Day 40 ROMANIA Viseu de Sus Maramures

Another place we were very sad to leave was Hai La Saivan. Their hospitality, gastronomic cooking and serenity will be hard to find else where.
We drove directly to the start of the hike called Horses Waterfall in the Rodna mountains in Maramures. On the way, we passed some quaint houses in Ciocanesti.

Horses Waterfall also known as Cascada Cailor in Rodna National Park is a stunning 240m high multi tiered waterfall in the Rodna Mountains, recognized as one of the country's highest. According to local legend, the name stems from a tragic incident where horses were cornered by a bear in a storm and plunged into the abyss.

Whilst the hike was unremarkable at the start, when we got to the Falls, there was an absolute WOW factor. It ranks in the top hike destination for us. After climbing for about an hour, what appeared before our eyes was just magical. It is the tallest waterfall we'd ever seen and it had snow and icicles formed in and around the waterfall. Waterfalls are already mesmerising. The sheer height and spread, the size of Horses Waterfall with the formation of icicles in the falling water, ice and snow around its rocks makes it all the more breathtaking. We stood and stared for a long time before Ruby had to do her usual rock hopping and sitting in the middle of the lower falls.
On most of our hikes, we had to work really hard to get to the destination. This hike was shortened by driving as far into the trail as we could, and decreasing the total elevation gain from 548m to just 467m. For such a relatively easy hike, we had a wonderful spectacle at the end.Read more