How to get there
There are many ways to travel to Cluj. Starting with the car, long distance buses and airplanes. Of course I also thought about travelling there by bike for a short time. Unfortunately, time has become a very scarce commodity in the meantime, so that I had to say goodbye to the thought of travelling there by bicycle. I would have loved to start my hike in the Apuseni National Park with a nice bike ride.
Pascal and I finally met at Frankfurt Airport on August 19, 2018. With the plane we flew to Cluj. For the day of arrival we had booked a room in a small hotel. So we could buy our provisions on the first evening in Romania and finally taste some of the Romanian food and drink. The next morning we filled our drinking bottles and walked to the train station. At 7:40 o'clock was departure. I was sweating a little bit because I couldn't find an advertisement showing the track of the departure. You know only too well how often in Germany the trains are late, arrive on another track or are cancelled. Standing on the platform without any information made me very nervous. Should I really "only" rely on the timetable that was displayed? There were displays, but they had obviously been broken for years. I had no other choice...!
The train to Bologa arrives on time. At 9:15 a.m. we reach Bologa, get on the train and suddenly find ourselves standing in the middle of nowhere. The station is completely ruined. It doesn't really remind us of a train station. No matter! I unpack the GPS device, load the track and then the hike in Apuseni National Park can finally start.
Traveling in Romania
Traveling in Romania is actually quite easy.
There are numerous bus connections that go from the small villages to the cities. Because somehow the workers have to get to work and back home in the morning and in the evening. Not everyone has his own car. If you look at the fuel prices at the petrol stations, it quickly becomes clear why. The fuel prices are like in Germany, the salaries of the people are at least a quarter lower. A car becomes an expensive luxury. When driving with bus and train you should be prepared for connections that leave early in the morning or late in the afternoon. During the day there are few connections. And you should not want to pay with a credit card in any case. Only cash is true. Like when we arrive at the "train station" of Bologa, you will notice that bus stops are not necessarily immediately recognizable as such. But I also determined that the driver stops somewhere if there is somebody who wants to take a ride. But there is no guarantee. Also the departure times are not necessarily punctual (rather on Deutsche Bahn level...). You should also stand at the bus stop some time before departure, if a driver is in a hurry, the bus can leave earlier. Nothing dramatic, but you just have to think about it.
Return travel
Aus dem Apuseni-Nationalpark sind wir mit dem Bus von Garda de Sus nach Turda gefahren. Einen Tag waren wir in Turda und haben die Saline besichtigt. Am nächsten Tag ging es dann ganz entspannt von Turda zurück nach Cjuj. Der Flughafen ist mit dem Bus gut zu erreichen. Noch einfacher (und auch halbwegs kostengünstig) geht es mit dem Taxi. Es gibt unzählige Taxis in Cluj.
From the Apuseni National Park we took the bus from Garda de Sus to Turda. One day we were in Turda and visited the salt works. The next day we went from Turda back to Cjuj in a very relaxed way. The airport is easy to reach by bus. It is even easier (and also quite inexpensive) to take a taxi. There are countless taxis in Cluj.