When the Soviet Union dissolved and Moldova became independent, Transnistria said nope. A civil war ensued, until the former Soviet 14th Guards entered the scene and a ceasefire was called - one which endures to this day. This morning, while asking around the bus station for a cheap minibus, I ended up in someones unmarked 7-seater heading to Tiraspol. The Transnistrian border crossing was sadly uneventful (I had read you could be asked for bribes). I was given a piece of paper with my 10-hour time limit on it, and the old ladies in the van made sure I knew not to lose it. The driver dropped me off on the big, clean boulevard in the city centre. The dominant language there is Russian, and as soon as you cross the border all traces of Romanian disappear. Everything is in cyrillic. I had to exchange some Moldovan lei for rubles. Theyve got their own parliamant, money, everything - except international recognition. No big deal. Tiraspols actually nicer than Chișinău. Broken footpaths, decaying buildings, and garbage are noticably harder to find (in Chișinău you just open your eyes). In some places its quite lovely, and they are obviously making an effort to improve it. The place definitely has style: Soviet-era trucks, buses and cars, military men walking the streets, and big nationalistic iconography. Bender, between the border and the Dniester river, seems more militarized. More cops, more soldiers. Not knowing where to find transportation, I decided to walk through Bender to the border, which was actually pretty enjoyable. With the citys stark apartment blocks and rusting industry its got a stronger Soviet-era feel than Tiraspol, which, really, is why people visit. The people that do visit, anyway.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 17:49:04 +0000
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