The only longer trip done from Cluj is to Belis-Fantanele, a famous, for Cluj, mountain resort town near an artificial lake. There are a few hotels there but this is a daytrip to enjoy the nature for a short while. This also allows for a sampling of the roads outside Cluj, the main roads are really improved but still no divided highways on major European throughways is not good.
Still this way we pass through touristy villages, or maybe we should call them merchant villages? There are vendors aligned near the road selling souvenirs and fruits and vegetables, quite interesting.
Then we take the sideroad to Belis, the state of the road is still reasonably good but there are fewer cars and we start to pass through forest and mountain meadows.
On a side dirt road it is time to stop and walk a bit while exploring the area. The road goes for some time but we are here just to enjoy the better air and weather.
Still we find something interesting, a fallen windmill or at least the blades for whatever reason. That is something worthy of exploration and we check them out for a while before returning to the car.
The other major attraction here is the artificial lake and the road passes over the dam that creates the lake. The lake wa built for hydroelectric purposes in 1970-1974 and it has become a preferred location for day- or weekendtrips from Cluj.
Next it is time to visit the more developed area which looks….not so developed. Still the hotels and especially important the restaurants are open and it is time to have a good lunch and one of the restaurants.
We then explore the rest of the area, the accomodations are in reasonable shape but the accesses are not and sometimes can be quite weird and likely not something older or mobility impaired people would like to do. And then the day is over and it is time to return back to Cluj after a nice daytrip.
