Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 0262-331 165; Bârsana 377; r 70 lei) Situated 2km outside of Bârsana on the road to
Călineşti is this large wooden house offering cosy rooms with driftwood furniture, TV,
clean linen, en suites and bright, fresh walls.
BOTIZA
Continue south to Şieu, then take the turn-off right for the sleepy village of Botiza, one of
the prettiest in all of Maramureş and site of the some of the region's best homestays. Bot-
iza's old church, built in 1694, is overshadowed by the giant new church, constructed in
1974 to serve devout Orthodox families.
The 9am Sunday service is the major event of the week in Botiza. The entire village
flocks to the church to partake in the religious activities, which continue well into the af-
ternoon.
Sleeping
George Iurca $
( 0722-942 140, 0262-334 110; botizavr@sintec.ro; Botiza 742; r per person 90 lei;
) George is a friendly guide with a licence to conduct tours throughout Romania. He
rents out clean, comfortable rooms as well as mountain bikes (25 lei per day) and vehicles
with a driver-guide (300 lei per day for a group). You'll find his house four doors down
from Botiza's new church.
PENSION
Victoria Berbecaru $
( 0262-334 107; r incl breakfast 80 lei) Four spick-and-span rooms are available at this
pension, run by the warm, French-speaking Victoria. Better still are her rooms in the 19th-
century wooden house just opposite, where you can stay in simple, cosy cells that give the
feeling of a ship's cabin. Downstairs there's a shop selling Victoria's beautifully woven
rugs.
PENSION
POIENILE IZEI
From Botiza a road leads west to Poienile Izei, home of a church with the most dramatic
frescoes of hell you are ever likely to encounter. The early-17th-century church's frescoes
eerily depict infernal visions of torments inflicted by the devil on sinners. Visit on a
stormy day and it'll scare the pants off you. To visit, ask for the key at the priest's house, a
large wooden place in the centre of the village, with an ornately carved terrace.
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