Creasta Cocosului

After going to Lakul Albastru on Saturday, we hadn't had enough hiking, so on Sunday we hiked to a rock formation called 'Creasta Cocosului' (translated roughly to 'the crest of the rooster').

Our plan was to take a taxi from Baia Sprie (a neighboring city of Baia Mare) to the parking lot that was as close as possible to the hiking trail (since the way there is too far to walk and there is no bus there). Since we usually have to ask locals to order a taxi for us (as the staff at the taxi center hardly speaks English), we went to a hair salon. There, the employee called the taxi center for us. However, it turned out that the center is in Baia Mare and the way for the taxis to Baia Sprie is too far (or we would have had to pay extra, even though it's the neighboring city of Baia Mare). But as we have already noticed several times, the people here are very helpful: the employee called her friend and both drove us to the parking lot with their cars. The return trip was similar. At a hotel next to the parking lot, we asked a driver if he could take us to Baia Sprie. Actually, he didn't want to go in that direction, but he still didn't hesitate to drive us back with his 6-seater (we were seven). Neither of them accepted any money.

On our way to the summit, we passed a former mine that looked like a ghost town. Otherwise, it was a really nice hiking trail, which only became steeper in the last meters. There were numerous blueberries on the way up and at the summit, which is why we encountered some people with blue lips and hands (including us). Once we reached the top, we had a picnic and siesta before conquering the cliffs of Creasta Cocosului.