luni, 22 august 2011

Introduction

Dear Reader,

Please take note of the following subjects before reading this blog:
  1. This blog wasn`t created for publicity purposes or to overpraise myself in any way. It was created for my friends, who i know they are curious about this trip. I would like to thank them for their support and i take advantage here to do this.
  2. Numbers and names which appear on this story are true, they are not invented in any way. The purpose of them is to give the story more authenticity.
  3. In order to make it easier to read, i splitted the trip in chapters, which are available on the right side of this page.
  4. If you find this blog boring, please take note that nobody is keeping you to stay and read it.
  5. The pictures posted here are my sole property. Any use of any one of them without my authorization is prohibited.
  6. The story presents the facts exactly how they occured. 
Thank you for your understanding. 


Enjoy your reading :)


                                                                                                             Codrut,
                                                                                                    Oradea, Romania

Oradea- Iasi

                15- Aug. This is the day for departure to the distant Republic of Moldova. I have ambivalent feelings about this rail trip, maybe because I never been there. The bags are ready, I woke up very early, around 6 a.m and start to prepare some food for the trip to Iasi.
                  The food is ready, the bags are done since the other night. One last checking of the travel documents and money and this adventure can begin.
                  A friend drove me to the station at around 9.30 a.m, so there is still plenty of time to have a coffee together near the station building.
                  Train for this first leg of the journey is A 1836 Timisoara Nord- Iasi. The train arrives in station at 10.21 and depart at 10.27.
                   A 1836 Oradea dep 10.27 a.m- Iasi arr 22.36 p.m
                   At the scheduled time, the train is entering the station, I say “Goodbye” to my friend, take a big breath and board the train. I was alone in the compartment until Cluj Napoca, where 5 students came in. It was already very hot, since the carriage didn`t have any air conditioning at all. At Gherla the train gets very very crowded, my students moved on the corridor since they didn`t have reserved places. 

                    Nothing important to notice until Iasi, apart for the mess the people who rided this train have left behind: bottles, napkins, bags…
                    Pictures from the road:

Ready to go at Oradea railway station, near a hungarian carriage, while i waited for my train to arrive... 

Somewhere between Alesd and Huedin, on the Oradea- Cluj Napoca line...

Train 1836 somewhere between Dej calatori and Ilva Mica...


Ilva Mica railway station...

A 1836 approaching Vatra Dornei Bai...


Moldavian landscape...


Vatra Dornei Bai railway station...


A 1836 between Vatra Dornei Bai and Suceava...



This is the last photo of the day, after i reached Iasi, at 22.36, 12 hours and 9 minutes after i departed from Oradea...The first leg of this journey was over...Another was about to begin...

The city of Iasi

               I arrived in Iasi at 22.36 sharp with train A 1836 Timisoara Nord- Iasi, 12 hours and 9 minutes after leaving Oradea. My friend was waiting on the platform. After hugs and what people do when didn`t see eachother for 10 years, we headed to his place to have a shower. Soon after that, it was party time at some cool beers and then rest. 
              Next morning, we got up early and went to sightseeing the main attractions of the city. He proved to be a real guide and showed me a lot of interesting places in the town. 
              First stop: Bothanical garden. Here, thousands of trees, flowers, bushes, even different types of onions could be seen. The most interesting thing here, was the Rosarium, where they were lots of roses which could be admired.

Rosarium pictures:


Me again...
           
My friend...

Pictures from the botanical garden...


             Second stop: Copou park. A huge, very nice park, famous for the Obelisk, statue of the poet Mihai Eminescu and his also famous tree. As I was here 10 years ago, I didn`t noticed too much changes around. We pass by the monument of cavalry, a statue of a rider and head to the Palace of Culture, where we take some more pictures around. 
            After this, it`s time for some faith and we go to the “Trei Ierarhi” monastery, not far from the palace. But unfortunately, it is closed for renovation, so we postpone the visit to another time. From the “faith” cathegory, we go also to the Metropolitan Church of Moldova region where a famous relic is located. Our last stop is the Iasi city hall, where I stopped also for a picture.

The Obelisk...


Mihai Eminescu statue, in front of the famous linden tree...


The monument of cavalry...


Palace of Culture, Iasi... Here, together with the satue of Stefan the Great and myself... we will encounter Stefan later on also...




"Trei Ierarhi" monastery...


The big church with the relic...Metropolitan Church of Moldova region...also under renovation...


And not the last, the Iasi city hall...


                  After this small sightseeing tour, we went back to his place to rest as at night, i will cross the border into the Republic of Moldova...

Iasi- Kishinev

Finnaly, the awaited day has come...
Train for this leg of the journey:
R 402 “Moldova” Bucharest- Kishinev


Iasi dep 03.10 a.m- Kishinev arr 08.52 a.m



Train 401/402 Kishinev- Bucharest- Kishinev is a very interesting train. It is served by CFM (Calea Ferata din Moldova- the state railways of Moldova) and in it`s composition it has one 1st class carriage, one carriage half bar, half 2nd class and four 2nd class carriages.  The carriages are "soviet" type, large, ugly, but clean and comfortable.

Also, the train staff is Moldavian. The only Romanian within the staff is the man who  accompanies the train until it exits Romanian territory. The CFR train engine is replaced at Ungheni Moldova by a one beloning to CFM.
This is the only train which connects the two cities, Kishinev and Bucharest. This interesting train departs from Bucharest at 19.10 p.m and arrives in Kishinev at 08.52 a.m. At station Iasi, it will arrive at 02.50 a.m and depart at 03.10 a.m.
            Therefore, I was present at 02.30 a.m on the platform together with my friend who brought me to the station, and i was feeling ready for this adventure. My friend told me that in Kishinev, somebody will wait for me on the platform with a sheet of paper with my name on it, and gave me a book which i must deliver to that person when i`ll arrive. As we talked and talked, I saw somewhere in the distance two headlights. I said to my friend: “This is the train”. Nobody was in the station at that time in the night. The train arrived smoothly, nobody announced it through the speakers. “Like a ghost train” I thought.


Waiting for the "soviet" train to arrive in Iasi...



I already noticed from the distance that the last 6 carriages are different than the first two. The first two were Romanian carriages which will be detached in Iasi. The "soviet" types are wider than normal cars.
Below there is a short film i managed to take as the train entered Iasi (The "soviet" cars can be distinguished from the other ones)

           Once the train arrived, I asked my friend to take me a few pictures  with the train board. Suddenly, a door open (“The door to Moldova”, I thought) and a lady popped her head out and asked me: “Do you have a ticket for this train?” “Yes, I do” I said, and I gave her the ticket. After a short time, the lady open the hatch that blocked my way into Moldova and let me in.


Near the train route..."the door into Moldova" wasn`t opened yet...



The first impression the carriage gave me was that I entered into the past. Was a smooth smell of coal (coal is used to heat those type of carriages, at one end of the carriage there is a stove on which the coal is thrown with a shovel).
            I was led into my compartment and I opened the door. And there I met a French guy travelling all the way from Paris to Ungheni by train and a Slovakian girl who i`ll travel together with until Kishinev. 


2nd class sleeping car compartment of the "Moldova" train, 402, Bucharest- Kishinev...




Upper and lower bed in the 2nd class compartment...




Corridor on the "Moldova" train, Bucharest- Kishinev...








A photo for posterity...this is the first time in my life i travelled with this type of carriage...and for sure it won`t be the last...



Nobody was in a mood of sleeping, so we started talking and the French shared a bottle of Cola and some cake with us. The train already left Iasi and 5 minutes after I heard the carriage attendant (“provodnitsa” in Russian) teeling us to start preapare the passports and luggage for the customs control. “This is it, let`s do this” crossed through my mind...

Romanian border controls were easy and not worth mentioning against what was about to come. To be very short it was like this: “Where are you going?” “Kishinev”…”Have a pleasant journey”…”Thank you”. And then we waited…for about 1 hour and 15-20 minutes nothing happened. We looked through the window and saw a barbed wire fence. This is the place were EU ends.
The signal shows yellow now and the train is ready to cross the Prut river and for me to write history.  The train started to move very slowly and all three of us looked out of the window. A French, a Slovakian girl and a Romanian are crossing the Prut river into Moldova. Imagine that.
Below is the place where European Union ends. The bridge marks the border between Romania and Republic of Moldova...the picture is taken by a friend of mine, Robert, and i agreed with him to post the picture here...




As we exited the bridge, we already had Moldavian ground under the wheels. Out of nowhere, the train  stops in front of a signal which was red. The Moldovan border guards are entering the train. Some barks could be heard outside, a sign of dogs around or near the train. And shortly after this, the show starts.
When they got to my compartment, they took my passport, put it into some sort of small laptop and a green colour could be seen on the monitor. “Green is ok, I guess” I thought… And then the questions arrived: “Where are you going?” “Do you know someone in Moldova?” “What are you doing in Moldova?” “How long you`ll be in Moldova?” “When are you coming back?” “Guns, drugs, values to declare?”  “Which are your luggages? Please open them”.  The answers were like this: “Kishinev”, “Nobody” “Sightseeing in the capital/Tourist” “Just today” “Tonight i`ll come back” "Nothing to declare" “This is my backpack, have a look”. He already had my passport, he looked at it, turn it on all sides, turning every file within. Then the other two companions are next. No problems with them also. Seeing this, the border guard is looking like he`s feeling sorry that he can`t find anything out of the ordinary at all of us so he puts the stamps in our passport and says in a very bad English, “Welcome to Moldova”.
Now I had officially entered the Republic of Moldova. The French left the train here, once the customs were finished. After some back and forth moves, the train is shunted to the regauging facility.
The European gauge is 1435mm while the Russian gauge is 1524mm, so the train has to have it`s wheels changed here, at Ungheni Moldova, as The Republic of Moldova uses Russian gauges. So the Romanian wheels are replaced with Russian ones. This procedure is done by lifting the train on some poles and it takes about 2 hours to be done.



During the regauging operation...



Regauging facility at Ungheni Moldova...


               After the wheels are changed, we depart to Kishinev, without stopping until the Moldavian capital. Landscape is hilly, few villages and the average speed is somewhere around 50km/h. There are no electrified tracks in Moldova, therefore the trains are running with diesel engines, and for me, being in the first carriage was a little difficult to endure the smell, but how often do I travel to Moldova? :)


Dawn in Basarabia...


Moldavian village...

Moldavian landscape seen from train Bucharest- Kishinev...


The first photo with suburbs of the moldavian capital city of Kishinev...


Passing Ghidighici station some kilometers before Kishinev...


Train 402 is approaching the capital...


Kishinev- The capital of the Republic of Moldova

             At last, here I was, on the platform in Kishinev, my destination. The train arrived exactly at 08.52 a.m (Moldova uses same hour as Romania). I got off the train and looked for the lady with a big sheet of paper which had my full name on it. 
             You know, like they wait for you in airports, but this time it was in a railway station. I met the lady, and make the deal: I gave her the book and she gave me the brandy bottle.

Kishinev railway station...

.


As I checked before departure in Oradea, to go to the city centre of Kishinev, I had to make first right, then first left and straight ahead to find the city centre. So I followed this exact route…

On my way to the centre, I remembered that a friend asked me to buy some postcards with the city, so I stopped to a newspaper booth to try to buy some. I asked the lady there, in Romanian, if I could buy some postcards and her answer, apart from being in a mixture of Romanian and Russian language was stunning: ”I never heard of the word –postcard-. What are those?”  My first thought was : “Ohh, dear, what country is this?” I just turned around and left without turning my head back. This was my first contact with an human being there.
            So I walked for some hundreds of meters. And than, I noticed something. At every corner was a policeman who guarded something. I didn`t new then what were they doing there. After a few moments, some tanks, armoured vehicles, rocket launchers started to pass in the middle of the main street. “Ohh God, i`m in a middle of some war?”, I thought… I filmed a minute or so from this thing and walked ahead.

Military vehicles through Kishinev...





After some few meters, I realized that I don`t have Moldovan currency (MLD) so I should go to a bank and get some.  I found very few opened banks at that time, as most of them open from 10 a.m, and those which I found open, didn`t work with Romanian currency. “Just wonderful”, I thought, as I was a little hungry. I walked around the main boulevard and found some Exchange office to change some money. I changed 60 RON and I got 222 MLD. Finally, I could search for a restaurant to eat something.
            I found a restaurant in the centre of the city, next to the parliament building, which was quite nice, but had a Russian name. A lady came and took the order: a pizza, one bottle of Pepsi  (500ml) and a coffee. I paid for this around 87 MLD which was  ~ 23 RON. A fair price for a city center restaurant.
            I got new powers after the meal, so it`s off to walking again :)  In the meantime I found that they were preparing for Independence Day, which is 27- Aug. So that is why those military vehicles passed through the city. They were rehearsing for this day.

Governement of the Republic of Moldova...

The triumph gates in Kishinev...

"Birth of the Lord" Cathedral, Kishinev, the Republic of Moldova...

Bell tower of the above cathedral...

The Presidency of Moldova...

Parliament of the Republic of Moldova...

Yours truly, in front of the Parliament building...

Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Kishinev...

                As time passed very quickly, the next stop was at the candy shop. The shop was located on the main boulevard. You must be very carefull in order not to miss it. It is called “Bucuria” (“Joy” in English).

"Bucuria" store, on the main boulevard in Kishinev...

I entered in the store. It was like entering in Candy land :) There were like 50 different types of candies, biscuits, wines. And also a line of around 30 Moldovans. I stayed in line and after about 35- 45 minutes I arrived in front of a Russian- Romanian talking women, which switched the language depeding on the customers. I bought 3 kilos of different candies for which I paid a little above 220 MLD. The price doesn`t matter when the “joy” is maximum, am I right?
           Therefore, my bag was litteraly almost full with candies. From here, I walked to the central park which was almost across the street. I have to say that in Kishinev, to cross the street is a real adventure. There are very few crossings which are marked ( at the railway station there isn`t a single one- or I didn`t saw it) so you`ll have to look for the streetlights to figure where the crossing is located. Weird. 
            I must mention that two accidents happened right before my eyes. Luckly, there were between cars only and no pedestrians were injured.

Street crossing in Kishinev...


Also you can`t find a garbage can on the sidewalk, so you basically have to throw your stuff directly down. That, if you don`t like to keep them in your hand until you reach the park, where the garbage cans are quite a lot.   
            In the central park, there is a beautifull fountain, and also the statue of Stefan the Great which holds a cross in his left hand. Stefan the Great is a national hero in the Republic of Moldova, even most of the population speaks Russian. Interesting.

The fountain in the central park in Kishinev...

Stefan the Great statue...

Me smiling at some japanese guy who took me this picture...

Some arrangement in the park...


Next stop was at some bar, where I drank a juice and made this photo of the menu there.

                                                 Panimaiu paruski?

            After this, I decided to head to the vicinity of the railway station and take some photos there. On my way there, I took some pictures with Kishinev trolleybuses, as there were no trams in the city.

Kishinev trolleybuses...