Interest in the Mohos oligotrophic peat bog in Harghita County, which offers tourists a glimpse of what Europe looked like at the end of the Ice Age, has grown in recent years, with approximately 40,000 tourists visiting this year the fascinating reserve next to Lake St. Ana, the director of the 'Pro Szent Anna' Association, Dósa Elek-Levente told AGERPRES on Thursday.

'Usually, about half of the tourists to Lake St. Ana also visit the peat bog. And I can say that there is a growing interest. This year was the first when we had more questions about the peat bog than about Lake St. Ana, now about half of the phone calls we get are about the Mohos peat bog,' said Dósa Elek-Levente.

The Association's director says that tourists are attracted by the 'Ice Age relic habitat', by the fact that the Mohos peat bog was formed in the basin of a former volcanic lake, but also because they receive comprehensive and attractive information from the guides who accompany the groups.

Another element that sparks the visitors' curiosity is the unusual appearance of the landscape, sometimes likened to the world from the movie The Lord of the Rings, because of the numerous withered pine trees, the result of a native insect attack a decade earlier.

'You are walking through an otherworldly landscape, that's what you feel when you don't have the usual plants around you and there is also this post-apocalyptic component, all the trees around you are desiccated, leafless, gray. It's so ugly that it's already beautiful,' said Dósa.

According to him, 'a promising natural renewal of the pine trees is visible' and he says that it is possible to witness a 'generational change'.

Another local attraction is the sundew, an insectivorous plant that can be admired in the bog and that 'consumes' insects several times larger than itself.

Tourists can only access the Mohos peat bog on guided tours, with the route running along oak wood floating pontoons, raised approximately 40 centimeters above the vegetation.

The peat bog is officially closed starting November 1, and visits will resume in the spring. The reason is the fact that, being a botanical reserve, the endemic plants enter a dormant period, retreating into the peat layer, and the landscape is no longer as beautiful as in other times of the year.

Dósa Elek-Levente also said that, this year, around Lake St. Ana, located a few hundred meters from the Mohos peat bog, information boards were placed about the legend of the lake, the nearby chapel, the volcanic gas emissions and the ecosystem of the volcanic crater. New signs will be installed, for better orientation of visitors. A modern tourist information center is also being prepared, which will officially open next season, after the completion of administrative procedures.

Lake St. Ana can be visited during this period too, when the autumn colors delight the eye, but also during winter, when the landscape takes on a special beauty. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Gina Stefan; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)