Aktive Fredsreiser gikk igjen sine egne veier og arrangerte
sin første temareise til Budapest og Romania i august i år.
28 deltakere la ut på en reise krydret med kunnskap. De deltok
på fredsseminar på PATRIR (Romanian Peace Institute), fikk god
kjennskap til Romanias kommunistiske historie, opplevde unike
naturlandskap og fikk grundig innblikk i Romanias kultur,
både når det gjaldt tradisjoner, mat, økonomi og skjulte
skatter. Landets "må se" destinasjoner var selvfølgelig
inkludert i reisen, som Draculas slott, Sapanta Merry Cemetery
og middelalderbyer i Sighisoara…
Her forteller Andra Tanase fra Romania om turen.
Av Andra Tanase
Curiosity, passion for travel, seeking an understanding of how a communist past has affected a country and its people, and a deep desire to learn by traveling are some of the main reasons that inspired the 28 travelers for peace to choose the Romania trip. Not that much information is available about Romania, except for of course the travel guides that many of the participants carefully studied before the trip. But the aim of this trip was to go further, to explore by experience and to study a place by listening to its people and by going beyond stereotypes.
The trip started in Budapest. After a few moments of relaxing at the hotel, we toured the town and visited the House of Terror, one of the main museums testifying for the communist and fascist past of Hungary. A strong beginning giving much to think about and explaining much of the situation and mentality nowadays. The next day, we continued our journey into Romania.
If in the beginning people knew about Nadia Comaneci the famous gymnast, about Dracula's legend, about the many orphans left behind by the communist regime and about Ceausescu's dictatorial regime, by the end of the trip the information was much deeper, including a recognized surprise with the level of development in many places, a real 'taste of Romania' with its mici, sarmale, tripe soup and palinca, a wonderful insight into some very old salt mine that certifies one of the many natural resources that Romania has, a real visit to the birthplace of Dracula, a glimpse into the Rroma life, a glimpse of the wooden churches and light-hearted attitudes towards death in Maramures and last but not least glimpses from a communist past. The Sighet memorial visited in one of the last days provided a very detailed insight into what communism was in Romania. It presented the prison system, the intelligence, the agricultural reforms, the situation of the intellectuals and the church, and other aspects that school textbook history still did not write about.
With so much to think about, with a mix of experiences our travelers relaxed in the Felix thermal baths before taking the trip back to Norway, enriched by another experience from a rich although not wealthy country.