Bumps, Bends, Mixed Up Plans

"A wizard does not make mistakes. He makes unexpected possibilities." – Merlin

Chapter 23 in which we cross the Carpathian mountains

July 2022

By now you might think that we only visited Castles in Romania. That is not true. Our next point of interest was DN7C. Well, it is not really a point. It is a paved mountain road better known as Transfagarasan (Transfăgărășan). The road connects Transylvania and Wallachia crossing the southern Carpathian Mountains between the two highest peaks in Romania.

The highest elevation of the road is 2042 m above sea level and for that Transfagarasan gets a silver medal, because Transalpina is higher (spoiler alert: we have been there too). You can imagine, the views from that height are breathtaking.

By the variety of countries on license plates one can tell that Transfagarasan is a popular tourist attraction. They say that sometimes you might get stuck in traffic, however on a rainy July evening the road was not busy at all, and there always was a spot to park the car near another viewpoint.

Speaking of weather. If you decide to drive along Transfagarasan, trust those who say it is cold up there. Yes, trust us. It was about +25C down in the valley, but up in the mountains our car dash was displaying +10C outside. 

Coming down the mountain in the Wallachian forest we stumbled upon a brown bear. It was sitting on the roadside eating some snacks. The bear did not pay much attention to our car even when we stopped by and began taking photos.

Brown bear on the roadside of Transfagaras

A few kilometers down the road we encountered another bear. That one already had a line of cars waiting for an audience.

It is not uncommon to meet a bear on the shoulder of Transfagarasan. They are quite friendly, but do not get out of the car and do not approach them! These precautions seem obvious, but every year people get injured (severely injured), because they mistake a wild predator for a soft teddy bear.

Transfagarasan would be OK for a day trip from Brasov or Sibiu if you don’t mind driving a few hundred kilometers. The road itself is about 150 kms long. We returned to Brasov on the same day, however we saw plenty of hotels and guesthouses along the way.

And finally Transfagarasan as seen by our dashcam.

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