Yesterday I finally got some comments for my first video on YouTube. They weren’t much, but I’m glad to see that someone who wasn’t part of the story had fun watching it – at least that’s what I like to think. Have a look below to see what the video is about...
Now, then... a couple of topics this brings me to:
- Movie Editing Software
The clip was made in Windows Vista’s Movie Maker which is far better than the one included in XP. Try it out in case you never have. And speaking of, have a look at the differences between Microsoft and Apple’s approach to home video editing.
- Tutorials and demonstrations: Windows Movie Maker iMovie
- Mac vs PC TV ads (funny stuff): http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/
- The Location
Right... that’s the best I could come up with, without infringing copyright laws. The big, black blob in the middle with white contour is Mountain Ciucas. Great place to go to, especially in winter. Unfortunately there’s no train to take you there, but there are minibuses which leave from Bucharest and you can find out their schedule by doing a quick Google search. Having your own car is definitely an advantage.
Once you get there, you can stay in Cheia (plenty of hotels to choose from) or at Muntele Rosu – a great cabin outside the town and closer to the mountain itself. Actually, my recommendation is to choose the latter – the cabin is very neat and clean, it’s got indoor plumbing, hot water and showers and the prices are reasonable. I think a room with two beds was 80 or 100 lei back in November (2007) and if you behave, they might let 3 from your group stay in the same two-bedded room. As for food and drink, the cabin has its own restaurant – a good meal can cost no more than 25 lei and you can make do with less if you’re not a heavy eater.
For those of you who are into hardcore mountain adventure you can stay in a tent near this cabin (not recommendable during winter) or go further up the mountain and camp near the Ciucas cabin. Although abandoned, it can provide decent shelter and you can even sleep in it if you’ve got proper sleeping bags.
Now that you know how to reach the place, get settled in and eat there, time to tell you about some of the hot spots. Me, I’m generally happy with any hike on any mountain track, and in Ciucas there are plenty of sights to reward you while hiking. The main attractions however are the Ciucas summit (1.954 m – great view on a sunny day) and the numerous large rock formations that bare resemblance to old Viking warriors, Devil’s hands and so on. Here are the trails I’ve hiked on in Ciucas so far and for reference the time those walks might last (the names are written as they appear on Romanian maps):
The numbers written above (prices and distances) are from what I can remember and you might want to double check them. But I hope you’re now curios and interested, so have a good time in Ciucas.
Once you get there, you can stay in Cheia (plenty of hotels to choose from) or at Muntele Rosu – a great cabin outside the town and closer to the mountain itself. Actually, my recommendation is to choose the latter – the cabin is very neat and clean, it’s got indoor plumbing, hot water and showers and the prices are reasonable. I think a room with two beds was 80 or 100 lei back in November (2007) and if you behave, they might let 3 from your group stay in the same two-bedded room. As for food and drink, the cabin has its own restaurant – a good meal can cost no more than 25 lei and you can make do with less if you’re not a heavy eater.
For those of you who are into hardcore mountain adventure you can stay in a tent near this cabin (not recommendable during winter) or go further up the mountain and camp near the Ciucas cabin. Although abandoned, it can provide decent shelter and you can even sleep in it if you’ve got proper sleeping bags.
Now that you know how to reach the place, get settled in and eat there, time to tell you about some of the hot spots. Me, I’m generally happy with any hike on any mountain track, and in Ciucas there are plenty of sights to reward you while hiking. The main attractions however are the Ciucas summit (1.954 m – great view on a sunny day) and the numerous large rock formations that bare resemblance to old Viking warriors, Devil’s hands and so on. Here are the trails I’ve hiked on in Ciucas so far and for reference the time those walks might last (the names are written as they appear on Romanian maps):
- Cheia – Muntele Rosu (1 hour)
- Muntele Rosu – fantana Nicolae Ioan – cabana Ciucas (2 hours and 30 minutes)
- Cabana Ciucas – Vf. Ciucas (1 hour and 15 minutes)
- Vf. Ciucas – Saua Tigailor – cabana Ciucas (2 hours)
- Cabana Ciucas – red cross trail (Culmea Gropsoarele-Zaganu) – red triangle trail – Muntele Rosu (3 hours and 30 minutes – 4 hours)
The numbers written above (prices and distances) are from what I can remember and you might want to double check them. But I hope you’re now curios and interested, so have a good time in Ciucas.
This is a nice review and the map is OK too…Maybe you should try to publish it in a specialized magazine, or site, such as http://www.epinions.com/ or http://www.iic.ro/despre-noi ;)
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