Lifetrippin. Republic of Moldova

This is a story of my trip to Moldova and Eastern Romania. It took me 7 days to cover almost 1700 km with three means of transportation. The story will be split in three parts. First chapter is about Moldova. Starting point is city called Chernivtsi.

"- Good day, how can we get to Chisinau by train?

 - You can't. Good-bye"

The conversation was odd and happened to me and my girlfriend Roksana at the train station in Chernivtsi. The guy at the information desk, was clearly having a bad day, or maybe he was not a big fan of Moldova. Anyway, his manners were even more far away than Moldova is. Unable to receive much information from him, I went to another ticket window, where woman did or at least tried to give me some advices.

She told that indeed there is a train to Moldova, but if we take it we would find ourselves there at 1 a.m. Near the border (place called Larga) and the chances to get somewhere close to a big city at that time are very miserable. So she said to look for the busses at the bus station. One of the locals told us about the bus, for which you have to wait near the train station and which comes at approximately 1-2 a.m, but maybe a bit later. And there is no pre-booking for the bus. Approximately. Maybe a bit later. Yes that’s right, and even though it sounded adventurous, we didn’t fall for this idea, as we needed to arrive to Chisinau as soon as possible in order to stick to our more or less free schedule after. Thus, we got to know about the daily bus at 20.45 from the bus station on Holovna (literally Main) street. The cost of the ticket is around 11 euros. The total time of travel had to be 9 hours, which is really a lot for 330 km. It was probably the only time, when I wanted the bus to arrive according to the timetable, so we wouldn't have to wait somewhere in the middle of the night. Though it happened of course, as having passed the Ukrainian-Moldovian boarder (by the way, they have WI-FI there) in about 20 minutes, we arrived to night and sleepy Chisinau at 4.45, two hours before the predefined time. The city looked tired, and surprised to see such early visitors. As we arrived to the central bus station (or Gara Central), which of course was closed, local vultures - taxi drivers, were already upon our heads and money. Be careful not to be overcharged for a ride, and be prepared that they will also add some extra fee because of the luggage you are carrying, as it seems to be a usual thing in Moldova.

We had to wait somewhere, and we were disappointed to discover that the Mecca for the majority of waiting tourists and travelers - McDonalds, works from 7 till 4. And the only option we had basically (besides some night bars) was the main train station. We went there, and it actually turned out to be tidy, tiny and warm. Just what we needed. 

The only thing we lack, was that the charging of all the electronic devices was not allowed, and the security guard prohibited us to try that, saying "be grateful that I allowed you here, since you don't have train tickets". Well, thank you. But seriously. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to meet a charming traveler from Japan - Takeshi Okumura. 

A 73-old ex-sailor on retirement, is just travelling round the globe. He has been to 130 countries already, and looking at this energetic and passionate man - that is not the full list. Amazing factor is that he barely speaks English, but together with his handy e-translator, he is managing to request what he wants and get where he needs. He told us some fascinating and funny stories, as well as gave us introduction lesson into Japanese language. We didn’t expect that at 5 a.m. at the train station in Moldavian capital?!

After such a positive time-spending, we met our friend Luda, who I have met on the project within “Youth in Action” program in Diyarbakir (Turkey). She kindly agreed to help us in discovering her native land and hometown.

What can I say about Chisinau? It's a nice city, with lots of green places and parks. Even if you open TripAdvisor and scroll through the top attractions of the city, you will find mostly parks. We didn't find some amazing buildings with vivid architecture, but we surely enjoyed the atmosphere in the air. Traveler must also try the local cuisine, which is delicious, and a restaurant called "La Placinta" is strongly recommended to visit for this purpose. Chisinau is also one of few cities I have been to, where a ticket for the bus can be purchased only from a controller (a popular or let me say usual job during the communist rule). The city, being a capital, has also cheap prices. On the main square you can find a board, where you can leave your message. Nowadays, it is full of ones addressing Putin.

The amount of flags of European Union on the streets is really huge. People here (as well as in Ukraine for example) see EU not only as destination of integration, but a way to escape communistic background and dependency from Russia. However important thing is to remember, that EU, it’s not a universal remedy, and putting a flag on the building will not solve issues by itself or destroy bureaucracy and corruption. Efforts. Efforts from every citizen is needed to make a change.

City, being explored by us within day and a half, wanted a break. After having a huge de-tour round Chisinau, we decided that next day we will spend outside it and go to a place called "Old Orhei" or "Orheiul Vechi" in Romanian. The ride there takes around one hour, and it will open to you super amazing landscapes and original and atmospheric cave church. The bus there goes from Central Bus station. But it’s quite hard to find it, unless you don't speak Russian, as the bus park there is quite anarchical. Young people usually speak English as well, but also if you know some basic Italian or Spanish, then you will not get lost there, as Romanian language on which Moldavians talk is really similar.

My experience in Moldova was positive, as it reached my expectations. And I would love to spend there some more days (in particular Transnistria), but the road was calling.

Our next destination was Romania. And the best option what it seemed was to go to a city called Iasi. The busses departure from Southern Station (Gara de Sud), and it takes approximately 4 hours to reach the final destination. The bus ticket costs approximately 7 euros.

The ride and the road to Iasi itself were quite good, and we even didn’t notice how quickly it went.

To be continued in next part with our experience in Iasi and Bucharest