August 2022

In our previous day trips we came up with a brilliant idea, that it does not have to be a day trip. Rather than driving until midnight, it would be smarter to stay somewhere overnight. After visiting Merry Cemetery we decided not to rush home. We were driving towards Maramures Mountains Natural Park (spoiler alert: the weather on the following day was awful and we did not go there) searching Booking for suitable accommodation. 

We found a reasonably priced guest house with good reviews in a village called Poienile Izei (The meadows of Iza). After driving through a dark Carpathian forest we finally arrived at our destination. It turned out that the advertised private bathroom was not en suite, but a separate room at the end of the corridor. It was already late and the owner assured us that no one else was going to use this bathroom. Yeah, that is how it always starts – we come late and trust people we do not know.

In the middle of the night we woke up to loud noises, drunk voices and slamming doors. When Denis wanted to use the bathroom, it turned out to be occupied. This time when in the morning the owner asked us if everything was alright, we told that it definitely was not. For that we got a free breakfast with homemade cheese and sausages. Our noisy neighbours came out later and started their morning with wine getting ready for a great new day. The licence plates on their cars hinted they were Poles. We do not know why people would come from Poland to a Romanian village to get drunk, but who are we to judge?

Meanwhile, after a great breakfast we decided to take a few aerial photos of an impressive church that was right in front of our guest house. The locals call it “New Church”, because there is also an old wooden church as it is common in Maramures.

We saw more wooden churches and whole wooden monasteries on the way. Maramures is great to just drive around and explore.