luni, 22 august 2011

Kishinev- Iasi

So, after almost 6 hours of wondering in Kishinev, it`s time for me to return to the railway station. The train no. 105/401 to Bucharest was scheduled to depart at 17.30 pm. So I still have 2 and a half hours till departure. 
As I already was quite tired of wondering, I decided to find a place to eat something even the trip back to Iasi is taking only 6 hours. I was lucky and found a restaurant near the station. Once I sat down, a lady came to give me the menu and take my order. But the menu was in Russian, so not much for me to understand from it. After my request was made in  Romanian, the lady pointed me how much the food will cost. No problem here :)
After I enjoyed my Russian style dinner, I got back to the station for some more pictures. The Kishinev- Rostov train has just been brought to the platform.


                        Kishinev- Rostov train 319 is shunted at the platform




After this, I decided to find a place to take a shower.  The 6 hours trip from Iasi to here followed by another 7 hours of walking can be quite hard to endure so a shower was most welcome. I found a resting facility with showers inside the station, for which I had to pay 50 MLD. This is around 13 RON. I gave the lady there the above amount in exchange for some shampoo and the hot water in the shower. After another 20 minutes I was changed in clean clothes, smelling roses and ready for the trip back to Iasi.

It`s time to go down to the station again, since the departure time was approaching fast. I went down and I saw a lot of people standing on the platform. I wondered if all those people will go to Bucharest. But I was mistaking. There were waiting for the Varna- Saratov train, which passes through Transnistrian territory on it`s way to the Russian city of Saratov.
            Some more pictures while I waited for the Kishinev- Bucharest train to be shunted at the platform.

                                           Kishinev railway station...


Arrivals at Kishinev railway station (please notice that there is only one train towards Romania)
        


            Soviet old steam locomotive exposed at Kishinev railway station...

  Soviet mark "CCCP" (SSSR) on the steam engine exposed at the Kishinev railway station...




At 17.30 train 105/401 departs from Kishinev railway station. I was in the compartment with a moldavian boy which had residence in Romania and a girl with Romanian/French citizenship. Time flowed quickly and after more talking with the moldavian boy, I remembered to open the window and take a few photos of Moldova...

Train 401 "Moldova" Kishinev- Bucuresti somewhere between Kishinev and Ungheni Moldova...


Train 401 "Moldova" Kishinev- Bucuresti entering Ungheni Moldova, the border station with Romania, where the customs are made and the wheels are changed to the European system... 






                          Shunting engines at Ungheni Moldova...

  The building of Ungheni Moldova border station...after crossing the Prut river, the EU begins...


Changing the Russian bogeys with European ones at Ungheni Moldova...

Changing bogeys to European system at Ungheni Moldova...the music is the former USSR anthem and the other song is unknown...both used in order to create a special atmosphere...




After the train stopped into Ungheni Moldova, it was shunted to the bogey exchanging facility. After the bogeys of the 6 carriages of the “Moldova” train were changed, the customs officials began to do their job.

They wanted to see my passport. I gave it to them and the questions started to flow: “Where you have been?” “For how long you stayed in Kishinev?” “Do you have some relatives in Moldova?” “Guns, drugs, values, cigarettes?”  I said that I have 3 kg of candies, one half liter of some Russian cognac which I was to deliver to my relative in Iasi and a pack of Kent which was opened already.  They were a little suspicious about the amount of candy but they were content with the explanation that I have a big family.
 After this, they`ve searched the whole train, looking for cigarettes. Every corner of the train was double checked and after more 1 hour, they put the awaited stamp on my passport. I officially exited the Republic of Moldova.


The enter and exit stamps in and from the Republic of Moldova :)


             We crossed the Prut river and entered Romania. The Romanian border guards came and they checked the passport and the bags. The lady took my passport away. Also, the boy`s passport and the girl`s passport were taken. After 30- 45 minutes, the lady still haven`t return with the passport as I started to wonder and I was afraid that the train will leave. Finally, the lady showed up and gave our passports back, but she said to me: “You don`t live in Caras- Severin county anymore” and smiled. I smiled back and understand that they`ve checked  our passports during this time.
Finally, the train departed and the first stop was Nicolina, a few kilometers before Iasi. I called my friend and, when the train entered Iasi, he was already waiting for me on the platform.

3 comentarii:

  1. aveai timp de-o tura la Milestii Mici sau Cricova, pentru mancat, degustat si beut. Cramele sunt obiectivul turistic No.1 ale Moldovei. Chiar daca e scump, se merita.

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  2. Frumos ai povestit toată excursia ta! Ai putea să faci un ghid de călătorie pe tema asta...

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  3. Salut Mishu ;)
    Multumesc frumos de aprecieri si ma bucur ca ti-a placut...din pacate, din cauza unor probleme personale, nu am mai efectuat nici o alta calatorie din 2011 :( insa sper sa pot face ceva anul asta ;)

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