Rumunia - Redux

The owner of the only shop in old Sulina poses for a portrait. In the old days Eastern Romania was the hub of the largest fish industry in the country and, according to somebody, in Eastern Europe. Today the whole industry has collapsed and the small villages and towns in the Danube Delta are trying to re-brand themselves as holiday destinations. Sulina is the Easternmost village in Romania, built on the Delta before that the Danube reaches the Black Sea. Originally built on the Northern shore of the river, old Sulina maintains its authentic charm while the new town on the Southern bank of the river has become a quite popular Summer holiday destination among Romanian people. Since the area has been listed in the Unesco World Heritage as the largest and best preserved Delta in Europe with "over 300 species of birds as well as 45 freshwater fish species", the permits needed to go fishing have increased dramatically in number and prices. That has led to a shrunk of the local fish industry and a consequent impoverishment of an already depressed area. Nevertheless, the small community living in old Sulina has decided to stay and maintain its traditional way of life. Wooden houses and cows dot the unpaved alleys of town while the only way to reach the Southern bank of the river, where all the facilities are, is a narrow both riding from dusk to dawn. People here live in a close relationship with nature and each other in a surreal atmosphere coming from a past that is quickly disappearing.