Detour #228: The Neck of Hell, Moldova-Romania
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Between Romania and Moldova lies one of the most stunning drives in Eastern Europe, cutting a narrow and winding path through the Bicaz Gorge.
Transylvania’s most famous resident had a bit of a thing for necks, so you’ll be glad to know that the DN12C “Neck of Hell” gets its name, not from the risk of vampire bites, but from its sinewy track between the imposing stone walls of the gorge.
Leave the agro-industrial outskirts of Bicaz behind and you’ll find yourself on a well-paved road that flows as smoothly as the river it tracks. The traditional low-rise houses along the way are periodically punctuated by massive concrete silos, while at other times you’ll find yourself racing local trains on their parallel tracks.
As you begin to approach the gorge the road becomes more twisty, throwing in a few switchbacks before you start to feel the world gradually closing in on you. Initially the path between looming rocky outcrops feels quite wide, but as you make progress the great walls edge closer and closer to the roadside.
Meanwhile, the route becomes ever more more twisty, swerving between sheer cliff faces that, at times, lean so far inwards they’re almost touching in the sky above.
Soon you’ll come to Lacul Rosu, the Red Lake, whose rusty waters are coloured by iron oxide leeching from the rocks. Ancient fossilised tree stumps jut out of the waters where a forest stood before the area was flooded lending it an eerie beauty. Local legend claims that in its formation the lake took the lives of many villagers, so don’t be surprised to hear it referred to as “Killer Lake” as well. Fom here road keeps wiggling its way to Gheorgheni in Transylvania, opening up to reveal extensive views over the hills and forested landscape.
Despite the gruesome name this is a wonderful drive, and, although there are few hairpins to negotiate and the occasional dramatic drop, it’s really nothing to be scared of.
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