Transalpina
Quite an adventure we had last weekend: a roadtrip on "Transalpina", the highest road in Romania.
Also known as DN 67C, it was built by the germans during WW2 for military purposes. Very few people know about this road which twist through the mountains, reaching altitudes of over 2000m (Udrele pass, 2145m), crosses 4 counties (Gorj, Valcea, Alba and Sibiu) and connects Novaci with Sebes. Approximately 25% of this road is asphalted, the rest being gravel. Recommended cars for this road are SUVs or any car that isn't yours. :P Unfortunately I didn't meet any of the above. I used my car, which is not an SUV. :( The landscapes though made it worth the while.
My girlfriend and I left home at about 9:30 to pick up Serdar. By the time we picked him up and headed towards the highway to Pitesti, it started pouring. Rain was so heavy you couldn't see more than 10m ahead. I never thought I'll ever be going 60km/h on the highway, but this happend during this heavy rain. After about 20 kilometers the pouring turned into normal rain, then into light rain and finally it stopped. From Pitesti we headed towards Ramnicu Valcea, stopping on our way to eat the best "mici" in the country. :) From there, we took the road towards Targu Jiu. Halfway through, we turned right towards Novaci, where the ascension began. By the time we got to Novaci (14:30), it was raining cats and dogs again, but we were lucky again, as it gradually stopped as we continued on our way.
Allthough we didn't climb much yet, scenery was allready superb. We then got to Ranca. Here it all ends: civilisation and asphalt. From here on, all you see is the mountain and the small road where a car passes by about every one or two hours. Allthough there were only 30 km from Ranca to Obarsia Lotrului, where we planned to remain overnight, it took us 6 hours to get there. 10km/h was fast and 20km/h was allready way above the speed limit. :) Of course we stopped a lot to take pictures and admire the scenery. And then we spent another 1.5h trying to get the car out of the river it got stuck into when trying to get across. When all seemed desperate enough, and we were allready considering spending the night in the car in the middle of the river, we saw the "light". Another car came and pulled us out of the river. We couldn't be happier, as it was allready 21:00 and it was slowly starting to get dark outside. It took us another 15 minutes to reach Obarsia Lotrului, where we found a really nice cabin called "Bradu", confortable and at reasonable prices. The people there were also very nice. When we told them that we came across the mountain, they wouldn't believe it at first, especially after taking a look at our car (pretty low to the ground and no 4WD). They tried it earlier with a 4WD pick-up but didn't make it across. They were nice to us and even though they were preparing to close the kitchen, they served us food and drinks and we also got to watch the football match Brasil-France. One dinner and two bottles of wine later, it was off to sleep with us. We also decided that instead of continuing the way to Sebes (another 35km of the same road, only this time downhill) we should to go towards Vidra and Voineasa, which was asphalt road.
Not being in a hurry, we had a late wake-up at approx. 10:30. By 12:00 we left Obarsia Lotrului after having breakfast. It was off to Vidra to see the lake and the dam there. Going 50km/h never seemed so fast to me. :) The lake and dam offered us another great landscape. We took some pictures, allthough we weren't allowed to (we bribed the guard with some cigarettes) and fed a very friendly (especially when it came to food) dog. He was so desperate to get to the food that he would almost go into the car after you. And then when you came out with the bag, there was no way to get him off of you so you could get the food out. From here we went towards Voineasa, again admiring the magnificent landscapes, and then back to Ramnicu Valcea - Pitesti - Bucharest, where we arrived at 18:00.
All in all, the trip was worth it, even though it wasn't easy at all for the car. I hope I will return there someday, but only with an SUV. And I do hope the road will remain like this, difficult and with gravel, inaccessible to all tourists who are there to make noise and have modern, city fun. I preffer it quiet and wild, as it is now.
Also known as DN 67C, it was built by the germans during WW2 for military purposes. Very few people know about this road which twist through the mountains, reaching altitudes of over 2000m (Udrele pass, 2145m), crosses 4 counties (Gorj, Valcea, Alba and Sibiu) and connects Novaci with Sebes. Approximately 25% of this road is asphalted, the rest being gravel. Recommended cars for this road are SUVs or any car that isn't yours. :P Unfortunately I didn't meet any of the above. I used my car, which is not an SUV. :( The landscapes though made it worth the while.
My girlfriend and I left home at about 9:30 to pick up Serdar. By the time we picked him up and headed towards the highway to Pitesti, it started pouring. Rain was so heavy you couldn't see more than 10m ahead. I never thought I'll ever be going 60km/h on the highway, but this happend during this heavy rain. After about 20 kilometers the pouring turned into normal rain, then into light rain and finally it stopped. From Pitesti we headed towards Ramnicu Valcea, stopping on our way to eat the best "mici" in the country. :) From there, we took the road towards Targu Jiu. Halfway through, we turned right towards Novaci, where the ascension began. By the time we got to Novaci (14:30), it was raining cats and dogs again, but we were lucky again, as it gradually stopped as we continued on our way.
Allthough we didn't climb much yet, scenery was allready superb. We then got to Ranca. Here it all ends: civilisation and asphalt. From here on, all you see is the mountain and the small road where a car passes by about every one or two hours. Allthough there were only 30 km from Ranca to Obarsia Lotrului, where we planned to remain overnight, it took us 6 hours to get there. 10km/h was fast and 20km/h was allready way above the speed limit. :) Of course we stopped a lot to take pictures and admire the scenery. And then we spent another 1.5h trying to get the car out of the river it got stuck into when trying to get across. When all seemed desperate enough, and we were allready considering spending the night in the car in the middle of the river, we saw the "light". Another car came and pulled us out of the river. We couldn't be happier, as it was allready 21:00 and it was slowly starting to get dark outside. It took us another 15 minutes to reach Obarsia Lotrului, where we found a really nice cabin called "Bradu", confortable and at reasonable prices. The people there were also very nice. When we told them that we came across the mountain, they wouldn't believe it at first, especially after taking a look at our car (pretty low to the ground and no 4WD). They tried it earlier with a 4WD pick-up but didn't make it across. They were nice to us and even though they were preparing to close the kitchen, they served us food and drinks and we also got to watch the football match Brasil-France. One dinner and two bottles of wine later, it was off to sleep with us. We also decided that instead of continuing the way to Sebes (another 35km of the same road, only this time downhill) we should to go towards Vidra and Voineasa, which was asphalt road.
Not being in a hurry, we had a late wake-up at approx. 10:30. By 12:00 we left Obarsia Lotrului after having breakfast. It was off to Vidra to see the lake and the dam there. Going 50km/h never seemed so fast to me. :) The lake and dam offered us another great landscape. We took some pictures, allthough we weren't allowed to (we bribed the guard with some cigarettes) and fed a very friendly (especially when it came to food) dog. He was so desperate to get to the food that he would almost go into the car after you. And then when you came out with the bag, there was no way to get him off of you so you could get the food out. From here we went towards Voineasa, again admiring the magnificent landscapes, and then back to Ramnicu Valcea - Pitesti - Bucharest, where we arrived at 18:00.
All in all, the trip was worth it, even though it wasn't easy at all for the car. I hope I will return there someday, but only with an SUV. And I do hope the road will remain like this, difficult and with gravel, inaccessible to all tourists who are there to make noise and have modern, city fun. I preffer it quiet and wild, as it is now.
posted by crash at 01:09
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