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This road starts in Miercurea Ciuc, infamously known as Romania’s coldest city. The DN13A road is a good quality road for most of its run. It was freshly repaved in 2006. Leaving Miercurea Ciuc, the road begins an immediate climb into the Harghita Mountains. The early kilometers are fast, with high-speed turns. That quickly turns into tight corners, with noticeable elevation changes even mid-turn.

The beauty of this road resides in the tall pine forests that hug the road for the first 26 kilometers. It is a fairly dense forest, punctuated by lush clearings and the occasional vacation home or ranch. For the motorcyclist, the road provides the equivalent of a well balanced roller coaster rider—not too extreme, but varied enough to keep you interested the entire stretch.

The road goes for about 47 kilometers before arriving into Odorheiu Secuiesc. As it approaches the town, the road relaxes, the vistas become wider and the pine forests recede giving way to low lying hill vegetation. As you enter the town, its newfound prosperity is evident. The town has benefited over the past decade from an influx of foreign investment, mainly from joint Hungarian-Romanian companies. Textile companies, which produce about a million and a half men’s suits a year, drive its main industry. Other contributors to the economy are furniture and leather producers. The town can make for a pleasant stop.

From Odorheiu Secuiesc, DN13A turns northward for about 45 kilometers. The road continues a twisty path through villages, pastures and lush farmland. About 25 kilometers into this section, you arrive into Corund, a town best known for its glazed pottery as well as wooden arts and crafts. The whole town feels like a big market, with stands selling the famous green and brown as well as cobalt blue plates, bowls, mugs and pots. The Corund pottery has been so well marketed that you are likely to find it in several corners of Romania, sold as “traditional Romanian” pottery.

From Corund, it is a short 12 kilometers into Praid, a town known for its therapeutic salt mines. One hundred twenty meters below the surface, the legendary mines are known for the benefits they provide for respiratory ailments. The small town has lodging choices and a couple of places to eat. The road moves another 7 kilometers into neighboring Sovata with its mineral baths. The resort town is on the shores of Lacu Ursu (Bear Lake), surrounded by beautiful forests. The water of the lake is made up of a top layer of fresh water, about three to four feet deep that insulates the salt water layer below and maintains it at a constant temperature. The baths are known to be effective in infertility cases.

From Sovata, the road provides about 36 kilometers of pleasant yet unsurprising road into the village of Balauseri, located on the major E60 highway, between the city of Targu Mures and Sighisoara. From here in either direction, you find several interesting routes.

DN13A

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DN13A

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