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Discovering Transylvania Productions presents
Romanian roads with stories
4X4 Tourism and adventure
Places and novel stories
Extreme sports Adrenaline
Fun Spirit of adventure
Incidents Unexpected situations
Bushcraft Survival techniques
Tourist attractions
Spectacular landscapes
Season 1
Hey there
I'm Seba, a normal guy, with a greater than small passion. A passion for travel and adventure.
Adventure is different for everyone, and has as many meanings as there are minds to explain it.
As all good things have to start somewhere, my adventure begins now.
For many, things might look different, but I want to show you another Romania. A Romania
with places, a Romania soaked in history and tradition, a Romania that time seems to have
forgotten. In all this madness, I wanted to cover as many kilometers as I could in order
to show you my Romania. To do so, I have to make sure that the car is working perfectly.
And, as beautiful mad men are everywhere, I turn to my good friend, Razvan.
Welcome
I think the greatest gift in life is when friends remain friends.
And so, we meet again in the place of our memories, where hours turned into minutes,
jokes became part of history, and, after a few drinks, each of us could play the guitar.
Here I am again, working hard to convince Razvan to escape the daily routine and relive the times of our youth.
Are you in?
I'm in!
Hold on while I call Tuparu.
Hey Tuparu, what's up?
Listen, we're at Razvan. Can you come over?
Yes, I'll come over and we'll talk more..
Ok. Bye.
I'm coming. Thanks.
See? It's taken care of.
When two guys go on the road together, it's very easy for the whole crew to come together, like in the good old days.
So what are you up to?
Are you in? We're in: Razvan, Bobby.. Are you in?
How many guys?
About 10.
How many cars?
5.
Yes. I'm in!
The cars are checked and we are ready to go, we're full of enthusiasm. Our adventure begins
when the old team comes together for a new challenge.
Good trip and roads with stories!
So, Seba, where to now?
We're going to make a stop in front of the House of the People, which is the second biggest
building in the world, next to the Pentagon, and, besides, on our route, there are 2 towns
from where the marble to make it was brought. I hope we escape this infernal Bucharest traffic
soon because it's killing us. After that, it's party time. That's our favorite part anyway.
If you drive through Bucharest, you can't miss The House of the People, the biggest
administrative palace in the world, built from the communist dictator Ceausescu's megalomania.
1.000.000 cubic meters of marble, 700.000 tons of steel and bronze and 3.500 tons of
crystal were used in the making of this House. 700 architects and over 20.000 workers took part in its construction.
Because Bucharest has a similar design to Paris, in the interwar period it earned the
name of Little Paris. The atmosphere of Little Paris strengthens in the early 20th century,
and the similarity is due for the most part to King Carol 2nd and the mayor Pache Protopopescu,
as they transformed the old Bucharest trading town in Le Petit Paris.
Finally, we leave behind the asphalt and everyday madness, we put the off road cars to work,
because, after all, that's the objective, right?
After a few small mishaps on the way, we arrive at last at Campina, where our old friend,
Andy, was waiting for us.
And so, the team begins to take shape.
Hello, welcome!
Hello.
..
Sorry, we're a little late.
Is there anyone else?
- Yes.
So how are you? How was the trip?
A bit too long from Bucharest to Campina.
Really? Any adventures on the way?
- Oh yeah!
Alright, so let's go inside and you can tell me about it.
Ok. Lead the way.
After a long night of laughter, jokes and sharing memories, we are happy to wake to
a sunny and cheerful morning.
Still sleepy and powerless, we try to come to our senses with a cup of coffee in which
some of us, with eyes half shut, add salt instead of sugar But, all in all, we realize
we have a long way in front of us and, willy nilly, we start to eat. After a fast breakfast
a la Andy, we read e-mails, we look through maps, we check our luggage, and off we go.
The entire team is looking forward to the crossing of the mountains to Transylvania.
Let me make some room. Is it ok like this?
Yes, the ties will hold.
We are on our way to Doftana Jail, the place that changed along with the historical eras,
since the time of Carol the first. It was built in 1840, than it was turned into a museum.
Doftana was considered the Bastille of Eastern Europe, the place where no one succeeded to
escape, than it was turned into a museum. There are a few interesting people that were
imprisoned here. Doftana Penitentiary was known as Bastille and from 1897 until 1940,
the period it functioned as a jail; nobody managed to escape.
Among the prisoners here were the legionnaire Cornel Zelea Codreanu, Nicolae Ceausescu, Gheorghe Apostol, these
being communists, also Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej.
We just arrived, unfortunately the prison is in ruin at this time, but it's worth visiting.
The local legend says that in 1894 king Carol 1st wanted to build a summer house. A castle.
The Telega area was recommended to him, because, in addition to the environmental conditions,
smooth and wide hills, vast forests and Doftana river, there was also a steady climate with
clean air and thermal baths. History reminds us that, as the king was looking for a construction
site in Telega, he met the daughter of a peasant, who told him that she was *** by the miners
in the salt mines in Telega. Impressed by what he heard, the king ordered that a prison
would be built, fallowing the design of the Bastille, from which there could be no escape.
Actually, Doftana Penitentiary was known as Bastille, because no one was ever able to escape.
The Kings cross was built after king Carol 1st ës visit in 1866, who was looking for
a place to build his summer residence. The legend says that the king liked these parts,
but, after an accident, when his horse broke a leg, the king considered it was a bad omen,
and decided to look for other places, finally settling by Peles Stream, in Sinaia.
We go towards Transylvania, crossing the mountains at Paltinoasa Valley, we cross Paltinu Dam
through the keys called La Tocile, a true Paradise among the mountains and the Doftana
Valley, discovered more than 300 years ago.
Although the weather was nice when we started, all of a sudden all hell breaks loose.
The adventure is only now beginning. You can't call it adventure if all goes according to plan.
We ascended the mountain for less than 500 meters, and the cold was fierce.
Even the GO Pros couldn't stick to the glass.
You think it's better on the inside ?
It's ok, no damage.
Yes, on the window, only on the interior .
Deeper in the forest, we are taken by surprise, like the authorities.. ups
Winter isn't summer.
Oh brother.
Get out of the way, come here beside us.
- Get the Toyota. Get the Land Cruiser to pull!
All we're missing is a doctor.
There's my headlight, with Tuparu.
This is where the tricks begin. Until now, it was nice, asphalt, highway, drinks, fun.
Mihai, lower, tie it lower.
It was getting harder. The adrenaline started to kick in.
This is how a failed ascent and a successful descent look like.
Seba, there's an icy portion downhill,
stay on the left side with the wheel in the ditch please. Ok?
Affirmative.
There, stay on the left, don't drive on the ice.
It was no longer hard. It became impossible to cross the mountain to Transylvania.
It was already beginning to get serious. So the mounting of the chains was necessary in order
to continue on the glassy road. Together with Mihai, Bobby and Razvan, we got to work.
Because of the cold weather, it took us a while. But our goal was to get over the mountains, to Transylvania.
Due to unforeseen events and the difficult road, we were late, but, after the chains
were in place, we felt safe and the expedition could continue.
We could feel beneath us the screech of the breaking ice, the unknown began to make its presence felt.
We knew we had a few more kilometers to Brasov.
Unfortunately, the only one who suffered much was Viorel, our cameraman.
During the shoot, he fell badly, and, for him, the night ended painfully, unable to continue,
along with a broken camera we gathered in pieces in a bag.
After many hours and a few events, we finally arrived in Hunedoara.
Guys, try to park on the right side, we arrived at TOC International Tourism Aagency, where
Cornel is waiting. He will help us with the necessary information on the touristic objectives in Hunedoara County.
- Roger Roger!
We just arrived in Hunedoara, we'll make a stop at Cornel, he will give us all the information
about what we can see in the county and then we will continue according to the sites he indicates.
Hello cornel. We're arriving to the agency now. Ok, I'll find a parking spot.
Ok. Thank you!
Hello Cornel.
- Hello, welcome. Come in, sit down.
So, you just got here , let's take care of your housing first.
Yeah. What do you recommend? We are very tired.
That's easy, we go across the street from here, to the hotel we work with, the accommodation
is already made for you, so as far as this goes, things are clear.
Across the street is the Rusca Hotel, everything is set for you, so we can talk about what one can do
in Hunedoara, in this area and this county. First of all, I have to mention Corvin Castle, it's a brand that already
It's the famous castle I heard about?
Yes, by this time, all of Europe knows about it. Also, Cotnari from Orastie, it's 20 kilometers
away from Hunedoara, you can get there by off road. It's important to visit or at least
mention, because it's the place where you can find the furnace that molded the cast
iron to make the pieces for the Eiffel tower. It is considered to be the first modern furnace in the world.
Hunedoara county, along with Constanta county, are considered to be theplaces with the most historical monuments.
Let's mention Sarmizegetusa Regia in the Orastiemountains, Sarmizegetusa Ulpia Traiana
..
You were telling me about the marble road from..
Yeah, from the furnace at Govajdie you can get to the village Alun, the area is renowned
famous House of the People was taken.
I propose you stop at the Corvin Castle, let's get back to our story.
Yes, you started to tell us about the castle. Anything interesting we should know?
- We have now a group of foreign tourists that we are organizing a medieval night for,
with a medieval and traditional show, also a romanian folklore show,
So we are having some fun tonight?
If you can recover from the road, I invite you to join the group.
Thank you very much cornel, we'll see you tonight at the castle.
Yes, at the castle, at the party
To be honest, none of us thought that in such an imposing castle, you can have as much fun
as in a club. Cornel's invitation was welcomed, and also it was a pleasure for us.
The most amazing thing ever, that we, honestly, did not expect, was when we met at the party,
tourists from Australia, America and Canada, and when we saw Michael Jackson dancing to folk music.
And I thought we were the only ones always partying and getting crazy but. I'm not ashamed with them either.
We consider ourselves lucky for being able to see the Corvin Castle in daylight but especially
at night, it is well known that it is the most impressive castle in the country and
we felt chills of horror where the legends, the knights, the maidens and most of all,
Dracula, still make their presence known.
Leaving behind the Corvin castle, we go towards Govajdia where only the ones interested in
the history of a place know that somewhere in the Rusca Meadow Mountains is one of the
most important industrial objectives of Transylvania from 2 centuries ago.
This tunnel is 740 meters long. It's the longest narrow railroad tunnel in Romania.
What do you mean it's cold? Esteban? "Fa caldo!"
"Fa frigu!"
The furnace from Govajdie started to operate in 1806,
being the only one in the world where a constant cast iron process was utilized.
This is the furnace where the parts for the Eiffel tower in Paris were cast.
The construction of the furnace was determined as it was near the iron deposits in the Rusca Meadow Mountains.
At a distance of only 20 kilometers from Hunedoara city, the Govajdie furnace is famous for producing
some of the cast iron components for the famous Eiffel tower in Paris.
We leave Govajdie for our final destination of the day: Rusca Montana.
But not before we drive on the marble road as the locals call it, in Alun village, a
village frozen in time, where there are fewer than 5 residents.
Alun is maybe the only village in the country that has its streets paved with marble, where
even the stables for the animals are built entirely of marble, and the white church,
300 years old, shines in the sunlight, and seems to resemble a diamond in the desert.
You especially, the ones from Bucharest, do you know what's missing from this big hole?
The house of the people?
The house of the people, exactly.
You took it from us, it was here.
Oh well..
It was ours.
Come and take it back.
With the parliament included?
Yeah.
After a short stop in Alun, we continue and go deeper into the heart of the Rusca Meadow Mountains.
Because the distance from the village to the mountains is not great, we wanted to
get there before nightfall, and the road, which at first seemed friendly, all of a sudden
became harder with ice, mud and landslides.
I like it bitter.
The chocolate!
Early morning we live for the school in the Rusca Meadow, to meet Otilia, who is a teacher
and also our guide. Otilia welcomed us with kindness and answered our questions with courtesy,
telling us about Peter Pan. With her help, we attempt to make a journey between fairytale
and reality, to discover Peter Pan.
A character in a book and a Romanian soldier which have in common a name and a thrilling story.
Few are those who know that Peter Pan was real and was born in Rusca Montana.
If James Mattew's hero wanted to stay young, the Peter Pan of Banat region remained forever
By accident or by coincidence, the analogies
between the child soldier and the fairytale child are striking.
As it is mentioned in the files of the Black Cross , kept in Viena, Peter Pan was born in Rusca Bania, today's
Rusca Montana, on the 21st of august 1897, the same year as the character in James book.Mattew's
Can you tell me what we have here, please?
- An article from a paper in Italy.
- This is the matrix?
- Yes, it was printed with his story. This is where some of the things found there are stored.
And all the things we have here are the old objects?
Yes, this is the first helmet, the one he fought with
Another coincidence that ties the two Peters is the word Grappa that derives from the gothic crapa, meaning hook.
Interested to see the house Peter Pan was born in, we were told that it can only be
visited with the city hall's agreement, because the house is in restoration and the museum
is temporary located in the city hall, so we asked Otilia to take us to the city hall,
where we talked to the vice mayor, Petrica Jura, who, in addition to the agreement we
needed, offered us other information about Rusca Montana and its surroundings.
As the fairytale Peter Pan lived in a country that does not exist, the soldier Peter Pan's
shadow returned home, to Romania, just as the Austro-Hungarian Empire unravels.
Now, in Rusca Montana there are Monte Grappa Square and Peter Pan street
that lead to the home of the soldier child.
He had a goat friend. His best friend. And, in order to recognize her, he put a bell around its neck.
From here the name Tinkerbell. And his girlfriend's name, in the cartoons, Lili,
was actually his girlfriend, Liliana, who waited for him to return from the war which
sadly didn't happen. And the place he died in is called vale de capra , Goats valley, this was the irony.
His best friend was Ovidiu, who was a sailor and lived in Venice, and
in the story, he had an altercation with Captain Hook.
What about the flight?
About the flight.. he liked adventure, probably this started that story..
Before we left Rusca Montana, we stopped for a few moments at the monument of tourism,
the only monument in the world for tourism, where it is written:
Tourist, under the foot of the forest
Throw away your trouble and passion for hate
Try to learn from the laws of nature
Hello? This is Andrei. We just stopped at Sarmizegetusa, and, because it's not a good
time to fly, we're taking a short break then we continue on. All is well so far, a successful
expedition, beyond measure, all is coming together nicely, the roads are nice, we had
some trouble last night but we managed very well
And, as we visited about all we wanted in this expedition, all is left is to have fun
and watch Tuparu, Oli and Claudiu try a parachute jump at the foot of the Retezat Mountains.
Unfortunately Tomy Coconea could not make it, but we will get together with him on the Transalpine road.
Release the branch!
Watch out for the raven, Tuparu!
Mihai, Ursu and Andrei were preparing the landyng track for the guys, I can't say more
but we know what that was about, Viorel was scolding me because, instead of filming the
guys flying, I was staring at the scenery that was breathtaking, Bobby was shooting
Razvan and Andy with the same scenery as background, so, the only one that was working was Viorel.
I'll try, ok? At the next one
On that side first
Seba and the guys from Discovering Transylvania put us to work, ever since we left Bucharest,
we didn't get bored for a moment, and I'm curious now, what's going to happen, and what time we'll finish this entertainment
I liked the idea of this expedition from the beginning and I can't wait to take part in the next one.
This is our last off road part in this expedition, and maybe the hardest. But we have a motto:
Keep working! Don't give up!
Hey partner!?
As we are on the top of the mountains, far from civilization, a little tired and hungry, but with our spirit of adventure
still young, we decided to stop and stay in the forest for a few hours to eat, drink some
hot tea, even a shot of johnnie. We took advantage of Bobby's military experience.
He quickly made a fire, and also thought us a few survival techniques for extreme situations.
There are many ways to start a fire, but I've chosen a fire adapted for winter, where the
snow and damp make it difficult to light an ordinary fire. I chose a torch like fire that
is relatively easy to do and is very adaptable for the situation at hand, as it is used for cooking, light and heat.
About the survival kit, opinions are many and differ. But starting from a basic kit,
it can be modified based on the experience you get.
Here is roughly what my kit contains: the transport pouch made from a cordura material,
survival foil, the classic compass, ropes, knives, fire starting things, starting with
the everyday lighter, to the magnesium rod, magnifying glass, signaling mirror, fishing
kit, a notebook and pencil, water purifying tablets and, maybe you will laugh, condoms,
that are used for carrying water.
Over time, we learned that nature gives us all we need.
Our only problem is that we lack the patience to receive them.
See ninja, it's not like in movies.
It's harder than Bear Grylls here.
We're cold.
I'll get you warm now.
I want to get warm.
We're thirsty and cold.
Ok, hold these please.
Thank you.
Partner!
Where are you?
Hey, I lost the partner in the forest!
All we are doing today is to take advantage of the slope and have fun at over 2000 meters altitude
But, this time, on skis and snowboards.
Everything was great, a dreamy landscape, perfect snow, all we wanted was to have fun
And we had so much fun that, at one point, Andrei, Claudiu and Tomi were made fun of
for jumping like popcorn on the freestyle ramp.
We flew for 2-300 kilometers, we have a wonderful country and we can enjoy it.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end quickly, I had a strange feeling when
I parted with my good friends, but I was consoled by the fact that we had a great week together,
in which we had fun, we saw a small part of the beauties and legends of Romania, a week
in which we traveled in places time seemes to have forgotten, with wonderful people,
each with a story of his own. This is my Romania, with her places, her traditions, and her people.