Our bus to Brasov was due to leave at eight in the evening so we decided to spend one last day enjoying the sights of Chisinau. We said out goodbyes to Marco as he was leaving on a different bus later on in the day. Despite having seen most of the sights in Chisinau, we still had some museums and points of interest to see. First stop was the local supermarket for breakfast which we ate sitting on the steps of the cathedral as we had done previously. The first point of interest on our agenda was the History of Chisinau [View Full Entry]

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We had decided to go to the cave monasteries today rather than risk being shot in transdnistr. We got up early with Chris and set off towards the central bus station. Lonely Planet suggested that getting to Orhei cave monasteries would be rather easy, so we left Chisinau with minimal research. It took us a while to find the right minibus to Orhei and when we did, the only three seats were right at the back of the bus. I got stuck next to some sleazy guy who kept on moving over till his hands were all over my legs. During [View Full Entry]

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Half eight in the morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and got ready as best as possible in that tiny room. A Scottish guy called Chris had arrived in the middle of the night and this morning we found out that he had no money because his cards had been rejected like ours. He had tried so many ATM's that his card had been cancelled. We didn't have much time to chat but we gave him the equivalent of £5 to keep him on his feet. At quarter past nine our guide Val arrived to take us to Milesti Mici. [View Full Entry]

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Due to the room being full of guys and the fact we were awake most of the night we stayed in bed till everyone else had got up. We got up and sorted out some mundane necessities and left the hostel around twelve. We bought breakfast from the local supermarket which consisted of a danish pastry, fruit and juice. We sat and ate it on the steps of the cathedral watching people pass. At one point a Romany lady and her kid came up to us asking for money. We firmly told her no, but I gave the kid one of [View Full Entry]

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We woke up rather early and left the room as discretely as possible. The girl on the desk rang and ordered us a taxi and we thought told them where we were going. The driver was lovely, but it was only when he gave us a map as a gift that we realised we were heading to the wrong bus station. When we did get to the right station he asked around till he found the right bus for us. The driver of the bus wasn't as nice and when we went to put our bags in the storage section he [View Full Entry]

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So, went to the Cliff Monastary of Orheiul Vechi... It was a LONG walk up under the baking sun! but, Amazing! The whole area was like a valley and before, it was all seawater!!! you can see shells and stuff in the rocks and cliffs still! I think it was 200 years ago that it was underwater...and now..its very good land for farming! The cliff monastary was small.......but pretty cooool. We went there as a group but no guide. Then, a French guy who spoke Russian came with a Russian speaking guide and we just followed and he explain many things [View Full Entry]

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I LOVE YOUTH HOSTELS.. it might be small, stuffy, hot, no internet. BUT, it saves me from my problems! at least some.... So, having a very difficult time getting around and actually travel within Moldova..the microbus system is kinda....all over the place..like Mini vans in HK but its hard to find the terminus.... Anyways, LUCKILY, there were these Estonians in my hostel, one of them spoke Russian so could get by pretty easily. They arranged this wine-tasting tour today. At first, I wasn't going, coz I wanted to go to this valley village with this cliff monastary, but..MONDAY! [View Full Entry]

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I LOVE YOUTH HOSTELS.. it might be small, stuffy, hot, no internet. BUT, it saves me from my problems! at least some.... So, having a very difficult time getting around and actually travel within Moldova..the microbus system is kinda....all over the place..like Mini vans in HK but its hard to find the terminus.... Anyways, LUCKILY, there were these Estonians in my hostel, one of them spoke Russian so could get by pretty easily. They arranged this wine-tasting tour today. At first, I wasn't going, coz I wanted to go to this valley village with this cliff monastary, but..MONDAY! its cl [View Full Entry]

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Ok, So, from Romania on to Moldova... Took the train to Iasi and then the bus to Chisinau....besides hot...nothing much. Met this Moldovian woman on the bus and she couldn't speak much English.. very interesting, still able to kinda communicate. She was trying to help me to my hostel but I guess she got it wrong...we got off way far from the city centre and no ATM around works!! She then paid for the taxi to the city centre and finally found an ATM that I can get money and pay her for the taxi ride.... Anyways, she brought me close [View Full Entry]

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Getting to Moldova from Manchester is not easy or cheap as I was soon going to find out. I had 2 options to get there. Plan A: was take a flight via Stanstead Airport (near London) to Chisinau, easy eh? But expensive £400 plus for a return flight. Plan B: Take a flight to Romania via Frankfurt and then take an over night train to Chisinau. Flight would cost £188 and price of the Train Journey was about 40 Euros. So I did the Maths and the travel romantic stirred inside me which told me to take an over night [View Full Entry]

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