Sept. 12: Into Maramures - land of beautiful wooden architecture and agrarian landscape

[ES]
Today our route up a valley, bucolic countryside, slower pace of life (and roads), and beautiful wooden architecture has us rejoicing in being in Maramures. Fortunately we had a good road with less traffic out of Nasaud (and the first day yet in Romania without traveling on gravel;), and the day kept getting more exciting from there. We traveled up the Salauta River valley climbing up steadily for 28 miles, and then descended into Maramures where we both felt immediately more calm and at ease.

Roadside snack of champions: processed cheese wedges and Belvita.

Wooden churches were everywhere in Maramures. They have been described as the only truly Romanian architecture.

There was definitely a lot of construction going on in the greater Bistrita/Nasaud area. We had read that the remittance economy was a big part of the overall economy here in the north - family members working in the EU sending home money or people who work out of the country for a few years and come back. Villages were not as quaint through here as older houses were intermixed with large, gaudy sometimes yet unfinished new houses. There was also a lot road and utility construction going on - so the jobs from construction seemed to be a good thing.

Later when we arrived in Maramures there has still been construction but the new meshes a bit more with the old. A new house in the same compound as an older wooden house and barn for instance. Wood is stacked perfectly cut into the same length under house eaves, and many fences have little rooves on top. There is a lot more wooden architecture in Maramures including beautiful old wooden churches (we saw eight today!) with wonderful construction of fir with dovetail joinery and wooden dowels used to hold waves to the structure. The shingles have a lovely shape and are thin and overlapping, and a decorative rope motif is often found.

The pace of life has slowed since crossing into Maramures. Village life here is so appealing. Groups of women or groups of women and men working in their fields raking and stacking hay, harvesting potatoes, bagging up apples, making piles of giant squash (likely destined for pigs and other animals as we have not seen any squash served at the table). We have seen many different haystack strategies...making a tripod and also a flat tressis to them stack hay on. The fields seen rich with clover, plantain, buttercup, bunchgrasses, other grasses, yarrow and other carrot family species. It’s harvest time so people are working hard, yet people will stop to say hello and smile.

The land use is different here as small-scale agriculture of all sorts is being practiced by nearly everyone. Each family seems to have a field with hay and crops and then perhaps a couple farm animals at home in the barn. While the fields are heavily managed the fruit trees are wild! There is not much obvious pruning though all the fruit is harvested in big white bags. There has been larger scale agriculture elsewhere in Romania we have been through, and here some weedwackers are used in addition to scythes but raking and stacking hay is still mostly by hand. Some people have tractors instead of horses to pull their carts, but the agriculture seems in a manageable, local scale. Basically it’s just dreamy.

We arrived at our place for the night in Ieud, took a shower, and headed out on a three mile walk to visit another nearby wooden church, a monastery. We then visited the local corner market for Ciucas beers, ice cream and chips (a bicyclist snack before dinner). The market was happening with people meeting up after work to sit for a beer and then depart. A spigot and soap by the outside tables allowed you to wash up before going in the store or sitting down for a beer. The highlight of dinner later was fasole (white butter beans) cooked to delicious perfection with a bit of pork. Yum.