Balea Lac Ice Hotel in mountain valley
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-05 16:56

A Romanian worker puts finishing touches to the Balea Lac Ice Hotel in Fagaras mountains, 300 km (186 miles) northwest of Bucharest, January 31, 2006. Tucked away in a remote valley in Romania's Carpathian mountains, the tiny hotel has opened to try and attract tourists and their cash to the unspoilt forests of some of Europe's greatest wilderness. Romania, one of Europe's poorest countries which hopes to join the European Union next year, is struggling to build up its tourist industry saddled with crumbling infrastructure. [Reuters]