In the late afternoon, Diana drove us to the nearby village of Budeşti where a man with a horse cart was to meet us for a drive to a monastery. As we waited, the weather became more ominous. The man who was the assistant veterinarian hitched up a three-year old male and four-year old mare. Both had red tassels attached to the outside of their harnesses. The red tassel is a protective amulet.
The wind picked up and one of the tassels blew to the inside of the harness. Our driver stopped, got out, and returned the tassel to the outside of the harness. When the rain began in earnest, our driver stopped and pulled out a plastic rain amulet to put over us in the horse cart.
When we arrived at our destination, it was still raining, but the ride was both fun and had great scenery as we were not on a national road. The monastery's church is still being constructed. We were able to see how huge lengths of lumber (milled on site) were fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle as they would have been in centuries before. Corners were dovetailed and roof eaves were held to the walls with wooden pegs instead of nails.
Then, it was back into the horse cart for the ride back to Budeşti where we said goodbye to our horse-cart driver and his horses. We were thoroughly impressed at how well the horses behaved. Neither cars and trucks passing nor barking dogs chasing them caused them to flinch.
Earlier in the day, Diana led us on a short walk from Deseşti toward the village of Mara. Fruit trees were in bloom and wildflowers were everywhere.
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| Typical Maramureş Wooden House |
The traditional Maramureş fence was woven with flexible hazelnut branches. As with the wooden houses, the fence was built upon a stone foundation and topped with a wooden shingled roof.
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| Maramureş Woven Fence |
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| Planting Seeds |
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