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Romania is a land of a thousand faces.
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The crossing point
between the Occident and the Orient.
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And a melting pot of different cultures.
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It is also a country
unlike any other in Europe.
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With over half of the Carpathian mountain
range weaving through it,
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Romania is the custodian of Europe's
greatest surviving mixed forest,
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and two thirds of its apex predators.
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As well as native Romanians,
it is home to Hungarian,
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Saxon,
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Roma,
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Serbian,
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Greek and many more diverse peoples.
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United by the borders of a nation
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that stretches to the mouth of the Danube.
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However, Romania's natural
or built heritage
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is under threat from wreckless development
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and a race to modernise
which often destroys
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the very things who could ensure
prosperity for generations to come.
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Welcome back to our ongoing odyssey
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of Romania's Great Historical Regions.
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After two months on the road,
we reach Oltenia, in the south.
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Another one
of Romania's least known areas,
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but one of its most beautiful.
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It's late afternoon
as we ride across the border,
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heading for our first stop.
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A remote ecolodge,
consisting of luxury igloos,
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tucked away in the mountains,
west of Vâlcea,
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up on a challenging dirt track.
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I was met by Ionel Lucian Crăcană,
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who was suitably dressed for the occasion.
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Before retiring to my pod for the night,
it was dinner and a camp fire.
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With music, pălinca and a glass of wine
with the other guests.
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At least until proceedings
were cut short by an encroaching storm.
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Dramatic weather is even more exhilarating
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when experienced from the extravagant
confines of a transparent igloo,
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with views toward dark mountains,
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that burst into bright relief
with each flash of lightning.
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There are few more relaxing ways
to fall asleep
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than being serenaded
by a torrential downpour
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and deep rumbles of thunder
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while you remain warm and dry
under a thick duvet.
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Before breakfast I caught up
with Lucian and his wife, Raluca,
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for a quick chat to find out more
about their story
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and how they dreamt up
such a bizarre place to stay.
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- Good morning!
- Good morning.
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What a lovely, lovely experience that was!
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It's been snugging me up,
being so exposed, at the same time.
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But I think
that's what this is about, isn't it?
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{\an8}It's for those who love nature,
but also want the comfort.
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Was it difficult?
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It is, yeah.
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It was difficult and is still difficult
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to create something from scratch.
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Obviously, there were challenges.
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People didn't really know
what's in our head,
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how to construct what we want to do.
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- I bet local people...
- They'd never done it.
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...thought this was a little bit strange.
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Obviously.
And the people who worked, as well.
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So, tour me through the process.
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So, you came here,
you fell in love with the area,
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you saw this piece of land, you bought it...
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{\an8}- Actually, my dad, yeah...
- He gave it to him.
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{\an8}- Ah, ok...
- Ok, and...
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What did your dad say when you said:
"We're gonna put some igloos"?
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No...
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He got some potatoes, long time ago,
here, yeah.
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In the beginning, it was nothing,
absolutely nothing.
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- Just...
- Potatoes.
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- No potato.
- Not even any potato.
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So then we had to bring obviously, everything.
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Electricity, water.
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Yeah, all the way
from down in the village.
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- You used to live in England, in London.
- Yes.
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- Yes, in Watford.
- In Watford.
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Why did you leave?
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What made you come back
here and do something crazy, like this?
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I thought... I mean, we wanted to have
our own business.
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And there, in England, it was difficult
to have a family business.
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And then we decided, with the kids
and everything, it's time to go back.
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And we really wanted to do something
for ourselves.
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This part of the southern Carpathians
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bore witness to some fascinating
and brutal moments in history.
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Here, in these valleys and mountains,
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countless battles and skirmishes
were fought.
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As far back as the time of King Decebal
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and as recently as the Habsburg Empire.
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This is maybe the most beautiful
natural arch I've seen in Romania
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and it's two thirds of the way up a cliff
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but you can understand and appreciate
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why this region is so rife
with folklore and legend.
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It goes back as far as the Dacians.
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When the Romans were attacking
towards Sarmisegetuza
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they came up through these valleys.
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And they tell stories
of how the Dacians would appear
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rain down hell on them in the form
of spears and rocks, from above,
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and then they'd disappear into the hill
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as if by magic, and pop up somewhere else.
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An actual fact:
They were using this network of caves
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that runs throughout these hills.
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You can see many of them
on the far side of the valley over there.
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But much later on,
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during the time
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
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the outlaws or bandits
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would take advantage of these caves
and these mountains,
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to hide from the authorities.
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And they'd have camps in places like this
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probably lightening fires here,
spending nights here,
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and also dispensing judgment here.
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That cliff over there, on the far side,
with a very long drop,
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was known as the "Court" of the outlaws
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and anyone who betrayed them
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or any traitors in their midst
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were marched to the edge of that cliff
and thrown unceremoniously off it.
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A bit like the pirates' tradition
of walking the plank,
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but with an awful lot further to fall.
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There's a particularly lovely story,
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where the head of the haiduks for a while
who was called Papură Vodă,
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and the Austro-Hungarians were desperate
to catch him and his merry band of men.
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They'd send soldiers into the hills
and the forests, to try to catch him
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and then they'd always kill
all the soldiers.
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The Austro-Hungarians thought:
"we're losing too many soldiers,
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let's just forget it, because
we're never gonna catch these people."
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So they decided
to hire mercenaries instead,
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and they advertised
for mercenaries to come
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and help hunt down the haiduks.
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So, what did Papură Vodă do?
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He and his haiduk friends all signed up
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as mercenaries for the Austro-Hungarians
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to catch themselves.
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Which, of course, they never did,
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but they carried on,
getting paid to be haiduks,
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and living their life up here,
in the hills.
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It's absolutely hilarious.
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And in fact, in the end,
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the Austro-Hungarians were herded
out of here,
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because of the power of the haiduks,
they formed a militia.
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And effectively, they them evicted them
from this area.
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Below me is the Cheile Oltețului gorge.
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Believed to be
the narrowest canyon in Europe,
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with only 70 cm at its slimmest point.
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To access it, you have to descend
on a vertiginous path,
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that winds down beside an overhead bridge.
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From there, you are committed
to a two-kilometer scramble
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of freezing wade along the riverbed.
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With no way out
until you reach the other end.
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This reminds me of the game
we used to play as kids, rock-hopping.
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The secret is trying to cross the river
as many times as possible.
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You get a point every time you cross,
but once you slip and go in, you lose.
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So far, I've managed to stay dry.
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If I was Bear Grylls,
I'd probably tell you
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that this is one of the most dangerous
environments known to man.
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A rock boulder or tree
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could land on my head at any minute.
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Meanwhile, the storm is building up
in the mountains
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and it could precipitate a flash flood
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that will come barreling
down this canyon and sweep me away.
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I have to go very fast,
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because every minute
here is potentially lethal.
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However, we don't do that around here,
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so let me confine myself to saying
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"that was a very pleasant stroll".
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Not far from the gorge
is the town of Baia de Fier,
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which makes a good base-camp
for exploring the area,
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with several new eco-hotels
to choose from.
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Before going in search of one,
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I wanted to pay a quick visit
to a professor from Timișoara,
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who weekends here
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and is one of the few people in Romania
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who still knows the recipe
for Carpathian jamon.
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{\an8}So, welcome to our table!
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This for me is a great curiosity,
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because I've never seen a jamon,
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you're using the Spanish term,
in Romania, before.
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How did you do it?
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Well, the story starts
with my grandfather, actually.
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In the 50's, he was somehow
the butcher of the village, you know,
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and every year
he refined and refined recipes
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and marked somewhere in a notebook
these things.
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Tried to improve.
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He improved, yeah.
Of course, I learned next to him,
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but I never cut a jambon before he died.
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When you cut a pig, the first thing
you put aside is the jambon.
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This is the most precious.
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It must be very hard, you know,
having to do this
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and to make it wait til it's spring, so...
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tell me more about
that, the process itself.
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First process used is the salt
and with different flavours,
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because the salt is drying the meat.
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So, you can put herbs in it,
in this process?
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Herbs and different... Not at the same time.
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Every two or three days I have
to add something,
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I have to do something,
especially the water and other things.
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So you have to watch it like a baby.
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Somehow.
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It's really like... It's really like this.
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And then you have to dry it,
and then you have to smoke it.
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To imagine,
I never put this in the fridge.
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Even now, we are at the end of August...
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No wonder your grandfather
wouldn't let you near it.
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I mean, it's a very complicated process.
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Yeah, it is. It is most treasured.
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That's why only in Easter night this was
the first thing we wanted to taste.
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"So, how is the ham this year?"
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It is not done, yet.
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It's just... Ok, we taste it and that's all.
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And then we put it back.
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And we wait the tomatoes.
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- We wait for the tomatoes until June.
- With tomatoes in June.
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- How tantalizing that must be!
- Yeah.
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Well, given the fact that it's now
late August...
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May we...?
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Yes, now it's time.
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- It's time, yes.
- It's due time!
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It's a special moment.
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Because, after such a long time,
you're so curious...
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if it's good, it's not good?
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It's too dry, or too salty,
or too something?
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- So, it's... Every time I'm a bit...
- Anxious.
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- Yeah, anxious, I'm a little bit.
- You see how your baby has turned out.
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And curious, yeah.
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- Please, let's start.
- OK.
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So, first I'm going to take the...
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I feel... this is very emotionally charged.
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It is. After nine months...
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- Literally, nine months.
- When I said a baby, I wasn't joking.
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Nine months of incubation.
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Yeah, after nine months,
we are taking the top off it.
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You give it a slap.
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Make sure it's breathing.
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- And... action!
- Oh, my Goodness me!
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That is a piece of art.
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Look at the striation in that, with
the fat, and the muscle, and the meat,
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it's that mottling that you have
with a very good steak.
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After nine months, so...
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I think you can be happy with that result.
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- Yeah.
- Aren't you?
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Yes, I am. Well, actually...
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- A proud father.
- We didn't try the test of taste.
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No, we didn't. So far, it's good.
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So far, so good. Yeah.
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Now, the secret is to be very thin.
243
00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:02,120
Because, otherwise,
the ham is quite strong,
244
00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:06,560
so if you take a big piece,
it won't work too much.
245
00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:09,280
So I invite you to taste,
for the first time...
246
00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,600
I have much pleasure in accepting
your kind invitation.
247
00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,640
It's beautiful. It's a delicate flavour.
248
00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:22,800
This compares very favourably with...
249
00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,840
some of the great jamons I've had
in Spain and Italy.
250
00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:28,120
For me, this is a first.
251
00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,400
I had just no idea
that we can produce in this country
252
00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:33,720
ham of this quality.
253
00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:41,880
Down in Baia de Fier,
I'm checking into Conacul Olarilor,
254
00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,680
built in the style
of a historic manor house,
255
00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:50,480
combining ancient symbols
with a contemporary design.
256
00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:53,840
I was welcomed by owner Mihai.
257
00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:00,880
- Mihai!
- Hello, Charlie!
258
00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:03,960
- Greetings.
- Greetings!
259
00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:07,280
- Nice to have you here.
- Thank you so much.
260
00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:08,400
This is impressive.
261
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,480
- Very new.
- Thank you. It's about four months.
262
00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,880
It's quite interesting, 'cause it's like
the conacus from the area,
263
00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:16,560
but you built it from scratch,
haven't you?
264
00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:20,200
Yes, indeed, I have a very big passion
for the traditional things.
265
00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:21,400
No kidding?
266
00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:22,320
Yeah.
267
00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:24,880
I'm noticing a lot of Brâncuși.
268
00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:30,080
Yes, because Brâncuși was from Hobița,
near here,
269
00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:31,880
and we are proud of it.
270
00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:36,960
So the elements of the design here, this
station, symbols, all kinds of things.
271
00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:41,640
Yes, we try to get the traditional signs
272
00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:43,960
and the stories,
273
00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,840
in every piece of furniture,
in every corner,
274
00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:49,960
in every room there's a different story.
275
00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,360
For example, one of the rooms is called
"The Sun Room".
276
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,560
Another room is about the symbol
of the eclipse of the Moon,
277
00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,720
which has reinterpreted ancient symbols
278
00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,840
because here, in Baia de Fier,
on the top of the mountain,
279
00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,200
there are Dacian ruins, yes.
280
00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:08,320
And we incorporated that
in one of the rooms.
281
00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:12,960
You can see, even the chairs have
one piece of the Column of Brâncuși,
282
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:15,360
and these signs are the crosses
283
00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,800
which represent the faith that guides us
through life.
284
00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:20,800
And, if you look at the table,
285
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:25,880
there are about one thousand hundred
holes in it,
286
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:31,120
and it makes a traditional model
that our grandparents made the textiles.
287
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:32,600
It's called mileu.
288
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:36,120
What about the designs on the vase?
They're very beautiful.
289
00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,800
It's made by a traditional artist here,
290
00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:41,880
the same artist
that painted our wall there,
291
00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,680
- What, the murals on the wall?
- Yeah, the mural on the wall.
292
00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:48,360
She's called Daciana Ungureanu.
293
00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:51,960
- That's really stunning, isn't it?
- Yes.
294
00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,640
Here we've got dancers, is that right?
295
00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:59,000
Yes, that's the Romanian
dance of Unification.
296
00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,320
It symbolizes the Unification
of all our territories,
297
00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,880
that's the ceremonial dance.
298
00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:06,680
And she's local, is she?
299
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:08,880
Yes, she's local, you have to meet her.
300
00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,240
- Tell me where she is and I'll go see her.
- She's near, she is in Novaci.
301
00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:15,040
It's about 15 to 20 minutes from here.
302
00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:17,800
Give me her address.
And we'll catch up with you later.
303
00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:22,880
Artist Daciana Ungureanu's house
304
00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,400
was a twenty minutes ride away,
on the outskirts of Novaci.
305
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,400
Unfortunately,
I got caught in another thunderstorm.
306
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:37,520
Hi!
307
00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,320
{\an8}Welcome! How are you?
308
00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:41,080
{\an8}Cheers! All good?
309
00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,000
{\an8}A bit of a trouble
with the rain, but we like it.
310
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,200
Rain is an omen of richness,
you know that, right?
311
00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:47,840
Richness. I want to show you something
that's very important to me.
312
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,480
Here is a chest,
it's my grandmother's dowry chest,
313
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,880
and on it lies a carpet
that's a hundred years old.
314
00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,200
An inspiration for your work?
315
00:17:57,280 --> 00:17:59,560
Yes, it is inspiration for myself
316
00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,840
and moreover,
it has a very interesting story,
317
00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:07,800
because it was buried in the ground
during World War I, to keep it safe.
318
00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:08,880
It is a hundred years old.
319
00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:10,840
Here are a lot of old shirts,
320
00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,320
older and newer ones,
the oldest are a hundred years old,
321
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,600
shirts from rich women
like the ones in my family,
322
00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:19,280
everything has certain significance.
323
00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:21,400
For example,
here we have the eight-points-star,
324
00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,720
sewn on the shirts
of the shepherds and sailors,
325
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,240
to help them find their way home.
326
00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:29,040
Well, a bit like the GPS nowadays.
327
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:33,200
I have placed this star almost everywhere
on the ceramics I have decorated.
328
00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:34,280
I like it very much.
329
00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:37,280
This, for instance, is the eye,
I'll show you where it comes from.
330
00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:39,440
Wait... Here, look!
331
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,120
- I will bring the shirt. They are alike.
- They are alike!
332
00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:44,480
They say it is the sign of the eye...
333
00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:45,640
These are eyes?
334
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:47,600
Yes, for super-vision.
335
00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:48,960
For protection.
336
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,280
What else have I used?
I used the girls hora dance,
337
00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:53,520
which was performed to bring fertility
to the soil,
338
00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,160
a girls' dance on the ground
to make the ground fertile,
339
00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,600
and I used the wheat for prosperity.
340
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,440
And if you watch very carefully
you will see these small lines,
341
00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:07,840
a lot of small lines,
used to show abundance.
342
00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:10,800
This plate is decorated with Dragobete.
Do you know the Dragobete?
343
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,320
It's the Romanian feast of love,
much alike Valentine's day.
344
00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,000
- Yes, I do.
- You do?
345
00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,840
The birds are depicted beak to beak,
symbolizing a new beginning.
346
00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,480
It is the spring, it is the love.
This is the actual symbol.
347
00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:23,680
- So, the spring.
- Yes.
348
00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:25,240
Here's what I know about the birds.
349
00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,160
Birds connect
this world to the other world.
350
00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:31,000
If someone is no longer with you, right,
351
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,720
they have gone to the other world
and you find out this story,
352
00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:34,880
you will like it very much.
353
00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,000
OK. You want me to show you how I work?
354
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,000
Yeah, show me how it's done
355
00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:40,120
Let's see!
356
00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:45,960
I'll create the model now,
because your coming was a surprise
357
00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:47,680
and I didn't think what I would do.
358
00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:51,360
When you're painting, do you know
how a piece is going to end up,
359
00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,360
or do you improvise?
360
00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,000
I don't have
a sketch or a plan on paper, no.
361
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,200
I am very passionate about this,
362
00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:01,640
I like the burnt pottery,
the pottery made of burnt clay,
363
00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,360
and, you know, when I put this wet thing
on it or water, there's a scent,
364
00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,400
it creates a scent that I love very much,
365
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,000
and that's when I create the model.
366
00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:16,560
I am self-taught.
I have some studies in Art, but not much.
367
00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,720
I have painted what you see here
in the last ten years or so.
368
00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,520
I paint taking inspiration
from this traditional area.
369
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:27,320
Yes, and I feel
I'm not leaving this place, momentarily,
370
00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,320
I mean, further and further...
I still have something to say.
371
00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:33,760
Back at Conacul Olarilor,
372
00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:38,440
Mihai was hosting a culinary evening
with celebrated chef Cristian Șorop.
373
00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,680
My name is Cristian Șorop,
I cook out of pure passion,
374
00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:47,040
so you can rest assured,
I will not poison you.
375
00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:49,080
- Thanks!
- This way, please.
376
00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:51,760
You have little plates here, cutlery...
377
00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:00,880
This one?
378
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:03,040
What do we have here?
379
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:06,200
This is just the starters.
380
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,680
But I feel obliged to try everything.
381
00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:11,840
The problem is there's a second course.
382
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:16,040
I don't quite understand
how you can manage to eat a second course
383
00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:18,000
if you try everything we've got here.
384
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,400
But I'm on a voyage of discovery, so...
385
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:22,840
I just gonna have to make room.
386
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:33,000
During the Ottoman Conquest,
387
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,040
the women and children of the area
were forced to hide
388
00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:38,040
in the many caves in the mountains,
389
00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:40,080
while their menfolk went off to fight.
390
00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:45,640
The most famous of these caverns
is just outside Baia De Fier.
391
00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:54,320
The story of the women and their struggle
has inspired an annual festival
392
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:58,280
through which local people and visitors
retrace their steps
393
00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:00,000
through four different caves
394
00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,000
and out along the hills,
while they chase the Ottoman south,
395
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,520
dressed only in honey and feathers,
according to the legends,
396
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:10,520
in order to further scare the heathens.
397
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,680
These days, I'm not convinced
it would have the same effect.
398
00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:20,600
You can imagine the toll
it must have taken
399
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:22,360
on the women and the children
400
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:24,480
living down here for months on end.
401
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:27,800
It wasn't just the fact
that they ran out of food,
402
00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:33,080
it's the damp, the constant cold
that seeps into your bones
403
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:37,320
and total absence of any light
except candles and fires,
404
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,960
which means also inhaling smoke
in order to stay warm.
405
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:43,680
No wonder they finally decided:
406
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:47,040
"Well, if we're gonna die,
we'd rather die beside our men."
407
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:53,160
As it was, fate had something
rather different in store for them.
408
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:10,200
I think it must be one of the most
striking and inspirational examples
409
00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,320
of female empowerment
in that or in any age.
410
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,440
The womenfolk of the local communities,
having hidden out here,
411
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,880
decided to come to the rescue of their men
412
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:25,280
and together routing the Turks
all the way back to Craiova.
413
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,760
This is a Hollywood movie,
someone ought to make it.
414
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:44,200
If you want an example of how resourceful
Mother Nature is, take a look at this.
415
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:46,960
This is the oldest of these lights,
416
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,560
you can see it's aluminium, it's battered,
it's been around here for years,
417
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,560
shining on this stalagmite.
418
00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:55,240
And it's green.
419
00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:59,000
And it's covered in mold and lichen
and moss,
420
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:00,600
even deep underground here.
421
00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:04,960
All you have to do is turn on the light
and you have an explosion of life.
422
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,000
I was born an original sinner,
423
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,440
And I was born from original sin.
424
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:21,000
And if I had a dollar bill
for all the things I've done
425
00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,920
it would be a mountain of money
piled up to my chin.
426
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:29,320
Very nice acoustics, indeed.
427
00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,280
A rock concert down here, quite literally.
428
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,600
My next stop was directly overhead.
429
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,520
It required a steep hike up the mountain
to a rocky outcrop,
430
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,280
where I was due to drop in
on adventure guide
431
00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:48,960
and local hero, Dan Chiriac,
432
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,000
who organizes, among other things,
433
00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,120
the most panoramic place
to hang out in Romania.
434
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,880
After slogging up a mountain,
what you really need is some downtime,
435
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,720
maybe a nice, cosy hammock
in which to kick back and enjoy the view.
436
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:12,160
Wonder where I could find that.
437
00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:14,640
Good morning, Dan!
438
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,480
- Good morning, welcome!
- Hi!
439
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:21,360
I hear you might have a hammock spare.
Where did you get this idea from?
440
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,080
{\an8}The idea started from the fact
441
00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:26,320
{\an8}that no one has stayed here, before.
442
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:28,040
And why shouldn't you stay here?
443
00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:30,400
You should stay,
and he should stay, and him,
444
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,200
everyone should have the possibility
to lie in a hammock
445
00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:36,880
not only on the porch, near trees,
446
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,280
but also to have the chance to do it
447
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:42,600
at a height
of circa 200 m above the ground.
448
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:48,720
To admire a beautiful landscape and to try
449
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:51,840
to overcome their fears,
450
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,600
their inner barriers and blockers.
451
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,360
The local people here have told me
452
00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,400
you're sort of the godfather
of adventure tourism in this area,
453
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:05,040
that you do a lot
to promote adventure tourism.
454
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:07,760
Tell me, why here?
455
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:12,240
The question "why?" only has one answer:
456
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:13,320
Because it's possible.
457
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:18,760
And because nature has put on
an extraordinary landscape,
458
00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:23,840
giving us the possibility
to admire this landscape
459
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,200
and to "live" this landscape
both in summer and in winter,
460
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,080
and because...
461
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:36,200
each tourist has the right to discover
something new.
462
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,400
So, where am I gonna sleep?
463
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,080
- There.
- Perfect.
464
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:44,680
- Let's do this!
- Moment...
465
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:47,040
- Please...
- Yeah.
466
00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:49,120
Thanks!
467
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,520
For you, for me.
468
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:52,760
OK, yeah.
469
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:55,200
- You have...?
- Yeah.
470
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:02,000
- Right?
- Yeah.
471
00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:03,360
Up!
472
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:05,040
Okay...
473
00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:07,480
Large.
474
00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:13,440
- There you go!
- OK, you're free!
475
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:21,480
What a fabulous place
to have a quick snooze.
476
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,000
This is probably not something
that you'd like,
477
00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:27,760
and I'm addressing
the man behind the camera right now.
478
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:30,960
Not brilliant in the hammocks.
479
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,160
So, this could easily flip over,
so I should stop doing that,
480
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:40,840
but once you get used to the altitude
481
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,200
it's quite relaxing, somewhat invigorating
482
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,280
and soporific at the same time.
483
00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:50,760
And what a view! I mean, honestly,
you're actually in the view,
484
00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,440
you're part of the view.
You get used to this.
485
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,120
Quite a nice place to spend the night.
486
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,400
I can see all the way
to the top of the Transalpina,
487
00:27:57,480 --> 00:27:58,280
which I hope
488
00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:01,440
we'll be taking you to
later in the programme, if we have time.
489
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:03,040
Meanwhile...
490
00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:05,040
Take five!
491
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,680
One relaxing powernap later,
it was off to Ograda Bunicilor.
492
00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,400
A neo-traditional lodge, where owners
Cristi and Melania
493
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:33,800
were organizing lamb on the spit,
Oltenia style.
494
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:37,320
Complete with live music,
495
00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,560
courtesy to the hugely talented
lăutari band from nearby Târgu Jiu.
496
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:48,480
Cristi, good morning.
497
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:50,680
Welcome in Ograda Bunicilor.
498
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:52,960
- Thank you so much.
- In "The Grandparents' Garden".
499
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:54,640
Hi! How are you?
500
00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:59,320
We have a special dish.
501
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:00,720
You've really pushed the...
502
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:02,560
- Yeah.
- Look at that!
503
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:03,640
It's a pastrama.
504
00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,320
And this frame is made specially for it.
505
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:07,800
{\an8}Exactly. It's slow cooked.
506
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:11,720
{\an8}We prepared this pastrama two days ago,
507
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:15,720
and we keep it with some flavours...
508
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,640
- It is marinated. Natural marinate.
- Exactly. Natural, yeah.
509
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:21,360
- What herbs?
- It's a secret.
510
00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,840
- The grandparents' secret.
- Okay.
511
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:30,200
We cook very slowly, two hours and a half
512
00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:32,960
depends on the age of the animal.
513
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:34,480
How long have you been open?
514
00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:36,960
We opened only four months ago,
515
00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,600
we try to make something traditional,
to make something for our soul.
516
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:45,160
We came back from Timișoara, from a big
city of Romania, in the countryside.
517
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,680
You couldn't get more of a contrast
than this.
518
00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,600
The house design is really interesting
519
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,480
because you've taken
all the traditional elements
520
00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:56,840
from the old grandma's house.
521
00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:58,880
Yeah, we want to keep the traditional,
522
00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:02,640
and our biggest problem was
to not be kitsch.
523
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:06,880
In the same time, we want
to give to the tourists what they need.
524
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:10,080
An authentic experience, but with comfort.
525
00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:13,280
So, this is gonna cook now
for another hour, is it?
526
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:17,280
Yes, something like this, about 45
minutes, one hour, it will be ready.
527
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:22,200
It's an unusual cut, the way they've just
opened it up like this and displayed it.
528
00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:25,960
I've never seen this done anywhere else.
You've got all the different cuts.
529
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:30,880
You know, the ribs, the leg, shoulder.
530
00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,280
Yeah, it's a long process, I've told you.
And the taste, how is it?
531
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:36,720
Oh, my goodness!
532
00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,400
- It's divine, absolutely divine.
- Yeah.
533
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,400
For the love of herbs, I'm gonna start
guessing what herbs you've put in there.
534
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,880
We have garlic, we have salt.
535
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:48,880
You've got some thyme in there,
any rosemary?
536
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,440
- Yeah.
- Any rosemary, I'm getting rosemary.
537
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:53,640
A little piece of basil.
538
00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:56,960
Ok, so we're gonna wait for this
to cook, yeah?
539
00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:01,280
I want to show you an experience
with some friends.
540
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:02,840
The Taraf From Gorj.
541
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:28,400
But it's not just the speed
in which they're playing,
542
00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:30,520
it's the key changes
543
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,000
just like millions of them, all the time,
544
00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:34,800
they keep changing key, but it works.
545
00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:38,840
It works, it's like jazz, it's an...
the cymbal.
546
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,320
It's like you're playing the piano
547
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,600
and you're listening to the harp,
you know, it's somewhere in between.
548
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:49,240
And combined, as it was frantic,
but beautiful sound.
549
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:15,120
- It's looking almost ready?
- Yes.
550
00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:17,040
- But...
- Let's try it.
551
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,520
- We need to be sure.
- Yeah.
552
00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:24,320
Perfect.
553
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,560
Well, you're good to go.
Pastrama on the grill.
554
00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:31,040
- Claudiu made a good job.
- Yeah. Congrats, Claudiu, thank you!
555
00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:31,960
Thanks.
556
00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:49,440
Cheers.
557
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,280
- Good health!
- Good health! Cheers!
558
00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:03,280
That was beautiful. Did you notice?
559
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:05,720
When your wife started dancing,
560
00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:07,520
the sun came out.
561
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:08,840
Yeah, we're lucky.
562
00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:11,679
- You're a lucky man.
- Yeah, I'm a lucky man.
563
00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:13,760
- Cheers!
- Cheers!
564
00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:20,800
After lunch, I was met by local guide,
Bogdan Babaligea,
565
00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:24,159
who kindly invited me to visit
his grandparents,
566
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:26,520
on an isolated farm high in the mountains.
567
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:30,639
The only way to get there
was by four-wheel drive.
568
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:35,840
A pitted and precarious dirt road
took us up through the forest,
569
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:39,960
along ravines and steep valleys.
570
00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:43,480
The horizon opening up behind us,
571
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,760
as we ascended the Carpathian reaches,
572
00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:49,600
fording small streams,
573
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:53,679
navigating hairpin bends,
574
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:57,200
and trundling on,
until the trees finally petered out.
575
00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:02,840
And we emerged into the evening glory
576
00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,480
of alpine meadows and rounded hilltops,
577
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:12,880
affording hundred mile views
across the lowlands of Oltenia
578
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:14,840
that stretched into the haze.
579
00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:21,640
Forging on,
we plunged back into the forest.
580
00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:24,960
Despite the imminency of sunset,
581
00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:28,840
I was unable to resist stopping
for a couple of minutes of foraging,
582
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:30,160
before we continued.
583
00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:37,640
A quick pit-stop, five minutes.
584
00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:40,160
And a bag of chanterelles, look at that.
585
00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:42,880
They need a bit of cleaning.
586
00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:44,600
A bit of mud.
587
00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,640
But those are
the most delicious mushrooms,
588
00:35:47,720 --> 00:35:51,560
along with porcini and coal field
mushrooms that you can possibly get.
589
00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:54,600
Fried with garlic and butter,
590
00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:57,080
on some toast at breakfast,
591
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:00,240
maybe with some bacon chopped it,
crispy bacon,
592
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:01,960
finally chop some sprinkle in.
593
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:04,960
That is gourmet.
594
00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:09,840
I also found a very small
cockscomb mushroom.
595
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:14,800
These... really darkened,
you see there the filigree on them,
596
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:16,960
and these are also delicious.
597
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:20,480
But they disintegrate quite easily.
598
00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:23,440
Right. Here we are, all of it!
599
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:37,280
Having a slight traffic issue here,
in the middle of nowhere!
600
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:52,480
- Hello!
- Good evening!
601
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:54,680
Welcome!
602
00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:56,960
- This is Charlie Ottley.
- Nice to meet you!
603
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,280
My grandmother and my grandfather.
604
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:04,320
This is our sheepfold.
605
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,200
And they've been living up here
since when?
606
00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:08,440
{\an8}May. I think, the last May.
607
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:10,880
That's kind of cold still,
up here in May, isn't it?
608
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:13,040
- Yeah, it is.
- We have some supplies.
609
00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:15,200
Let me get them from the car.
610
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:16,880
You know, the strange thing for me is
611
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,360
that this it's so reminiscent of Scotland!
612
00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:23,480
Those open hills
that we were driving across
613
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:25,680
and that heathland, that moorland,
614
00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:27,840
it was the same,
the difference being, of course,
615
00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:30,120
that there are wolves, bears and lynx
in this landscape,
616
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:31,960
it's completely untamed.
617
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:36,200
It's a lot more beautiful in spring
than it is now, in autumn.
618
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:40,080
But your grandfather, your grandparents,
they are here by choice.
619
00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:43,240
Do you think there will come a time
when they stop doing this in the summer?
620
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:47,120
Because a lot of people at their age
could take a cruise, you know?
621
00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:51,960
Or just maybe sit out on a deckchair
and enjoy their retirement?
622
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:53,920
I don't know, my grandmother say.
623
00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,120
No.
624
00:37:56,200 --> 00:38:00,120
{\an8}It's been 19 years since I've been here.
625
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:04,960
Nineteen years. He was three years old,
we went across over there, at Mușătoiu.
626
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:07,960
- Never.
- Never?
627
00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:10,600
- Always here?
- Here.
628
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:14,400
It's just the two of us,
629
00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:18,280
and the work
here is actually for more than for two,
630
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:21,240
but we manage the household
as well as we can
631
00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:23,280
and we do it all, just us two.
632
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,440
How do they feel about increased traffic,
more tourists?
633
00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:30,880
Because, you know, development here
is starting to encroach,
634
00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:32,640
even in places like this.
635
00:38:32,720 --> 00:38:35,000
Disaster, in a way.
636
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:39,280
These folks with ATVs
should be given a route.
637
00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:44,360
They should get rules
on the speed and all that.
638
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:46,120
Because now they pass by...
639
00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:47,760
- Oh, my!
- Listen!
640
00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:49,440
You can hear them.
641
00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:54,160
They drive by, forging the motors,
they're going up and down,
642
00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:55,880
some of them are really...
643
00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:59,880
They storm over, they destroyed the road,
they destroyed everything.
644
00:38:59,960 --> 00:39:05,440
You see people on the big roads
who drive pretty well,
645
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:07,400
while these guys make a mess around here.
646
00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:09,560
And nobody intervenes in any way.
647
00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:12,360
This is becoming
a bigger and bigger problem in Romania.
648
00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:16,200
I observe it where I'm living,
they're observing it here,
649
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:19,000
there is a huge spread of ATVs,
650
00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:21,880
because the government,
or the European Union, I don't know who,
651
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:26,240
decided to offer lots and lots of money
for people to do start-ups,
652
00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:27,520
running ATVs.
653
00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:30,760
Now you've got more and more companies
654
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:33,560
springing up on the side of the road
like mushrooms,
655
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:37,800
offering everybody trips
off-roading by ATV.
656
00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:41,360
And they come to places like this
and they tear up the top soil.
657
00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:43,600
Doing that they create soil erosion,
658
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:47,160
they pollute the atmosphere
with noise and petrol fumes,
659
00:39:47,240 --> 00:39:50,520
they scare the livestock,
they scare the wild animals away,
660
00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:53,960
and it just destroys the beauty
661
00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:58,000
of these remote and perfect places,
doesn't it?
662
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:01,880
When you tell them that they are not
allowed downwards or upwards,
663
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:05,600
they give you
all kinds of obscene hand gestures.
664
00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:08,120
- Yes.
- Yeah.
665
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:09,040
They...
666
00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:10,840
They, not...
667
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:13,280
I think we are
in violent agreement about it, aren't we?
668
00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:15,440
Thank you so much for having us.
669
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:16,600
God help us!
670
00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:19,280
- Good health!
- May you live long!
671
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:24,320
Back down the mountain
I've reunited with the bike
672
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:27,080
to visit a rather topsy-turvy house.
673
00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:31,280
Located in the village of Bumbești-Pițic,
674
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:35,800
a brainchild of a man called Alex,
675
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:38,400
this increasingly popular
visitor attraction
676
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:40,680
or perhaps lacking in gravity
677
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,840
is standing conventional ideas
about tourism on their head.
678
00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:48,520
Quite literally.
679
00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:52,520
I suppose... I have one question.
680
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:57,280
{\an8}- Why?
- I like new things, which are not...
681
00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:00,880
{\an8}I've done some research, this house
does not exist in Romania, not built.
682
00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:02,160
{\an8}I liked it very much.
683
00:41:02,240 --> 00:41:04,960
It also fitted the past years,
684
00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:08,200
and I thought,
since everything has turned upside-down,
685
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:09,880
then we should also turn.
686
00:41:09,960 --> 00:41:12,800
And so we literally turned a house
upside-down.
687
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:14,880
In the first three months it was...
688
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:19,240
To get the word spread out, and photos,
to have people hearing about it,
689
00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:21,480
it was a bit more difficult time,
690
00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:24,520
but then tourists started to come,
691
00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:27,400
the photos started to spread
on the internet,
692
00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:31,000
so more and more people started to come.
693
00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:34,520
So, the local people were laughing,
when you did it,
694
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:36,320
but they're not laughing anymore...
695
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:38,080
No, they're not laughing anymore.
696
00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:41,640
Now they each started to develop
their own thing around us,
697
00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:45,040
our neighbours are considering creating
accommodation spaces,
698
00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:47,520
selling their traditional products,
699
00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:49,960
each one out of their own home.
700
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:54,440
I imagine it's very popular for children.
701
00:41:54,520 --> 00:41:56,200
- They love this, yeah?
- Yes.
702
00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:58,640
For children, it's very, very good.
703
00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:00,120
- Fantastic!
- Yes, fantastic!
704
00:42:03,840 --> 00:42:06,360
Was it difficult to build?
705
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:08,360
Very, very difficult.
706
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:10,000
The furniture is very, very heavy.
707
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:12,200
First of all, we're talking
about the interiors.
708
00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:14,880
This was more difficult
to fix it in place.
709
00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:17,320
In an ordinary house,
you put it up on the wall and that's it.
710
00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:22,120
The most difficult room is this one,
the bedroom,
711
00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:26,160
with placing the covers on the bed,
we had to fix the mattress in place, too,
712
00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:29,800
and then, the toilet,
which is also the most...
713
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:33,040
That weigh a lot. You don't want
a toilet landing on someone's head.
714
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:34,400
Yes, that's right.
715
00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:37,040
It is a metal structure.
716
00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:39,560
It would have been
impossible to do it in concrete.
717
00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:41,520
It was build upside-down from the start.
718
00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:43,760
We began with the roof, then the walls,
719
00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:46,720
and in the end we built the foundation.
720
00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:51,000
You must have a lot of visitors.
I've seen a lot of people outside.
721
00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:52,800
Yes, we have visitors.
722
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:55,160
We didn't have so many
in the first months,
723
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:58,000
but then they started to come.
724
00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:00,880
In the holidays seasons.
725
00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:03,680
Yeah, and I guess everyone wants
to take photographs.
726
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:06,000
- For Instagram and... you know.
- Yes.
727
00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:08,520
Now we are working on a gingerbread house.
728
00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:11,360
In two or three weeks,
we hope we'll finish it.
729
00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:13,240
- Hansel and Gretel.
- Yes.
730
00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:16,360
Have you ever spent the night here,
just for fun?
731
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:20,640
There would be a big, big problem:
Who would be on top of a woman, here?
732
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:25,000
Yeah, but it's very easy
to get out of bed in the mornings.
733
00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:29,720
Although people do call and ask us
for accommodation.
734
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:33,400
We tell them we cannot hang them up
to sleep at night.
735
00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:38,720
It's one of the craziest ideas
I've seen so far in my travels,
736
00:43:38,800 --> 00:43:42,320
but it works, and people love it,
and the kids come here.
737
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:45,720
And it just fires your imagination.
738
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,480
And you can get a really silly picture.
739
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,760
If we flip this around.
740
00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:55,960
- Thanks a lot!
- Have a nice day!
741
00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:05,880
The two most famous scenic roads
in Romania are the Transfăgărășan
742
00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:09,360
and the less well-known,
but equally spectacular Transalpina.
743
00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:19,400
The latter starts from the town of Novaci
744
00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:23,720
and meanders over the Carpathians
before descending into Transylvania.
745
00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:31,920
This is a spectacular drive,
providing you have good weather.
746
00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:38,160
But it's worth checking beforehand,
747
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:40,840
as conditions can be very different
near the summer.
748
00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:47,960
The road is closed for much of the winter
due to heavy snow,
749
00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:52,480
and even in the summer it can be chilly,
particularly if you're on a bike.
750
00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:01,400
Luckily, it was another day in paradise.
751
00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:04,800
With a wide-open road
and the wind in my helmet.
752
00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:06,800
The only way was up.
753
00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:27,760
- Good morning!
- Good morning! Welcome to us!
754
00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:29,040
Thanks!
755
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:31,200
Look at that!
756
00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:32,960
- Do you have fresh mushrooms?
- Yes.
757
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:35,160
Boletes!
758
00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:37,040
I hit the jackpot.
759
00:45:37,120 --> 00:45:38,520
Fresh porcini.
760
00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:40,120
Look at that!
761
00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:42,640
Boletus edilus.
762
00:45:43,720 --> 00:45:45,560
Otherwise known as cèpes,
763
00:45:45,640 --> 00:45:47,480
or in Romanian hribi.
764
00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:50,480
These are the king of mushrooms.
765
00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:54,440
You can sell each one in a restaurant
in England for about three quid.
766
00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:56,600
But here...
767
00:45:57,280 --> 00:45:59,480
They are in great abundance.
768
00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:01,400
- How much?
- 30 lei per kilo.
769
00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:04,440
OK. Perfect. One kilo, please.
770
00:46:04,520 --> 00:46:05,560
That one.
771
00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:08,240
That one. There.
772
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:09,840
Let's check it out.
773
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:11,680
Let's see.
774
00:46:12,240 --> 00:46:13,880
I knew it was worth coming up here.
775
00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:16,800
Now I need you to get to appreciate
the most extraordinary view.
776
00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:18,880
Feels like you're on top of the world.
777
00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:21,080
But... fresh produce.
778
00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:23,320
On the side of the road,
like I keep saying.
779
00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:27,040
That is one kilo 65.
780
00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:28,480
Oh, thank you very much.
781
00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:30,760
Super, OK.
782
00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:32,560
- OK.
- You can have that back.
783
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:33,440
Thank you.
784
00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:34,840
Thanks.
785
00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:36,200
And that's not all.
786
00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:38,160
Cheese, brânză.
787
00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:41,920
We have palinka, of course.
It's mandatory.
788
00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:46,000
And we have cherry liqueur,
blueberry liqueur,
789
00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:48,600
made with berries,
probably picked from these hills,
790
00:46:50,960 --> 00:46:52,640
and all sorts of pickled mushrooms.
791
00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:55,760
This is like pickled hribi, honey,
wildflower honey.
792
00:46:56,520 --> 00:46:58,640
These are merișoare
793
00:46:59,720 --> 00:47:01,880
which literally means little apples.
794
00:47:01,960 --> 00:47:06,320
They're full of vitamin C and
they grow wild along with the blueberries
795
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:08,280
which are also here, wild blueberries.
796
00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:13,440
- Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.
797
00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:25,600
Driving back down into Oltenia
we pass through the town of Rânca.
798
00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:30,520
One of the finest examples of what happens
799
00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:33,080
in the absence of any planning regulation.
800
00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:38,960
Sadly, if this kind of uncensored
development is allowed to continue,
801
00:47:39,040 --> 00:47:41,840
in Romania's most wild
and unspoiled landscapes
802
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:44,760
and the potential
for international tourism
803
00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:48,320
is inevitably destined to decline
in the future years.
804
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:53,920
The town is so ugly
it's almost an act of vandalism.
805
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:57,040
Wouldn't it be nice
if communities such as Rânca
806
00:47:57,120 --> 00:47:59,960
adhered to some architectural plan?
807
00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:03,680
Maybe the City Hall can offer
recommendations everybody's stuck to.
808
00:48:03,760 --> 00:48:06,480
Not only would this enhance
the beauty of the community,
809
00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:09,400
but also the beauty
of the landscape around it.
810
00:48:10,440 --> 00:48:13,200
People seem to forget when they're
building a hotel,
811
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:14,920
a boarding-house, or a house
812
00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:18,640
that it's not just the view
when you're looking out,
813
00:48:18,720 --> 00:48:22,840
it's what everyone else sees when
they're standing outside, looking back.
814
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:32,840
While Romania
815
00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:36,160
has some of the most progressive
universities in Eastern Europe,
816
00:48:36,240 --> 00:48:39,520
it's educational system is still
woefully underfunded.
817
00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:42,880
With many rural schools forced to close
818
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:44,520
due to primeval amenities
819
00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:47,440
like outside toilets
and a total lack of heating.
820
00:48:50,600 --> 00:48:53,200
For this reason, kids in isolated areas
821
00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:56,080
have to travel much further
to attend larger schools.
822
00:48:56,720 --> 00:48:58,760
With bigger classes, more pupils,
823
00:48:58,840 --> 00:49:01,280
and less individual attention.
824
00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:07,240
Meanwhile, historic schools in remote
communities sit derelict and unused.
825
00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:11,960
Or at least,
that was the case until recently.
826
00:49:14,520 --> 00:49:18,360
I've come to the village of Rugi
to meet the founder of a charity
827
00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:21,240
that's attempting successfully
to reverse this trend.
828
00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:25,280
- Mihaela!
- Hello!
829
00:49:26,120 --> 00:49:28,200
Welcome, Charlie! Welcome to our school.
830
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:31,200
- It's shaping up, isn't it?
- It is.
831
00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:32,720
- Yeah.
- Pretty hot.
832
00:49:32,800 --> 00:49:35,280
- Honoured to meet you, thank you.
- Nice to meet you, thank you.
833
00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:38,000
- And thank you for what you're doing.
- Thank you for coming to Gorj.
834
00:49:38,080 --> 00:49:40,320
This is a beautiful project, so important.
835
00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:43,200
Yes, this is one
of our actually 29 projects this year.
836
00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:44,640
29 schools this year alone?
837
00:49:44,720 --> 00:49:47,360
29 schools this year and another 37
in the past three years.
838
00:49:47,440 --> 00:49:50,400
So, in total, there will be almost 70
by the end of the year.
839
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:51,440
That's astonishing!
840
00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:54,720
So, everywhere, I mean we finished
already 50 schools,
841
00:49:54,800 --> 00:49:56,120
and we are very proud of them.
842
00:49:56,200 --> 00:49:59,760
The school drop-out in Romania
is 15 percent. Fifteen.
843
00:49:59,840 --> 00:50:01,840
Europe's average is ten percent,
844
00:50:01,920 --> 00:50:05,640
so my goal is, you know,
to decrease this down to zero.
845
00:50:05,720 --> 00:50:10,240
If you see up,
we are changing the ceilings.
846
00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:13,760
And you have insulation, presumably,
all the way down.
847
00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:16,520
How much does it cost to build a school,
on average?
848
00:50:17,040 --> 00:50:19,600
Little, compared to how much
the state is paying.
849
00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:24,600
So, we managed to spend 80,000 euros
for a school, last year.
850
00:50:24,680 --> 00:50:27,080
Maybe this year it'll be 120,000 euros,
851
00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:30,400
because the prices grew,
the complexity of the schools grew,
852
00:50:31,080 --> 00:50:35,760
but in average is 25 times less than
the state is paying for the same work.
853
00:50:35,840 --> 00:50:38,360
- Each sponsor does different bits.
- Absolutely.
854
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:43,120
Radiators, painting, ceramics,
855
00:50:43,200 --> 00:50:45,320
and we are absolutely grateful to them,
856
00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:47,000
because everything you see here
857
00:50:47,080 --> 00:50:50,120
it's because we are crazy enough
to believe it is possible,
858
00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:53,200
with a few people, we are six people
in the whole association, just six.
859
00:50:53,280 --> 00:50:56,280
Once you built a school,
that's it, isn't it?
860
00:50:56,360 --> 00:50:59,160
- We don't control anything, yeah.
- And then it's down to Primărie.
861
00:50:59,240 --> 00:51:02,520
But something changes in those schools,
because everybody loves
862
00:51:02,600 --> 00:51:07,400
being in a very modern, clean,
well-equipped school.
863
00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:10,560
Everybody, from teachers to managers,
to kids, to parents.
864
00:51:10,640 --> 00:51:14,040
This is why we decided,
even at the beginning of this year,
865
00:51:14,120 --> 00:51:16,480
we will start constructing
our own schools.
866
00:51:16,560 --> 00:51:19,680
And these schools
will be absolutely different,
867
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:23,600
and we will provide teachers,
we will be gathering the kids,
868
00:51:23,680 --> 00:51:26,000
you know, the ones
that don't go to school,
869
00:51:26,080 --> 00:51:28,040
we'll bring them to school,
we will feed them,
870
00:51:28,120 --> 00:51:29,400
we will make money for them,
871
00:51:29,480 --> 00:51:32,840
because my intention is for kids
not to go on the fields, to work,
872
00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:35,840
paid with 50 lei a day.
873
00:51:35,920 --> 00:51:37,360
They have to come to school.
874
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:40,200
And we will make money
for the kids to take home.
875
00:51:40,280 --> 00:51:41,120
You know how?
876
00:51:41,200 --> 00:51:43,720
We'll open like a market place
877
00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:46,800
and we will teach kids to do
whatever they can with their own hands
878
00:51:46,880 --> 00:51:49,880
and we will sell, they will have
their own little shop online
879
00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:52,160
on that place, market place online,
880
00:51:52,240 --> 00:51:54,360
and they will sell their own things
and take...
881
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:56,800
So they'll be able to bring money
back to their families,
882
00:51:56,880 --> 00:51:59,000
as well as getting an education
at the same time.
883
00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:00,440
- Exactly.
- I must say...
884
00:52:00,520 --> 00:52:03,120
This is one
of the most inspirational initiatives
885
00:52:03,200 --> 00:52:04,640
I've ever encountered in Romania.
886
00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:07,560
What you are doing is simply wonderful.
887
00:52:07,640 --> 00:52:08,480
It's useful.
888
00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:10,320
But it's a tragedy that you have to do it.
889
00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:12,320
Yeah, if we don't do it, who will do it?
890
00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:14,760
We will just wait and wait
for the state to do it?
891
00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:16,400
- I know the feeling.
- It'll never do it.
892
00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:19,680
These kids will never know, maybe,
who we are and why we did this for them,
893
00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:21,200
but it's not important.
894
00:52:21,760 --> 00:52:24,880
What it's important is that these kids
have a future.
895
00:52:24,960 --> 00:52:27,520
Because now the illiteracy rate is...
896
00:52:28,480 --> 00:52:30,880
The functional illiteracy is 70 percent.
897
00:52:31,520 --> 00:52:34,480
- 70 percent illiterate?
- Seven zero, yes.
898
00:52:34,560 --> 00:52:37,280
And just few years ago, before Covid,
it was 40.
899
00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:39,240
And now it's almost double.
900
00:52:39,320 --> 00:52:42,280
If we don't want to see zombies around us
in the near future,
901
00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:44,560
not being able to understand each other,
902
00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:46,920
something has to happen now.
903
00:52:50,720 --> 00:52:53,080
One of the many things
that makes Romania unique
904
00:52:53,600 --> 00:52:55,720
is its enormous ethnic diversity.
905
00:52:58,280 --> 00:53:02,880
Aside from larger minorities like
Hungarians, Roma and Saxon,
906
00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:05,800
there is also
a substantial Greek population,
907
00:53:05,880 --> 00:53:08,600
but it's coalesced in different parts
of the country,
908
00:53:08,680 --> 00:53:09,960
primarily in the south.
909
00:53:11,640 --> 00:53:15,960
One such community lies in the town
of Cârcea, just outside Craiova.
910
00:53:19,880 --> 00:53:22,120
I drop by for a spot of lunch
911
00:53:22,200 --> 00:53:24,960
and a chance to learn more
about their cultural legacy.
912
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:28,280
- Hello. Kalimera!
- Welcome, kalimera!
913
00:53:28,360 --> 00:53:29,920
Kalimera, Xantula!
914
00:53:32,720 --> 00:53:34,600
The costumes are amazing.
915
00:53:34,680 --> 00:53:37,840
{\an8}The costumes, yes, they are
the traditional Greek costumes
916
00:53:37,920 --> 00:53:40,680
they are called sarakatsanika costumes
and they are...
917
00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:44,600
like we have in Romania: Oltenia,
Muntenia,
918
00:53:44,680 --> 00:53:47,880
so that's a region where they come from.
919
00:53:47,960 --> 00:53:50,000
And they are called sarakatsans,
these people.
920
00:53:50,080 --> 00:53:52,040
They are some special costumes,
921
00:53:52,760 --> 00:53:55,040
you can find sarakatsans all over Greece.
922
00:53:55,120 --> 00:53:57,680
Why here? Romania?
923
00:53:57,760 --> 00:54:00,000
Why did the Greeks come to Romania?
924
00:54:00,080 --> 00:54:04,160
They came a long time ago,
around 1800 or 1900.
925
00:54:04,240 --> 00:54:07,280
They are the old Greeks,
who came here to work.
926
00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:10,600
Yes. There was a time when Greece
was very poor.
927
00:54:10,680 --> 00:54:13,280
They identified an opportunity in Romania,
928
00:54:13,360 --> 00:54:15,960
Romania being considered a rich country
at that time.
929
00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:17,440
Bucharest was the little Paris.
930
00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:20,960
And so, of course they were lured in.
931
00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:24,960
Trading cereals and animals,
and they came by boats.
932
00:54:25,040 --> 00:54:26,520
They came up the Danube.
933
00:54:26,600 --> 00:54:28,600
Many of them went into politics,
934
00:54:28,680 --> 00:54:31,680
many of them were significant people
in Romania.
935
00:54:32,240 --> 00:54:34,920
Others were plain people,
like me, like you.
936
00:54:36,080 --> 00:54:40,280
Like us, we haven't done anything
majestic, so to say.
937
00:54:44,680 --> 00:54:46,200
While the troupe were dancing,
938
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:49,320
Sanda whipped us some tzatziki
and a Greek salad.
939
00:54:50,160 --> 00:54:51,960
Tzatziki is easy to make.
940
00:54:53,520 --> 00:54:55,760
First, you grate and squeeze the cucumber,
941
00:54:55,840 --> 00:54:57,160
to remove excess moisture.
942
00:54:57,240 --> 00:54:58,760
Then mix it with the yogurt.
943
00:55:00,880 --> 00:55:03,720
Then drizzle in the olive oil
and a pinch of salt.
944
00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:06,640
A squeeze of garlic...
945
00:55:07,200 --> 00:55:09,640
and finish with a sprinkle of fresh
or dry dill.
946
00:55:10,520 --> 00:55:12,120
And that's basically it.
947
00:55:14,960 --> 00:55:17,400
So, Charlie, I invite you to taste.
948
00:55:18,040 --> 00:55:20,240
We take a bit of chicken...
949
00:55:21,760 --> 00:55:23,320
With the dip, yeah.
950
00:55:23,400 --> 00:55:24,880
Let me know if it is tasteful or not.
951
00:55:24,960 --> 00:55:26,880
Smothered with tzatziki...
952
00:55:28,800 --> 00:55:31,320
I think we've done a good job, Charlie.
953
00:55:31,400 --> 00:55:33,960
And we are the lucky guys
who taste it first.
954
00:55:39,920 --> 00:55:41,680
- Bravo!
- Bravo, children!
955
00:55:42,560 --> 00:55:46,320
I think... I think I recognize that,
the last song.
956
00:55:46,400 --> 00:55:47,680
- Where was that from?
- Zorba the Greek.
957
00:55:47,760 --> 00:55:49,400
- Zorba the Greek?
- Yeah.
958
00:55:49,480 --> 00:55:52,880
One of the most famous movies
of all time, actually, for Greece.
959
00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:53,840
Yeah, exactly.
960
00:55:53,920 --> 00:55:56,000
Anthony Quinn. When did you get into this?
961
00:55:56,600 --> 00:55:59,680
{\an8}So, most of us
really appreciate Greece, itself.
962
00:55:59,760 --> 00:56:01,880
{\an8}And all the traditions that come with it,
963
00:56:01,960 --> 00:56:04,880
everything about it,
all the beaches, everything.
964
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:06,760
The beauty. I mean, let's face it.
965
00:56:06,840 --> 00:56:10,160
Which brings me to my next point,
which is: Why here?
966
00:56:10,240 --> 00:56:12,880
Have you got any plans or aspirations
967
00:56:12,960 --> 00:56:15,800
to go back to Greece and to live there,
968
00:56:15,880 --> 00:56:17,120
or do you want to stay here?
969
00:56:17,200 --> 00:56:20,240
I mean, yeah, it's very nice
to visit Greece, but...
970
00:56:20,760 --> 00:56:23,120
We would rather remain in Romania,
971
00:56:23,200 --> 00:56:25,880
because we want to just
continue our tradition here,
972
00:56:25,960 --> 00:56:27,040
and keep it alive.
973
00:56:31,160 --> 00:56:33,600
Leaving this small corner of Greece
behind us,
974
00:56:33,680 --> 00:56:37,320
it was off to explore Craiova,
Romania's fifth largest city.
975
00:56:40,520 --> 00:56:43,760
Built on the site
of the Dacian settlement of Pelendava,
976
00:56:43,840 --> 00:56:46,280
renamed Castra Nova
after the Roman conquest.
977
00:56:49,800 --> 00:56:52,520
Despite being hit by an earthquake
in 1790,
978
00:56:53,040 --> 00:56:55,080
a plague in 1795
979
00:56:55,600 --> 00:56:58,880
and then being almost burned down
by the Ottomans in 1802,
980
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:01,440
Craiova rose from the ashes
981
00:57:01,520 --> 00:57:04,320
to become a thriving hub
for arts and culture.
982
00:57:10,720 --> 00:57:14,040
Lots of cosy boutique hotels
in the old town,
983
00:57:14,120 --> 00:57:16,960
like this one, which has a Parisian vibe.
984
00:57:17,040 --> 00:57:21,800
What I love particularly is the name,
Hotel Splendid.
985
00:57:22,360 --> 00:57:26,520
Well, it is over a hundred years old, but
this is a very adequate English word.
986
00:57:26,600 --> 00:57:30,640
Perhaps in the future we'll see
"Hotel Marvellous"
987
00:57:30,720 --> 00:57:33,160
or "Hotel Absolutely Spiffy".
988
00:57:37,920 --> 00:57:40,560
After checking in,
it was off to explore the old town.
989
00:57:42,840 --> 00:57:46,440
Which retains some of the best preserved
architecture in the country.
990
00:57:51,560 --> 00:57:54,960
It's the little details that really lift
the vibe of this city,
991
00:57:55,040 --> 00:57:58,640
take for example
ugly electrical units in the street,
992
00:57:58,720 --> 00:58:01,320
which have all been painted over
by local artists.
993
00:58:10,080 --> 00:58:13,280
One of the cities' most opulent buildings
is the Art Museum,
994
00:58:13,360 --> 00:58:15,400
founded in 1954,
995
00:58:15,480 --> 00:58:18,080
in the former palace of Constantin Mihail,
996
00:58:18,160 --> 00:58:21,720
one of the wealthiest men in the country
during the 19th century.
997
00:58:25,800 --> 00:58:28,120
The building was designed
by Paul Gottereau,
998
00:58:28,200 --> 00:58:30,840
architect to the Royal Court of Romania,
999
00:58:30,920 --> 00:58:34,120
and combines French academic classicism
and late baroque,
1000
00:58:34,920 --> 00:58:38,040
comparable to the palaces
of the Loire Valley, in France.
1001
00:58:40,960 --> 00:58:44,560
Its lavish interior
features Carrara marble stairs,
1002
00:58:44,640 --> 00:58:48,480
Lyon silk walls
and Murano glass chandeliers,
1003
00:58:48,560 --> 00:58:51,640
as we also saw
at Peleș Castle in episode four.
1004
00:58:54,440 --> 00:58:55,760
But the main attraction
1005
00:58:55,840 --> 00:58:59,720
is a whole gallery dedicated
to Oltenia's most famous sculptor,
1006
00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:01,120
Constantin Brâncuși,
1007
00:59:01,680 --> 00:59:04,640
which, unfortunately,
we weren't allowed to show you.
1008
00:59:11,680 --> 00:59:15,040
Craiova is also famous
for its parks and green spaces.
1009
00:59:17,760 --> 00:59:19,800
The largest is the Nicolae Romanescu Park,
1010
00:59:19,880 --> 00:59:23,560
formerly known as the Independence Park
and the People's Park.
1011
00:59:26,800 --> 00:59:29,160
Located on the site
of a grand family estate,
1012
00:59:29,240 --> 00:59:31,200
it's the third largest in Europe,
1013
00:59:31,800 --> 00:59:35,080
designed by
famous French architect Édouard Redont
1014
00:59:35,160 --> 00:59:37,560
and constructed
at the turn of the 20th century.
1015
00:59:42,680 --> 00:59:46,040
On my way back to the hotel,
I stopped into the Botanical Garden,
1016
00:59:46,800 --> 00:59:50,560
established by
professor Alexandru Buia in 1952.
1017
00:59:54,600 --> 00:59:57,920
It currently houses
over 6.000 species of flora,
1018
00:59:58,480 --> 01:00:02,080
and it's still in use as a study aid
for the University of Craiova.
1019
01:00:05,440 --> 01:00:08,760
But more important for the rest of us,
it's also open to the public.
1020
01:00:10,240 --> 01:00:12,400
To stroll through the landscaped grounds,
1021
01:00:13,120 --> 01:00:15,040
admire the blaze of floral colours,
1022
01:00:15,120 --> 01:00:17,960
and marvel at its weird
and wonderful sculptures.
1023
01:00:21,320 --> 01:00:25,040
As the sun sets, Craiova's bars
and restaurants fill with people
1024
01:00:25,720 --> 01:00:28,680
and the evening buzz works its siren song
1025
01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:30,840
on even the most reluctant travelers.
1026
01:00:33,360 --> 01:00:34,520
Adding to the temptation,
1027
01:00:34,600 --> 01:00:37,640
there are festivals and events
that run throughout the summer.
1028
01:00:39,240 --> 01:00:43,680
Naturally, we just happened to land
right in the middle of one of them.
1029
01:00:48,040 --> 01:00:52,560
Can't believe it.
Unintentionally, we are in Craiova
1030
01:00:52,640 --> 01:00:55,960
at the same time
as the Annual Puppet Festival.
1031
01:00:56,560 --> 01:00:58,480
They've been setting out down there,
1032
01:00:58,560 --> 01:01:02,520
I've been watching all the flotillas
getting assembled.
1033
01:01:02,600 --> 01:01:06,400
Any minute now,
they're gonna come up this street
1034
01:01:06,480 --> 01:01:10,200
and parade down past the University
and the Theater.
1035
01:01:10,280 --> 01:01:13,880
The police have just got
the last cars, the street's now closed,
1036
01:01:13,960 --> 01:01:16,640
I can hear them approaching.
This should be fun.
1037
01:01:24,960 --> 01:01:26,800
It's not the police cars I'm scared of,
1038
01:01:26,880 --> 01:01:29,960
it's the fact that it's the Joker
on the front,
1039
01:01:30,040 --> 01:01:32,680
quite literally the Joker,
with a green hair,
1040
01:01:32,760 --> 01:01:34,280
bearing down on us.
1041
01:01:35,440 --> 01:01:37,400
Where's Batman when you need him?
1042
01:01:41,760 --> 01:01:45,200
Craiova also has some surprising
connections with the UK,
1043
01:01:45,800 --> 01:01:47,840
as I discovered the next morning.
1044
01:01:47,920 --> 01:01:50,240
I grabbed a quick stroll after breakfast
1045
01:01:50,320 --> 01:01:53,600
before saddling up once more
for our final adventure.
1046
01:01:57,840 --> 01:02:01,040
The more time I spend in Craiova,
the more it starts to feel like home.
1047
01:02:01,120 --> 01:02:05,240
I woke up this morning with a cup
of English black tea, a splash of milk,
1048
01:02:05,320 --> 01:02:07,200
I took a walk in the English Park,
1049
01:02:07,280 --> 01:02:09,840
and I'm now outside the National Theatre,
1050
01:02:09,920 --> 01:02:13,160
which hosts one of the largest
international Shakespeare festivals
1051
01:02:13,240 --> 01:02:14,240
in the world.
1052
01:02:14,320 --> 01:02:16,480
Behind me is the man himself.
1053
01:02:17,280 --> 01:02:20,760
Albeit clothed in a large cape.
1054
01:02:22,440 --> 01:02:23,680
Like Dracula.
1055
01:02:33,600 --> 01:02:35,200
Two years ago, I walked part
1056
01:02:35,280 --> 01:02:38,400
of one of the largest
and most scenic hiking trails in Europe,
1057
01:02:39,040 --> 01:02:40,560
Via Transilvanica,
1058
01:02:41,400 --> 01:02:43,920
which meanders 1.400 kilometers
1059
01:02:44,520 --> 01:02:47,480
from Bucovina in the north
all the way across Transylvania
1060
01:02:48,080 --> 01:02:50,800
finishing in Oltenia,
by the banks of the Danube.
1061
01:02:51,960 --> 01:02:55,960
For our final stop, I've come to the hills
outside Drobeta Turnu Severin,
1062
01:02:56,520 --> 01:02:58,600
to hike one of its southernmost sections.
1063
01:02:59,440 --> 01:03:03,520
Joining me are trail organizers
Ana Szekely and Tibi Ușeriu,
1064
01:03:03,600 --> 01:03:06,000
also a world-renowned
ultra-marathon runner.
1065
01:03:06,080 --> 01:03:09,920
Plus tourism expert Călin Ilie
and alpinist Alex Găvan.
1066
01:03:12,400 --> 01:03:16,320
Our plan is to join the particularly
panoramic stretch of the trail,
1067
01:03:16,400 --> 01:03:18,800
and then to take an extreme shortcut.
1068
01:03:22,600 --> 01:03:26,600
Instead of continuing over the hills,
we will plunge beneath them.
1069
01:03:33,080 --> 01:03:35,840
It must have been so much work
1070
01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:37,760
to put the trail together.
1071
01:03:37,840 --> 01:03:39,920
Yes, it was a big journey, so to say,
1072
01:03:40,440 --> 01:03:43,160
{\an8}a four and a half years journey.
1073
01:03:43,240 --> 01:03:45,120
We started in 2018
1074
01:03:45,200 --> 01:03:49,080
and this year we succeeded to finish it.
1075
01:03:49,160 --> 01:03:53,440
We are going to have also
the Official Guide, on the internet,
1076
01:03:54,080 --> 01:03:57,600
you can download it from the website
and you can use it as a...
1077
01:03:57,680 --> 01:04:01,760
Like, it explains to you everything
you need to know, to be able to walk it.
1078
01:04:01,840 --> 01:04:05,720
You don't need a physical person to come
with you and to show you things.
1079
01:04:05,800 --> 01:04:09,200
If people need guides and persons
who are walking with them
1080
01:04:09,280 --> 01:04:10,880
or showing them things,
1081
01:04:10,960 --> 01:04:12,320
they will be able to...
1082
01:04:12,400 --> 01:04:13,880
Have an official guide for each area.
1083
01:04:13,960 --> 01:04:17,680
Exactly. But for now,
we have this written guide, the book.
1084
01:04:17,760 --> 01:04:20,760
I think it's a lovely idea, because that
means you're recruiting local people.
1085
01:04:20,840 --> 01:04:25,560
Exactly, this is one of the points
for which we did Via Transilvanica
1086
01:04:25,640 --> 01:04:28,120
so to involve the communities and to...
1087
01:04:28,880 --> 01:04:32,160
try for them to evolve their own
businesses and their own things,
1088
01:04:32,240 --> 01:04:35,320
so that they don't need to go away
and work in other countries.
1089
01:04:35,400 --> 01:04:39,440
Via Transilvanica offers now a possibility
for them to give like...
1090
01:04:40,160 --> 01:04:44,280
to give a bed where the tourists
can sleep, or to give some...
1091
01:04:44,360 --> 01:04:46,440
Homestays, agro-tourism, Airbnb
1092
01:04:46,520 --> 01:04:49,240
or even pensions and guest houses.
1093
01:04:49,320 --> 01:04:52,400
And organic food,
and everything they have in the garden,
1094
01:04:52,480 --> 01:04:56,280
What were the challenges that you had
to face when you were doing this?
1095
01:04:56,360 --> 01:04:59,600
'Cause you've had to put milestones
every kilometer.
1096
01:04:59,680 --> 01:05:02,840
And signs on walls, on trees,
1097
01:05:02,920 --> 01:05:04,520
so people can find their way.
1098
01:05:05,080 --> 01:05:07,560
That logistic, it must have been huge.
1099
01:05:07,640 --> 01:05:09,880
One of the biggest challenges
was the distance,
1100
01:05:09,960 --> 01:05:13,400
which was getting longer and longer
from our home.
1101
01:05:13,480 --> 01:05:15,880
And then, the communities,
1102
01:05:15,960 --> 01:05:18,120
which were either very open for it,
or not,
1103
01:05:18,720 --> 01:05:22,000
and some of the people
were also trying to vandalize
1104
01:05:22,080 --> 01:05:27,200
our signs and our stones,
and our marking poles.
1105
01:05:27,280 --> 01:05:30,040
Yes, or they just stole them
1106
01:05:30,120 --> 01:05:33,160
or they just made them vanish.
1107
01:05:33,240 --> 01:05:34,360
It's so frustrating, isn't it?
1108
01:05:34,440 --> 01:05:37,320
You're trying to do something
to help the local communities.
1109
01:05:37,400 --> 01:05:39,240
And bring people
1110
01:05:39,880 --> 01:05:43,480
and commerce,
and tourism into these villages,
1111
01:05:43,560 --> 01:05:47,600
and yet, they see an opportunity
in the form of "that's a nice fencepost".
1112
01:05:47,680 --> 01:05:51,560
Yes, but this is only a challenge for us
1113
01:05:51,640 --> 01:05:55,680
to make our family this Via Transilvanica
a family bigger and bigger,
1114
01:05:55,760 --> 01:05:58,400
so that people are helping us to do it
1115
01:05:58,480 --> 01:06:01,240
and to take care of this road
and to embrace it
1116
01:06:01,320 --> 01:06:04,400
and for the communities to explain it,
1117
01:06:04,960 --> 01:06:06,760
so that the communities understand it
1118
01:06:06,840 --> 01:06:09,240
and they embrace it
and they take care of it.
1119
01:06:39,240 --> 01:06:42,880
It's funny. These old ways of...
these traditional techniques
1120
01:06:42,960 --> 01:06:45,720
were amazingly productive
for the landscape.
1121
01:06:45,800 --> 01:06:49,760
{\an8}For us, from the outside, yes, it's very
picturesque to see them in the old way.
1122
01:06:50,280 --> 01:06:52,560
{\an8}You can't keep people
living in the Dark Ages.
1123
01:06:52,640 --> 01:06:54,200
Exactly. For hundreds of years,
1124
01:06:54,280 --> 01:06:57,440
people in this part of Europe knew
how to manage this land
1125
01:06:57,520 --> 01:07:00,400
in a sustainable way
and we still have it, you know,
1126
01:07:00,480 --> 01:07:03,040
in a lot of the meadows
of the Transylvania.
1127
01:07:03,120 --> 01:07:09,240
You know, it's like the highest
bio-diversity on square meter, in Europe.
1128
01:07:09,320 --> 01:07:12,800
So basically, in a square meter
in this kind of meadows
1129
01:07:12,880 --> 01:07:16,520
you can still find over one hundred types
of different plants.
1130
01:07:16,600 --> 01:07:19,480
- Which is absolutely amazing.
- You can't find that anywhere else.
1131
01:07:19,560 --> 01:07:22,880
I think it's a blessing,
it's not a drawback,
1132
01:07:22,960 --> 01:07:25,280
to be born in the countryside.
1133
01:07:26,080 --> 01:07:27,000
It's an advantage.
1134
01:07:27,080 --> 01:07:32,320
It's an advantage
if you have the capacity to see this.
1135
01:07:32,400 --> 01:07:38,160
So, for all these people that live here
for all their life,
1136
01:07:38,240 --> 01:07:39,720
people like us
1137
01:07:40,960 --> 01:07:45,880
can actually show them that being here
doesn't mean backward,
1138
01:07:45,960 --> 01:07:51,280
it doesn't mean, you know, primitive
or whatever, or uncivilized,
1139
01:07:51,360 --> 01:07:56,080
but this is just another way of living.
1140
01:07:56,160 --> 01:07:58,880
There are many ways of living
on the planet, right?
1141
01:07:58,960 --> 01:08:03,640
You can live in the center of Bucharest
among concrete blocks, let's say,
1142
01:08:03,720 --> 01:08:05,560
or you can live here.
1143
01:08:06,200 --> 01:08:09,360
It doesn't matter
that one is better than the other,
1144
01:08:09,440 --> 01:08:14,080
we just need to accept the diversity
that we have
1145
01:08:14,160 --> 01:08:17,840
in a way that this diversity can work
on the long term
1146
01:08:18,600 --> 01:08:21,080
for, you know, to still be able to exist
on the planet
1147
01:08:21,160 --> 01:08:23,319
within the next 100 years.
1148
01:08:23,399 --> 01:08:24,640
We need to open.
1149
01:08:46,040 --> 01:08:48,040
We've just taken a great break
on the road,
1150
01:08:48,120 --> 01:08:51,479
because there aren't many shops,
so we detoured to this village.
1151
01:08:51,560 --> 01:08:54,880
{\an8}I think this is
the best project Romania has
1152
01:08:54,960 --> 01:08:57,399
{\an8}since the falling of communism,
in tourism.
1153
01:08:57,479 --> 01:09:02,640
This kind of shop is the perfect image
of the way the community could be engaged
1154
01:09:03,200 --> 01:09:05,479
by Via Transilvanica
in progressing and boosting.
1155
01:09:05,560 --> 01:09:07,640
So, in my point of view,
1156
01:09:07,720 --> 01:09:11,479
the project Via Transilvanica
will give to such communities
1157
01:09:11,560 --> 01:09:13,279
a way to promote themselves.
1158
01:09:13,359 --> 01:09:16,000
There's so many things you can do
with agro-tourism
1159
01:09:16,080 --> 01:09:18,000
that actually provides a boost,
doesn't it?
1160
01:09:18,080 --> 01:09:21,600
That's my hope and I am sure
the tourist will be excited
1161
01:09:22,520 --> 01:09:24,720
to see the way
that people are living here,
1162
01:09:24,800 --> 01:09:29,520
So, if you want to know Romania, come
and walk seven days in Via Transilvanica.
1163
01:09:29,600 --> 01:09:32,279
That's the best way to find out
how Romania lives.
1164
01:09:32,359 --> 01:09:36,319
It's funny, isn't it, that there is such
a lot of cultural diversity in Romania,
1165
01:09:36,399 --> 01:09:40,040
and yet, people don't necessarily see
that, or is this an advantage?
1166
01:09:40,120 --> 01:09:43,880
This is a sticking point and actually,
from a tourist's perspective...
1167
01:09:43,960 --> 01:09:48,479
This diversity should be united
and this is the road which unites.
1168
01:09:48,560 --> 01:09:49,680
Vive la difference!
1169
01:09:49,760 --> 01:09:52,960
And that's actually
"well done, nicely linked".
1170
01:09:53,960 --> 01:09:56,400
That is indeed
what the Via Transilvanica does.
1171
01:09:56,480 --> 01:09:58,240
It brings everyone together.
1172
01:09:58,320 --> 01:10:01,960
And this road is good for Romania,
to be a visit card.
1173
01:10:03,280 --> 01:10:06,400
And to create curiosity:
"why should I come in Romania?"
1174
01:10:07,120 --> 01:10:09,600
- Yeah.
- "What could I meet here?"
1175
01:10:09,680 --> 01:10:11,040
"Which kind of people?"
1176
01:10:11,640 --> 01:10:15,240
So, curiosity is one reason to come here.
1177
01:10:16,040 --> 01:10:18,080
And diversity is another one.
1178
01:10:38,160 --> 01:10:40,280
When you're training,
how far you run a day?
1179
01:10:40,880 --> 01:10:45,080
{\an8}Usually, between 15 and 25 kilometers.
1180
01:10:46,040 --> 01:10:50,360
But I'm trying to do, every week,
1181
01:10:50,440 --> 01:10:55,080
between 250 and 300 kilometers,
when I'm not training for a competition.
1182
01:10:55,160 --> 01:10:59,400
And you're gonna run the entire length
of the Via Transilvanica, right?
1183
01:10:59,480 --> 01:11:00,520
Yes.
1184
01:11:00,600 --> 01:11:02,520
Is this the longest run you've ever done?
1185
01:11:02,600 --> 01:11:07,360
The longest I've run was in a competition
of 620 kilometers in six days.
1186
01:11:07,440 --> 01:11:09,080
That was my personal record.
1187
01:11:09,160 --> 01:11:10,880
Except that one was non-stop.
1188
01:11:10,960 --> 01:11:14,360
Here, we have the opportunity and chance
1189
01:11:14,440 --> 01:11:18,000
that, by running 1.400 kilometers,
in 19 days,
1190
01:11:18,080 --> 01:11:21,480
the daily average distance to run
is of 65 kilometers.
1191
01:11:22,040 --> 01:11:25,400
Still, it's gonna be punishing, because
it's a long, long distance.
1192
01:11:26,960 --> 01:11:28,160
To many, it isn't.
1193
01:11:28,240 --> 01:11:32,160
Those who are unfamiliar with running
think "65 kilometers is not a big deal".
1194
01:11:32,240 --> 01:11:35,760
The problems appear when, after ten days,
1195
01:11:35,840 --> 01:11:39,760
you still have to run 65 kilometers,
and another 65 kilometers,
1196
01:11:39,840 --> 01:11:42,560
which adds up,
and our body isn't built for this.
1197
01:11:43,160 --> 01:11:47,120
And then the mental aspect kicks in,
and from there on to go all the way,
1198
01:11:47,200 --> 01:11:48,160
and to succeed.
1199
01:11:48,240 --> 01:11:50,280
It is the biggest challenge for me, too,
1200
01:11:50,360 --> 01:11:53,800
but I'm glad that this challenge
takes place in Romania,
1201
01:11:53,880 --> 01:12:00,240
it is on a route that I have helped
getting created,
1202
01:12:00,800 --> 01:12:02,840
and I enjoy this part very much,
1203
01:12:02,920 --> 01:12:07,480
it is the most important geography lesson
for any pupil
1204
01:12:07,560 --> 01:12:10,160
or it was for me, at least.
1205
01:12:10,240 --> 01:12:13,200
It's a different way of knowing
your country, and the nature,
1206
01:12:13,280 --> 01:12:15,960
and that's when you start walking
across the country,
1207
01:12:16,040 --> 01:12:17,520
more than 1.500 kilometers.
1208
01:12:17,600 --> 01:12:22,760
I personally believe it will be one
of the most fascinating in the world,
1209
01:12:22,840 --> 01:12:24,880
due to the mile posts, to the sculptures
1210
01:12:24,960 --> 01:12:31,200
and due to the landscapes that change
every ten or 15 kilometers.
1211
01:12:31,280 --> 01:12:33,360
I have run
a piece of the Camino de Santiago, too.
1212
01:12:33,440 --> 01:12:34,760
They are not comparable.
1213
01:12:38,640 --> 01:12:40,600
I'm excited. Are you excited?
1214
01:12:42,720 --> 01:12:43,600
Călin!
1215
01:12:43,680 --> 01:12:45,120
- Hey!
- Hey!
1216
01:12:45,200 --> 01:12:48,560
Thank you so much for coming up,
really brilliant. Cheers!
1217
01:12:48,640 --> 01:12:50,440
Nice to meet you. Thank you!
1218
01:12:50,520 --> 01:12:51,840
- Hello!
- Hello, Tibi!
1219
01:12:51,920 --> 01:12:54,480
Good. It looks like we're gonna be
well equipped.
1220
01:12:55,120 --> 01:12:58,680
Yeah. So, this is the equipment
we need for the cave.
1221
01:12:58,760 --> 01:13:02,000
{\an8}The plan is
to go inside the Topolnița cave,
1222
01:13:02,080 --> 01:13:06,480
we will pass a short sector, just the
active sector, with a river underground.
1223
01:13:06,560 --> 01:13:11,320
- And we're gonna get wet, clearly.
- Yeah, most definitely.
1224
01:13:11,400 --> 01:13:13,360
I've seen pictures of this cave,
it's huge.
1225
01:13:13,440 --> 01:13:16,000
Even the opening. I mean,
it's absolutely beautiful, isn't it?
1226
01:13:16,080 --> 01:13:19,760
It is. It's the second biggest portal,
in Romania also.
1227
01:13:19,840 --> 01:13:22,240
Ok, let's get on with it, then. Brilliant!
1228
01:13:22,320 --> 01:13:24,360
- Let's get it done.
- Suit up!
1229
01:13:24,440 --> 01:13:28,040
I feel like James Bond
after five good years of retirement.
1230
01:13:30,240 --> 01:13:32,000
- Look, miracle!
- Miracle!
1231
01:13:32,080 --> 01:13:34,200
My God, it does fit.
1232
01:13:34,280 --> 01:13:35,120
Wow, OK.
1233
01:13:35,960 --> 01:13:40,360
This is a first for any president
of the Hotel Federation.
1234
01:13:40,440 --> 01:13:43,880
The very first president
of the Hotel Federation
1235
01:13:43,960 --> 01:13:46,040
to go into a cave like this.
1236
01:13:46,120 --> 01:13:48,320
You see, it's not just a desk job, is it?
1237
01:13:48,400 --> 01:13:50,440
- Yeah, absolutely.
- Absolutely not.
1238
01:13:50,520 --> 01:13:53,280
We should avoid desk jobs, no.
1239
01:13:53,800 --> 01:13:56,520
This is the way to promote tourism,
to experience it.
1240
01:13:56,600 --> 01:13:59,480
- A kind of remote work.
- Just for research purposes, right?
1241
01:13:59,960 --> 01:14:02,400
I'm sure it's gonna be
an amazing adventure,
1242
01:14:02,480 --> 01:14:04,920
for a long time I wanted
to enter this cave.
1243
01:14:05,520 --> 01:14:08,480
And you've not been in it,
it's a cave you've never been in?
1244
01:14:08,560 --> 01:14:10,080
Exactly. In this particular one, no.
1245
01:14:10,160 --> 01:14:13,160
We have the mascot, look.
1246
01:14:14,640 --> 01:14:15,440
Look at this!
1247
01:14:15,520 --> 01:14:18,440
- You're getting in a river...
- I thought you were talking about that.
1248
01:14:18,520 --> 01:14:20,360
My mascot. Sir Robert Duck.
1249
01:14:20,440 --> 01:14:22,440
Oh, my God! And you'll take it in the...
1250
01:14:22,520 --> 01:14:24,360
A rubber duck, we'll putting in the water.
1251
01:14:24,440 --> 01:14:27,160
- What else can you do with it?
- You have something to play with.
1252
01:14:27,240 --> 01:14:29,360
I'll have something to float
down the river.
1253
01:14:35,840 --> 01:14:39,480
After a quick soak to acclimatize
ourselves to the freezing water,
1254
01:14:40,480 --> 01:14:41,560
it was onwards
1255
01:14:42,080 --> 01:14:43,120
and downwards.
1256
01:14:54,240 --> 01:14:56,040
On first sight, the cave resembles
1257
01:14:56,120 --> 01:14:59,200
the entrance
to one of Mexico's cenote systems.
1258
01:15:00,040 --> 01:15:04,040
Its huge opening looming over us
like the gates of Hades.
1259
01:15:18,720 --> 01:15:21,040
Making our way across slippery rocks,
1260
01:15:21,120 --> 01:15:23,280
the light gradually faded behind us.
1261
01:15:24,440 --> 01:15:26,600
Until we were enveloped by darkness
1262
01:15:28,880 --> 01:15:30,400
and the sound of rushing water.
1263
01:15:34,920 --> 01:15:37,240
Scrambling and swimming forward.
1264
01:15:38,880 --> 01:15:40,800
It was a case of following the current,
1265
01:15:42,120 --> 01:15:43,800
with a little help from my mascot.
1266
01:15:51,520 --> 01:15:53,880
Not being lured into the many side tumbles
1267
01:15:53,960 --> 01:15:55,680
that branched off the main chamber.
1268
01:15:59,920 --> 01:16:01,760
Eventually, light bloomed ahead.
1269
01:16:03,080 --> 01:16:04,800
And we emerge, shivering,
1270
01:16:05,360 --> 01:16:06,960
on the other side of the hills.
1271
01:16:14,160 --> 01:16:16,520
That was tiring, but fantastic.
1272
01:16:16,600 --> 01:16:20,320
It took us an hour to swim and to walk
and to crawl,
1273
01:16:22,080 --> 01:16:24,280
through the network of caverns.
1274
01:16:24,360 --> 01:16:26,880
We've only seen five percent of the cave.
1275
01:16:27,720 --> 01:16:30,520
It's the second largest cave in Romania,
as referred.
1276
01:16:35,040 --> 01:16:37,120
And that's us, completely out of time.
1277
01:16:37,840 --> 01:16:39,960
Join us for the next leg of the journey,
1278
01:16:40,040 --> 01:16:42,240
as we ride
through the western region, Banat.
1279
01:16:44,720 --> 01:16:47,240
I'll be revisiting what was once described
1280
01:16:47,320 --> 01:16:50,160
as the most beautiful spa resort
on the continent.
1281
01:16:52,920 --> 01:16:54,800
We will be heading underground again,
1282
01:16:54,880 --> 01:16:57,800
this time to navigate
a historic sewer system.
1283
01:16:58,600 --> 01:17:02,280
I will be checking out
Europe's city of culture 2023.
1284
01:17:04,520 --> 01:17:07,280
We'll also be learning to make
a local version of pizza.
1285
01:17:10,960 --> 01:17:15,640
We're going a bit nuts in my continuing
mission to sample seasonal produce.
1286
01:17:20,680 --> 01:17:22,840
This and much more besides,
1287
01:17:22,920 --> 01:17:25,720
in episode six of Flavours Of Romania.