Băile MIKES (Balvanyos, Județul Covasna, România)

Mikes baths (Băile Mikeș, in Romanian) are located in the upstream part of the Zsombor (Jombor) Valley, in the northern extremity of Covasna County, along the tourist route marked with a red cross that starts from the Balvanyos Resort towards Bixad. The Mikes baths are actually a complex of three baths located a few hundred meters apart and which, from bottom to top (and in the order in which they are presented in this film) are the following: Valattó, Hammas and Bükki (Bükkös). In the Zsombor Valley, both in the area of ​​the baths, but also upstream and downstream, there are several carbonated mineral springs, generally untapped. The baths were aranged by Count Mikes Benedek between 1860 and 1880. During the period of popular democracy, these baths were abandoned and practically destroyed. In recent years, the baths Valattó and Hammas were partially rehabilitated by the Roy Chowdhury-Mikes family, with pools, platforms and some outbuildings, all made of wood. These constructions were very beautiful when they were put into use, but they are subject to rapid degradation. The Valattó Baths contain three pools of carbonated mineral water. A wooden path leads from them to a mofette set up nearby (it does not appear in the video). The Hammas baths were set up (two larger and two small wooden pools) in the area of ​​a peatland with therapeutic mud, fed with mineral water and in which intense releases of mofetic gases occur. In the area of ​​the peatland, during the warm period of the year carnivorous plants belonging to the Drosera genus appear. The Bükki (Bükkös) baths are somewhat more difficult to access, being located above Hammas, on the steep side of the valley, without a clear path. They consist of a single wooden pool in which the mineral water "boils" with noisily bubbles due to particularly intense releases of mofetic gases. Nearby is a spring with mineral water.