My Travels in Transylvania, Romania: Drove 420 km today (261 miles) -Fagaras Mtn's., Shepard and his flock, Fagaras, Brasov, Bran, and Sighisoara

So I started out early this morning to drive over the Transfagarasan Pass, a very cool road; Vlad Tepes castle ruins at Poenari are on the other side of the pass. I encountered lots of fog on the morning drive between Sibiu and Cartisoara and then the sun came out and all the way up the mountain, not one car...awesome...except for the fact that when I got to the entrance to the pass a big sign read, "Inchis", ie. CLOSED. Ugh! I spoke to a gentlemen and he said it should open by next Marti (Tuesday), I think I will try it next Wednesday and hope that it is open; it is like Trail Ridge Road in Colorado and only opens after the snow has been cleared. It has been warm here so I am hoping for next week! The Dacia Logan I am driving is a fun little car with a strong engine and has exceeded my expectation. I decided to drive to Fagaras, Brasov, Bran, Sighisoara and then back to Sibiu, since the pass was closed! It is amazing how many medieval castles and Fortified Saxon churches there are throughout Transylvania, untouched and rarely visited; except for Brasov and Bran which are tourist meccas. Below is a collection of the many photos and videos I took today. Enjoy!

Tom

As I was coming back down the mountain I encountered a shepard and his flock crossing the road. Pretty Cool. You see this everywhere here. I must have counted 50 horse pulled carts, 40 stray dogs and 150 people farming along my route. It is like stepping back in time.

The sheep dogs are very loyal to the flock and if you try to approach the sheep they will come after you! When i stepped out of the car to get this video the dogs stopped in their tracks and started to approach me...I decided it would be a good thing to get in the car. Robert told me sometimes they will chase him when he is on the ATV's around Gergeschdorf; very protective and good work dogs. The shepards use dogs to protect their flock from wolves in the winter! Even in Gergeschdorf/ ungurei my families village wolves will come at night, especially in the winter when they are looking for food.

When I started out this morning there was fog everywhere, very appropriate for "Transylvania" LOL!

More Fog!

The drive into the Fagaras Mountains. They are the tallest Mountains in the Carpathians (Transylvanian Alps) they reach a height of 8,300 feet; does not seem as big as Colorado Mountains but you have to figure you start at a elevation of about 400 ft. they are pretty impressive!

Avalanche protection roofs dot the drive up.

Stray dogs even up here...just sitting in the road.

Transfagarsan pass closed. Ugh!

On the way back down I stopped at the village of Capisoara and checked out their Romanian Orthodox church...very cool murals depicting the descent into hell! Wowzer! Thats one way to keep your congregation in line.

Next stop was the town of Fagaras, it did not look to promising at first until I saw a medieval castle; I mad my way to it and discovered it had a moat and was used by the communists as a tortue prison! Oh My! The castle keeper gave me a private tour of parts of the castle that are now off limits...pretty cool!

Cool and very big new Romanian Orthodox Church being built.

More stray dogs; this time sleeping under a truck.

Yes thats what you think it is; where they would hang prisoners in the courtyard!

Prisoners would be shackled to these walls in this rotunda and would sometimes be thrown off the castle walls. Oh My!

Castle keeper on the right that showed me the part of the castle not open to the public any more! Way cool!

On the drive to Brasov I encountered throughout the many villages people walking along the side of the village street like this woman who was headed back from the fields.

More communist era concrete apartments; you see these in every city and some villages; ugly, eyesores. The regimes idea was that you give up your land to the state and that you move into these apartment building that would house the workers that would work for the state every day on the land that used to be yours.

Uh...no thanks.

I passed this onument on the way and it peeked my interest, I turned back around and checked it out. it is a Communist Romanian Army Cemetary that honors the war dead in WWII in a 1944 conflict. Pretty cool gravemarkers with the communist red star.

Next stop Brasov, which has the "Black Church" so named because a fire that occured their many centuries ago. Unfortunately it did not open until 2pm so i did not get to see inside; however the outside was pretty cool; great gothic style architecture.

Downtown historic Brasov, very cool old buildings an above town a hollywood-like sign declaring you have reached your destination...in case you forgot.

I ran across a lot of cars honking their horns and with celebratory stuff hanging off their vehicles...found out why when I passed the church...a Romanian wedding!

City train passing by...I noticed many of the train crossings guards and light are still operated by a "switchmaster" Wow!

Lunch in Brasov, Sarmale (Stuffed pork pastries) and eggplant with potatoes, tomato, sauerkraut & paprika! Yum!

Driving from Brasov up into the mountains to Bran where it is a tourist trap from hell about Dracula; however the castle and its history is cool. Along the way I passed an old nuclear power plant... I also saw a cow in the field next to it...and yes I checked it only had 2 eyes...I think?

Bran Castle located about 27 km South of brasov in the Fagaras Mountains is a very old castle built by the Order of the Teutonic Knights. Queen Marie of Romania (Queen Victorias grand-daughter) also lived there and entertained heads of state in the castle in the early 20th century.

Marie of Romania (Marie Alexandra Victoria, previously Princess Marie of Edinburgh; 29 October 1875–18 July 1938) was Queen consort of Romania from 1914 to 1927, as the wife of Ferdinand I of Romania.

This is where Bram Stroker got his idea for "Dracula"...one the word, "Dracul" in Romanian means devil what a better name for his character. the Romanian have many legends and myths that are fascinating, but one of the more interesting is the "Strigoi".

As soon as you attempt to enter the castle or leave you encounter the "tourist trap! of Bran castle!

Next I drive from Bran to Sighisoura and encounter many cool sights along the way.

A Romanian Army War Veterens Memorial in Bran

You see a lot of housing projects that are bfor sale not finished yet.

Rasnov Castle...I will have to check this one out next time it is between Bran and Brasov. looks pretty impressive. hard to tell from my blurry photo though!

Fortified saxon church's abound in Transylvania...they are in almost every town and village.

Cool castle ruins, I could never find the village road that went to it however.

You see the hay stacked in these conical or mound shaped configurations everywhere. The farmers use a large long stick or tree branch to support it and keep adding hay until it comes out looking like this.

Vino! Romania has some of the best wine in the world. Grape vines and farms abound throughout Transylvania.

Another of hundreds of fortified Saxon churches. You could spend a year here and probably not see them all.

I was driving through this village and saw this procession, at first I thought they were just leaving church; however, it was a funeral procession through the village; the coffin is in the ox-cart.

The construction zones are automated, no person with a flag saying go or stop. Not sure it is the safest thing, I saw many people run this light even though it was one way traffic in cycles. Nebun! (crazy)!