Past Gheorgheni, a beautiful stretch of twisty, mountain road via the Bucin Mountain pass provides a nice introduction into Moldova. Moldova makes up the eastern part of Romania and is known for its medieval, fortified painted monasteries, gorges, village traditions, and unparallelled tranquil landscapes. The region is bordered by the Republic of Moldova to the east and Ukraine to the north.




Enroute to the famed Bicaz Gorges, our first stop was the Lacu Rosu. One of Romania's weirdest natural wonders with its protruding dead tree stumps, the Red Lake (1838) was formed when a landslide dammed the Bicaz River and flooded the valley. Legend has it that picnickers were killed from a slide and crushed to death (hence its name, "killer lake"). A resort developed in the 1970s and it remains a popular vacation spot today.



Part of the Hasmas-Bicaz Gorges National Park, the gorges are truly a spectacular sight with their 300-meter high limestone cliffs rising above the river and cutting through the mountains. It is amazing to consider the labor of carving a road through these gorges!




As motorcyclists, the real attraction was in carving the fantastic hairpins and mountain twists. As the "Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" book so aptly states, the opportunity to not have the car frame around this majestic image was indeed powerful. We were reminded visually of the immeasurable beauty of the natural wonders of the world and what a small element we are in the grand scheme of life.




It was back to reality with traffic and tour buses maneuvering the road, and tourists flocking to the souvenir stands lining the underneath rock crevices roadside.



We will soon have more pictures in our Bicaz Gorges Photo Gallery. – HSR & BGR