Hopefully I’m Alone in this Forest

Hopefully I’m Alone in this Forest

It’s a very normal explanation for everything 
that’s happening. I’m off in search of the most haunted forest in the world. There’s all 
these old films. There is, for some reason, a giant double cross thing here. Probably 
not going up there, if I’m honest. Man, I’m on high alert. He probably doesn’t even own 
that building. Will this be a taste of Romanian nostalgia? I do keep on getting very turned 
around, but there’s not necessarily something paranormal about that. I’ve been on some rickety 
bridges in my time. This is the winner so far. Welcome to Transylvania. Thank God you’re with me. 
I’m off in search of the most haunted forest in the world. Currently walking down a road I really 
wish had pavements. Down there is the little village of Florești which is where I’m stopping 
the night. Apparently I’m meant to be heading   this way. Over in I want to say that direction is 
Cluj-Napoca which is probably where we’re going to end up today. I arrived in Bucharest yesterday. 
Drove up 7 hours essentially just towards Ukraine cuz we’re on the border here in Transylvania 
with near Ukraine and near Hungary. In fact, a lot of people around here consider themselves 
to be Hungarian, not Romanian, because this whole area of land was well, Hungary was found 
themselves on the wrong side of World War II and lost a lot of land because of it, which has got 
to feel so strange to become, oh, you’re now in Romania. Okay, you don’t speak Romanian. As far as 
wild berries go, these look particularly edible. I think they’re sloes, which is what you make sloe 
gin out of. And if they are, they are not good fresh. This is a fresh mountain spring allegedly. 
And it’s called is Izvorul Socului. It’s called earth water. I am I am going to drink some because 
of course, not too much, but some. I’m opting to drink out of the spout because there’s whole 
ecosystems going on in these other troughs. Tastes good to me. We’ll find out later, 
I suppose. But refreshing mineral water, I’m telling myself. I was hot from all the hiking, 
but just stopping still for a few minutes. It’s cold. So, this is it. The gateway into Hoia Baciu 
Forest. Possibly, if the internet is anything to be believed, a gateway into a whole different 
dimension. But what’s right now a very blustery forest. So why am I in Hoia Baciu Forest? Some 
people would say, “Who would dare go in?” Well, it’s meant to be the most haunted, the most 
paranormal forest in the world. I mean, we’re in Transylvania. There’s already vampires, 
but here there’s perhaps a a doorway to another world. There’s meant to be spirits, ghosts, a 
lot of UFOs. I am looking around, making sure that every noise is something earthly. One of the 
main reasons the folklore grew around this forest is because a shepherd was meant to have come in 
here with his flock and never come out again. He was never found. One of the spookiest stories 
is of a a 5-year-old girl who wandered into the forest and got lost and she went missing and she 
returned 5 years later still wearing the clothes that she was wearing when she left. They were 
in perfect pristine condition. I’m assuming she hadn’t aged and phased into a different reality 
or something because clothes for a 5-year-old will not fit a 10-year-old. Ask my niece who needs 
new clothes every 5 weeks. Is this the illusion of choice or do I have to look at my map? Some of the 
spookier stories involve bumping into an old man or an old woman who’s lost trying to get back 
into Cluj-Napoca and then when you go to turn to them to say, “Okay, it’s down that way.” And 
you go back and look and they’re gone, vanished, disappeared. There is also the standard all your 
electrics don’t work while you’re in here or they all drain of battery. So far so good. But I’m 
on 96%. But we’ll see. We’ll see about that. I bought extra batteries and an extra camera just in 
case I have a run in with the supernatural. I am wondering how much I need to be worried about 
bears. Vampires, ghosts, and ghouls might be, you know, might give you the heebie-jeebies, but 
they have bears here. I know that much. Romania, Transylvania, it’s famous for bears, right? Will 
they be asleep this time of year or will they be, you know, feeding? Best not think about it, 
if I’m honest. I’m going to think about ghouls   instead. There’s loads more weird things to 
talk about. Wild animals that shouldn’t be here, like buzzards. And someone saw a leopard here 
once, apparently. We’ve got that in Britain, though. Wild cat of Worcester. There’s a puma 
in Worcester. I guarantee it. A lot of the paranormal that people find here is what they see 
in the footage after they’ve left. Things turning up in different photographs. Disembodied heads, 
strange apparitions and ghosts and dark shadows in the footage. So, I’m going to have fun editing 
this one, looking out for things. Who knows? I believe. But would it be a spooky forest 
if I didn’t know all the stories about it?   I think I’d probably just be having 
a nice hike if I didn’t know this was the most haunted forest in the world. I 
think I’ll just be enjoying the scenery. Is it this way? All the paths kind of 
keep on leading me out of the forest,   which is the opposite problem of what people 
have been having. I’m trying to stay in. One of the things that some people say happens 
to them in this forest is that they get an overwhelming sense of anxiety or dread and that’s 
just a normal feeling for me but also like rapid hunger and dehydration. So I came prepared and 
I’ve come with my own Cluj-Napoca pop and a bar I guess Romania pop and a bar Hoia Baciu… it 
doesn’t work with that one but it rhymes with most things firstly we’ll go with the bar I’ve got 
this I kind of don’t know what it is it has the word nostalgia on it it’s meant to be a taste of 
Romanian childhoods ‘speaking fluent Romanian’. I did Google translate that and I’ll be honest, the 
results it gave me were full of swear words. So I don’t know what it means. So it was like the 
most bizarre Google translate I’ve ever seen. Will this be a taste of Romanian nostalgia? 
I really hope so. Smells alcoholic kind of. Wow. It tastes alcoholic. You know when you get 
a brownie that’s good for you? It’s got that kind   of consistency and lots of different bits and 
pieces in it. It’s got walnuts in it for sure, but it tastes really strongly of like alcohol. 
I don’t know what type of alcohol. Maybe rum. Kind of tastes like it’s got hooch in it. You 
know what I mean? alcohol you don’t buy in a shop. That kind of taste. But it’s sweet. Maybe 
it’s almost chocolatey, I suppose. Kind of. I’m not against this. It’s nice. It’s hearty. Am I 
tasting Romania’s history right now? Hard to say. I like this. I’d give that a solid seven out of 
10. I think now the surprise has worn off of how it actually tastes. Royal Crown Cola. Now this 
says it’s made in America in Columbus, Georgia. Southern slow traditional recipe made with cane 
sugar. Gives every gentleman time to slow down and enjoy the moment. Well, I’ll be doing that. I’m 
pretty sure this isn’t Romanian, but it was It is the most It’s the drink I hadn’t heard of that I 
saw in the shop. Botanical. It’s like a botanical Coca-Cola, which I think is like an original 
flavor Coca-Cola. Am I slowing down and enjoying the moment? I’m definitely getting cold. I know 
that much. Yeah, this is perfectly acceptable Coke drink, but that makes you kind of go, “What 
is that?” You know, that kind of taste to it. Oh, that’s from Columbus, Georgia. Isn’t that where 
original Coke is from? Like Georgia, isn’t Atlanta? That’s where they the bottling plant… 
Maybe this is the original recipe. Who knows?   It’s cola. I give it a cola out of 10. I need 
to get back to walking though because stopping is getting cold. I need to get warm. Oh god. I do 
keep on getting very turned around, but there’s not necessarily something paranormal about that. 
That’s just kind of what happens to me in general. Man, I’m at high alert. I really am. A lot of 
people bring things like, you know, paranormal detective equipment into the forest, but I’ve not 
come in here with a Ouija board and a spirit box. I just I’m on my own for starters. I don’t need 
that. Perhaps one of the most intriguing things about this forest is the fact that there was 
a biologist who came in I think in the 70s. He was wanting to look at some of the strangeness 
going on here. And he got back and discovered that in his footage, all the photographs he’d 
taken as well, there were really convincing UFO photographs. So, this kind of has become almost 
more than anything else in the paranormal world a hot spot, a hotbed of UFO activity. And people are 
meant to have seen in their footage in the in the film different spacecrafts like pyramids and domes 
and tic tacs, but also things like alien figures in the shadows. But this is the reason most people 
know the forest for this is the strangest place apparently. It’s a clearing. It’s not big. It’s 
a small clearing in the middle of the forest with no trees. and soil samples have been done 
here and all manner of stuff to work out why are   there no trees here. It kind of doesn’t make any 
sense. There is for some reason a giant double cross thing here which is making me feel slightly 
uneasy. I’ll be honest. What is going on? Is this a good sign or a bad sign? Pagans and witches and 
all types of, you know, spiritual people come here because they say it’s a very powerful place. It’s 
got a good energy. And the energy could be because of just weird gravitational electromagnetic stuff 
happening here. Maybe there’s like a huge ore, iron ore deposit that’s about 100 meters under 
the ground here. It makes everything go a bit   topsy turvy. I can’t see any right now, but maybe 
in the footage later there’ll be a UFO. There are also meant to be a lot of Satanists and a cult 
worshippers who come up here as well, but I’m not going to think about them quite as much. And I’ve 
got great cardio, so I think I’ll be all right. I mean, someone’s doing something up here. I am 
a bit spooked as I go deeper into the forest. Do you ever just like have a slight out of body 
experience and think, “What am I doing? Why am I here?” It’s that cross that has got me a little 
bit feeling strange. I think. Man, I’m in this forest now. There’s meant to be some really cool 
strange possibly otherworldly trees that kind of are all bent and shaped in peculiar ways. I’ve 
seen some gnarled trees. so far. But… I keep on looking around. I heard a noise, but nothing that 
suggests the fantastique. The thing that lends a little bit of credence to the the paranormal 
here is really those photographs that that biologist took. Apparently, he had a friend 
who was a Romanian ufologist and all of his and this story comes through him is that all of 
the photographs at one point that this guy took of all the different alien spacecrafts and they are 
I mean they’re pretty good photographs of UFOs. They were all commandeered by the Communist Party. 
They were taken by the government at the time and he never got them back. Thousands and thousands of 
different pieces of footage, different photographs and they were taken away. And you got to think, 
well, why why would you take them away if there was I’m looking in the shadows. Why would you 
take them away if there’s nothing there? But some of the photographs that got out were examined 
by different people around the world and they were said to be undoceded photographs. Maybe we’ll have 
caught a UFO ourselves. I’m walking through very thick mud. I can hear bells in the distance. 
Oh, thank God. It’s It’s not the paranormal. It’s some horses. I was going to talk about one 
of the other strange things that happens here,   which is people hearing screaming and giggling 
and people hearing the sounds of gunfire and possibly like ambulance sirens in the forest. 
And I thought, bloody hell, I can I can actually definitely hear bells right now. And there’s 
just a a guy herding some horses through the field. that’s filled me with a little bit of calm. 
There’s a very normal explanation for everything that’s happening. There’s one story that I love 
about this forest and it’s that Adrien Patuts, I think it was, he’s that guy who’s the biologist. 
I think it was some teenagers who took the really good photographs of the UFOs. But regardless, he 
was in the forest with some friends. They came across some old ruins of like an old ruined 
building. So they hung out at the old ruined building and took a bunch of photographs. But then 
when they went back eventually to to the same spot where the ruins had been, there was nothing there. 
The building didn’t exist. But not only that, the building itself in the photographs was fading away 
out of them until it wasn’t in the photographs anymore. After he died, allegedly his house was 
raided and everything was stolen from there. All the documents, everything, all his footage and 
findings. Why is the question the other question is did it happen? kind of want to see a leopard. 
I’ll be honest. Would that be good? I don’t know if that would be good, but I think I want to see 
a leopard. One good explanation for all of these strange things happening in Hoia Baciu Forest, 
although you can’t explain everything. Either it happened or it didn’t, but people seeing 
strange… bloody hell it’s very slippy. People seeing strange UFOs and things in the in the 
forest in the skies. Strange flying objects during the Cold War and the government not wanting all 
that footage to make it out to the public. I mean, it could have been. There’s an airport right near 
here at the moment, so it could have been strange Soviet scientists doing strange Soviet scientist 
stuff. That would kind of make sense. Maybe it’s one of those situations where the government is 
doing a bit of a social experiment. They find an area that’s already got a lot of folklore attached 
to it, like Hoia Baciu, and they start releasing a few chemicals into the air and just seeing how 
people react. There was one paranormal explorer who was walking through the forest and apparently 
he got thrown to the ground by a ghost or some type of apparition and people have come out of the 
forest with unexplained scratches and burn marks. But I didn’t film them because it’s just a family 
of people having a walk with the kids. I think I saw some two people on a run earlier. I’m not sure 
I believe in the paranormal stories of Hoia Baciu as much as I want to. I think I’ve walked from 
clear through one side of Hoia Baciu Forest to the other. I’ve made it out the other side. I’ll have 
to check my body for burns and scratches, but I think I made it unscathed. Would I have known Hoia 
Baciu Forest was the most haunted forest in the world? I’m not sure I would have. I’ve had kind 
of a pleasant walk if I’m honest. That cross was a bit weird. Willing to accept that. Don’t enjoy 
that. Oh, big scary dog who came barking at me. all of a sudden cocking his head over to one 
side. Yeah, I’ll throw it over to you. You have it in peace. It’s a chicken treat. Not so bad, 
am I? Go on. Good boy. I have ways of dealing with wild dogs. He was quickly tamed. I’m back 
in the forest again now. I thought I was done. lulled into a full sense of security. Maybe I 
could still get berated by a phantom. Now I’ve opened these, I’m worried about bears again, but 
I’m sure I’ll be all right. It’s not that I’m a   skeptic. I do want to believe things. I just I’ve 
had such a pleasant walk. I mean, I’ll be the one who’s the idiot if the whole time looking back in 
the footage there’s like a decapitated head been floating behind me or a bunch of UFO pyramids in 
the sky. Is this old bike rental shop a ghostly apparition that’s going to disappear when it’s 
actually in the footage or is it just an old bike shop? Probably not going 
up there if I’m honest with all the ghosts. Awful lot of shoes on the ground. Maybe it’ll be in the footage. Maybe it won’t. A 
lot of cobwebs. I was making my way finally into Cluj-Napoca but as I was walking I came across 
this an ethnographic museum which I could not say no to. It cost 10 I think it’s Lei or Leu that’s 
the currency here which is like a £1.50 probably $2 maybe to get in. So, I thought why not 
have a quick peruse? Probably won’t be here too long because it is so cold. This church is 
worth a visit. The paintings are right onto the wood that make the building paintings. Religious 
iconography. That’s the That’s what we’re meant to call it, right? Paintings. Honestly, really taken 
aback by this building. Something about it’s very spiritual in a very different way to the haunted 
forest. I love these types of museums really just makes you feel like you’re back in time and you’re 
walking through somewhere that could really have existed even if all these buildings have been 
transplanted here. It’s kind of an amalgamation   of culture from the past. Must be funny having 
some of these old buildings on your property. And the cultural minister comes around and says, 
“Can we take this building in its entirety, please? Are you going to pay me?” I can see 
some signs. I like that. So, this place has been here a 100 years is when they started 
making this. It’s funny. I kind of don’t know   whether they’re in period costume or if these are 
just photographs. I think they are. They’re just photographs of 1932 when this place was founded. 
That is what the church looked like that we were just in in 1964 where it was. And this is them 
moving it, rebuilding it, and finally finishing it. Gosh, I could get lost here. It’s absolutely 
huge. I’ve already walked 10 miles today. Literally, I’ve walked 10 miles. Well, 
I’m definitely glad I popped into here. I   certainly enjoyed. That’s a cool church, though. 
It looks like if someone was to paint a spooky witch’s house almost in some fantasy art. I’m very 
cold. I don’t want to knock this whole building down. I’m very cold and hungry. So, I’m going to 
probably call it for today. And tomorrow, I think we’re going to explore Cluj- Napoca. I do get why 
it’s no smoking here though. All the decorations are bales of hay. Buildings are made out of 
old wood and they’ve all got thatched roofs. That’s it. It’s not the leaf. You’re brave. I 
believe in you. There you go. Do either of you want cuddles? Nice to have some cats outside 
who do enjoy treats but not cuddles. The place I’m stopping is in a little village outside 
Cluj-Napoca called Florești or Florești and it’s nice. This is £25 a night which was the 
main reason I booked it. I’ve got a gas hob washing machine which you probably won’t 
use. Microwave. I’ve got a nice sofa bed which is actually comfortable which I’m happy 
about. I’ve spent a lot of time sleeping on sofas in my life. So, sofa beds I’m happy with. 
There is a window that looks into the shower, which I I’m going to have to find a way to 
cover. I am slightly hidden by grape vines,   but still. And this is the car I’ve got. It’s 
tiny, which is often what I want when you’re driving through all those narrow roads and passes 
and trying to park places. Trying to park there was a nightmare because there was another car 
next to it. So, I always go for a small car. Wow. But that’s it. That’s the tour. But I recommend 
this place. Cheap, cheerful, safe, clean. [Music] No, can’t in? Okay. Okay. Okay. I wasn’t sure how to get in, but 
just asked and the guy wanted 50. And I kind of walked all this way already, so I decided to give 
him the money. Probably could have wandered in, but the amount of dogs that are around here, 
it’s very difficult to do anything without being very obvious that you’re here. So this is 
the communist film depot which stopped operation in 1989 along with communism here in Romania. 
This was the administrative hub. This is where people would have checked out all the films. 
They’d have got their, you know, scalpels out, made sure that everything was censored, that 
nothing was inappropriate, too decadent, I imagine, in the films going out to the rest of 
Romania. It’s been abandoned for about 25 years. But the reason that it’s cool is there’s all 
these old films. I wonder if these clippings are things that the people of Romania weren’t meant 
to be looking at. I found the dog. There’s talk of people wanting to renovate this building and 
turn it into like a museum or like a place where they can show films. I guess that would be cool. 
I suppose that would take a lot of money. I mean, I feel like renovating this building. It 
would probably be cheaper just to build   a new building. You probably have to knock this 
whole place down. But it’s an interesting relic, you know, somewhere that would have been 
so official and important, I suppose, in the 1980s. It’s now just an abandoned building, 
you know, kind of an afterthought. The ideology that was behind this place has completely gone 
away. There’s just a whole film here. I feel like, who knows, maybe it’s great. He probably doesn’t 
even own that building. That’s probably just some guy who’s like, I can charge this person 
like 50 Leu to go into this building. But it meant that I went in and I walked all the 
way out here to do that. I probably could have haggled him down to 30 or something, but I’ve 
not been spending a lot of money in Romania,   so we’ll call that an expensive museum 
entrance. I mean, I’m not thrilled about it, but it kind of is what it is and that’s just what 
it is. Done a lot of walking around today around Cluj-Napoca, Haven’t found too much yet. It’s 
got the cleanest air in Europe, so they say, I think I’ve stumbled upon a market, so I might 
have a little peruse. Looks like they’re just getting started. Is this a Christmas market? It’s 
very early. I feel like this is like a Halloweeny Christmas market type situation. It’s meant to be 
famous around here for making wine. It’s got all kind of stuff. Jewelry and preserves and buttons 
and necklaces, traditional Romanian clothes. You know, it’s good honey products because there’s 
loads of bees swarming the shop. I bought some   local honeycomb. I’ve never had honeycomb before, 
so I’m excited to try it later. I’m going to attempt to put it in my bag and hope it doesn’t 
leak, but we’ll see. I don’t know what it’s quite   meant to represent, but I think that statue is 
to commemorate people who laid down their lives to end communism here in 1989. I don’t quite 
know what those beams are, but it made me look, so it got the job done, and now I’m thinking about 
those people, which I suppose is the is the point. It’s a big house, but it doesn’t feel like 
greatest king of Hungary was born here. Hungary and Croatia from what I understand. 
Matthias Corvinus, his last name means the raven cuz there was a raven on his coat of arms. 
His nickname as king was ‘the just’ because he   used to go around town dressed as a peasant 
being good and nice. But on the other hand, he waged so many wars that he was known for widows 
and orphans and taxes. So yeah, some good, some bad. On the other hand, this is Roosevelt Street. 
[Music] I found some steps. There’s meant to be a good view. I promise. It’s strange maybe to come 
to Transylvania and not mention vampires once. So I will. Matthias Corvinus, he imprisoned Vlad 
Țepeș Dracula. Imprisoned him for 12 years. They were rivals essentially. You’d think they would 
team up against the Ottomans, but they didn’t.   And they were worried. Matthias was probably 
worried that Vlad was going to take, you know, biggest enemy of the Ottomans title. They also 
had Vlad was Orthodox and Corvinus was Catholic, I believe, which was kind of a big deal at the 
time. So, yeah, he imprisoned him for 12 years. So there is a connection and talking about the 
Ottomans. What I’m now climbing is Fortress Hill which is right in the center of town dates back 
to the 14th century. It’s 405 meters tall. I’m finding out after the fact it’s full of old ruins 
and it’s been sieged and there’s been battles have taken place here. I suppose it was primarily 
built as a last bastion for people to retreat to in case enemies approach town. Although it looks 
now like there’s just a hotel on top. Apparently locals say that no one in the city doesn’t 
have a love story that started up on this hill somewhere. Could be. That sounds good to me. 
Bring it on. Let’s start a love story. Any takers? Anyone? I think there’s a love story starting 
just there. Best not interrupt them. Well, I thought where better to try my honey than up 
on Fortress Hill. I also am kind of surrounded by bees. I don’t know if they’re attracted by 
the honey. I’m going to be so sticky, aren’t I? Do I just eat it? This is what it looks like. I 
don’t know how good cinema this is going to be. Never had a honeycomb before. It tastes like 
honey obviously, but it’s chewy, but not in like I thought it was going to be like a bit of 
a woody way, but it’s not. It’s like in a nice   way. It’s an interesting experience. I kind of 
chewed on it until all the honey taste went away, then I spat the rest out. Is that what you’re 
meant to do? I don’t know. I’m not the most cultured person in the world. I’m sure that’s 
not news to you. Still picking out bits of bee, I think. So, I also bought this drink, which 
is my bar segment of this kind of a pop and a bar in the woods. Transylvanian Ckikisor 
mezes. It’s a honey beer, which was just a coincidence. I like honey. I wanted to try a 
Transylvanian beer while I’m in Transylvania. 9%. That’s That might be a little bit much. 
Since 1540, they’ve been brewing this. So, some of the statues, the people in the 
statues would have been drinking this,   I’m sure. I won’t lie to you. That took a good 
amount of effort to open. And I did cut my finger, but it’s done. I did it on a paving stone over 
there. but I managed. Smells like beer and honey. Holy crap. That’s really good. It definitely 
tastes strong, but it’s fresh and light. Not my normal go-to beer, but you’d be very happy 
if you got this in Bruge, made by some monks. This is good. Wholesome Transylvanian beer. This 
doesn’t taste that much like honey. It’s kind of I mean, I guess I did just eat pure honey. I suppose 
that might have numbed my sweet taste buds. But with that, I’m going to say thank you so much for 
being here. That’s it from Transylvania, from Hoia   Baciu Forest, and from Cluj-Napoca. We’re gonna 
be I’m gonna be drinking this in these beautiful surroundings. Find that bird and get it. I would 
never have come to Cluj-Napoca had it have not been for Yesland. I’d appreciate if you could 
subscribe if you’ve enjoyed what you’ve seen. And   as always, everyone, be kind to yourself, be kind 
to someone else, and onwards and upwards. Bye. Gosh, it’s like rocket fuel.

Hoia Baciu is said to be full of ghosts, UFO’s and the paranormal, so let’s go explore the most haunted forest in the world. There’s are so many strange stories to talk about, let’s just hope they are only stories.

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