Ortelec is a small village on the outskirts of Zalau, in the county of Salaj, in northwestern Romania, and the hill that rises behind it is one of the first ridges of the Meses Mountains. The Meses range is low, wooded and long, running southwest to northeast as a green wall between the Transylvanian plateau and the plains toward Hungary. The hill is a rounded, grassy summit with beech and oak forest on its slopes, and its crest gives wide views over the valley to the town below.
Zalau, about four kilometres away, is a town of sixty thousand people and the county seat. It has fuel stations, supermarkets, restaurants and hotels, so it is a convenient base. The town has a long history, mentioned in documents in the early thirteenth century, and its Hungarian name is Zilah. For centuries this region was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, and before that the Romans held the frontier here, at Porolissum, on the pass just to the north.
The riding in Salaj is good and mostly unspoiled. Roads climb over wooded ridges and follow quiet valleys between hay meadows, orchards and villages of long, low houses with sheds and wells. Surfaces vary. Main roads are generally sound, while village lanes may have potholes, gravel or livestock, and horse carts are still part of daily traffic. Distances are short, and you can cover a lot of countryside in a day. Spring has blossom in the orchards, and autumn is soft and golden.
Food is hearty and cheap. Expect sarmale, cabbage rolls stuffed with pork and rice, mamaliga, the cornmeal porridge served with sour cream and cheese, and grilled sausages. Plum brandy, called tuica here, is the local spirit, and the plum orchards of Salaj are well known. Hosts may offer a glass, and it is polite to accept a small one, though a rider should be careful.
In summer, the hills can be hot and storms build in the afternoon. Wild boar, deer and foxes live in the forests, and bears and wolves exist in the wider region, though you are unlikely to see them. Try to be off the forest tracks by dusk.