Distance: 2.663,28 km
Duration: 42 hour 53 min
Average speed: 62 km/h
A lot of firsts here. I just bought my new motorbike after the accident and this was my first trip abroad on a motorcycle. I was so nervous before we started this trip that I had to go to the toilet like 3 times before the morning coffee.
Day 1
This was the first time that I actually left the country on a motorbike. I really did not know what to expect and I really didn’t know how you’re going to get cross the border with four motorbikes, 6 boxes and four guys’ we didn’t know squat about riding in Romania. Well 1 of us did. Luckily we get the really nice tour guide who explained us what to expect, what to look for, what to look out for and how to arrive safe.
From Budapest they took Road # 4 towards Nagyvárad. It’s a pretty straight Road it doesn’t require much attention and manoeuvering. At the border, we realised that we were not fully prepared how bad roads are in Romania. We spent more time looking at how to avoid the cracks, than to look at the countryside and landscape that was surrounding us. Crossing Timisoara we decided not to sleep there but ride a couple more hours and reach Gyergyószentmiklós.
Right after the city border we got our first rain.
We were reaching Transylvania through Regina and once you cross the county border things change quickly. Roads were getting better, the houses started to look nicer and people were talking Hungarian again.
We arrived late to our hotel, but the staff was nice enough to prepare dinner and we were able to grab a couple of cold ones before going to bed.
Day 2
The day started nice and sunny. The plan was to take a trip around the Medve tó, go through Békás szoros and visit the Gyilkos tó as well on the way back. The view was breathing.
Once we started descending the traffic strated to get heavy, soon we understood why. There were several small farmer’s market setup alongside of the road, as this is a very famous destination for those who like trekking and hiking as well.
We set up a GoPro camera to capture the road and the view then proceeded to leave behind the traffic and get around the lake.
That’s when I got a nail in my rear tire. I didn’t notice it until the next stop, but it was enough to distract me throughout the remainder of the day. Lucky for me we still found a garage where they were able to get it out and fix the tire for me.
We then spent the next day getting to Sebes where we would prepare ourselves for the challenging day of conquering both passes of the Mountain.
Day 4 – Transfogaras and Transalpine
This was the most challenging day during the trip. We covered 730 kilometers, give or take.
In the morning we went for a quick breakfast and tank refill to the gas station and went uphill on the curves of Transfogaras. The top is above the clouds and we still had snow in the middle of summer.
Once you reach the top there’s a tunnel and if you’re not planning to spend a shitload of money on overpriced soda, go through right away and check the view on the other side before starting your decent.
After enjoying the serpentine on the south side head east around 200 kilometers towards the more modern Transalpine road, but don’t forget to refill your tank because there’s not going to be any gas station for the next 180 kilometers.
The roads here are much better. You can get lost in the moment easily, but watch out for the cows crossing from one side to the other or sleeping in the middle of the road.
The bottom part of the route was my favorite. It’s going through a forrest right next to a small river with ideal 90 degree turns following each other left-right-left-right.
We were so caught up in the riding, we didn’t even stop for taking pictures.
The way back
We started pretty early as we had over 560 kilometers ahead of us to get home to our loved ones. We went mainly on high ranked roads and made it back exhausted but happy to Budapest.
The hustle with the insurance company about the tire deserves a whole other post.
Let’s just say I won’t be their customer ever again.
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