Crossing Romania by bike with a friend from Canada in april 2009 ( part 3)

In Voineasa we sleep in a guest house and we spend an enyoyable evening after eating in a restaurant. The next day we have a long climb. The first few km. are quite easy. Then we meet an old man with an old romanian car and Razvan enter into conversation with him. He is a native and very proud of his area.


Soon we find a spring and there we meet another funny old man we talk to.


Soon we have to face a long climb with many hairpins.


After more than one hour of hard climbing we get to an area whre we can see snow beside the road.


One more hour of cyclung and we get to the top of the Curmatura Vidrutei Pass (1575m).


We enyoy the splendid view and we are quite excited.


Then we have 5 km. of descent on a road full of potholes, and then we climb one more km to get to Vidra, a ghostly ski resort.


The view is quite spectacular, but it's a pity this resort fell into ruin.


From here we have to cycle another 17 km on a rather flat road next to Vidra lake, but it's interesting the lake seems to have been drained.


At Obarsia Lotrului we have a great time, we eat a delicious trout with garlic sauce and polenta and we drink a very good hot red wine together with some amiable boozers.
Then we rent a cabin and have a sound sleep till morning.


The next day we have to climb Tartarau Pass (1678m) in Parang Mountains. Here at Obarsia Lotrului we are at an elevetion of 1340m, the air is strong and chilly but the landscapes are great.


Soon we gain altitude and we are immersed in the empire of the coniferous trees.


It is a wild area, the road is unpaved, we feel so good in the middle of the sublime nature.


As we make a slow progress upwards, the road gets muddy and the snow surrounds us.


Not far from the top of the pass, the layer of snow beside the road is pretty thick even if we are on 23th of april.


We even come across trecherous and difficult sections of the road where we can hardly ride our bikes.


Soon we get to the pass and we enter the county of Alba belonging to Transylvania region. We leave Oltenia behind us, and we reach a more developped and more civilized region of the beautiful Romania.


The descent is very spectacular in a lovely coniferous area.


Soon we get to the clear ans sparkling waters of the Sebes River. The snow is still present.


The road even if it is muddy, it is rideable and in a good condition.