Chisinau

The train to Romania was due to depart at 17:10 so Steve and I decided to drop our bags at the station and spend the day sightseeing. The capital of Moldova is a suprisingly green city given it's heritage, the streets are lined with trees offering welcome shade to pedestrians and the two main parks play host to scores of Moldovans who spend their time relaxing on the benches and having a good time. With the temperature at an energy sapping 40 degrees, it's hard to get comfortable and our attempts to locate a city centre swimming pool proved fruitless. We considered that the national museum would probably be quite cool inside so we headed towards the entrance, bumping into 2 girls from Manchester in the process. They turned out to be from the Salford branch of the Christian study group on a special 'mission' to work with the Moldovan Bible study group, a fusion that given many years I'm not sure if I would have ever imagined but nonetheless one that Steve and I were not overly keen to discuss. The museum was like most ex-communist countries' museums tend to be so scores of volunteers appear from hidden cupboards in the walls and run in front of you to switch on the lights. Apart from the telecommunications section (which I quite enjoyed) the exhibits were mostly tired and in some cases quite out of place.

After the museum we decided to sample some of Moldova's greatest offering, sweet red wine. The bottle is served cold and the taste is somewhere between Port and Madeira wine. The 16% ABV label went unnoticed by either of us until about half way through the bottle when Steve's ultra-quick metabolism got the better of him and he began to slump in his chair, I followed not longer after and by the time the bottle was empty, we felt quite relaxed yet still incredibly hot!

Next we turned our attention to our stomachs and headed for a recommendation from another traveller (as well as the LP guide), Andy's Pizza. The food was a bit of a let down and so after we had imbibed we headed back into town on a Mashrutka. Mashrutkas (Maxitaxis in Romanian) are just minibuses that stop anywhere but follow a specific route. The price is 3 Lei (about 60p) and as all of the seats are usually taken you are forced to hang on to the rails on the roof for dear life as the driver screams around the backstreets trying to avoid the traffic. The heat is intense but the roof vent, which is propped open by a bottle of coke lets in a reasonable amount of air providing you are hunched in the right place.

Once we were at the station we retrieved our luggage and headed off to our train as despite Steve heading North to Iasi (pronounced Yash), so would I as there is no direct train line to Bucharest due south of Chisinau. The journey to the border would take around 2 hours leaving me plenty of time to get aquainted with my cabin partner Stas from Chisinau. Stas had recently qualified as an archaeologist and was headed to Bucharest for an EU sponsored project but we soon turned the converation onto Moldova and the problems it faces. Moldova used to be the jewel in the crown of the USSR but is now regarded as the poorest country in Europe and one of the most corrupt places on earth. The country has experienced huge migration and most of the young people have gone to seek work in Romania, Italy and Hungary. What can be done? We shall have to wait and see.