Păuleni - Dealul Silaș and Călugăreni - Cetate

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Păuleni - Dealul Silaș

   Corund is a village where almost every house seems to sell pottery. Stalls line the main road through this Székely community in Harghita county, piled high with plates, jugs and bowls in white, blue, green and brown, painted with flowers and birds. Pottery has been made here for centuries, using local clay, and the craft is still alive, though much of what is sold today is made for tourists. Păuleni and the hill called Dealul Silaș lie nearby, an archaeological site among many in this land of rolling hills and forested ridges, with little to see on the ground.

   Read the complete Păuleni - Dealul Silaș write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Păuleni - Dealul Silaș is where the day begins. Next is Sărățeni - Casa Sării.

2. 2. Sărățeni - Casa Sării

   Salt has shaped this corner of Transylvania for thousands of years. Beneath the hills of the Sovata and Praid area lies a huge salt dome, and in places it reaches the surface, creating salt cliffs, salty springs and lakes. Sărățeni, a village in the Târnava Mică valley, takes its name from the salt, and Casa Sării, the salt house, is the local name for the spot marked here. The Romans valued this salt as much as Dacian gold, and the eastern frontier of their province ran along these hills, with a fort at Sărățeni among the posts that watched the valleys and, no doubt, the salt routes.

   Read the complete Sărățeni - Casa Sării write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sărățeni - Casa Sării comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Călugăreni - Cetate.

3. 3. Călugăreni - Cetate

   Călugăreni lies in the Niraj valley in Mureș county, in the heart of the region known as Székely Land, and here the signs, the conversation and the church spires announce that you are in a Hungarian-speaking part of Romania. The Székelys are a Hungarian community who, for centuries, guarded the eastern borders of the kingdom, and their villages, with carved wooden gates and whitewashed churches, are among the most distinctive in Transylvania. In Hungarian, the village is called Mikháza.

   Read the complete Călugăreni - Cetate write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 65 km into the recorded legs you reach Călugăreni - Cetate. Next is back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării.

4. 4. back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sărățeni - Casa Sării write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Sărățeni - Casa Sării, late in the day. Next is Păuleni - Dealul Silaș.

5. 5. Păuleni - Dealul Silaș

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Păuleni - Dealul Silaș write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Păuleni - Dealul Silaș. That is the ride.