We don’t have big plans for today. Even the blocked road yesterday didn’t prevent us from visiting everything we planned. We have one more hotel in the checklist and some secret roads to explore and include into the route back to Bucharest. But the life is still ready to amaze us. We were passing by the Sureanu ski resort and decided to stop for a coffee. And what a surprise, the manager of the place is Vali’s old friend he hasn’t seen for a long time. Double profit – meet each other and talk about trails in surrounding mountains.
The weather is not nice today. The top of the mountain is coated with a thick cloud making us feel like we are on an island floating in a sea of fog. We say “goodbye” to the old friend and direct our steps (ok, our wheels) to new adventures through the veil of obscurity. Driving downhill we meet a shepherd with his fearful pack of dogs. They are like ancestors spirits here in the fog, representing hundreds of years transhumance have been practiced in Romania. Never be confused with a peaceful look of Carpathian shepherd dogs, as soon as you cross an unseen border they had set they will attack you.
What was waiting for us later is better described by pictures. We stumbled upon a brown bear mother and her cub! And now the photographer didn’t fail the mission. We even managed to capture one of them with a GoPro, so we also have a video.
Still in the fog, we head to Transalpina road. Romania is fortunate to own two roads mentioned in all lists of the best and the most beautiful roads from around the world. The second one is Transfagarasan, we’ll tell you its story the other time (meanwhile, you can practice the pronunciation). Even in the summer time, you can see the snow on the roadsides, the road climbs up to 2145m altitude and is the highest paved road in the country. Today the top point of the road has turned into a battlefield between dull cloudy weather on one side and bright sunny day on another. Clouds are rushing like in a time-lapse, covering and opening the view several times a minute. The wind is so strong that it’s impossible to open a car door. We stop for a while to watch the show and head to Bucharest.
