After my final night in Romania at a hotel almost directly opposite Zalău Nord station, I headed to Carei for a couple of hours layover. My departure from Romania into Hungary was slightly nerve wracking experience. The cross-border service is just twice a day formed of a Hungarian Railways (MÁV-Start) single railcar. As Romania was not in the Schengen area at the time of the visit, passport/ID checks have to be carried out on both sides of the border. A total of 5 Romania officers at Carei came onto the train to check IDs of one Dutch traveller and a local passenger. My UK passport was taken off me for a full 25 minutes and returned back to me literally 3 minutes before departure.