After breakfast and various chores I walked into town, whose centre was busy and sizeable. In places, above my head, a network of wires were strung across the road between telegraph poles. The apartment blocks had a well used air, with stacked balconies and air-conditioning units stuck on the side. Seeing a market, the stalls partly in the open and partly in a hall, I had a wander around. There were clothes and cheese but mainly it was fruit and vegetables for sale, glossy red peppers piled high, aubergines, tight balls of cabbage, cauliflower etc.. There were more people selling things than buyers at this time of day.
The Gold Museum consisted of lots of pieces of rock containing gold on one side of the Museum, and on the other side, samples of all kinds of minerals. Apart from a helpful board outside the entrance all the text was in Romanian. It included details of where the area's gold mines were located and the associated geology. Veins of gold were associated with volcanic activity in the area of the Apuseni Mountains, although they were no longer profitable to work. I recognised many of the mineral names although the spelling was different e.g. cuarț instead of quartz. In the square outside there were a few women in "gypsy" style dress, the gold thread adorning one of them seemed appropriate given the Museum nearby.
After the inevitable cake and coffee I did a bit of shoping for the next few days. On my way back I passed the railway station building, now far too grand for the rare train, no more than one a day. Today's graffiti covered train was standing near the station not looking like it was planning to move soon. Nearby a narrow gauge railway line was originally built to transport material from the mines. Although the mines have now closed pleasure trips on the line were scheduled on weekends in the summer.
The next place I can book accommodation is in Vartop. I struggled with whether I could make it two days but decided to allow three, as there may be a difficult section tomorrow, some high mountains and my left knee is still recovering from my recent hiking.
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