1 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:06,600 Romania is a land of a thousand faces. 2 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,200 The crossing point between the Occident and the Orient, 3 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,960 and a melting pot of different cultures. 4 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:26,560 It is also a country unlike any other in Europe. 5 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,720 With over 60 percent of the Carpathian Mountains weaving through it, 6 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:36,120 Romania is the custodian of Europe's last great wilderness area, 7 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,120 its largest remaining forest, 8 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,240 and two thirds of its surviving alpha predators. 9 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:47,800 As well as native Romanians, 10 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:50,440 it is home to a Saxon and Hungarian culture, 11 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:55,840 Roma, Aroman, Lipovan, and many more disparate peoples, 12 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,760 who have been united by the borders of a nation, 13 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:03,320 that stretches from the edge of Serbia, Hungary and the Ukraine, 14 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:05,240 to the very mouth of the Danube. 15 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:11,760 Here Europe's largest wetland fans out into the Black Sea, 16 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:17,920 and provides the country with yet another vast, priceless and fragile ecosystem, 17 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:23,520 a haven for wild birds, interwoven with countless waterways, 18 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,880 reed beds and lakes that meander for over 3,000 square kilometres. 19 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,320 Inland, Romania is rich with ancient villages, 20 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:40,120 majestic national parks, ruined castles, historic cities, 21 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,840 and a legacy that dates back thousands of years. 22 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:49,280 But increasingly this unique country's natural and cultural heritage 23 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,920 is under threat from reckless development 24 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:54,520 and a race to modernise, 25 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:59,000 which is often destroying the very things that could ensure prosperity 26 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,800 and a sustainable livelihood for generations to come. 27 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,000 Over the next eight episodes 28 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,720 I will be embarking on a road trip through Romania's eight historic regions, 29 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,000 discovering fabulous treasures... 30 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:17,440 natural wonders... 31 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:19,680 medieval marvels... 32 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:22,920 mouthwatering dishes 33 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:24,560 and the people that make this 34 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:27,920 one of the warmest and most hospitable countries in the world. 35 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,760 En route I will be picking up some sensational recipes, 36 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,960 hearing songs and tunes that have almost been forgotten, 37 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:41,960 and meeting a handful of people that still remember and preserve them. 38 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,320 We will also be finding out how this hugely misunderstood country 39 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:50,920 is emerging from post Communist chaos, 40 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,120 and identifying some of the challenges it faces, 41 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,160 and how tourism could provide one of its best hopes for the future. 42 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:27,760 Welcome back to the second half 43 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:31,320 of our mammoth meander across Transylvania. 44 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:32,800 In the last episode, 45 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,720 we travelled from a hidden eco-village, deep in the Apuseni hills, 46 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,800 via Alba Iulia and the Transalpina, to the Saxon heartlands. 47 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:57,520 This time around, 48 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,360 we pick up our journey in the fields just outside the scenic village of Crit. 49 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,760 I am here to visit friend and entrepreneur Krishan George, 50 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:10,800 who is attempting to combine agro-tourism with the fine art of buffalo farming. 51 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:23,360 -Krishan! -Charlie! 52 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:24,840 -You heard me coming. -Yeah. 53 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:26,800 -How are you? -Good. 54 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:28,880 -Let's go up. -It's all looking very nice. 55 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:31,120 -You've been busy. -Yeah, a little bit. 56 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,960 -Have a seat. -It's coming on, isn't it? 57 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,520 Yeah, it is. It's nice in the summer, winters get a bit cold. 58 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,560 Your fruit forest is growing nicely. 59 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:47,560 It is. It's the first year I've put a little electric fence around it, 60 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,480 so the bufallo couldn't get in and wreck all the trees. 61 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:52,120 What's the idea of the fruit forest? 62 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:57,160 Basically, we are trying to change the orchard into a edible forest. 63 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,400 It's something that I wanted to try, but it's quite a big spot, 64 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:02,680 and it's only me trying to dig it up, 65 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:04,880 so that's why volunteers are quite helpful with this. 66 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:08,800 The house over there looks like it's come on a bit. 67 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,680 Yes, it's a house from the local village that they were selling as firewood, 68 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,280 so I've rescued it, moved it onto the farm, 69 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,280 and hopefully in about a month and a half I'll finish it. 70 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,400 Seems like an awful lot is happening actually. 71 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,400 Yeah, well it's been ten years, I bought it in 2006 I think at auction. 72 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,800 -When did the bufallo arrive? -About 2010. 73 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:31,800 How are they doing? 74 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:32,800 They are not bad, 75 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,320 they're sort of big beasts and some of them are quite friendly. 76 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:37,360 -Can we go and have a look at them? -Sure, yeah. 77 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,680 And are you are using them for meat or milk? 78 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,680 Milk and meat, but there's no prices, 79 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:51,000 so that's why I think I'm moving towards tourism to suplement the income, 80 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:53,280 'cause I can't survive on farming itself. 81 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:55,480 Charlie, this is one of the groups. 82 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:59,480 And this is south facing, the main tree, the bushes around it. 83 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:00,360 Lovely! 84 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,320 And then in the middle here we can start then once the grass has gone, 85 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:05,680 start growing other things. 86 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,800 Look, red currant, few more days, I think next week. 87 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:15,480 And we've got mint, wild strawberries, just the berries, blackcurrants. 88 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:16,760 The bears will be ready, so... 89 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:19,680 Well, this is interesting because the bears are coming so much closer now. 90 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,400 Actually, last night the dog started barking, 91 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:24,800 and I've shone the torch towards the back of the house, 92 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:28,520 and you can see the eyes of something large, a mammal moving around there, 93 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:29,840 and it scared the dogs quite a lot. 94 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,680 It must've been a bear taking up residence in the little house there. 95 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,920 Let me introduce my little guys here. 96 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:39,000 -Not so little. -No. 97 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,960 Look, look they are ruining one of my trees, scratching, see? 98 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:44,760 That is what they do. 99 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:47,560 That's what they do, I know, but that's why I had to fence it off. 100 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,320 This whole model of the one or two buffalos per family 101 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:54,640 has sort of dissapeared because the older people no longer have the ability 102 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:56,680 to look after these wonderful beasts. 103 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,000 Now there is about four or five larger farms in Romania, 104 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:00,880 where they have more than 40 animals. 105 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,880 So what's happened is that they've just been disappearing. 106 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,440 Now buffalo milk is a thing of the past, people talk about it, 107 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:09,320 but nobody can find it. 108 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:11,760 Come and have a look at this guy. 109 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:13,280 -That's your bull. -This is my bull. 110 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:16,000 Hello, mate! 111 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,480 I got him when he was young, and he was so friendly, 112 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,800 he used to come as sort of do this kind of stuff when he was younger, 113 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:26,160 but now he is this size and it hurts. 114 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,320 People are a little bit worried about him, but he is not... 115 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:29,760 He's just got a very very nice character. 116 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:33,680 And this is what they do, they can't control the body heat, 117 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:37,880 so what they do is they go into the mud, they like the water, 118 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,480 so they are all sitting in the stream. 119 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,680 This is the milking herd so there are now about 30 here, 120 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:48,480 and the rest of them are up at the top of the hill, about another 130. 121 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:49,880 And those are primarily for meat? 122 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:52,440 No, they all sort of get into this milking cycle, 123 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,480 so when they calf they bring them down and put them with the milking herd. 124 00:07:55,560 --> 00:08:00,800 So you'll see some young calves here also and they're all kept together. 125 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:01,920 I'm trying to keep them around the farm area 126 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:03,560 so they don't have to walk to much. 127 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:08,160 What's the difference in terms of the milk between buffalo and normal cattle. 128 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:13,520 A lot more fat content and its Omega 3, so it is very good fat, 129 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:18,680 and it's about 10%-8% fat, whereas the cow milk would be about 4.5. 130 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:20,800 That young girl will milk for 20 years, 131 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,800 whereas a cow might just do one milking cycle. 132 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,960 That's why tourism and my little house here, hopefully, 133 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:32,920 will assist me in keeping these lovely animals content for a few more years. 134 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:39,520 Charlie, this is the reclaimed house, 135 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:42,800 looks like a lot of work, but there's not really that much going. 136 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:44,840 You've got the main structure, haven't you? 137 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,880 What I've done is I've insulated it with clay straw, 138 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,400 but I just mix it like a salad dressing and I put it in here, 139 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:55,840 and than we plaster onto that. 140 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,600 I've done this with volunteers and all I'm doing now 141 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:02,800 is I'm putting the floor down, the kitchen, bathroom, 142 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:04,400 and then we are good to go. 143 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:09,800 Most of this stuff, the know-how comes from Youtube, 144 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:10,760 and than we test it out. 145 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:15,800 I love it, so you've been learning online how to build a semi cob house? 146 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:17,120 Yes, but than you know, experimenting with it as insulation. 147 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,400 I'd rather not buy what's in the shops at the moment, 148 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:23,880 and I would like it to be breathing with the natural ingredients. 149 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:25,280 Which is how it would have been. 150 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,920 And it's cheap and I'd just like to see if it is workable, and it is. 151 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,120 Yeah, so now we plasture on with lime plaster. 152 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,200 Put the floor down, decking and that's it. 153 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:36,280 Yeah. 154 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,240 And people come here to rent it out for a night or...? 155 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,120 I'd like longer term tourists, that's what I want. 156 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,680 People who say OK, I want to hang out in Romania for a bit, 157 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,280 to get the feel of the culture and that's the only way to do it. 158 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:49,760 They are surounded by nature. 159 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:52,640 You've got bears as you said coming round the house. 160 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,000 Yeah, I mean we've seen the bear from here last night. 161 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:57,800 So you haven't had a lot of help to set up the farm, 162 00:09:57,880 --> 00:09:59,280 you've done it pretty much on your own. 163 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,800 Yeah, it's still very difficult to get things moving, 164 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,520 because most of the local people are leaving, 165 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:08,000 and they are working in Europe. 166 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:11,000 I mean the people that I've known here that helped me 167 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:13,880 have been really indispensable. 168 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,400 But finding people to work on a daily basis, 169 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:18,880 milking or feeding the animals, 170 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:21,800 or things like that it's gone. 171 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:26,200 They're all in London or Paris or somewhere in Germany cutting asparagus, 172 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:27,280 you know. 173 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,920 Which is why you've got volunteers coming from Western Europe, 174 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,280 to come and work here instead. 175 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:32,360 Exactly. 176 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:36,720 So if you have a yurt village up here, with this view, 177 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,720 people will wake up and maybe even see bears in the morning? 178 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:44,120 I'm sure, there are a lot of bears, every day we see bears here, 179 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,280 and some a bit too close, especially when the buffalo are up here, 180 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:51,160 and they are calving in this area, we really have to be quite careful. 181 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,800 I have bee hives a bit further down, 182 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,200 and last year we've lost four or five hives 183 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:58,200 because of the bears keep coming in. 184 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,520 -Just by the house. -Just by the house yeah, very fearless. 185 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:04,800 Is there much shooting, hunting? 186 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:08,800 Hunting. There's a guy over the hill over there and there's a bear hide, 187 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:09,840 but they shoot the bears. 188 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:11,640 Tourists pay money to go and shoot a bear 189 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:16,680 and it's called sport when you shoot the bear 20 meters away from a hide. 190 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:21,120 They shoot my dogs because my dogs got after the smell of the meat, 191 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,240 the dogs scare the bears off obviously 192 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:25,000 cause they are eating the meat that they put down for the bears, 193 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:27,800 and they shoot the dogs, so they don't come back. 194 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:30,120 And I've lost six dogs, I think. 195 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,160 I mean I haven't been up there for about a year, 196 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:35,960 and also after the last dog, I was quite sad. 197 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:38,480 -But now apparently... -It's illegal. 198 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:40,120 Apparently it's illegal, yes. 199 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:44,400 There's something there, look, just by the trees there. 200 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:45,120 I don't know what it is. 201 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:47,840 -It's a deer. -Yes, it's a deer is just crossing over. 202 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:08,320 Two valleys over from Crit is Racos, one of Transylvania's secret treasures. 203 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,320 Surrounded by breathtaking volcanic landscapes, 204 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:14,120 this Hungarian and Romanian speaking community 205 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:18,640 is custodian to Sukosd Bethlen, a crumbling Renaissance castle, 206 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:20,560 that is definitely worth a stop. 207 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:37,600 Be advised however, 208 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:41,280 the townsfolk have never had the funds to finish the restoration, 209 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,720 so you need to tread with a certain amount of care. 210 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:54,680 This is a health and safety disaster waiting to happen. 211 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,160 The problem is the local people were given money to do the repairs, 212 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:01,800 and then funds ran out. 213 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:04,320 Quite spectacularly! 214 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,840 You can see where there are no more beams here, just these struts. 215 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:10,920 Unfortunately, 216 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:15,920 they're unlikely to get more funds 217 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,680 which means this place is going to sit here and fall down again. 218 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,640 It's really sad that no one seems to care. 219 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:29,120 Why can't we make money available to rescue places like this, 220 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:34,280 so they can be preserved, restore them in the correct way, 221 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:40,720 so they can live again and be a fantastic addition to tourism in this area. 222 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,360 Think of all the people who would come and see this if it was done well. 223 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,280 Just outside Racos is an old slate quarry, 224 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,440 which provides an unlikely wild swimming destination, 225 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:37,480 complete with basalt pillars. 226 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,360 The perfect place to cool off after a few hours sightseeing. 227 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:06,800 Heading south east from Racos you pass vibrant villages, 228 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:11,120 with brightly painted houses and a traditional rural existence, 229 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,960 that still survives relatively unbothered by the pressures of modern living. 230 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,840 Except that twice a day, if you don't time it well, 231 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:27,360 there is still the very real danger of being caught up in the rush hour. 232 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,960 Each morning the local shepherds take charge of the collective herd, 233 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,720 and drive them out to graze the rich pastures outside the village. 234 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:48,800 And every evening they bring them back, sloshing up the highstreet, 235 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:49,640 udders fit to bursting. 236 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,920 Here in the village of Dacia, as with hundreds of other communities, 237 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,760 this daily ritual has endured unchanged for centuries. 238 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,640 This is one of the things I love the most about Transylvanian villages, 239 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:04,280 Saxon villages like this one. 240 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:07,320 It's not just Viscri, it happens all over the place. 241 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:09,280 The cows come home every evening 242 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:11,440 and they file off in their individual homes, 243 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:13,120 they know exactly where they're going. 244 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:14,880 Every animal has a sense of purpose, 245 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,720 dogs walk up and down the street to go and visit their mates, 246 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,520 even the horses find their way back to their own stables. 247 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:23,560 Who says that animals are dumb? Look at that. 248 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:52,360 Welcome to Cincsor, 249 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:56,760 a typical Saxon village, a short drive from the Brasov-Sibiu highway. 250 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:58,800 Like other Saxon communities, 251 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:00,720 many houses were left abandoned, 252 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:04,680 when its native population was invited to return to the motherland, 253 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:06,760 following the fall of Communism. 254 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:12,120 But lately it has become host to a steady stream of international visitors, 255 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,640 who stop in Cincsor for the night or even base themselves here for few days, 256 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,160 to explore the surrounding countryside. 257 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:21,560 And this is the reason why: 258 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:24,760 A collection of beautifully restored guesthouses, 259 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:28,760 that are helping to reinforce Transylvania's burgeoning reputation 260 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,000 as the new chic destination for cultural tourists. 261 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:35,280 I caught up with owner Michael Lisske. 262 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:37,560 Nice vegetable garden. 263 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,680 A lot of your vegetables are presumebly grown here? 264 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:46,240 Yes, we use the vegetables for the kitchen so we are not quite self suficient, but... 265 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:48,320 -Getting there. -Getting there, right. 266 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,840 So now we are in the parish house, the oldest building in the village. 267 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:57,800 -The rectory in fact, really. -Yes. 268 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:02,000 My wife and I live here permanently now. 269 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,640 Before we both had our normal occupations, 270 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,000 my wife a banker in Bucharest, I a teacher in Berlin, 271 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,640 and since last year we came here to stay. 272 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:15,440 I never regretted coming to Cincsor from Berlin. 273 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:19,000 The place itself, before, was rather boring, 274 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,920 then we've discovered first the wooden ceiling with old beams, 275 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,400 and then these frescoes on the wall. 276 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:28,480 It was all covered over before? 277 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:32,400 Yes, it was all covered, white washed, so we had no idea what to find here. 278 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:37,960 And when we renovated the place we discovered some of these frescoes, 279 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,400 and then we had experts from Bucharest University, 280 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,400 who uncovered these and fixated it. 281 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:49,480 They also assessed these as to be Transylvanian Renaissance, 282 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,200 from roughly 1560. 283 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:53,880 So pretty rare actually nowadays. 284 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:58,800 Yes. They told us that this was the only case that they so far knew, 285 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,880 that things like this can be found in the village, 286 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:07,880 and that also indicates that the priests who inhabited these buildings 287 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:10,760 always were models of good taste and all that. 288 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:12,400 And they clearly spoke Latin. 289 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,560 Yes. Although written in Gothic letters, 290 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,240 it is a Latin phrase and it says: 291 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:24,360 Novit Dominus viam justorum et iter impiorum peribit. 292 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:26,000 In English that would be: 293 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:30,840 "The Lord knows the way of the just, but the way of the unjust will perish." 294 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:35,280 Well, this place is now once again breathing and living. 295 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:39,720 I imagine it's been rather a bigger success than you first anticipated. 296 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:44,840 Yes, sometimes I like to compare it to having a child. 297 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,400 They cost much more than expected, 298 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:51,520 but in the end everything turns out well, and the parents are proud of their kids. 299 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,400 And this is the same with our guest houses here. 300 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:57,960 Have you noticed cultural tourism here booming or is it just me? 301 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,640 I'm seeing more and more people coming here every year from abroad, 302 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,320 and appreciating the culture and the traditions in villages like this. 303 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,920 Yes, this is a developing business. 304 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,960 We want to see more guests from Western Europe, from Germany, 305 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:13,960 Britain, France and so on. 306 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:18,640 So far the majority of our guests are Romanians from the Bucharest area, 307 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:24,200 but they come here because they find something about the history, 308 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,800 the past of their country that they don't know yet, 309 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:32,400 and this is something authentic that they really appreciate. 310 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,680 But also as well as a historical experience staying in a place like this, 311 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,760 you've also got to combine it with modern comfort, haven't you? 312 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:43,360 Yes. Perhaps we see that better in the other building, in our school, 313 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:44,480 so let's go there. 314 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:46,720 Come in. 315 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:49,800 The old school house. 316 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:54,520 Yes, we still have the old inscriptions in German and Hungarian. 317 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,440 Şcoala populară evanghelică. 318 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:04,480 What a magnificent library! 319 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:08,720 Yes, that's another of our showpieces here, in this building. 320 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,400 What inspired you to buy this place in the first instance? 321 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:12,600 It's a longer story. 322 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,320 It begins with my wife who was born and raised here, 323 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,520 but she emigrated to Germany in the 80's, 324 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:24,640 only to come back much later, business-related in the 2000's. 325 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:26,920 Then we discovered that this building, 326 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:31,800 the old school and the parish house were about to collapse. 327 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,400 So we thought we should do something about it. 328 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,000 There was a man who also intended to buy this building, 329 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:40,160 because he thought these big rooms 330 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:45,200 were ideal for a repair shop for tractors and agricultural machines. 331 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:49,800 And we didn't want that to happen, so we bought it to save it, 332 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:53,520 to maintain these buildings and in a way to secure them a future. 333 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:59,360 Then we had to think what to do with it and our idea was this guest house. 334 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,440 What was your inspiration with regards to the design? 335 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,640 We tried to combine traditional furniture, 336 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:11,400 the authentic Saxon spirit and atmosphere with modern living, 337 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,400 so you shouldn't have the feeling to live in a museum, 338 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:19,240 but still to live in a special place that has its own atmosphere. 339 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,240 -And I hope we've achieved that. -And plenty of reading material. 340 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:25,400 The reading material, 341 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:28,200 well, that's mostly a priest's library which we inherited. 342 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:33,520 But it also adds to the atmosphere of the room and our guests love this room. 343 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:34,760 I'm very envious, 344 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,640 I think having a library is one of the greatest luxuries of life. 345 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:40,760 I agree. 346 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:47,120 Leaving Cincsor behind, I drove northeast into the hills. 347 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,320 This is the Hartibaciu Highlands. 348 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:55,920 43,000 people live here in rural or semi urban areas, 349 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:01,600 many of which are encountering social, cultural and economic decline. 350 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:05,520 However, there is a foundation based in the village of Hosman, 351 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,720 which is working tirelessly to help reinvigorate the local economy, 352 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,320 by creating a group or brand of certified suppliers, 353 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,920 specialising in traditional crafts and home made produce. 354 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:20,320 I went to meet founder, Joachim Cotaru, 355 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,360 at his beautifully restored Saxon millhouse. 356 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,880 -Hi! -Hi! 357 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:27,760 Lovely to meet you. 358 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:29,440 Nice to meet you. Welcome to my humble abode. 359 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:30,840 -Thank you so much. -Come in. 360 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,200 So tell me, this is your base of operations here? 361 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:39,720 -Yeah. -What have you got going on? 362 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,560 This is the old mill complex and was always about local economy, 363 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:46,320 we have the bakery and we have the mill here. 364 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:47,720 You have the mill. So this is a working mill. 365 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:48,640 It's working, yeah. 366 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:57,960 -Very old equipment here. -It is, it is about 100-120 years. 367 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,360 Why did you reconstruct the mill? 368 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:05,120 Because we were asked in the beginning to do something about tourism. 369 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,320 And we said no, we don't want this, because, first of all, 370 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,280 we have to contribute in a way, if we can, to a stable local economy, 371 00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:13,240 so a mill belongs to the village. 372 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:17,720 Tourism can contribute in a serious way to a local economy, 373 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,200 but we've have had in the beginning here 374 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:23,720 a region that suffered the exodus, and it was called, 375 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,480 the German speaking third of the population, 376 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,640 and a very depressive athmosphere. 377 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:34,640 So people here are coming because of this story of the last medieval landscape, 378 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:36,160 about peasantry. 379 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,680 So when you come to a village where everybody tells you I want to leave... 380 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,640 Yeah, and it's deserted. You have to have a thriving community first. 381 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:44,720 Yeah, and this is important. 382 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:49,120 We don't see it as an association, as an NGO and stuff, 383 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,800 we are a village, a local initiative of the village, 384 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,960 we want to live here, we want to make it nice for us, 385 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:56,480 and we have to create incomes, 386 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,200 and what can I do, this is pretty concrete. 387 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:05,520 What a piece of engineering! Does it work? 388 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:06,840 Technically, yes. 389 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,960 Unfortunately, I'm not able to look after it, but... 390 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,240 I imagine a lot of maintenance is required? 391 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:13,480 It's a lot of work to be done, 392 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:18,440 we have a small film always for events to show people actually that it works, 393 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:20,960 so if we find somebody, volunteering.. 394 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:22,600 -Who's interested..... -They are prettty much welcome. 395 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,360 So you've noticed a lot of changes since you've moved here, 396 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,480 would you say this is now on the tourist map? 397 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:29,880 It is, but not only Hosman. 398 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:35,920 The Hartibaciu Valley is developing in that way, small steps, continuously. 399 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,160 Presumably, this is also why you started the brand "Hartibaciu with love"? 400 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:40,320 Yes, of course. 401 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:41,560 Actually we saw people 402 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,440 that were not connected to any of these programmes, 403 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:48,280 because they were illiterate, they had no cars, no driving license. 404 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:52,800 We gathered them here, we saw what kind of products they had, 405 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:57,400 we saw how they could sell, then we said how can we boost this? 406 00:25:57,120 --> 00:25:58,400 How is that working at the moment? 407 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:03,920 At the moment we have almost 30 people that applied successfully for the brand, 408 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:05,960 because we have strict criterias. 409 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,920 But the people then should develop it, because people can and they know, 410 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:11,320 they are the specialists, not we. 411 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,280 So the idea is to bring everyone together under one umbrella? 412 00:26:14,360 --> 00:26:18,600 Literally spoken, under one roof, so that is the new center. 413 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:20,200 -Right here? -Yeah. You want to see it? 414 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:21,640 -Love to. -Come. 415 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,800 -So, please. -It's a lovely space. 416 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:31,400 It is, and we try to keep as much as possible of the old design, 417 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:33,240 so legally it's an extension. 418 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,320 -Well that helps. -It helps. 419 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,120 It's kind of like a club house in a way. 420 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:40,760 That would be actually a good goal. 421 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:48,720 How do you decide who is eligible to be in the brand, on which criteria? 422 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,720 The criteria is small scale and local. 423 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,840 They are from the Hartibaciu Highlands, 424 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,800 and they don't have more than, I think, 200 employees. 425 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:03,800 Do you think that this smallscale production in rural areas 426 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:08,240 is the way that you are going to affect the regeneration of these villages? 427 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:11,760 I think small scale is the only way we can go, 428 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,320 because otherwise we will destroy the rural character. 429 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:20,280 The thing is to find ways to preserve small scale production like local... 430 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:21,640 Ceramics. 431 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:24,400 Drinks. The ceramic no, but the drink is from here. 432 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,320 Yeah. For me it is very important, in a vibrant area, 433 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:29,520 like Hartibaciu highlands, 434 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,000 that we have also a very active civil society 435 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:33,480 compared with ten years ago, 436 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,400 and this is a good chance for our region. 437 00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:38,600 I think is amazing what you guys are doing, bringing people together, 438 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:41,600 and also establishing an economic model for rural areas, 439 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:45,920 which I think could be rolled out to other parts of Romania successfully. 440 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:50,520 Would you like to see this happening with different regions and more associations, 441 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:52,520 and more brands like this springing up? 442 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:54,720 Of course, and not only in Romania, 443 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:56,320 I mean, we are not unique in that way, 444 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,880 because rural areas all over Europe are facing the problem, 445 00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:03,240 but one thing is that it was not me doing this. 446 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:05,000 I'm just a link in the chain. 447 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,360 Actually, the Hartibaciu people from the region, 448 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,160 they made things possible. 449 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,800 Well, all I can say is I think what you are doing here is fantastic, 450 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,920 it's surely got to present a viable option for the future. 451 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,360 I hope it is, yeah, thank you. 452 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,360 -Cheers! -Cheers! Nice to have you here. 453 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:30,320 When I started this journey, 454 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,920 I wanted to try to see whether eco-tourism could provide a solution 455 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:35,400 for regenerating rural areas. 456 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:37,320 Having had that conversation, 457 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,800 I realise that it is also about stimulating the local economy, 458 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,200 helping people start up small businesses, 459 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:45,640 and these two things need to go hand in hand. 460 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,280 Unfortunately, people are taxed from the first Lei that they earn, 461 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,800 so perhaps an answer could be to provide tax incentives, 462 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,760 as with other European countries, just to give them a start. 463 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:57,400 It's a thought. 464 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,320 One of the successful new Hartibaciu entrepreneurs 465 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,120 is wedding photographer Adina Postatny, 466 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,520 who moved from Sibiu to the neighbouring village of Chirpar, 467 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:24,920 and now spends the majority of her days 468 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,720 recreating traditional Saxon painted furniture. 469 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,920 Adina, how did you first discover your passion for painted furniture? 470 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,800 I've discovered this kind of painting in my grandma's house. 471 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,400 There were pieces of furniture painted like this, 472 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,280 and after that I went on a course. 473 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,880 In the old days the Saxons didn't let anybody else to do this painting, 474 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:48,960 did they? 475 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,240 No, only Saxons could learn this kind of paintings, now... 476 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:54,800 -It's opened up. -Yes, it's opened up. 477 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:55,920 -And everyone can try. -Yes. 478 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,800 There is a lot of symbolism involved in these designs. 479 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:02,280 Yes. Roses are a symbol for love, 480 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:06,920 daisies are purity and tulips are pride. 481 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:09,720 -Does it vary from place to place? -Yes. 482 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:15,880 Because in every region of Transylvania there are different kinds of painting. 483 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,320 -From... -From Brasov, for example, yes. 484 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:21,720 -You've created your stencil already? -Yes. 485 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:23,760 From some designs like this? 486 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:26,680 From some designs from a museum in Sibiu. 487 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,920 Very nice. And then you have to meticulously having traced it, 488 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,280 score these points out with a needle. 489 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,360 -Yes. -OK. 490 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,480 Look at that, oh, that's beautiful. 491 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:43,000 How clever and then you literally go round it. 492 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:43,880 Yes. 493 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:45,720 -With the painting there so you can check. -Yes. 494 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:48,520 So you and your husband were wedding photographers by trade. 495 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:49,400 Yes. 496 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:50,520 So this is a big departure. 497 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:55,720 Yes. I wanted to do something with my freetime. 498 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:00,960 I started first for my friends and for our house. 499 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:03,280 And they obviously loved it, so you got a big demand for it. 500 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:04,160 Yes. 501 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:08,440 It's lovely that there is a demand now for this kind of art. 502 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:15,400 Yes, of course because it's a great tradition and it's a pity to be lost. 503 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:18,000 I'm worried about asking you too many questions 504 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:20,200 because you have to focus, I know. 505 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:21,800 I know. 506 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,520 And this is an incredibly difficult thing to do it seems, 507 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,720 having a very steady hand, I wouldn't like to try doing this myself. 508 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,920 I think if you try it's not very hard. 509 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,640 Yeah, but it's taken you 15 years to do this. 510 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:35,240 Not so much. 511 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,880 So you were up and running quite quickly with it. 512 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,680 -Yes. -OK. What is this specific design? 513 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:43,600 This is a symbol of a tree of life. 514 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:49,920 It goes from a pot and after that we have some stylized roses and... 515 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,640 -...carnations and more flowers. -Carnations and teardrops. 516 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:57,800 So it's a sort of floral display representing stages of life? 517 00:31:57,160 --> 00:31:58,160 Yes. 518 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,720 So this is a design that obviously in its own way 519 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:06,560 is reproduced all over the world in different forms? 520 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:10,520 You know Peru, in India, everyone has their tree of life. 521 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:11,640 Yes. 522 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,360 But this is the first tree of life that I've seen in a pot. 523 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:21,760 I've got to be honest, I've never seen a potted tree of life before, 524 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:25,320 but obviously for the Saxons the pot was an important symbol. 525 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:30,400 Maybe it was something like security because a lot of saxons moved, 526 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:32,160 after a period of time. 527 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:34,720 Maybe that's the reason why, you know. 528 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:36,400 -Maybe. -Yeah. 529 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:41,000 I may have to comission you at some point. Thank you so much. 530 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:42,800 -You are welcome. -Good luck. 531 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:46,600 Most people would agree 532 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,760 that ancient monuments should be restored the correct way, 533 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,800 using traditional skills and materials. 534 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,600 But it's quite another thing to use these techniques to create something new. 535 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:01,960 At the foot of the Fagaras mountains, in the village of Porumbacu de Sus, 536 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:04,400 is a buidling that's rapidly becoming 537 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:07,720 one of the most iconic curiosities in Transylvania. 538 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,240 And a great backdrop should Peter Jackson 539 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:13,320 decide to make any more films about elves and hobbits. 540 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:18,800 My inner nerd demanded to know more, so I arranged to meet the owner, 541 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,280 to find out what on earth he was thinking. 542 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:27,360 Well, I think this redefines the expression fairytale house. 543 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:33,960 -Hello, Charlie. -Hi. 544 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:35,400 -Glad to meet you. -Me too. 545 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,120 -Welcome! -Congratulations. 546 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:38,800 Thank you very much. 547 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:50,560 So what made you build this fantastic house. 548 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:51,920 What's the inspiration? 549 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,720 The inspiration came from this place. 550 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,880 I looked for architects to design some fairy-tale stuff. 551 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:00,360 I changed five of them. 552 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:05,840 Eventually I found a lady architect who understood precisely what we wanted, 553 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:06,960 Ileana Mavrodin. 554 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:08,920 Who we are going to meet later in the programme. 555 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,280 Yes, super! 556 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:13,680 Architecturally speaking, 557 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:18,520 we have a combination of the dwarfs' house in Snow White 558 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:20,920 and mountain picks. 559 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,600 So you have the river and the mountains and it's a magical setting. 560 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:25,480 Yes. 561 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:27,800 This is a bit of a departure for you, 562 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:31,000 because your background is Bucharest and advertising, 563 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,400 so this is a complete change of life. 564 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:35,280 Yes. 565 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:37,560 I really wanted to change my life. 566 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:41,440 I worked with two of the best advertising companies as a production manager. 567 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,880 Afterwards I quit and establish my own advertising company. 568 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:47,160 The stress of city life, 569 00:34:47,240 --> 00:34:51,280 running around every day, made me want a life change, 570 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:53,720 both to me and my family, my kid. 571 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:55,440 I have a nine year old son, 572 00:34:56,000 --> 00:35:00,280 and I thought it was much better to live our life in nature. 573 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:02,120 Coming from a city, 574 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:07,800 we know what a person living between concrete walls wants, 575 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:10,200 and from the very beginning we planned to have a hotel here, 576 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:13,360 and on the other side we'll have a restaurant. 577 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:17,800 Me and Ileana decided to work with natural materials, 578 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:22,280 and finally we wanted to show that clay houses 579 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:27,880 can be more comfortable than modern houses. 580 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:29,640 So was it difficult to do? 581 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:33,280 It's much more difficult to build with traditional materials, 582 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:37,880 than with conventional ones. 583 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:44,480 The shingle, the roof you see, is made up of 80,000 handmade pieces. 584 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:47,360 Walls are made of rammed earth, 585 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:52,680 they are 60 centimeters thick outside, and 45 centimeters thick indoors. 586 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,360 There's a wooden structure inside, 587 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:59,000 thick pillars as you see at the restaurant. 588 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:04,480 Everything is covered with clay mixed with straws. 589 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:10,960 A big advantage is that the air inside is very good, fresh. 590 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:17,880 Another advantage is that such houses hold constant humidity indoors. 591 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:21,000 When you wake up in the morning you don't feel a dry nose or a dry throat. 592 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:26,280 Are you surprised by how many people are coming here? 593 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:28,400 As we built something different, 594 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:30,720 people are very interested in something new. 595 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:33,880 Actually this new is an old new. 596 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:38,480 People have been very curious to see, to take pictures here, selfies. 597 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:40,560 Yeah, everyone takes selfies everywhere. 598 00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:41,760 Yes. 599 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,680 The local community, the people living here, 600 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,200 what was their reaction to what you are doing? 601 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:52,200 We would have liked that peoples' reaction in the village, in the area, 602 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:55,400 to be, let's say, more positive. 603 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:57,880 By coming of many tourists here, 604 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:01,480 they could have earned money with our help, 605 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:05,320 sold a bag of potatoes, onions, eggs... 606 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:07,320 Yes, it's an opportunity. 607 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:09,440 Indeed, its an opportunity for them. 608 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,760 However, many complain that too many cars pass by, 609 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,440 raise dust, block the road. 610 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:21,200 That's why there've been some tensions. 611 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:24,280 I feel for the them, maybe some of them are absolutely right. 612 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,280 They want to go home, but they can't, 613 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:30,240 as some visitors are not so civilised and park all over the place, 614 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,360 and thus they block the road. 615 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:36,280 Hopefully, we'll find a sollution. 616 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,680 So I know you haven't finished yet, but I'd love to go and have a look around. 617 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:41,160 -May I go and explore? -OK. 618 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:44,800 -Thank you very much. -Nice to meet you, Razvan. 619 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,760 So as Razvan said, it's definitely not finished, 620 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:55,200 but this is the traditional method of building houses, 621 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:56,880 that goes back thousands of years, 622 00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:59,280 and we are going to be looking at that in a bit more detail, 623 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:00,880 later on in the series. 624 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:03,640 But for now this is a working progress 625 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:06,160 and I can't wait to see it, when it's finished. 626 00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:22,320 I know Razvan thinks it's Snow White, 627 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:25,320 but for me this is definitely Lord of the Rings. 628 00:38:26,240 --> 00:38:28,240 Rivendell, the last homely house. 629 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:00,720 For my last stop on our Transylvania odyssey, 630 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:04,800 I needed to drive three hours east to an ex hunting lodge, 631 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:05,680 a few miles from Bixad, 632 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,720 converted by the Mikes Estate into a picturesque eco-retreat. 633 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:16,000 Guests can enjoy a night in rustic comfort, 634 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:21,560 deep in the forest with roaring fires, candelight, and thanks to solar power, 635 00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:24,320 Wifi for those who can't survive without it. 636 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:29,720 The surrounding deck affords views out across an alpine meadow, 637 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:34,120 where with a little patience you can spot all manner of Carpathian fauna. 638 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:57,600 My mission however is more specific. 639 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:01,520 I am here to meet guide and wildlife expert Balazs, 640 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,360 who is going to help me fulfil the dream of a lifetime. 641 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:07,560 to track down the European Brown bear in the wild. 642 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:33,120 This is not an easy thing to do, 643 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:36,400 unless you go to one of Romania's growing number of bearhides. 644 00:40:37,240 --> 00:40:41,400 To catch bears, unawares on foot, and out in the open, 645 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:45,400 requires patience, skill and a lot of local knowledge. 646 00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:53,360 Until recently, 647 00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:57,720 these majestic creatures were under threat from hunting and poaching, 648 00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:03,440 with trophy kills fetching as much as 15,000 euros for an adult male. 649 00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:07,400 Now the bear population seems to be making a comeback. 650 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:10,680 And as long as they remain protected, 651 00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:14,840 this noble predator will continue to attract wildlife enthusiasts, 652 00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:18,640 keen to experience one of the last places left in Europe, 653 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:21,680 where they can still be seen wandering the countryside. 654 00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:48,480 This is what I love the most about the wilderness in Romania, 655 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:52,360 you just find the wildlife, sneak up on it, 656 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:54,960 and you shoot it with a camera. 657 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:59,880 This is one of the last places in Europe that has bears and wolves and lynx, 658 00:41:59,960 --> 00:42:01,480 so why kill them? 659 00:42:01,560 --> 00:42:05,360 Why not protect them, celebrate them and bring people in to view them. 660 00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:09,640 People pay 50 euros per head just to see a bear in the wild, 661 00:42:09,720 --> 00:42:10,880 or even in a bear hide. 662 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:13,400 We are here, look no hide. 663 00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:16,720 Open countryside and there it is. 664 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:21,560 And it's a beautiful feeling sharing the planet with these majestic creatures. 665 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:27,440 We should be allowing them to live and enjoy this fantastic landscape, 666 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:30,400 just as we do and also we can profit from it too. 667 00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:32,240 By protecting them and preserving them, 668 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,680 we can help people living in these villages to earn a sustenable income. 669 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:37,920 If we kill them all, that's it. 670 00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:44,600 Join us again next week when we head to the far west of Romania, 671 00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:48,400 to explore the less well known backroads of Banat and Crisana, 672 00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:51,440 home to historic cities like Timisoara, 673 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:55,440 ancient cave systems, mysterious tunnels, 674 00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:58,560 cob houses and geothermal spas. 675 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:02,800 I will be perusing Romania's oldest brewery, 676 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:06,200 walking in the footsteps of kings and queens, 677 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:11,360 and trying to play the violin and the trumpet, at the same time. 678 00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:15,520 All this and far more in Flavours Of Romania.