DRUNKS ON THE BORDER - Sighetu Marmatiei and surrounds, Maramures, Romania

.......read here about our special time visiting the wonderful village of Breb, Romania........

Fantastic tombstones at Merry Cemetery, Sapanta, Romania

Sighetu Marmatiei was a small town in the far north of Romania, on the border with Ukraine. Our accommodation there was on the outskirts of town, and in many ways we still felt like we were in the country side. Here was the biggest number of horse and carts we had seen yet, an almost constant clip-clop outside our window, with hay and other goods being transported around in the old fashioned way. Bicycles were also an extremely popular form of transport. We noticed in this area, all small local shops had a sort of modest beer garden attached- a courtyard with chairs, tables and umbrella for the mostly workmen that gathered there to drink and chat. We had to laugh at one shop upon spotting two rough looking old boys sharing a bottle of white wine they had just bought and had opened in the shop, with plastic cups. Classy!

Back streets around our guesthouse, Sighetu Marmatiei

Our train (only kidding!), Sighetu Marmatiei

Tiny train station, Sighetu Marmatiei

Buses in these parts are few and far between, and finding information about transport online in English is nearly impossible. We decided to give hitch-hiking a go again to get to Barsana, after a successful and easy trip from Breb to Sighetu Marmatiei. We had a succession of lifts, only waiting a few minutes for each one, and briefly met some lovely and diverse people. 

After arriving in the village of Barsana, and enjoying a stroll around the backstreets, we walked up the hill to the peaceful and deserted site of the humble Wooden Church of Barsana. We discovered a sign with the opening hours and entrance fee, but no one attending. We sat on the steps and ate our lunch and waited, and eventually had to summon a young woman who arrived shortly after and showed us around, giving us some history of the place.

Originally built in another part of Barsana, the church (officially known as The Church of the Presentation of the Virgin) was moved to it's present position and renovated around 1800. It was placed in it's current position- a cemetery for plague victims. The exterior was impressive- Richard was particularly interested in the building technique, with huge, long and thick beams held together with wooden pegs. 

Quiet location of Barsana Wooden Church

But it was the interior we were glad we had persisted with seeing, as it was a unique array of scenes from the Bible characterized by local and amateur artists at the time. Painted in blue, red, white and green, the portrayals were unusual in their style and unlike anything we had seen before. Every surface had been covered, some with intricate and detailed pictures. Unfortunately, a large part of one wall had suffered from damp, and that entire section was missing. The inside was dark, and photos were difficult to take, but we did our best.

Eerie eye watching over, Barsana Wooden Church

Ancient detailed paintings, Barsana Wooden Church

The eyes have it, Barsana Wooden Church

We actually stayed in two different accommodations in Sighetu (long story!), and on arrival at our digs on the opposite side of town (hitchhiked again), we were immediately given a shot of palinca, although it was 9am- great way to start the day!! The host seemed conscious of building works going on in the complex, and every day appeased us with strong coffees and alcoholic drinks for free- this was our kind of hotel!

Our day trip to Sapanta was one of the best we had had yet. This stretch of road wasn't as successful for hitch hiking, as there was an established share taxi system in place. So we squashed into a Dacia (Romania's car company) with some others, Sal on Rich's knee, and paid the driver upon arrival. The cost was the same for us as the locals, but we were surprised at the slightly high price. 

Souvenir stalls from the main road showed us the way to Merry Cemetery, an unexpectedly incredible graveyard filled to the brim of colourful tombstones. Apparently one villager started the custom of carving individual tombstones containing pictures of each person and a humorous poem about their lives in 1935. He wanted their lives to be remembered happily. We loved the detail in the carvings, mostly depicting the person's profession, or something they were presumably known for or loved doing. A few funny tombstones showed people drinking in a bar, or just awkwardly standing doing nothing. Mostly the women were weaving and the men were farming, but many other depictions included firemen, miners, soldiers, mothers and cooks, and some showed the manner of death. It was so delightful, and sweet, but also sad- we felt like we saw a piece of these people who had died. 

Sleepy stall owner, Sapanta, Romania

These guys interests lay in drinking! Merry Cemetery, Sapanta

Car crash scene, Merry Cemetery, Sapanta

Colourful church, Merry Cemetery, Sapanta

A drowning? Merry Cemetery, Sapanta

A bartender's lot, Merry Cemetery, Sapanta

A collection of a few of the hundreds of wonderful headstones at the Merry Cemetery, Sapanta:

A stroll away was the calm Sapanta-Peri Monastery in a glorious situation down the end of a dead end pastoral path, and surrounded by woods. The unbelievably tall Wooden Church (the tallest in the world, it is claimed) was marvellous, and although the whole complex was deserted and locked up, we were able to enjoy the spectacle of the exterior and wonder at the engineering involved in the building. We wondered around the complex briefly, before exiting via a lovely path. 

Wonderful oak in the small forest, Sapanta-Peri Monastery

Tallest wooden steeple in the world, Sapanta-Peri Monastery

Incredible engineering, Sapanta-Peri Monastery

Huge size of the logs, Sapanta-Peri Monastery

Our pretty path out of Sapanta-Peri Monastery

Other days around Sighetu, we enjoyed checking out the extremely cute and old fashioned town centre. Unlike many of the other old towns we had visited, nothing much had been done to "improve" Sighetu town centre, and as a result, some lovely old retro signs and shops remained giving a daggy and nostalgic atmosphere. We wandered five minutes to the bridge to Ukraine, and found the frontier to be relaxed and quiet. We sat in a café directly in front of the border, and watch a handful of people walk over with bits and pieces they hoped to sell for a profit in more expensive Romania. We noticed that a packet of Ukrainian ciggies were half the price of the Romanian version!

The grandest building in Sapanta town centre

The Sighetu central market was brilliant. After a look around and buying some delish local strawberries for 0.80GBP a kilo, we sat in a bar, careful to avoid the drunk slouched at a table behind us, and people watched for a while. Hats galore and ladies in scarves, people were dressed in all sorts of garb, and we loved the little stalls selling tiny amounts of dried beans or bunches of herbs, obviously straight from their own backyards. Other stalls sold in bulk, but really it was mostly strawberries, and locals taking advantage of the season were buying up kilos at a time. People were really nice to us- no English, but plenty of smiles and Buna Ziuas (hello in Romanian). Sitting at the tiny bar with a palinca (we really do enjoy divey bars here!), one Roma man with a mane of hair made friends with Rich, and tried to sell him a huge fur coat. It fitted well, but the wrong time of year!

Strawberries galore, Sighetu Marmatiei, Maramures

Getting ready for spring planting, Sighetu Marmatiei, Maramures

Home made booze for sale, Sighetu Marmatiei, Maramures

Anticipation! Sighetu Marmatiei, Maramures

The main street in Sighetu was equal amounts cafes and churches. We made a point to go in as many churches as we could manage, to see the contrast between the different denominations. Religion here is a bit complicated, but it seems most people used to be Greco Catholic before the Communism time, with a minority of Orthodox Christian. Then they were somehow joined into one for some time, and now they both exist, but the majority of worshippers are now Orthodox. There was once a large Jewish population in Romania, but most of these left after WWII, although many synagogues remain throughout Transylvania especially. We didn't see a single mosque or outwardly identifiable Muslim person during our Romanian travels. Anyway, Sighetu's main drag was home to places of worship for Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Greco Catholics, Reform and probably others.

Orthodox cathedral, Sighetu Marmatiei, Maramures

Partly because of the rainy weather we experienced for much of our stay in Sighetu, and partly because we stayed in guesthouses with no kitchen, we decided to splash out and try some Romanian food specialities. We hadn't realized that many restaurants had lunch specials with two or three courses for around 15 RON/2.50GBP, and we went a bit crazy eating and trying different dishes for a few days. 

A Romanian feast including snitel (schnitzel), cabbage, mamaliga (polenta) and grilled pork

We were still enchanted with travelling around Romania, and looked forward to the next step, wherever that would be.

Slow train not coming, Sighetu Marmatiei, Maramures

.........next up the Art Nouveau town of Oradea, Romania.........