Day 52
Moldova seems a lot less exotic compared to last time I was here. But it’s still very poor compared to Ukraine. There are functioning public wells in every village, a lot of livestock tethered outside houses. Up to now I’ve rarely had to use any cash, but here there are few card machines. Luckily I’ve got enough water (avoiding the embarrassment of not knowing how to use a well, or if it’s potable).
The day’s route ends with a series of 200m climbs and descents. Not the best thing at the end of any ride, by the third one my legs feel like jelly and I realise I’ve not eaten since breakfast. Finally I see Edinets (Edineț) at the top of the next hill, where I can get a room, some cash, and a long-awaited Timisoareana beer with pizza.
Day 53
Destination is Balți, Moldova’s second city.
There are quite a few loose dogs around. Out in the country they are generally fine, and the territorial ones in the villages are loud and love to chase bikes but they are quite small. Coming out of Pelinia there are three quite large dogs guarding a lorry yard. The road is rough and uphill so I’m not going to outrun them. The best option is to dismount and put the bike between me and them, as soon as I’m a pedestrian not a bike they calm down, thankfully.
A common utility vehicle in the villages is a kind of electric trike, with a bench seat at the back, seating three or at a pinch, four. They look quite expensive and new, but there are lots about, often driven by children.
The landscape changes quite often (though there are some of those roads that don’t change for hours as Cudzo points out). The sunflowers are not flowering yet, but the wheat is already ripe, I guess they plant earlier than in Ukraine where it is still very green.
Day 54
I probably won’t get to Chișinău in a day so I route to Orhei where I stayed last time I was here. I check komoot’s route for “paved” roads and it looks fine, just some short sections. However, about 40km in I discover another of the underlying rules, if a road is marked as a major road and the surface is unknown, komoot assumes asphalt. There’s about 20 km of compacted gravel before I get to some more tarmac. It’s quite hot and the going is slow.
Even so I reach Orhei ahead of schedule, so push on for the long climb to Orhei National Park to stay in a “castle” – recently built with turrets and stuff, and a very good restaurant. I’m the only guest, so I get the “Napoleon Room” at 35 m2 the room is larger than my whole boat. Later in the evening I sit alone at an enormous banqueting table with candelabras, surrounded by portraits of kings, the whole castle to myself.
Day 55
I decide to stay and do a little sightseeing. First stop is the restored Manor House in Ivancea, 2km away. The main gate is locked, but after a bit of searching I find the curator who opens up for me. The museum consists of three rooms containing some “folk art” that looks like it was done by the local primary school, some old furniture and clothes, and the most interesting one, traditional local stone columns and ornate column tops. I do get to wander round the overgrown ornamental gardens for my 25 MDL (about a pound).
Next is Orheil Vecchi (Old Orhei) 20 km with a few steep climbs. This is Moldova’s biggest sight, and it’s changed a huge amount since I was last here about 8 years ago. Then there was nothing other than a sign pointing to the monastery and someone selling fridge magnets from a board, and there were two other visitors. Now it has a visitor centre and an eco-tourism village. Loads of people. The monastery is still underwhelming though, despite being enhanced with some well-kept shrubbery and a shop for cheap icons and candles.
Day 56
It’s only 25 km or so to the Transnistrian border, so despite it being FCDO red zone I figure if I enter at Dubǎsari I can get to the capital Tiraspol by early afternoon and exit back to Moldova before evening.
There’s no exit border from Moldova, but the entry post is manned by a large number of soldiers, some shiny Russian armoured vehicles and quite a few loud dogs. Going through at the same time as me are some Moldovan motorcyclists and a couple of uncommunicative cyclists. The border guards speak no English but want to question me at length via google translate. There’s no passport stamp, just a slip of paper with my details.
This side of the Dniester is very sparsely populated, there are a couple of small towns before Tiraspol. Money is a problem, here they use Transnistrian Roubles, but there’s nowhere to get any. A garage accepts MDL for a cold drink, the card payment option being a QR code. I stop at a coffee hut, but it’s only rubles or QR. As I go to leave a young woman approaches, and in perfect English offers to pay for a drink for me. I politely decline, after all I don’t particularly need a coffee I was just stopping to stretch my legs. The price displayed is 2 Rb, I think there are about 17 to the pound.
Tiraspol is recommended as an interesting place to visit, go back in time to the old USSR. To be honest, Belarus is much more interesting. OK, there are a few places plastered in CCCP and similar (no pictures, they looked military) and some tatty but uninteresting Soviet architecture. The outskirts of the city houses some disused factories and a large variety of Russian barracks.
I meet a touring cyclist – Heinz, from the Dolomites. He’s cycled here in two weeks, and I’m the first other tourer he’s met. He’s intending to go to Odessa, and I suggest that’s not a good idea, Odessa is one of the cities Russia is targeting from time to time. I’m not even sure they’ll let him over the border without military risks insurance.
I book in to a place in Bender, the other side of the Dniester, assuming that’s where the border is. That turns out to be a misapprehension – for some reason the border extends around the town of Bender, and not being a recognised border this information is not shown on maps. So I’m still in the red zone.
Catherine the Great Park is full of strange constructions and artworks
On the other side there’s an Abkhazian flag and some others which I guess are other unrecognised countries
The Tank Monument, odd juxtaposition
The view from Tiraspol Old Fort (the fort itself is tiny)
Transnistria – the only country on earth still building new Soviet Bus Shelters!
Heinz
Bender from the Dniester
My overnight stay at the Starye Benderi (Old Bender Hotel) epitomises the promised USSR vibe. On the outside the building looks fairly new and the restaurant is popular both inside and on the veranda. I’m the only person staying overnight and I’m given the furthest possible room on the top floor which is two rooms sharing a bathroom. It’s spartan and there’s a sign saying smoking is allowed. The hot water initially comes out black, then smelly, and the cold water comes out hot with a whistling noise. The mattress is rock hard, on a saggy spring bed frame.
I’ve checked they take cards. But when I come to pay, their machine doesn’t accept VISA, or Mastercard. Only local banks.
Then I look at my immigration card, it says “Transit only, exit by 22:30 on 29 June”. I wonder whether to make a dash for the border which is only 500 m away, and camp in a field on the other side.
Day 57
From Bender I head south west, I’ve been to Chișinău before and other than the train station, there’s not a lot of interest there.
It’s very, very windy today, mostly head or side wind. It’s been fairly windy for a few days, and I think this is unusual for the region, maybe caused by the “heat dome” further west in Europe. This makes for heavy going, along with the very rolling landscape: at the end of the day I’ve covered only 120 km but with over 1,500 m of climbing.
Dinner at an American-themed chain restaurant includes Georgian style pida.
Day 58
As I head towards the southern tip of Moldova the farmland gives way to a more scrubby landscape, there are fewer habitations and a lot of abandoned industrial sites. The traffic also gets quite sparse. The wind is behind me after the first 40 km, but I can’t take advantage of it because of the appalling state of the roads. Even where they look unpatched they rock up and down, and I have to pay attention in case of deep pot holes. The road here is following the Prut, the border, and it’s up on a ridge beside the river basin giving great views over to Romania.
I’m aiming to stay the night just before the Romanian border, but by early afternoon I’ve had quite enough of being jigged up and down and my neck is complaining. I stop at a nondescript looking pensiunea where the wonderfully lively host decides we can communicate if she speaks Italian and I speak Spanish. She makes me a huge dinner of fish from the lake and veg from her garden, plus some placenti, which is a cheese-filled rolled pie a bit like burek but lighter.
Day 59
My plan is to head south and pick up the Eurovelo Danube path, I’ll need to be on the other side of the Danube as there are few places to stay on the west side.
After a massive home cooked breakfast, the road to the border has a number of short steep sections that I need to walk. I’m a little later than expected. Then the border has huge waits. Normally cyclists and pedestrians can jump to the front of the queue, but here there are several gates, each requiring a wait before being let through. The guard at the first one suggests crossing to Ukraine instead (2 km away) then taking the ferry to Romania (this is not shown on the map).