Transfagarasan!

One of the very few things I had planned to definately do on the trip was the Transfagarasan Highway, which according to that tall wanker on Top Gear is "the best road in the world".

look up top gear romania on you tube if you want to see it.

It is a big climb on a loaded touring rig, going from 500m elevation to 2,050m over about 25km. I'd been seeing big electrical storms in the evenings on the days leading up to the range and woke up to this weather which was totally disappointing as it killed the visability.

I made the decision to kill a day in the base village and hope the weather improved the next day. Had dinner with some greek guys who were motorcycling and gave me some good tips for greece if I go there.

The next morning wasn't perfect but better.

I hit the road at the perfect time as there was a group of 5 Polish cyclists who were doing the climb. They werent carrying gear so I was ready to try and keep up with them.

But they were pretty slow and I killed them despite my loaded rig. Just as we got to half way up and got some lunch, the weather came in. Fast. 

The rain started and it just got heavier and I could see in their faces they were thinking about bailing. They had a goddamn support vehicle at the bottom of the mtns. They claimed they were just waiting 30mins for the rain to stop but as I didn't know where I was going to sleep that night I needed to get moving. I knew the weather was only going to go bad the longer we waited.

So I ditched them and the weather surely came in.

The base of the final section of the climb.

longest and hardest 5km I've ridden.

The final section of the climb is absolutely incredible. Crazy switchbacks and the weather and altitude just made it that much more tougher and exciting. I've actually taken video of some of the climb so I will tjry and find time to edit it together, but it was awesome.

Got to the top where there is a hotel. overpriced but with the constant rain, my numb feet and comp,etely soaked to the bone, there was no question. The above photo was taken the following morning with clear weather.

I met a german couple, Maxim and Sarah, who had also done the climb and were in the same position. They were on a month long bike trip so we hung out that night and had a great evening, hoping the next morning would be dry for the decent.

lake at the top

cool truck from Dakar

Maxim, Sarah and I.

the morning after was perfect, but the rain did add to the challenge so I'm kinda happy the way it turned out

tunnel that cuts through the very peak of mtn.

More great views for the decent

water refill

much warmer once we got back down

massive dam on the way down

Up until Cluj then trip had started getting alot tougher and I was really starting to get a bit over travelling alone, but the last couple weeks in Romania have been awesome. Especially the last few days with the climb and spending the day riding with Maxim and Sarah. Last night we found a great camp ground and had an awesome barbecue with many beers. Maxim is half Romanian so he knows the good Romanian meat. They  have 2 days left of their trip and heading to bucharest (im heading west to serbia). just to top it off the owner of the camp ground also does dirt bike tours so he's  taking me out this arvo. the terrain here will be awesome for it.