A journey in the northwest of Romania, in the northern part of the Transylvanian plateau. One of the last trips before the pandemic closed the doors to tourism. For us it wasn't exactly tourism, it was a trip to the past, to the authentic countryside, to the countryside that is on the verge of extinction in Europe.
Now villages are more and more like cities even in a less modernized country like mine. This trip took us to a more isolated and sparsely populated area...
In fact, our trip was aimed at Garboul-Dejului, a very small and isolated village, 15 km from Dej. That's where my wife was born and raised, in Garboul-Dejului and in Dej. We make a trip there every two or three years for remembrance. For the lost childhood. My wife still looks for it in the gardens and woods near the village.
Before arriving in Garboul-Dejului, we made a stop to visit the Nicula Monastery, which was featured in this post: New church architecture - Nicula Monastery
and the town of Dej, described here: Travel in Northern Transylvania
Garboul-Dejului, an almost abandoned village
The village can be reached on foot, by cart, by car from Cuzdrioara, which is a village stretched along the road coming from Cluj and heading towards the city of Bistrita. These are some landmarks to reach the village, for those who want to.
Garboul-Dejului is a very old village, it is documented in 1315. It was an important and populated village in the past but after the end of the Second World War, after Romania switched to socialism-communism and started an accelerated process of collectivization (i.e. the land of the peasants was confiscated and a forced association was made, and the result of the work was taken by the state, the peasants were left with very few products, just enough not to starve). Because of this, most peasants left the village and went to the many construction sites of the country. It was the time when socialism was being built in Romania.
The village now has about 80 inhabitants. In recent years more and more residents of nearby towns have bought land and built holiday or retirement homes. I was not interested in the new houses, I wanted to see the old houses, the houses where the grandparents and my wife's parents lived. These houses are mostly abandoned and in an advanced state of decay. There is no one to take care of them anymore.
These houses remind me of the Village Museum, but a much more realistic and real museum. Generations of people have lived in these small houses. Small house but big garden. Because they mostly worked outside in the garden.
In the garden where they collected grass for the animals and fruit from the trees.
A central place in village life is occupied by the church. The old church from the seventeenth century is the most important monument. It is declared a historical monument. It is where my wife went every Sunday as a child with her parents. That's why she was most emotional when we got there.
I liked the cemetery most of all. Basically a field with big grass and old crosses scattered about. I find it the most romantic cemetery, the best place for eternal rest.
Because we talked about peace and quiet, this is the reason why this village is visited by many people who want to see how it used to be. They are not interested in tourist attractions, they want to forget for a few hours the city crowds, the heat, the dust, and the grey color of the buildings. They want a green cure...
There's something else that attracts people here. The hospitality of the inhabitants, simple and true hospitality. You are invited into the house and you are invited to eat with them. Simple but tasty food.
We stayed with my wife's relative. I was treated the same as everyone who comes to visit the village. With an aperitif, here it is customary to start the meal with something sweet (cakes, pastries) and a glass of horinca. Horinca is a kind of vodka, only it is made from plums or other fruits (apples, pears, quinces...). It is extraordinarily strong and only the trained are able to drink it.
Everyday food. Cheese, sour cream, polenta, mushroom stew with sour cream.
For sleeping, you get their best room, the front room, as the villagers call it. It's a room waiting for guests.
Life is not easy in the country, especially in this remote village in the middle of the woods. Now times have changed, life has improved. Many of the facilities that existed only in the cities have come here. Electricity, mobile phones, the internet... But not everyone needs them. My wife's relatives prefer to live traditionally. First, a glass of horinca and then off to work...
In the country, people work from morning till night. Not by the clock, they go by the sun. From sunrise to sunset. With lunch breaks, of course. The wood they use for heating in winter has to be gathered, repairs have to be made.
Apart from the beautiful nature that steals you away from the first moment you arrive in the village, I'm also attracted more by houses. Either inhabited and cared for houses or long-abandoned houses, almost buried in greenery. These abandoned houses belonged to those who left the village with the collectivization, in the 50s of the last century. They left and never came back.
These houses are inhabited. Here live the descendants of those who left or people who have recently settled in the village and have bought old houses and renovated them.
I also saw flowers in the village. The wild ones, in the gardens and in the fields...
... and cultivated flowers, next to houses.
It's hard to choose which are more beautiful.
We had a trip back in time, in a village lost in the middle of nature, a village forgotten by time, a village where there are still old houses from the beginning of the last century. Even if many of them are in a bad condition, they still keep the beauty of the past and let us imagine how people lived in that time. A village quite visited by tourists looking for originality, wild nature and welcoming people!
I was so much looking forward to this post!
It is true, it doesn't look at all like any Greek village. It is amazingly beautiful, like being in a fairy tale! Authentic and simple! The nature is just wonderful! I am "absorbing" the green from your pictures!
I imagine being there in spring, all the flowers and birds...
It is so sad that the fate of these villages was to be abandoned. It is pretty much like here, the village we live has almost 100 habitants and the previous one less than 50.
I love the houses, their architecture and simplicity. It sounds so logical to want a small house and a big garden! How much things have changed, even common sense.
Your wife is so sweet! The way she stands (in all her photos, in other posts, too) show kindness and sensitivity!
A great tour, thank you so much for sharing!
I thank you for this wonderful and warm comment.
Of course, there is a big difference between villages in Greece and Romania. You liked Garbou, I like the Greek villages and the climate (even if the summer is getting harder to bear).
Thanks for what you said about my wife, you noted her qualities very well.
I must say that it is thanks to you that I wrote this post. During the elaboration I wanted to give up several times but because you said you were waiting to see what this village is like I took it to the end.
Thank you!
@bluemoon, I am so happy that you wrote about Garboul-Dejului!!!
It is a wonderful tour to your wife's childhood place! It made me travel through seasons, imagining the scenery, the smells and sounds in spring, the heavy snow running down the roofs in winter! And of course to the past! And a bit to the future :)
Thank you so much for writing it! I feel, may I say, honored? Yes! Thank you!
To be honest, at the previous post about Dej it wasn't clear if you actually even managed to go to the final destination, Garbou, and I thought maybe I shouldn't mention it... But I did, haha! And I am very happy I did! I really wanted to know about it! As I see many people enjoyed it as well! Wonderful!
It is even smaller than the village I currently live in.
Nowadays I live in a small dead end village on the Northern Great Plain in Hungary. There are approximately 200 people lives in this village.
Have a nice day and have a nice weekend.
All the best. Greetings and much love from Hungary.
Thank you! I hope your village is more alive.
What a gorgeous looking place. It's quite sad that these houses are mostly abandoned now, the whole area looks really beautiful.
I'm so intrigued to read about the hospitality, it sounds like good old fashioned tradition.
Yes, hospitality has remained an attribute of these people. It's very nice to see that.
This is so beautiful.
I wish I could visit this beautiful village.
Thank you!
I love this view, it is surreal. Good afternoon!
Thank you very much! I like this picture too.
You're welcome (^_^)
Stepping back in time to when people worked hard, played hard when allowed. What lovely scenery around these old homesteads.
Interesting to go back to visit family and find out how life continues away from busy city life with all the mod-cons that don't always bring happiness.
Your wife grew up in a wonderful place, pity politics destroyed a way of life the way it did.
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 76/96) Liquid rewards.
Thank you very much!
Yes, hard work, only work was when those houses were inhabited. That wasn't a life you wanted either.
Now many want to go back to the village and might start a new life in those places.
People feel like values in life are lost, city life is not for everyone.
Hard work leaving enough time to enjoy family life without the stress of noise, pollution, rushing around in what we have come to know as normal daily life.
This will probably be the solution of the future, a return to rural life. I don't know and I don't think I'll find out.
If one is self-sustained with modern technology it should be interesting to enjoy a small cottage home out in the woods.
What a beautiful experience! The old abandoned cottages and houses always make me daydream about what their history is and what their future could be
I love them just as much and my wife tells me the history of the village and her family. The future might be better now that more and more townspeople are returning to the village, to a simpler, stress-free life.
That is wonderful news! The history is half of the beauty of these old places
Hiya, @choogirl here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1446.
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