The land europe forgot

After having alot more time on my hands than i had expected i had the week in bulgaria. This was all well and good but to get from bulgaria to my next destination moldova means a 25 hour train journey. So leaving the hostel at 8am to walk to the station i caught the train to Ruse where i bought my onward ticket to Bucharest then the sleeper train to Chisinau. At ruse i met Kieron an australian who was also heading to bucharest so we got the train together which passed the first three hours. We arrived in Bucharest at 6.30 and my train i had been told left at 8.40, this became 9.30 which is depressing when there is nothing to do without ending up with more worthless banknotes.

The train eventually left and i had a compartment to myself but despite this i failed miserably in getting any sleep. I woke up at 3am and was awake until we arrived in chisinau at 10.30. The ride was painfully slow and also crossing the border. The people in the compartment next to mine were montenegrin and for some reason they werent let in and were told to get off. The kids were crying and the mom but eventually they left. In 2007 moldova dropped there visa requirements for EU nationals and those from the US and canada although Australians and Kiwis still require an invite and visa.

Arriving in chisinau i was picked up from the station and taken to the hostel about 20min walk outside the centre. It is right next to a mall originally called mall dova which is the nicest i think i have ever been in. Despite moldova being the poorest country in europe there is plenty of money knocking about, i think mainly through drug and people trafficking.

The rest of the day i spent looking around the parks and museums which were pretty good and the 30 degree weather also helped. Yesterday i headed out to a monastary called Orheiul vechi which after eventually finding the bus was pretty amazing. Its situated on a ridge between two valleys and had a church dug down into the rock as well as caves where the monks used to and still do live.

Today i headed to Transdiniestr a country that nobody recognises. When moldova formed Transdiniestr decided to stay communist and declared independance which due to their political status went unrecognised. I had been told i would probably have to bribe my way in but fortunately it didnt come to that although there were lots of forms to fill in. The first job was to get some local transdiniestr currency as this is the only valid one to use. Im pretty sure i got scammed but nobody before i went knew the exchange rate. I first visited Bendery which had one thing to see a tank in the memorial park before heading to Tiraspol the capital. Tiraspol was nice with big leafy boulevards and communist style buildings that are well preserved. I wandered around for a couple of hours went to the cognac factory and visited the various statues of lenin before heading back. The weather was 34 degrees today and the thunder has just started. Am planning to go to ukraine in a couple of hours but ill see what the weather is like.