Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
0722-769 400;
www.pensiunea-paulo.ro
;
Str Principala 266, Durau; d with/without
bathroom 100/75 lei)
, on the road into Durău, with agreeable rooms in a yellow-and-red
wooden chalet-style house. Some 50m further,
Pensiune Igor
( 0233-256 503; Str
Principala 268, Durau; r 85-100 lei)
has five doubles with shared bathroom and a self-ca-
tering kitchen.
Getting There & Away
For exploring, rent a car; however, trains reach Bicaz from Piatra Neamţ (11 lei, 40
minutes), and one of them (the red-eye) continues to Bucharest (78 lei, 6½ hours). Buses
and maxitaxis link Bicaz with Piatra Neamţ (11 lei) throughout the day; buses run
between Piatra Neamţ and Poiana and stop at Bicaz (six daily), Gheorgheni (one daily)
and Braşov (two daily). All of these buses stop at Tarcău, and one daily bus continues to
Izvoru Muntelui (otherwise it's a 4km hike). From Durău, buses serve Târgu Neamţ (18
lei, two daily) and maxitaxis reach Iaşi (36 lei, four daily).
Bicaz Gorges & Lacu Roşu
The winding road through the Bicaz Gorges (Cheile Bicazului), 20km west of Bicaz, is
among Romania's most spectacular. The gorge twists and turns steeply uphill for 5km,
cutting through sheer 300m-high limestone cliffs along which pine trees improbably cling.
The narrow mountain road runs directly beneath the overhanging rocks in the 'neck of
hell' (Gâtul Iadului) section, though it's never narrow enough to inspire claustrophobia.
Along the roadside, predatorial artisans hawk their crafts (some original, some mass-
produced) from stalls beneath the rocks, at the points where it's wide enough for parking.
The Bicaz Gorges belong to the
Hăşmaş-Bicaz Gorges National Park
(Parcul Naţional
Hăşmaş-Cheile Bicazului).
A few kilometres west begins Transylvania's Harghita County (you'll notice the oblig-
atory Hungarian-language signage) and
Lacu Roşu
(Red Lake; Gyilkos tó, in Hungarian)
- in fairness, more a large pond. The murky waters here have no healing powers, but do
conceal dead tree stumps that jut from the suface at odd angles. One cheerful lake legend
attests that a picknicking group crushed by a fallen mountainside oozed their blood into
the site where the lake amassed. (An 1838 landslide did in fact occur, eventually flooding
the valley and damming the Bicaz River).
