Poieni is a village in the foothills of the Apuseni Mountains, a few kilometres from Ciucea, in the west of Cluj county, and the hill the label calls Dosu Marcului is part of the rolling ground at the edge of the Vlădeasa massif. The massif is the high point of the area, a broad, forested range with a summit of 1,836 metres, and its slopes hold beech and spruce forest, mountain meadows, and a few remote chalets used by shepherds and hikers. In winter the peaks are white, and the snow lies from November to April.
The Apuseni are the western range of Transylvania, a mountain country apart from the main Carpathian chain, known for karst caves, gorges, and a distinct community of mountain farmers called the Moți. The land is cut by the Crișul Repede river, which flows west to Hungary through a deep valley, and the main road and railway between Cluj and Oradea squeeze through the gorge at Ciucea and Bratca. It is a historic crossing between Transylvania and the Hungarian plain, and traders, armies and pilgrims have used it for centuries.
What I can say is that the hillsides in this region have a long record of settlement, from Iron Age communities to the medieval period.
Riding here is excellent, though it requires attention. The E60, the main road between Cluj and Oradea, is busy, with heavy trucks, and overtaking is a game of nerve on the bends. For a calmer experience, turn off onto the side roads that climb into the villages, where the tarmac narrows and the traffic disappears. Spring brings fresh green, summer is warm with sudden thunderstorms, and autumn turns the beech forests to copper. Fog often hangs in the valleys on October mornings.
Ciucea, with a population of about four thousand, has fuel, shops and cafes, and Huedin, a larger town to the east, has more. Poieni itself is small, so fill up first. A bowl of sour soup and a plate of grilled meat in a roadside restaurant will keep you going. Keep an eye out for horse carts at dusk, and if the weather turns, find shelter early, because the mountain storms arrive fast.