Muierilor Cave, Baia de Fier, Gorj

1. Galbenul river valley - cave entrance

This is the landscape on the left bank of the Galbenul river near the parking lot at the entrance to the cave, which is on the right bank of the Yellow River. In the parking lot we are greeted with a "welcome". First we walk for 10 minutes up a 300 meter long path to the entrance of the cave, where the ticket office is located. You can also buy magnets at the ticket office. Entrance is at a fixed time every hour. From the short uphill path to the entrance, about halfway up, there is a marked trail to the right leading to the Ranca resort in Parang Mountains. We have arrived at point 2 on the map.

2. Hall of the Electricians and Altar Hall

We enter through the northern entrance and we will follow strictly the route, at the beginning a light one through Electricians' Hall. We pass by small poolswhich I found almost dry, and then next to organ. Altar Hall or The Altar is one of passage. More and more interesting limestone formations are appearing.

3. Tourist Gallery

A longer stop in Tourist Gallery. Here the guide has the first broader presentation, and ... the last. The cave shows many specific formations such as stalactite (the ones starting from the ceiling), stalagmite (formed from the bottom up) and columns (resulting from the union of stalactites and stalagmites). The showcases exhibit discoveries the existence of Neolithic life in these lands. Following the showcases and exhibition tables is a reconstructed skeleton of a cave bear medium-sized.

On the last visit, the guide treated us "fast forward" and I say this because we visited the cave several times and we found another guide, who made a broader presentation, with stops and explanations in each room. He even slipped many jokes in his presentation. Basically at this point he told us everything we had to see during the visit of the cave until the exit. In a cave it is nice to look with your eyes and find interesting formations, then according to your own imagination you can and asemui with animals, objects, etc..

4. Turk's Hall and Guano Hall

We pass by Petrified waterfall and then we end up in a big hall - Turkish Hall - where there are several "attractions".

In the Turkish Hall we meet with Domul Mare, with Turkish or with Santa Claus. I have noticed others...

So far there have been a few stretches where we've had to bend down to squeeze into the less high areas of the cave opening, but from now on we really have to crouch down in a few passages and be careful not to hit our head or back. Isn't that cool? A larger room on the tourist trail is The guano room. Guano is bat droppings. Three species of bats, which are insectivorous animals, hunting outside the cave at night.

5. The Hall of the Vaults and the etymology of the name of the cave

Boltilor Hall is a natural limestone vaults. The whole route is on a cemented path bordered by two cables. Before the exit (which years ago used to be the entrance) I took a selfie, so I stopped by ... the ladies. This is the "southern entrance". In this room at the exit, during the enemy invasions, women, with children and old people used to shelter. Hence the name of the cave - Muierilor Cave.

6. Cave exit - the valley of the Yellow river

We come out of the cave. We are at point 3 on the map. We follow the well-marked path that descends into a clearing, where cars park "at the exit", where there are a few kiosks. We are at the Yellow Valley.