In northern Transylvania, where the Someș river winds through low hills between Dej and Beclean, the Roman Empire once ran out of land and patience. The province of Dacia, conquered by Trajan in the early second century, had a long and complicated frontier, and in 2024 parts of it were added to the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Muncel–Cărămidă is one of those components, a small military site above the valley near Poiana Blenchii, part of a network of watchtowers and forts that guarded the northern edge of the province. The big fort of Porolissum, near Zalău to the west, with its reconstructed gate, gives you a sense of what the bigger garrisons looked like.
There is little to see here beyond earthworks and scattered stones, but the landscape is worth the visit. The hills are a patchwork of small fields, orchards and woodland, with villages of wooden houses, painted gates and churches with tall spires. Horse-drawn carts still share the road with cars, and haystacks dot the meadows in late summer. The Someș valley is broad and fertile, and the river meanders lazily between willows and poplars.
The riding is gentle and rural. The main road along the Someș is busy with trucks, but the side roads through the hills are quiet, winding and sometimes rough, with potholes, gravel and the occasional dog chasing your wheels. The villages are close together, so speed limits change often, and police speed traps are common. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, when the hills are green or golden and the air is cool; summer can be hot and dusty.
Dej, about fifteen kilometres away, is a town of thirty-eight thousand with fuel, supermarkets and restaurants. It has long been linked to salt mining, and its old centre has a fine Gothic Reformed church. Cluj-Napoca, an hour away, is the region's lively capital. Eat at a roadside restaurant serving ciorbă, sour soup, sarmale, stuffed cabbage rolls, and papanași, fried doughnuts with sour cream and jam, if you have room.