Balea Lake Ice Hotel
picture story by Matei Buta
The Ice Hotel at Balea Lac (altitude of 2034m) has a very short life – four or five months out of a whole year. It’s hard to build and melts easy. But the spirit stays, and new people come to visit and even stay over night every year.
At that altitude, sunny days in January are a rare thing. We actually arrived in the middle of a blizzard. Once out of the cable car the only thing we could see was the avalanche warning. Nothing else. So we had to find our way through the snow and -20 degrees Celsius to the hotel
Once inside, we could relax. Though the temperature was barely above freezing, it felt warm and cozy, when compared to the snowstorm outside. This is the biggest hotel they’ve build so far, with 14 rooms, a bar, restaurant and… a stage. For the artistic touch, there were little LED’s in the ceiling.
Most of the rooms are finished, each with a different theme. This one was the setting of a massive snowball fight. Nevertheless, the one thing present in all rooms is a king-sized ice bed, covered in lots of blankets and sheep wool. I would still prefer an extreme sleeping bag, just for that extra bit of warmth.
The room next door was still being built.
The tools of trade? Well a handcart full of ice, couple of buckets, and a trowel. That and a skilled … ehm, carver. Yep, no structural engineers, no architects, no designers. Wood carvers, that’s all you need. They even showed us a brochure of their usual carvings. Scenes of the bible, and reproductions of famous sculptures.
Sooner or later, everybody ends up at the bar. And so did I. I Usually don’t like Jaeger, but on this occasion, it thought I’d give it a go. Of course, I tried the ice-glass. The shot was great, being so cold and all, but my hand froze on the glass. Not being used to drinking with gloves, everybody was taking them off and either dropping the slippery glasses, or freezing their fingers off. So the barman finally let us in on the trick. Put your gloves on, he said.
After this experience, I could easily fall asleep in here. All of a sudden it felt very homey.
Knowing that they guys outside were still working on the Ice Church, I went in the search of the frozen lake.
Out here, in the freezing cold, a hand full of workers is chopping away at the meter deep ice. Using nothing more than a poking tool and a makeshift sledge, they haul huge ice blocks out of the water. Apparently it’s so colt, that the ice thick enough for another slice in two days.
A couple of meters away, there’s another worker wearing a torn up plastic bag around his waist. He’s handling the mother of all chain saws, with a huge blade. This guy is responsible of cutting the huge ice blocks into more manageable sizes. Behind him, a pile of ice chunks awaits its turn. But the chainsaw cuts thru ice like a hot knife thru butter, and in no time, the blocks are all cut down.
From afar, this operation is a real crowd-gatherer, despite the cold. People are gathering behind the dotted line to have a look at this operation. The guys are used to tourists by now. Some even have time for a quick picture. In 3 weeks’ time, the ice church will also be ready. It better be, coz the first events are already planned in. A couple from UK is coming here for their wedding.
