Crossing the ”Alps of Transylvania” as the Fagaras mountains are sometimes called (the highest peak is 2,544 m), this scenic mountain road climbs up to 2,042 m (6,699 ft) near Balea Lake.
Transfagarasan was a strategic road planned by Nicolae Ceausescu after the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. At that time, Romania refused to join the invasion of Czechoslovakia conducted by the other Communist countries from Warsaw Pact.
Fearing reprisals from his USSR comrades, the Communist dictator planned new, rapid access of the military from Bucharest to the heart of Transylvania. Nowadays we discover and enjoy this costly 90 km (56 miles) road.