a strange experience, and it is popular for its supposed health benefits. The resort has wooden villas, parks and forests.
Nearby Praid has one of the largest salt mines in Romania, with vast underground chambers used as a treatment centre and recreational area; you can descend by bus into the mine and spend time in the salty air. The whole region sits on a huge salt deposit, and salt springs and salt rocks appear on the surface in places.
The riding is excellent. The roads from Sovata into the mountains climb through forests with tight bends, and the road over the Bucin pass towards Gheorgheni is a classic, with long bends, good surface and views over the mountains. The minor roads between villages are narrower and more variable. Watch for livestock, carts and wildlife, including bears, which are common in the forests of the Eastern Carpathians.
Sovata has fuel, shops, hotels and restaurants. Try kürtőskalács, chimney cake, a sweet pastry cooked on a spit and coated with sugar, sold at stalls everywhere in the Székely Land, and a bowl of goulash soup.