Baciu forest (Padurea Baciu) - Cluj, Romania

 Hello, travellers!

 

Welcome to our spooky next post! And we promise this is an even spookier one. We hope that you enjoyed the Halloween night and now are energised enough to join us in a new adventure.
 
Today we are going to explore a forest – the usual setting of many spooky stories for Halloween. Well, this forest has the creepy thrill all year round. 
 
Welcome to Hoia Baciu Forest, located in Cluj, Romania. At the first sight, it’s a forest like any else. The forest is used as a common recreation destination. In recent years a biking park has been added to the forest, along with areas for other sports such as paintball, airsoft and archery. It’s worth remarking the unusual shape of the trees, curved at the bottom

 

The forest covers an area of about 3 square kilometres. 
Part of the north-eastern end of the forest is bordered by Valea Lungă (Long Valley), which passes through Eocene limestone and forms Cheile Baciului, a valley with asymmetric slopes. A small natural lake is located upstream from Cheile Baciului, at the border of the forest. There are several springs with potable water at the north edge of the forest, in Valea Lungă. The oldest Neolithic settlement in Romania (believed to have been established around 6500 BC) belonging to the Starčevo–Kőrös–Criș culture was discovered at the north of Valea Lungă. Tombs and houses from this settlement were uncovered between 1960 and 1994. 
 
Let’s say that this may be the cause of the legend saying that the forest is a spot of paranormal phenomena. Many ghost stories and urban legends contribute to its popularity as a tourist attraction. Skeptics say these are just stories for entertainment and lack any testable evidence. Because of these legends, it has been featured in paranormal documentary TV shows, from Ghost Adventures to Destination Truth.
  

The most paranormal place of Baciu Forest seems to be Poiana Rotunda. If not a paranormal place, it can be a space for merging with the nature.

But let’s take it for real for the sake of Halloween. 

The forest became famous in the 60s since all sort of paranormal phenomena has started being signalled: undeads and other inexplicable appearances in photos, that would be unobservable by eye, UFOs and weird auditive sensations, anxiety states and the feeling of being followed. The most frequent phenomena that have been signalled in this forest along time target the electronic equipment: (batteries discharging unusually fast, phone resets, GPS problems, difficulties in configuring the audio frequencies for audio-video recordings).

If you want to find out more about the real experience of the Baciu Forest, there are plenty videos on YouTube, showing how a night in Hoia Baciu Forest is like.

We will let you wander round the Baciu forest, but be careful! You never know when your phone will run out of battery, so find your way back fast! If you have enjoyed this adventure, follow us on Instagram @travelteria and tell us: Where should we go next?