Transfăgărășan Highway

Note the waterfall to the left of the trees (6:20)

In 1968, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. Romania's leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, wanted to make sure Romania was prepared in case the Soviets planned a similar move into Romania. So, from 1970-1974, a highway was built through the Făgăraș mountains in order to ensure quick military access across the mountains between the regions of Translyvania to the north and Wallachia to the south.

These days, the Transfăgărășan Highway is known more for its scenery than for its military strategy. It is the second highest paved road in Romania (2034 meters/6673 feet) -- and open only from July through October, due to snow and ice.

The road along the side of the mountain (9:10)

Yesterday I went with some others on a drive on the Transfăgărășan Highway, which is about 2 hours from Sighișoara. Here are some of the pictures I took from along our drive. (You can click each picture to see it magnified.)

I'm also posting a link to a YouTube video I found. Someone actually recorded their drive on this highway (and thankfully sped it up so it is not in real time.) So, even if you can't come to Romania, you can watch this 26-minute video. I've also included numbers in parentheses by each of my pictures which correspond to the time index on the YouTube video so you can see where I was when I took the pictures.

 Enjoy!

View of the highway from near the top (18:06)

Lake at the highest elevation of the road (21:45). 

I didn't climb to the top of the mountains,
but this is the view from the highest part of the road. (21:45)