Transfagarasan, Probably the Best Road in the World

Transfagarasan is the best road in the world or at least so said Jeremy Clarkson in a Top Gear episode. Still, it offers so much more besides the amazing driving experience. It’s, first of all, a major creation of the communist regime and its obsession with oversized infrastructure projects. The road connects the south of Romania with Transylvania. 6,500 tons of dynamite were used to break the Fagaras Mountains, the tallest in Romania. It reaches its highest altitude of 2,042 meters close to Balea Lake. This makes it the second-highest road in the country after Transalpina (2,145 meters) and a great part of any road trip in Romania. The Transfagarasan was finalized in 1974 after almost five years of hard work, done by soldiers and engineers. The army started working at the same time from the two opposite sides, in Arges and Sibiu counties, and a monument marks the place where they finally met. Another monument, the Engineers’ Gate, commemorates the workers who lost their lives. Officially, 40 people die