Pianu de Sus - Cugir, Via Transilvanica

1. Pianu de Sus - Afteia Monastery

We start from the VT signpost in Pianu de Sus which shows us that the signpost to the left, to the right of the shop, leads us to the exit of the village, towards Măcui, where we find the red triangle marker we met the day before. Both the VT signs and the red triangle go towards the monastery of Afteia, but for short stretches, the VT route takes other paths. We will have to climb 6 kilometers through the beech forest. In places the wide and clear forest road is a bit muddy. Towards the summit, the slope gets steeper and we need small rest stops and hydration and energizing on the last 2 kilometers of ascent. The hard part is over. We are at the summit where we come out of the forest and have a beautiful view of the surroundings, at first towards the Orăștiei Mountains where the route will reach in a day, then on the right there are scraping houses on the hilltops. We talk to a man mowing hay. In winter you can't get down from here on wheels, even though the forest road winds past the houses. We see the Apuseni Mountains and then the monastery of Afteia, to which we will descend through the forest for pleasure. At the monastery we stop for water and the monks offer us cucumbers and doughnuts and jam.

2. Afteia Monastery - Friday

The VT route crosses the courtyard of the monastery of Afteia. At the entrance we met several nuns, who had come here to receive the monks' help mowing on a nearby hill. The road is pleasant, descending gently through the forest and passing a spring. We encounter several bear tracks, so we walk more cautiously, whistling to make our presence heard and avoid meeting Martinel. We took our lunch break in the forest, only to find that there was a picnic area with a table and wooden benches at the exit of the forest. From here, however, we went out into open land, bypassed a flock of sheep on the way and advanced towards the bed of the Cugir river, which we followed downstream to the village of Vinerea.

3. Friday - Cugir

On Friday we keep Codrului street, cross the Cugir river, follow Teiului, Eroilor, Merilor and Șantierului streets, cross the railroad and the village bypass and go straight ahead through the fields, towards a high bank, a former exploitation, where we saw many birds' nests. The direction of the road turns slowly uphill to the left, past a few houses and a lavender crop. We enter a forest of old oaks after so much walking in the sun. On the other side of the hill, in the Goruni meadow, at the exit of the forest you have to be careful to keep the right direction, we approached without too much re-awareness a courtyard with many sheep and many rather mean dogs. Ahead we can see the town of Cugir towards which we descend through the glades.

The town of Cugir is first mentioned in 1330 and in the 19th - 20th centuries it was an important steel center. Armaments are manufactured in the Mechanical Plant. The VT stamp can be found at the President Hotel or more precisely at the gas station next to it. After special requests we got permission to take a shower at the hotel and change after the day's hard drive.