Altitude: 1088 m. ASL.
Region:
Romania > Centru
Cache type: Traditional
Size: Small
Status:
Ready for Search
Time required:
0:20 h
Distance to travel:
n/a
Date hidden: 2009-07-17
Date created: 2014-06-06
Date published: 2014-06-06
Last modification: 2017-03-20 
1012 visitors 
0 x rated 
Rated as: n/a
Cache attributes
Description
Balvanyos spa is situated on the southern side of the Bodoc mountains, at an altitude of 840-950m. Many mineral springs and post vulcanic gaseous emanations give it therapeutic qualities along with the beautiful landscape. Drinking mineral water helps with digestive diseases, dry gas baths help with vascular problems and more. Water and gas that come out of the ground have a natural elevated radioactivity.
Nearby, on the souhthern slope of the Puturosul mountain one can find the largest natural "mofeta" (dry gas bath) in Europe, by it's folklore name : the smelly cave. Most caves and holes in the mountain were man made, to extract sulphur, like during the 1848 revolution, sulphur being used to produce gun powder.
Today, the cave, 14m long, at an altitude of 1052m, it has also the largest natural carbon dioxide gas emanation. From it there is a daily flow of 2000 cubic meters of gas, 98-99% pure carbon dioxide. The rest is mostly hidrogen sulfide which give the area it's distinct smell. The walls of the cave are lined with yellow sulphur deposits which indicate the level of the gas inside. Before entering however, you should check the level of the gas with a lighter or a match.
Do not band down inside, below the level of the gas, it can be fatal. Also, you should not enter alone.
The cave can be reached on a well marked path (blue circle) starting near the Best Western hotel on the mountain side. The path is relatively easy and takes you aproximately half an hour to reach the cave.
***WARNING*** : I have been informed that less then 10m away exists another cache, that is published on the hungarian geocaching.hu website.
PLEASE take a look at the spoiler foto.
Additional waypoints
| Symbol | Type | Coordinates | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Interesting place | --- |
Best Western [RO] Urmeaza poteca marcata cerc albastru de langa hotel [EN] Follow the path marked blue circle, next to the hotel. |
Additional hints
n gerr tebjf sebz fgbar. pna lbh ernpu vg?
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z
Pictures
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