When Stratos woke up, we descended to the ground floor where the lady-Elena (owner of the pension) had prepared a hearty breakfast consisting of eggs, milk, butter, jam, salami, etc., products from her own production. Everything was fresh and this you could find both from the flavor and the appearance. Stratos went crazy, as he did not expect to encounter such a thing!
Slowly we got prepared and before our departure the owner asked me to write something in the guest book, while she gave me a handwritten card with the details of the pension for future visit.
We left the small village in order to drive to the Trans Rarau Road. It was a new road-passage that I had seen on the internet 1-2 months before the start of the trip and I had in my mind. The lady-Elena suggested it from the first moment we got chatting. The program therefore of this day was: finally not to visit the monastery Sucevita but we continued our journey to southwest trend and in particular crossed the TransRarau Road, to pass by the rock Pietra Teiului, which was located in the confluence of Bistrita river with the lake Izvorul Muntelui and then, riding west to reach the Reghin or Targu Mures.
So after we greeted, departed heading towards Campulung Moldovenesc, crossing the small village that we spent the night and essentially it constituted a suburb of the town Sadova. The small neat houses, alluded to in a quiet village, had nothing to do with the image of the town which had several rooms, shops, churches and small squares on a main road, making it part of the route of Vatra Dornei - Suceava.
Moving then to Suceava encountered signs for Chili, the village where TransRarau ended, so we felt that this was the path we had to follow. But soon we realized that something was wrong, since this road soon turned into a dirt road and not in so good situation. We double check the maps and GPS noting that we had made a mistake ... the road might lead in Chili, but was not the one we wanted.
We returned to the main road and followed the opposite path, to Vatra Dornei. In the village of Pojorata, we came across the sign for the road DJ175B and villages Rarau and Chili. The road originally passed through small, neat beautiful houses, some of which were accommodation. About 4-5km after, the road went into a wooded area of fir. The quality of the road was excellent with the comfortable speed to provide an enjoyable driving experience.
We ascend increasing our altitude, until we arrived at about 1500m. The point had an incredible panoramic view of the area and the mountains rising around.
The Trans Rarau Road (DJ175B) was recently asphalted and is one of the best roads / passages in Romania. Along with TransFagarasan, TransAlpina, TransSemenic is at 4 best in the country! Its length is about 40 km away, while moving from north to south, approaching the highest point at about 16 km. The name was taken from the mountain crossing, while at the top lead several paths.
After we photographed the landscape, we continue and little further we came across a sign for Rarau. We decided to go down the narrow, but good quality, winding road that ended in a small chalet. The building had a restaurant, and it was constructed a small hotel. From the point many people followed different paths to the top of Rarau, rising imposingly towards us! We took some pictures and enjoy the view of the rock and departed, as from the crowd risked losing the charm of the landscape. A local informed us that a dirt road leading to a region with antennas and higher altitude, offering unique views of the area. We did not try it because of the luck of time, but mainly because the road was not in the best condition. We returned to the previous intersection and continued to the village of Chili. From this point and after the TransRarau Road was quite narrow, so that in some places if the two vehicles crossed, should one of them to get to the specific street openings that existed at regular points! The winding narrow path ran through an area with lush vegetation and towering trees. The slope was steep on, but the excellent condition of the pavement you give a sense of security. The landscape was unique!
Having covered 15-20 km we reached the main road of Vatra Dornei - Poiana Teiului (DN17B) and followed the road to Poiana Teiului, located in Lake Izvorul Muntelui. The route from there was equally impressive as it crossed a canyon at the base of which was the impetuous River Bistrita, with the road being sometimes at the left and other on its right. In many places there were hanging footbridges that connected the two opposite sides, helping residents to go to their fields. We could not resist the temptation to cross one of these as an opportunity to make a short stop for coffee overlooking the river, because of the rain of the previous day was muddy...
Enjoying the route, after a few kilometers we were in the Bridge of the Lake Izvorul Muntelui. There we met the Pietra Teiului, known as "Devil's Stone". This is a rock, height 23m., which stands at the junction of the Bistrita River with the Lake Izvorul Muntelui. When we visited it, the lake waters had subsided, so the rock seemed to rise in a meadow that was grazing cows. But the winter is not so, as it put forward inside the water!
The presence of the rock and the desire to explain how it got there, could only be attributed to it a local legend, which says the following: the devil wanted to stop the waters of the Bistrita River, which watered the area, cut a piece of Ceahlaul summit to stop the water of river. He had at his left hand the rock, the first rays of light appeared. The devil feared he might find him the light, he let the rock where it was at that moment and returned to darkness... So it is found the specific rock where it is...
We left the rock and moved to Toplanita - Reghin (150 km). The route was initially very close to the lake and then it crossed beautiful small villages in a beautiful natural environment. In some places the vegetation was more pronounced, and while we followed a riverbed for several kilometers. We made 1-2 stops for rest and makeshift coffee. Shortly before Reghin the first raindrops appeared, forcing us to stop at a gas station for 10 minutes ... after all was fine! Again we were lucky!!!
We crossed the small but impressive Reghin with colorful traditional buildings, tidy streets and beautiful squares. Indeed, crossing the particular city you felt that you were suddenly elsewhere!!! We decided to go to Targu-Mures where we stayed overnight. We had seen some photos of the city and we believed it would be graphic!
At 7.30pm we entered the center of Targu Mures. The city seemed quiet and very beautiful. We moved to the center of the road enjoying the views of the traditional buildings with Hungarian influences. At the same time, we looked for accommodation. Random we found the Hotel Plaza (68euro double), which as it turned out to be very leafy with featuring spa, sauna, etc., which we did not lose the opportunity to try! This variety in our travel impressed me!!!
At the evening we went to eat at Restaurant Tempo which had Romanian and Hungarian dishes. It suggested to us the girl at the front desk. It was very good and tasty despite it was crowded. Returning we walked at the main streets of the city center, noting that there were people. Young men circulated, while some pubs and cafes were crowded...
We returned to the hotel clearly happy for our full day...
