Westkarpaten - Travel reports

   Bernhard Warsitz
   B.Warsitz @ gmx.de
   http://www.pure-places.de /
   Friday January 9, 2004

   Hello Erwin,
now we are back in Germany again. We really enjoyed the four days with Camelia and her family. We really felt at home, we were overwhelmed by the hospitality and kindness of the simple mountain-farming family and we had some really nice experiences: at mealtimes members of the family kept us company and spoilt us with home-made food.

We really enjoyed the home-made cheese, butter, jam and in particular the syrup. We regularly had to fend off the invitation to have some more. This was "all you can eat" in Romanian style.
The scenery here is beautiful. The deep valleys of Arieseni in the direction of Cobles and of Garda de Sus in the direction of Ghetar (where we also spent a night) are particularly captivating. Here you find old farming communities as they must have existed in the Middle Ages. The same goes for the inimitable wooden houses, which are of great architectural interest. Nature and life - in the latter case thanks to socialism - have remained absolutely unspoilt in this area, and it would be good if some of this could be kept intact, despite the pending change and the prosperity that one wishes upon this area.

Anyone searching for primitiveness, tradition and nature will feel at home here. Admittedly, travellers to Romania also need to be able to ignore the sometimes appallingly ugly and poor outskirts of the industrial towns that we had to travel through on our way here. But we would certainly like to visit Romania's natural sights again.
Also in hindsight, I would say that 25.- to 30.- Euros for accommodation and half-board for two persons is absolutely appropriate. In your particular case, it is significant that you speak German, you can provide a lot of information about the region and you provide suitably comfortable accommodation. George Jurca in Maramures has similar prices and also offers a lot for the price.

   Regarding the price you gave us in advance, it was not quite clear whether this was meant for one person or for two, however, in the light of your good support and on the basis of a tip from Carpathian-Willi and my positive experiences upfront, I was armed with a lot of trust.
   Erwin, thank you again for your valuable tips and information on Arieseni.
   I will send you the photos of our stay as soon as I have them on my notebook.

   Best wishes,
   Karin and Bernhard