From Szilágyság to Máramaros

This is the region on the border of Partium, Transylvania and Máramaros, which is perhaps even less known among domestic hikers than the Bihari mountains. It's worth a mass though. As my friend Lajos used to say, "Where there are many churches, there are many sins". There are really many churches here.

I have visited this region several times, around Kabnikbánya and in the Lápos valley. The latter became my favorite because of its relaxed wild water. Deep valley, no field force, comfortable paddling apart from a few larger roars. Of course, it depends on the water level. If it's too little, it's not good either, because the boat gets stuck everywhere. If it's too big, there's no easy way out.

I started the current tour from Szilágyscseh, in the Solo category:) I originally planned a bikerafting tour. On the first day, I reached the boarding house, which is traditionally Razoare, a village near Magyarlápos. I reached it by driving over the north bank of the river, mostly on gravel roads - easy to ride, with lots of lifts. There are no villages in the classical sense, although they have administrative names, but the whole region is more like a farm world. A pub, e.g. not very easy to find, nor does he search. So if you run out of water, it's better to ask someone. The people there are helpful and kind.

There are no classic cemeteries either, rather family graveyards along the road

Upon reaching Lápos, I decided to set up camp early. Let's just say that the entire travel equipment was not easy, I could have done it. But I rather rearranged the stuff, inflated the raft, tied everything to it so that nothing would be left behind when it capsized. Less than an hour later, I was already on the water, enjoying the silence, which was only broken by the sounds of thousands of birds and hummingbirds. Somehow this is part of the silence here, in fact, it makes it real. When departing in the afternoon, the sun often shines in your face, as it breaks on the waves you can often hardly see because of the glare. On this section that leads to the Salnica bridge (you can come up from the valley there) there are three worth mentioning roars, all of them are good, try from the side of the rock wall, the boat won't get stuck there, you don't go to the wall anyway, the water bounces back from there. There are countless good bivouac spots along the way. A small pot on the right bank, several meadows on the left bank, and one of them even has small covered benches. It's a private area, but there's hardly anyone there, and you don't leave trash anyway. I don't think it would bother anyone if you spend the night there alone or as a couple. If so, they will tell you anyway. Although the valley is narrow everywhere, the landscape is very diverse. A wooded shore dotted with reeds, broken by rock walls.

In the second section, there are a little more buzzing, bigger ones too. You have to pay more attention here, although it is at least warm outside at this time in the summer, it is better to avoid falling over. In early spring, however, you can get very cold even in neoprene, and it is almost impossible to build a fire on the beach at this time, everything is wet. The end of this section is the next bridge, I usually go this far, although now due to a bigger leak, the exit was earlier. Based on the satellite images, the further section is not dangerous either, if someone has tested it, please write it :)

After getting off the water the next day, I started towards Magyarlápos, but now on the south side of the valley. There is less climbing here and there is some asphalt.
I think the town is forgettable, but there is a pizzeria and a fast food restaurant, and you can also fill up the food supplies.

From there, you can go uphill on a half-asphalt, half-gravel road to Batiza, or take another road to Kabnikbánya, and from there to Budfalva.

Here, let's talk about the wooden churches of Máramaros, 8 of which are part of the world heritage, and are located here in the surrounding villages. It is worth setting aside even a day to visit them, they are unique. The churches were built in the XVII-XVIII centuries, you can find a detailed description on this link: The wooden churches of Máramaros

Only our time can limit further adventures. To the north, you can go all the way up to the Ukrainian border in the Máramaros mountains. Beautiful stream valleys, lush forests, fairytale countryside. This part is already the realm of large-scale wood thieves. Just carefully. It's not like they deal with lonely bicajos, but it's better to be careful. Because of the bears, it doesn't hurt to be careful at the bivouacs, at least keep the food away and wash the dishes.

I didn't make it up here on the current tour, at Dragomérfalva I started southeast on a montis road marked on the Locus, again into the mountains. I spent the night at the Stonehenge-like wooden christ. I only saw that there was an evening next door when I unpacked everything properly. That wouldn't have been a problem, but it was a dog, a sheep, a pig, everything. Until about 11 a.m. a big rickshaw, sometimes the sheep, sometimes the dogs started to attack it, then the pigs started squealing madly. I managed to get some sleep, but I continued on at dawn.

When it comes to Transylvania, never trust the maps. The marked road runs out after about 20 km. The path turned into a real survival jungle battle. Fortunately, I was able to make my way through the thick nettles with the oar. Well, I was afraid of accidentally punching a teddy bear here, it was such a remote place. I escaped and after a few km I found the spring, which I had for a long time. This +2 hour was not included, and the road would have already led downhill here, I expected fast progress.

From Telciu, the heat was getting worse, and from here I mostly drove on asphalt for another day and a half before I reached Szilágycseh again.

The balance is approx.: 400 km cycling, 40 km rowing. I didn't record the track with a phone, in this case you save money so that you can always find information.