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 Cluj was recently named one of the top five up-and-coming cities to visit in the world. A skip through the city and the surrounding area explains why. Words by Gavin Knight. Photographs by Tim White
ASHOCKINGLY GRITTY THRILLER and a shockingly camp musical - these are the diverse ways in which Romania has been represented this year. The award-winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, set in the dying years of the Ceausescu regime, tells the harrowing story of two female students who are trying to arrange an illegal abortion. Then there's the frivolous depiction of Transylvania in Mel Brooks' Broadway musical, Young Frankenstein, which sports a lively song and dance routine, "Transylvania Mania". Yet another stereotypical example of Romanian culture comes from quirky pop duo the Cheeky Girls.
These extreme depictions are no more in line with today's Romania than Sherlock Holmes and fog-shrouded alleys are with London. A jaunt around Cluj and the surrounding countryside dispels all myths. (Well, most of them - the Cheeky Girls, who are actually from Cluj.)
 As host to Babes-Bolyai University - Europe's biggest university with 60,000 students - Cluj has the buzz of café life and a literary reputation. The streets throng with friendly, thoughtful young students. Monocle, the trendy, monthly international affairs magazine, identified Cluj as one of the top five places in the world that would enter the international spotlight in 2008. And why not? There's plenty of budget accommodation, making this an ideal springboard for exploring Transylvania. Get acquainted with the locals on Piata Unirii (Union Square) the hub of the bar and café scene and Cluj's oldest club, Diesel (17 Piata Unirii, +40 26 459 8441, www.dieselclub.ro), which is spread across three floors. Nearby, Flowers Tea House (25 Piata Unirii) is a relaxing 'museum' of different teas.
Across from the city hall, Q Café (13 Petru Maior) is a pleasantly decorated, cosy café with sofas, frequented by students and a young professional crowd. Obsession (109 Republicii, +40 74 061 6106, www.obsessionclub.ro) opened in December 2005 and is the largest club in Transylvania, hosting top international DJs. It also has professional dancers most nights of the week and choreographed routines for special events.
 Mingle with students and young urbanites at the low-priced, bohemian venue La Gazette (16 Clinicilor). The walls are plastered in newspaper and an outer terrace is open in spring months. Usually they favour drum & bass, but also have events with reggae, hip hop, or other electronic music. For live concerts, there's the Music Pub (5 Horea, +40 26 443 2517), a Cluj stalwart. Most of the clientele are students, 30-something regulars and local musicians. It's built into a charming, red-brick cellar with capacity for several hundred in the pub and 400 in the concert room, making it Cluj's most vibrant venue for live music. Music encompasses rock, alternative, jazz and blues, but it also hosts metal, reggae, hip hop and electro events. Recover from a heavy night on the tiles in the relaxing Botanical Garden and get in touch with Cluj's historical side.
 As one of Romania's key cultural and historic centres, Cluj boasts grand buildings like the yellow ochre Opera House and the Orthodox Cathedral, which both betray its history as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The striking statue of the 15th century Hungarian king Matyas Corvinus, by St Michael's Cathedral in Piata Unirii, is flanked by grim-faced, flag-bearing warriors seemingly out of The Lord of the Rings. The Romanians are keen to emphasise Cluj's independence from its previous Hungarian landlords, so the colours of the Romanian national flag are on display as you walk among the cupolas, Baroque outcrops and fin-desiecle backstreets.
But the real attraction of Cluj is its convenience for exploring the surrounding Transylvanian hills. For the outdoor type, look out for excursions organised by Transylvania Tours (+40 26 443 7104, www.transilvaniatours.ro), mountain climbing by Rucksack (+40 74 533 5025, www.rucksack.ro) and paragliding by Eagle Air Sport (www.paragliding.ro). To limber up for these activities, climb up Fortress Hill (Dealul Cetatuia) north of the centre, across the river for a stunning panorama, 405m above sea level; take a deep breath and prepare for the real Transylvania.
 Here you'll see the surrounding countryside peppered with charming villages that show a more gentle-paced side of Romanian life. Travelling round the villages and towns in Transylvania you may come across individuals who have been deemed by UNESCO to be Living Human Treasures because of the exceptional contribution they make to traditional folk art.
Over 200 people have been recognised as cultural ambassadors due to their expertise in everything from woodcarving to egg painting, embroidery to costume design, and they carry with them the history of Romania. The programme is organised by Dr Corneliu Bucur at the Astra Museum, in Sibiu, (+40 26 921 8195, www.muzeulastra.ro). Maria PoieranuDiac from Sasciori Commune in the Alba region is famous for her painted glass, for instance, and Silvia Tecoanta, from the Altina Commune in the Hartibaci Valley, is known for exquisite weaving.
 Folk music also plays an important part in Transylvanian life, and each village has its own band of Magyars in full costume. The world famous composer Béla Bartók was so taken by the local folk music that he collected it, using a recording device with phonograph cylinders - locals were very suspicious and called his machine "the monster". The best nearby village to hear traditional folk music is Sic.
Another town near Cluj is Turda, which was one of the wealthiest towns in the region, thanks to salt mining. For spectacular scenery, the impressive Turda Gorge is a two-hour walk from the town, following the blue and green markings. On 23 April, St George's Day, in Buru, a nearby village, the unique Babaluda fertility celebration is held. At this lively event, men dress up in cherry bark and birch leaves and smear black dye over everyone, forcing evil spirits to leave; then all the young girls of the village are hurled into the river from a high bridge.
 The nearby Apuseni Mountains are good hiking territory with about 400 caves. One of the most extraordinary is the Scarisoara Ice Cave, which is part of the second largest underground glacier in Europe. With an average temperature of 0oC and plenty of bats, it will certainly send a chill down your spine. The whole underground complex is an environmental phenomenon that could survive long after the polar ice caps have melted. It has 70,000m3 of ice, 15m thick, which has preserved evidence of climactic change over the last 4,000 years. At the back of the cave is an ice church, so named because of its pillar foundations.
Meanwhile, back in Cluj, the warmth of the young population, the constant architectural reminders of local history and quaint backstreets incorporate the sensory experience of the surrounding hills into its modern setting. It's a modern city that will never forget its past.
Ostatnio magazyn Monocle zaliczył Kluż do pięciu najbardziej obiecujących - pod względem atrakcyjności turystycznej - miast świata. Wyjaśnienie przynosi wycieczka po mieście i okolicach.
W Klużu życie kulturalne kwitnie - nic dziwnego, znajduje się tu największy w Europie uniwersytet, Babes-Bolyai. Z miejscowymi możesz zaznajomić się w barach i kafejkach przy Piata Unirii (Placu Unii) albo w Dieslu, najstarszym klubie w mieście. Studenci przesiadują w Q Café naprzeciwko ratusza, a także w La Gazette przy Strada Clinicilor. Spotkasz ich także w Music Pub przy Strada Horea, który ma opinię najlepszego klubu z muzyką live.
Po imprezowej nocy zrelaksuj się w Ogrodzie Botanicznym i poznaj miasto od strony jego historii. Kluż, ważny ośrodek kulturalny i historyczny Rumunii, może poszczycić się monumentalnymi budowlami, takimi jak opera czy prawosławna cerkiew katedralna. Przy kościele św. Michała na Piata Unirii stoi konny pomnik króla Węgier, Macieja Korwina, otoczony dzierżącymi rumuńskie flagi wojownikami - Rumunii lubią podkreślać swoją niezależność od Węgier.
Możliwość taniego zakwaterowania sprawia, że miasto stanowi doskonałą bazę wypadową do zwiedzania Transylwanii. Można wybrać się na zorganizowaną wycieczkę albo wspinaczkę górską. W pobliskich górach Apuseni znajduje się około 400 jaskiń, najbardziej niesamowita jest jaskinia lodowa.
Ze wzgórz Dealul Cetatuja na północ od centrum Klużu rozciąga się wspaniała panorama, widać stąd wiele rozsianych po okolicy wiosek. Ponad dwustu ich mieszkańcom, zajmującym się sztuką ludową - rzeźbą w drewnie, malowaniem jaj, haftem, projektowaniem strojów ludowych - UNESCO przyznało tytuł ambasadorów kultury. W życiu Transylwanii dużą rolę odgrywa muzyka ludowa. Każda wioska ma swoją własną madziarską kapelę.
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