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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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May 02, 2007 02:00 PM The beauty of Old Orhei...
Since Moldova is not so wide you can use the capital - Chisinau as a base for the day trips to the most interesting places. Public transport is cheap - the only problem is that it is rare on the side roads.
To get to the historical place of Old Orhei I took the bus to the junction 11 km before Orhei town. It cost 14 leu. The junction in in the middle of nowhere. But after 200 m walk I found a junk private car working as share taxi - 60 leu for full car to the Old Orhei Monastery - 16 km distance. It has picturesque location in the cliff over the meandring river. There is only one friendly monk still living in the cave. Further on the cliff you will find orthodox church. Close - in the village there are painted houses, traditional share wells and a kind of ethno museum. But the main advantage of theis place is its pastural landscape... Another wonderful sunny day. But I was hitchhiking 1,5 hour on the exit from the village for the friendly Russian driver - Moldova's attractions are still of the beaten tracks!
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May 01, 2007 02:00 PM Bumpy road to Saharna...
I am in Moldova... Do you know that they speak Romanian language here? Most of the people know also Russian. Youth in the towns speak some English... No tourist information office in the capital - search the internet to where to go... The main tourist attractions of this country are the old monasteries. In the morning I took a public bus to Rezina (two hours on the bumpy road - 33 leu, 1 USD - 12,1 leu). Then there is hourly minibus to Saharna Monastery - 3 leu. This monastery has beautiful location in the little gorge. Climbing the hill nearby you will see a beautiful panorama of the Dniestr River...
I wanted to walk along the river to the next cave monastery of Tipova. Local people said it is 8 km and there is a path. Mistake - do not trust them! I spent 4 hours crossing the bush and mountain slopes. In fact this route in not passable. Take the country roads instead!
I reach the caves of Tipova at sunset - tired and dirty. There is a local guide - charming Ludmila. She will try to convince you that the foreigners cannot protograph the site... Of course it is demand for money! But there are also nice people: the orthodox priest "pop-batiushka" offered me a free ride from this deserted place back to Chisinau. Thanks, father!
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Apr 30, 2007 02:00 PM First of May in Chisinau
Yes, there are already hostels in the capital city of Moldova! Apatrament hostels - lets say - with little capacity. But they exist... I booked one "Central YH" via internet - it works...
The advantage of the "Central" is a walking distance to the center of the town. 4 beds only - 10 USD each...
In the former Moldavian Republic of USSR I expected grand celebration of the Labour Day - sorry, no more.... Just some music and folk dancing in front of the opera...
Chisinau has a nice central quarters - parks, government buildings. The highlight of the city is restored Orthodox Cathedral on the main street...
For the gourmets they offer a good choice of tasty and inexpensive wines - the bottle of champagne cost from 2 USD up - why do not to taste - I did!
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Apr 29, 2007 02:00 PM Transdniestria - the state who does not exists...
I bought a bus ticket for 40 hrywna -The shortest route from Odessa in Ukraine to Chisinau - capital of Moldova goes through Tiraspol - the capital of strange mini-country existed from the collapse of the USSR. They should be the part of Moldova but they do not want to...
The staff of the hostel in Odessa said that they did not hear about any problem with border crossing. Yes - the local people do not expect any problem, but the foreigners are the target for the corrupted officials of Transdniestria on entry and exit. They will collect the passports - only from the foreigners. They will take you out of the bus. You will enter one one by one the "control room". They will ask there for a bribe... Very rude people... On both borders the same situation... I refused to pay... - They ask me to go outside and called the next person. During the next search the officer asked me to put everything from my pockets on the table... I know Russian - I survived paying only 10 hrywna - like 2 USD. But the Japaneese guy the day before lost there 200 euro! Never more to Transdniestria!
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Apr 28, 2007 02:00 PM Odessa after years...
I took two flights and finally landed in Odessa - Ukraine. Minibus 117 for 1.25 hrywna took me to Ekaterinskaya Street. There is new hostel worth to recommend - Black Sea Backpackers. I booked them via hostels.com. Entry from the courtyard - not easy to find. It is clean, but offers only dorm beds.
Two charming receptionists: Tanya & Elena speak English and will give you full information. The advantage of this place is the location - just in the heart in the old part of the city. They have free internet and continental breakfast is included.
Odessa changed a little during last 3 years: more elegant shops and pubs. But the famous opera building is still under repair... I took a long walk along the boulewards... It was very pleasant evening!
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Apr 27, 2007 02:00 PM Packing the backpack again...
Tulips are in blossom in my Wojtkowka... But I finished all basic spring works in the garden. When LOT Polish Airlines announced temporary special internet offer for the flights to Odessa I decided to visit unknown to me Republic of Moldova.
It lies out of the beaten track - maybe it is just the reason to go little Moldova for a week... I pack my backpack again!
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Mar 11, 2007 07:00 PM 7th round-the-world voyage is completed!
Home, sweet home... I haven't been here for four months... Sun is shining over Gdansk, no snow here, I hope that spring will come soon. A lot of letters was waiting here on my desk... Thank you for all of them...
My Seventh Round-the-World Voyage is completed... One more dream came true... Thousands of miles, thousands of people, nice and unpleasant adventures, 42 rolls of slides, 22 hours of video recordings, more then 4 thousands of low-res digital pictures... Now the huge work is waiting for me: to develop pictures, put them into catalogues, to copy video into DVDs, to write promised articles...
I am enjoying my country... people around are speaking Polish again... My Wojtkówka is waiting for me...
But hmmmm... How about the next voyage?
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Mar 09, 2007 07:00 PM Sarajevo, Sarajevo...
Trolleybus no.103 for 1,60 mark will take you from the peripherial bus station to the center of the town. It is the long way between the high concrete blocks. You will be surprised seeing on walls of this residential blocks thousands holes and prints of bullets and big shells... Souvenirs of the tragic - not so distant - history of Sarajevo. You will understand how terrible and stupid the civil war can be...
The old town of Sarajevo - Bascarsija, where famous bazaar and the monuments are is very compact - easy to visit on foots...
There are two main options for backpacker's accommodation: pension SEBILJ just on the bank of the river (rooms from 15 euro) and Ljubicica Travel Agency (opposite the historic Sebilij fountain) who directs tourist to the private rooms in the area (also 15 euro/room). Money exchange in the banks only (they charge the commission)...
I took an evening walk through the cobbled streets - to the old mosques and the covered bazaars... Monuments are nicely illuminated. Smells of kebabs, coffee, burek's... People chatting in the eateries... I think that Sarajevo is most interesting and atmospheric of the former republics of Yugoslavia capitals...
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Mar 08, 2007 07:00 PM By bus to Bosnia & Herzegovina...
-Yes, there is the direct bus from the Adriatic coast to Sarajevo, but it goes back to Podgorica and then north - to Niksic... The ticket cost me 17 euro, and I boarded this bus at 7.20 am. We passed through Podgorica - the capital of Montenegro and started to climb the mountains. What a views on this route! There was a deep canyon of Piva river, a dam and the artificial mountain lake...
We reached the border check point at 12.30 pm. It is located in the real outback: the only road to Bosnia is via 3-m wide steel bridge on the Tara river. No tourist information on the Bosnian side... Stamp into the passport... No money exchange - in Bosnia & Herzegovina they use Bosnian Mark - 1 euro is worth 1,95 BAM.
Winding, bumpy and narrow road on the Bosnian side was descending into the valley... I understood why our bus was so short - the big ones are in trouble on this part of the route... We reached bus station in Sarajevo at 4 pm. 9 hours in the crampy little bus... I have enough for today!
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Mar 07, 2007 07:00 PM Kotor - the jewel of Adriatic
It is easy to move along the coast of Montenegro - frequent public minibuses run the coastal route all over the way from Ulcinj to Herzegnovi. I paid 2,50 euro for the ride to Tivat - relaxig resort in the Kotor Bay. In Tivat you will find only few monuments but it is more quite and it is easier to find less expensive accommodation here. I left my backpack in the Hotel Palma and jumped on the next minibus going to historic Kotor.
There are two routes to Kotor: first via tunnel and the second along the bay - this one I recommend. It is narrow but very picturesque coastal road which will give you many photo opportunities. Both rides cost the same: 1 euro.
Kotor - walled town built from 12th to 14th is nestled at the head of southern Europe's longest fjord has very dramatic setting at the bottom of the mountains... There are cobbled laneways, narrow streets, little plazas with old churches and mansions. It is very atmospheric place.
On the slope above the the old town there is little fortress of St John. It took me 40 minute of climbing steep path to reach the stone barracks on the top - but it was worth the effort - the view of the fjord and the old town from the fortress is just incredibile!
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