Wednesday 11th July 2018
We awake to a bright sunny morning in The hotel Anna. The included breakfast is ok although we have yet to find nice fresh bread in Romania.
Out route today takes us north up the River Jiu and through the Defileul Jiului National Park. It as another lovely gorge road. After all the recent rains the river is in full flood and often the road is awash with run off from the hills.
The road designation is DN66, so Route 66 it is.
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| Monastery wall on Route 66 |
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| The River Jiu is in full flood |
At Petrosani we turn west along Route 7A. This is largely an unmade road with long gravel sections, the stone surface washed into deep ruts and potholes by the rain. It is very slow riding now as we pick our way over the broken surface. Fortunately there is virtually no other traffic.
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| On the 7A |
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| Mick surveys a possible crossing point |
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| I think we’ll need to take the panniers off to get across this one |
After an hour of hard riding Route 7A joins up with Route 67A. This is the famous Transalpina highway. Much has been spoken and written about the famous Transfagarasan road a few miles to the east from here. The Transalpina doesn’t get the same exposure but it is just as good. Some would say it is better.
Like it’s famous neighbour it climbs and swoops up and over the high peaks of the Carpathians. Mostly the asphalt is good and at times and for long stretches it is superb.
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| One of the smoother sections of the 7A |
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| Watch out for donkeys on the Transalpina |
Our destination for the night is the high village of Ranca at the southern end of the Transalpina. Tomorrow we will ride the full 50 mile length of this road from south to north but tonight we just complete the southern section over the highest point before dropping down into Ranca. There must be 50 tight hairpins on this section alone.
When we rode it four years ago it was empty but now their are numerous gipsy settlements on the peaks selling all manner of tat to the passing trade. There is a lot of building going on down on the lower slopes and in another four years it will be a different place.
But for now it is still mostly wild and windswept and a glorious road for the dedicated bike tourer. It is dangerous and thrilling. You can keep your tamed Stelvio Pass. For me this is the ultimate riding experience in Europe.
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| Taking a breather on the Transalpina |
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| Encampments of tat on the high peaks |
The best shots of this remarkable road will have to wait until I can process the GoPro take when I get back home. I’ll be adding it for sure.
But for now suffice to say this road is incredible and we'll leave it there.
The weather is closing in and the high tops are shrouded in cloud. We decide to call it a day and find a small establishment that has a room available and most importantly a TV showing the football tonight. It is by no means the classiest place we have stayed but it has to do for tonight. We have the England v Croatia semi final to watch.
We are joined by a bunch of bikers from Romania and Denmark for our evening meal in front of the big TV. The less said about the game the better, but the craic is good. The Romanian guys have bottles of Jack Daniels and Jägermeister which they liberally share. So our disappointment at England’s exit from the World Cup is mitigated somewhat by alcoholic stupor.
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| Watching the match with new hard-drinking friends |
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