053 - Romania

The Bucegi Mountains are located in central Romania, south of the city Braşov. They are part of the Southern Carpathians group of the Carpathian Mountains.
To the east, the Bucegi Mountains have a very steep slope towards the popular tourist destination Prahova Valley. At a higher elevation is the Bucegi Plateau, where wind and rain have turned the rocks into spectacular figures such as the Babele (1) and Sphinx (2). The Bucegi is believed to be the Dacian holy mountain Kogainon, on which the mythical figure Zalmoxis resided in a cave. Babele (meaning old women) is a name for an area on the Bucegi Mountains plateau in Romania. Babele is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. The name comes from some mushroom shaped rock formations, the result of erosion and varying hardness of the rock layers. The Bucegi Sphinx is another rock formation in the same area, named for its sphinx-like appearance.
The Babele challey is accessible either by cable car from Buşteni or by road. It can also be reached by foot, coming from Buşteni through Valea Jepilor (Juniper Valley), or from the crest of Bucegi Mountains, from the Piatra Arsă challey.