… that is the famous Transfăgărășan – a mountain road crossing the southern section of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania.
It is the second-highest paved road in the country, after the Transalpina. It stretches 90 kilometres between the highest peaks in the country with over 2500 metres. The road, built in the early 1970s as a strategic military route, connects the historic regions of Transylvania and Walachia. When the navigation showed us we would need nearly 8 hours for 235 km to get to our next camping, we couldn’t believe it, but it was the truth!
Coming from the north, the road winds up through a beautiful valley. At first the hairpins are in a forest, but when we passed the last trees the street was visible and a great sight, meandering up through the valley.
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| Bâlea Lake at 2000 metres |
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| Taking the plunge? |
Before the road dives through a tunnel under the peaks of the mountains, lake Bâlea is surrounded by restaurants and stalls for all the people who drive up here to experience this road and the beautiful mountains.
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| Corn is sold everywhere |
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| Mamâligâ (polenta) filled with cheese – very delicious!! |
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| Luckily we are exactly 3,60 high, there was no warning before |
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| “Dangerous” curves everywhere |
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| Families were having their lunch breaks along the road |
Did you ever have sea buckthorn in honey? I found out it is a great anti-ageing food (according to the internet), just not very sweet, hence the honey 😉
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| On the southern side of the mountains, we passed a very high dam |
On YouTube you can watch the episode of Top Gear where the guys are driving up this road: https://youtu.be/PhSanuvCrOA They for sure had blocked the road for them. That weekend it was quite busy as many Romanians as well as tourists were driving up to the pass to enjoy the mountains.
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| Chapels typical for this area |
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| Finally, we reached Dracula’s Castle |
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| Flower of the Day |
