From Akureyri to Reykjavik in four and a half hours

I have one more story to share from my short Icelandic trip…the last segment of road from the popular Ring Road; last part: from Akureyri to Reykjavik. As I said in the last post. Akureyri is not one of my favorite type of cities but, it it still has its charm, especially when the weather is very nice, as it was in the morning of our day of departure. Actually the weather was a determinant factor that made us book a whale watching tour with Ambassador. The tour takes three hours and it takes you along the longest fjord in Iceland. Beside whales during this tour we got the chance to enjoy the sights; however, we were lucky enough to see four whales swimming very close to our ship. Awesome experience that worth the money. However, after the whale watching tour there was no time left for anything else but jumping into the car and drive to Reykjavik to meet some friends at 18:00. The clock was 13:00 when we left Akureyri.

The road down to Iceland’s capital is not as interesting as there were all the other segments of road until there. Thus, we made very few stops and very few pictures. This was also the first and the only time we had sausages at a gas station as lunch; those sausages everyone talks about on the YouTube videos about Iceland, sausages presented as being delicious and affordable…which indeed are, but I would still choose to have real meals.

As I said no to much activity, just an awesome traffic tunnel some about 50 km to Reykjavik, for which you have to pay to drive through, else you have to make a huge turn to get to the capital.

All in all there were about 290 km which we did in about four and a half hours, arriving in Reykjavik at around 17:30, just in time to find a parking spot and to meet my friends. Keep in mind though that on this route between Akureyri and Reykjavik there are several speed camera, so drive carefully.

This was it my roadtrip in Iceland. Next, in two days actually, I will travel to Nice, in France for a four days relaxation, with no car but lots of chilling moments and good food.

Stay close and enjoy everything you do!

Two of Europe’s most dangerous rutes: Transalpina & Transfagarasan; the way I experienced them!

I left Romania circa four years ago following my dream to study abroad. However, since then all the time I travel back to my country I am very keen to travel around, more than I have ever done it while I was living there. Recently I have just finished a mini road trip where in a four-days span I drove ca. 1400 km, I crosses eight different counties and many-many cities and villages. However, the most attractive part of this journey was crossing the Carpathians twice, back and forward, on two very beautiful, breathtaking and dangerous routes: the Transfagarasan & Transalpina. I had crossed Carpathians several times using the Transfagarasan, but I had never driven on Transalpina. Therefore I am going to talk in this post about my experience driving on this routes; and I would take them one by one.

I have to mention that I followed this routes together with eight other great friends, packed in two cars: I was driving a Dacia Logan, having three other persons with me, while the rest of five guys came in a BMW, old model. However here’s the story.

TRANSFAGARASAN

Vidraru Dam

Transfagarasan has a length of ca. 90 km, and it is closed during the winter time, but also during any other period when it snows and/or occurs falling of stones, or for any other reasons which threatens the safety of the people. In my case, without any prior research, I found out that due to falling stones caused by heavy rain, the route has opened this year exactly the day I was on my way to cross the mountain! How lucky I am!? I figured this out at ca. three hours since we left our starting point, somewhere in Dambovita County, namely Darmanesti. From there we left at ca. nine o’clock in the morning following the route through Targoviste-Campulung-Curtea de Arges. The day was very beautiful, with a lot of sun and warm and perfect conditions for driving; moreover, it was not overcrowded (I was expecting it to be crowded because it is usually a popular destination for weekend trips). Once we passed by Curtea de Arges there was not possible turn back, so we started climbing slowly to the top of the mountain. In our way we stopped at Vidraru Dam, took plenty of pictures, climb to the iron man statue, took other pictures; got back to the car and continued our way.

View from the Transfagarasan!

From there the road took us through the forest for many km, and only at the base of the mountain the forest cleared and it made it possible to see the road and the mountain. The curves are very sharp, with little side protections, but with a great view. However, we didn’t stop until we reach the top; it was a hard decision because the sights were absolutely breathtaking, and I would personally like to stop at every meter. Once on top we enjoyed the sun and the amazing view. Then we got up in the cars, ready to drive into the tunnel that link the two sides of the mountain, namely Balea Tunnel (this is the longest road tunnel in Romania -it is ca. one km long). Once we arrived in the other side of it, the weather was totally different: heavy smog and chilly temperatures. We were all: wooow!

Balea Lake – the highest point on the Transfagarasan!

I felt it was all ruined, because I remembered from my prior experiences that from up there it can be seen the whole road opening in sharp hairpin curves down the mountain. Now the fog was so heavy that one could not see 100 meters up front. We spent like 10-15 minutes there (hoping the smog will go away) and then we decided to leave, disappointed. To our surprise we drove only hundreds of meters down,and we ended up under the smog, point from where the view I was expected to see all open in front of our eyes, and we all were happy like kids are in the first day of the summer holiday. What was next? Hmm: tons of pictures from all the angles and in all the combinations.  From there we drove happily and carefully down the awesome road, and enjoyed any sharp curves descending the mountain, having a humble and guilty feeling of a race driver.

Another amazing scenery on the northen side of the Transfagarasan.

After this wonderful experience, we spent three beautiful day in the cities like Brasov, Predeal and Sighisoara, and in the fourth day we turn back home, in Dambovita, following the road which led to Transalpina.

TRANSALPINA

Transalpina – picture shot close to the maximum high point of the road!

Getting closer to Transalpina made me feel more excited than ever; thinking of the feeling I might have after I arrive on the other side of the mountain, a feeling which I thought like a confirmation of my driving skills. This is because this route is considered to be one of the most dangerous roads in Romania. After the previous experience when I found out just on the way that Transfagarasan had opened exactly the day I was heading to it, this time I was nervous again, and searched for signs to inform myself about this. The road seems to be very long at the beginning: driving along the forest with no sight and moreover on a very bad road which didn’t allow me to drive with more than 30km/h. My concerns raised the more I drove and met no cars coming on the other side of the road, this made me think I might have chosen a wrong road, but all my concerns vanished when I arrived and passed by the two small dams which are on the way, and I had known about.

View from the Tau Dam!

However, after a long way which almost killed my enthusiasm, I came to the point from where the action usually begins…and then I start climbing, really escalading the mountain. The sharpness of the road could be understand when reading the traffic signs, and I understood that for only a km I was doing a longer time than usually; from where my conclusion: the curves are so sharp and vertically designed that it feels like not moving forward. Moreover, I was pressed by the wish to take some memories from there, so I was always looking to find the best spots for pictures with the road. The pressure was accentuated by the sunset that was just about to happen, and by the rain which just begun. After ca. three hours since we left the “civilization” we were able to reach the top of the mountain…and then pictures, a lot of pictures, hoping to capture the entire beauty my eyes were able to see there.

Another stunning view on Transalpina!

However, at a point we decided to go, thinking that we will just go down the mountain; but we were very wrong, because what we just thought it was the pick, was not the real one; the real one and the real “beautiful” curves were just in front of us. I enjoyed a lot this part of the real mountain road, while all the others in the car were afraid me not to crash the car, noticing that I was very excited about the beautiful scenery. The real pick of the mountain, and the highest point of the mountain has 2145 m, and it is the highest road in Romania and in the entire Carpathians. From there everything continued like in fairytales: the sun went down while we drove home happily to have seen such a beautiful scenery.

In sight the car I did the Transfagarasan and Transalpina with: Dacia Logan 1.4!

Now, that I have done both the Transfagarasan and Transalpina, I can say that the Transfagarasan is more beautiful in matter of sights and especially the sights of the curbs, and has more nice places to stop along the way; on the other side, Transalpina is more rustic, raw and authentic, with no so many beautiful sights (apart the ones in the top of the mountain), but with a higher offering for the ones looking for adrenaline and who enjoy driving. Anyway, if you visit Romania I recommend you to do both the Transfagarasan and Transalpina, and you will not be disappointed.

Enjoy it! For any questions feel free to comment/write to me.