On The Road

The Transfăgărăşan, or actually DN7C by Romanian road designation, crosses the Carpathian Mountains between the two highest peaks, connecting Wallachia and Transylvania. It’s famous for its many turns and great vistas. Crazy Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu had it build in the early 70s at the cost of 40 lives.

Riding through the first tunnel. I notice that it is kind of dark. Sure enough, my front light bulb is broken and it took the fuse with it. I swap out both and continue.

Coming out of the last tunnel on the Northern side I see this:

The map below shows the same section of road as the image above:

For those of you who want to do a Google Earth fly over, here is the same section as a KML file that should open in Google Earth:

Transfăgărăşan for Google Earth

Once I get off the Transfăgărăşan it does seem a bit boring by comparison I end up in Brasov at the end of the day.

Brasov is an interesting town. The historic center looks very German, which is no surprise since it Transylvanian Saxons had a huge influence in the area as far back as the 12th century. Brasov is called Kronstadt in German. Nowadays the German population amounts to less than 1%, most of them left after WWII and the end of communism. You do meet the odd German speaker on the street though and it always makes for an interesting conversation.

There is some sort of cultural festival going on and I get to see a performance here and there

Another old Trabant. This one looks like it hasn’t moved in a while.

OK, off to a little loop around Brasov.

First stop is Bran castle, often revered to as Dracula castle. Evidence of that is pretty slim. It just seems to be a money making machine for the royal descendant from New York who owns it now. Pretty much a tourist trap but in a nice area. So it is still worth going there. Even find free parking after a bit of a discussion.

Half way between Bran and Brasov is Rasnov (or Rosenau). On a hill above the town is Rasnov fortress with a long and colorful history, dating back as far as 1331.

Rasnov too has a “Hollywood” sign. Seems to be the latest craze here.

On my way to Peles, Castle I stop for a nap at Sinaia Monastery.

Peles, Castle, built by King Carol I and inaugurated in 1883 is very impressive. It does look very German though, which I guess is again no surprise considering that Carol I was Prince Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen before the Romanians made him King.

Time to leave wonderful Brasov after a few days. I wish I had more time to explore the area in detail but my trip is coming to an end soon and I must move on. One of the things I wanted to see are the fortified churches built by the Transylvanian Saxons. Germans started to settle in the area in the mid 12th century. In German the area is called Siebenbürgen.

So, I set off taking some minor roads

to Weißkirch, the last 7km on an unpaved road. The church is easy to find and I look at it from the outside before I can find the person with the key.

I’m the only one there and the lovely old woman gives me a personal tour of the Church.

Her German is as good as mine and I don’t notice an accent, which I think is amazing considering how long ago the area was settled by Germans. She has lots of interesting historical facts and stories. I also learn that there are only about 15 German speakers left who live in the village year around. There was a huge exodus at the end of communism. The Germans in Romania are still considered Germans of foreign nationality and it was relatively easy for them to gain full German citizenship. The economic pull was too strong for most of them to resist the temptation. Now, a generation later, some come back for part of the year at least.

Just outside the Church I run into a German rock star in need of a map and give him my backup map. I got the map from a Belgian Ural side car rider in a map swap near the Iranian border. It’s all about karma.

The village doesn’t look like there is an abundance of wealth but the majority of houses are very well taken care off, just like everywhere else in Romania. There seems to be a certain pride of ownership and people maintain their property the best they can with what they have. Interestingly, the Prince of Wales owns a house here, which was restored and turned into a guest house. Money from one of his charities also helps to maintain the fortified church.

Along the way I see another church tower.

In the small villages I see a lot of these very nicely carved gates.

I make a quick stop at the Red Lake. It was created by landslide and you can still see tree stumps.

I’ve been looking forward to riding through the Bicaz Canyon.

The canyon is very impressive but doesn’t make for great riding. There are simply too many cars and pedestrians on the road.

The road continues along the shore of Lake Bicaz, formed by a hydroelectric dam.

Not too far from Voronet I go over a pass on a back road and come across of what is probably an abandoned mine.

It is getting late and the sun is low, which makes for good light for pictures but I have to hurry up if I want to make it to Voronet before dark.

There is plenty of choice for accommodation in Voronet. I settle on a private room in a nice house with a fierce guard dog. A Romanian family is staying there as well and we have a fun evening, drinking the moonshine the owner keeps forcing on us.