Internal Navigation - Just Like Home In Chisineu-Cris (Lost Lands #159)

As I leave Socodor (Szekudvar) behind while planning my itinerary for the lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders, I am asking myself who would come out to this area unless they had to. The attractions for tourists are few. They are even fewer for foreigners without some sort of family or ethnic connection. The villages are quintessentially rural Romania, with the rhythm of life not much faster than it was a century ago. Socodor’s main claim to fame is that it is on the way to somewhere else. Either the Romania-Hungary border crossing seven kilometers to the west or Arad 43 kilometers to the south. I plan on heading to Oradea, 79 kilometers to the north. At its best, the area’s fertile fields and big sky are sublime. Conversely, the landscape can feel like a journey into oblivion. The idea of tourism is foreign in the area between Arad and Oradea. That is unless the tourist is headed to either of those two cities. Otherwise, the most spectacular attraction is Macea Castle, and it is not open to tourists.

Above Average – In Pursuit of a Passion

A traveler would have to be desperate, lost, or obsessively curious to spend time driving around the rural part of Crisana to see marginal landscapes and modest attractions. This leads back to my initial question of who would come here. The answer is so simple and obvious to me that I should have noticed. I would, because I did. While looking at my planned route after leaving Socodor, I noticed a crossing point for the Hungary-Romania border in the opposite direction from which I will be traveling. The Varsand-Gyula crossing was where I made my way over the border five years ago on a Sunday morning. The road which I traveled, 29A, is the same one I will be using to find my way to E621 at Chisineu-Cris. This will give me a straight shot to Oradea, if I do not take any more detours. At this point, that is a big if. This frontier region has now become a mild obsession.

On that first trip, I made a run for the border as fast as I could. Patience has never been my virtue. I proved it by speeding through the area while telling myself there was nothing to see. That turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy because I did not stop to look around. What has changed in the five years since I passed through the area? Nothing in the landscape, nor the villages. As far as historic sites go, whatever was there then, is still there now. The only thing that has changed is my passion for the lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders. This is why I am planning to linger much longer than I would have ever imagined in what amounts to a tour of a micro region in rural Romania. There are many other rural areas in Romania of greater interest. Ones filled with painted monasteries, wooden churches, and folk culture par excellence. I am unlikely to find any of those, but other discoveries might await.

Turning Point – Right Side of the Road

Place names have resonance far beyond noting a location on maps. That is the case with Chisineu-Cris. I could not help but notice that it is the next town I will come to after Socodor. The hyphenated name makes Chisineu-Cris look more important than it probably is. If a place has two names instead of one, I generally take notice of it. Chisineu-Cris also bears more scrutiny because it is a turning point in this part of my itinerary. The town is located where two roads intersect. The one I am on, and the E461that will take me north to Oradea. The E461 is where I originally started heading north from Arad before I took a detour. That led me to Macea and ever closer to the Romania-Hungary border. Rather than cross the border, I have now backtracked to regain the main road. another. There is still plenty to see, and further detours are always possible. Chisineu-Cris is easily accessible since it happens to be on the E461.

Unlike Macea, Graniceri, and Socodor, Chisineu-Cris gets more attention than it probably deserves. Roads have the same role that railroads used to. They can make or break a place. Since Chisineu-Cris is on the quickest route between Arad and Oradea, the town will get more traffic. Less obvious is the fact that people will still take scant notice of the town. That is because most travelers who pass through it are focused on getting to Arad or Oradea. No need to think much about Chisineu-Cris. The town is in a neither here nor there location. Places like this interest me because they are so uninteresting. They are examples of how rural Romanians go about their lives and how their villages and towns are organized. Chisineu-Cris offers no competition to the architectural and historical delights of Arad and Oradea. For travelers, it is one of those places that is quickly seen and just as quickly forgotten.

Village People – Familiar Facades

I have passed through hundreds of villages and towns in my travels across Eastern Europe. I cannot remember a single specific thing about all but a few of them. Chisineu-Cris might have a similar effect upon me if not for it being strangely familiar. I grew up in a town of similar size and anonymity to Chisineu-Cris. A state highway ran right through the town and a major motorway just beyond it. Chisineu-Cris could be the place where I grew up if it was not halfway around the world. A sizable proportion of people all over the world live in places like it. No one notices these places, and they probably never will. Tourists will not visit them, or if they do it will be for a few minutes at most. Chisineu-Cris, like my hometown, gets lost in transit. ?And yet many of us have more in common with the Chisineu-Cris of the world, than we do with Arad or Oradea. Travel is supposed to be a form of escapism, but no matter how far we travel, there is always a Chisineu-Cris to remind us of home.