Baia Mare, Romania

It was a long travel day from Timisoara. After a 6 1/2 hour bus ride, I picked up a car in Cluj and headed north out of Transylvania and into Maramures. It's probably the most remote region of Romania and sits below the Ukrainian border.

I chose this town because it was a larger city in the area. I just needed a place to bed down before moving on to a smaller village the next day.

I booked a pensiune, which is a family run hotel in a rural region. It's like a pension in Latin America.

I was checked in by the 18-year-old son who spoke English. I was the first American he had met, so he had no end of questions. His father did a shot of palinca with me upon check-in. Nice. That's the local pear brandy. I've seen that tradition throughout the Balkans with Raki or Rakia. Same stuff, more or less and same tradition. One for you, one for me. For every guest!

Don't think for a moment this is in the backwoods with no electricity and I'm dealing with peasants. These are modern, educated Europeans in every way and the pensiun was a new building with all mod cons. When I pulled in, I thought I was in the wrong place. A large neon tooth sign lit up the front. Apparently they rent out the front of the building to a dentist.

Breakfast is included with these type of places and when I mentioned that I can't eat bread, Daniel told me he was a celiac. I high-fived him and his father gave me another shot. Then I told them that I hadn't had lunch and I asked for any restaurant recommendations. Daniel ran back to the kitchen and brought me some homemade gluten-free bread and various slices of vegetables and sausages.

He sat me down to quiz me on what I thought of Trump and Obama etc etc. He plied me with a couple more shots of palinca to loosen the lips. It worked and I gave him an earful.

I decided to walk around the central part of the city since I'd been cooped up in vehicles all day. It's a nice little town with some bars and cafes and not a whole lot else to do.

After a delicious breakfast the next morning I said my goodbyes and drove up to a mountain pass in the Gutâi Mountains, part of the Carpathians. Daniel had mentioned a great hike to the Cock's Comb. I didn't quite make it to the top but I went about 80% of the way and the hike was beautiful. Bonus: no bears or boars. They're both a problem in Romania.

More photos and videos are here.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/X7igvTJLwZrnDAj76Read more