Budești is one of the old villages of the Cosău valley in Maramureș, the far northern corner of Romania, where traditional life has survived longer than almost anywhere else in Europe. Its wooden church of St Nicholas, built in the seventeenth century, is a masterpiece of the local carpentry tradition: a dark timber body with a tall, steep shingled roof and a slender spire that seems to pierce the sky. Inside, the walls are covered with painted scenes from the Bible, and among the church's treasures is a coat of chain mail said to have belonged to Pintea the Brave, a legendary outlaw hero of the region. The church is one of eight in the UNESCO listing of the Wooden Churches of Maramureș.
The villages here are full of character: wooden houses with carved gates, haystacks in the meadows, horse carts on the roads and people in traditional dress on Sundays and holidays. Nearby Breb, Sârbi and Hoteni are similar villages, and many families still make horincă, a strong plum brandy distilled twice. A short ride north, Săpânța has the famous Merry Cemetery, with brightly painted wooden crosses carved with humorous epitaphs about the lives of the dead.
The riding in Maramureș is a joy, if you take it slowly. The roads in the valleys are narrow and winding, with potholes, livestock and horse carts. The DN18 from Baia Mare climbs over the Gutâi pass, with a series of tight hairpins through the forest, and descends into the valley of the Mara toward Sighetu Marmației. Cavnic, eleven kilometres away, is a small mining and ski town with fuel and services. The weather in the mountains can be cold and wet, even in summer, and winters are snowy.
Fuel is available in Cavnic and in larger villages along the main roads, but not in every village, so plan ahead. Guesthouses in the area are often family-run and serve home-cooked food: ciorbă, sour soup, sarmale, cabbage rolls, and balmoș, a cornmeal porridge with sheep's cheese and butter. A glass of horincă will be offered as a welcome, and refusing it politely takes skill.