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BAILE TUSNAD |
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To the north of Sfântu Gheorghe, the River Olt has carved the
beautiful Tusnad defile , at the far end of which is BAILE TUSNAD (Tusnádfürdó),
a bathing resort set amid larch and fir woods, with three hotels and a
bungalow-campsite, all easily spotted just south of the train station.
To the south of the town, at Bixad village, a road leads east to St
Anne's Lake (Lacu Sf Ana), a two-hour walk from Baile Tusnad, following
blue dot markings. Occupying a volcanic crater on Mount Ciumatu, the
lake is spectacularly twee and is the site of a fervent festival on St
Anne's day (July 26). During the 1970s, one festival turned into a
nationalist demonstration attended by 6000 Székely; the local Securitate
kept this a secret from their superiors, and Ceausescu reportedly
learned of it only because his son Nicu heard the story from a
hitchhiker whom he picked up in his Jaguar.
There's a cabana on the east rim of the crater, near the rare Tinovul
Mohus peat bog, where many students camp (there are no rooms). A few
kilometres beyond, on the Târgu Secuiesc road, the tiny spa of BAILE
BALVANYOS (Bálványos-füred) makes a good stop, with both cabana -type
accommodation (under $6) and the upmarket Hotel Carpati (tel 067/360 700
or 01/312 4457, fax 067/360 310, bestwestern@planet.ro ; $35-45), built
as a sanatorium in 1938 and now part of the Best Western chain.
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