Romania – From Bucovina to Brasov – Day Five

Even if the places, the traditions, the wonderful experiences in Bucovina, especially in the painted monasteries area are wonderful, the time was to drive south, back the capital, but this journey was to take two days, to enjoy and visit other natural attractions of Romania.

What I was expecting the most was to pass by the Bicaz Gorges, where the road fallows a small river, with big mountains on both sides of the narrow road.

Before arriving to the Bicaz Gorges we passed by Tirgu Neamt, were at the exit we had the chance to look at a traditional wedding ceremony. These are the things that mostly captivate me in Romania, you can still see these wonders in the present!

Piatra Neamt was seen only in a glimpse, and our next stage should be Bicaz.

It was one of the most expected places to visit during this day. Unfortunately we did not had the opportunity to stay and enjoy the surroundings, once it’s not easy to park the car, because the roads are narrow. Even so we stopped a little bit to take some photos on the small river with clear water running.

After this we went up, driving through the Bicaz Gorge, where I had the chance to make a small video on the car.

Our next stop was the “LacuRosu” or Red Lake, where it was a surprise for me, not by the lake itself, once I’ve seen photos before, but by the Hungarians that we saw in this place. Even if geographically this is located in the middle of Romania, the Hungarian community is very important in this area. Unfortunately they don’t seem to be very friendly, probably due to the problems concerning the fact that this is part of Romania.

Red Lake is a natural storage lake formed in 1837 located close to Hasmasul Mare mountain, near Gheorgheni. It is the largest natural mountain lake in Romania, formed by the waters caught by a crumbling flank of Mount Ghilcos. Its name comes from thered waters of the Red Creek which flows over the layers of red iron oxides and hydroxides.

Anyway, it was good to learn about the legend(s) of the Red Lake, and also to taste the traditional mititei on our meal. We also tried a Hungarian sweet, which was very popular, and even if I can’t eat to many sweets, it seemed very good.

The legend of the Red Lake:

 “It is said that the Red Lake or Killer Lake has got his waters reddened by the blood of those who dared to swim in its waters and were killed by a fierce dragon living there. The tree trunks coming out of water would be their desperate arms raised from under the water while drowning.”

Another legend speaks of the Red Lake formation: “On a stormy summer night when a large part of the mountain broke away from one of its sides and fell over some shepherds who were grazing sheep in the area. The reddish color of the lake is given by their blood that now arises from the bottom of the lake”…

“A third legend says that a beautiful girl from the area fell in love with a nice lad that unfortunately had to leave her and go to the do his bit in the army. The girl promises to wait for him to return but is kidnapped by a robber and forced to marry him. The girl prayed to God to save her. Then, God starts a rain which flooded the area, droning the robber and forming the lake that we see today.”

There is a Earthcache in this area, that took me for a walk, surrounding a bit the lake. If I had more time for sure I would take a greater walk around here.  Lacul Rosu 

In Sfântu Gheorghe I also went for a geocache. It was quite strange to find the right way to reach this church. We stopped the car on the road that was not more than 100m from the cache, but it took us a lot of walking, once in the middle of the small roads you can’t pass, there are some garages constructed there. Even so we managed to reach the cache and more than that, another wedding was taking place here, this one with the attendees passing by the roads.

Baile Tusnad was also a place that we should have seem with more details, but in this area the monument our fountain, doesn’t have a parking place and to go there walking is not a good option.

Finally our day ended in Brasov, one of the most beautiful towns I usually visit in Romania, and anytime I come to this country I try to come here.

Even if there was a lot of people there, the centre, or the main square, doesn’t seem to be as pleasant as it was before, but on the nearby streets there are a lot of places to enjoy some good moments with the friends, just to talk with a bear nearby.