Day 2.

I checked out of the hotel just before 7am and started the short walk to Gara Centrala Chișinău.


Stopping to buy a couple of pastries for breakfast at Piata Centrala.


Todays plan was to head east from Chișinău to Tiraspol. After enjoying the sights of the capital city of Transnistria I would then head to the border with Ukraine and then onto the port city of Odessa.


At the correct parking bay for the marshrutka to Тирасполь (Tirapsol).


Just in time for the 7:20pm departure.


And on our way to Tiraspol.


At the border with Transnistria there was a checkpoint where I handed over my passport and was given a migration card for my short transit. As Moldova considers Transnistria as still part of the country, there was no exit immigration.


Transnistria is a non-recognized state which controls part of the geographical region Transnistria, the area between the Dniester river and Ukraine.

Outside Tiraspol Railway Station just under two hours after departing Chișinău.


Transnistria stretches ~200 kilometres from north to south, averages no more than 20 kilometres across and thus lacks ‘strategic depth’ — the ability to retreat without automatically suffering defeat.

Transnistria has its own currency, the Transnistrian ruble, which is approximately the same value as the Moldovan leu.


Transnistria had one strategic advantage over Moldova however that proved crucial enough to win its de facto independence over 25 years ago; the Russian 14th Army that was then stationed in and around Transnistria’s capital, Tiraspol.

There were only three marshrutka's a day to Odessa so I bought a ticket for the 2:10pm departure for 61 rubles ($3.70).


After World War II, Transnistria was heavily industrialised and was responsible for 40% of Moldova's GDP and 90% of its electricity in 1990. The industrialisation attracted workers from all over the Soviet Union, resulting in a Russophone majority in eastern Moldova.

I then walked into the city. The Presentation of the Child Jesus Church in Kirov Park.


The end of the Soviet Union and the resurgence of Moldovan nationalism which included laws promoting the national language (to the detriment of Russian that was predominant east of the Dniester), prompted a rebellion to establish the independence of Transnistria.

The Stalinist Dom Sovetov (House of Soviets) with Lenin's angry-looking bust peering out is Tiraspol's City Hall.


Walking west along 25th October Street, named after the date of the October Revolution of 1917.


Transnistria is one of four post-Soviet frozen-conflict zones. The others being Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh, the last of which I had visited in 2016.

Outside the local cinema where both Russian and Western movies were playing.


Stopping for a caffeine fix at the local coffee cart.


And I couldn't resist a sticky donut too.


The Church of the Nativity, a Russian Orthodox Church built in 1999.


Nearby on Strada Karl Liebknecht was Zeleny Market.


Beans, peas and corn.


A great place to mingle with the locals.


MOЛOЧHЬIЙ КOPПУC.


The indoor market looked very new and even had an elevator up to the second floor.


Fresh white cheese for sale.


Looking down on Transnistrians doing their shopping.


A couple of Lada's in the parking lot.


A statue of Alexander Suvorov, the Russian Generalissimo who founded Tiraspol in 1792. Also in the background is the flag of Tiraspol (front) and of Transnistria (back). Transnistria is also interestingly the only flag of the ex-Soviet republics that still includes the hammer and sickle.


Pigeons waiting for lunch. Later when I was walking past someone had brought some bread and they were all feasting away.


The Great Patriotic War Tank Monument commemorating the Eastern Front of World War II with Saint George Chapel in the background.


The Eternal Flame at the Memorial of Glory on Suvorov Square.


Names of those killed during the Transnistria War for independence.


As well as the Great Patriotic War and the Transnistria War, the memorial is also for Veterans and the dead of the Soviet–Afghan War.


I then walked across the bridge over the Dniester river and was now crossing from Transnistria to the Căușeni District of Moldova. The immediate area was still under de facto administrative control by Transnistria however and it was another 10 kilometres to the town of Copanca before you would reach proper Moldovan control.


Looking over from the south side of the Dniester river and over to Tiraspol.


On the left is 25th October Street and the Dniester on the right.


Transnistria Parliament building with a statue of Lenin standing in front.


Lenin again with his coat 'fluttering' in the breeze.


Москва.


Walking back east along 25th October Street. On the top left is a billboard for the then upcoming 2018 Russian presidential election. In Transnistria, ~220,000 people or over half the population have Russian citizenship and the Russian Election Commission opened 24 polling stations and sent 192,000 ballot papers to Transnistria for the election.


On the reverse side of the billboard was the Coat of arms of Transnistria with the initials of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic in three different languages, ПМР (Russian), PMH (Moldovan written in Cyrillic) and ПМР (Ukrainian).


Red Star. Although Russia also does not officially recognize Transnistria, it provides the country with significant financial support. As well as money, Russia provides natural gas for Transnistria, but instead sends the bill to the government in Chișinău. In 2017 Moldova owed the Russian energy giant Gazprom $6.5 billion, of which $5.8 billion was for Transnistria.


Just after 12:30pm I headed to Andy's Pizza on the main street for lunch.


Andy's is a Moldovan pizza chain but there didn't seem to be any issues having a restaurant here in Transnistria.


One of the more interesting options on the menu!


And enjoying the Supreme pizza with mozzarella, pork, onions, ham, salami, tomatoes, bell peppers and tomato sauce all for only 110 rubles ($6.60) including two drinks.


A Sheriff badged supermarket. Sheriff is a conglomerate amusingly named after the two co-founders previous occupation, working for the KGB! It dominates the economy of Transnistria with a chain of gas stations, a TV channel, a cell phone network, a car dealership, a building company and the country’s top football club, FC Sheriff Tiraspol.


And some locally produced Kvint cognac for sale inside.


Passing by the Kvint factory on the way back to the railway station.


Two soldiers from the Operational Group of Russian Forces in Moldova. Russian soldiers are still based in Transnistria as 'peacekeepers'.


With the crisis in Eastern Ukraine, Russian officers who were previously able to get to Transnistria through Odessa now have to fly to Moldova directly.

Recently the Moldovan authorities have also deported many back to Russia upon their arrival in Chișinău. Hence it is thought that now approximately 90 percent of operational Russian troops are actually Transnistrians who also have Russian citizenship.

Boarding the marshrutka to Odessa.


All seats were taken on the last bus to Odessa so I was lucky I had purchased my ticket earlier in the morning.


After exiting Transnistria, we headed over the border to Ukraine. After collecting our passports we waited almost an hour to get stamped in. There wasn't a big queue of vehicles so wasn't sure of the reason why they took so long.


My passport finally stamped with entry into Ukraine, neatly next to my stamps from my previous visit to Kiev back in 2014.


And arriving at Odessa Central Bus Station just after 5pm.


I love Odessa with a ships anchor in the shape of a heart for the port city. Odessa is named after the ancient Greek town of Odessos (though Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796, is said to have insisted on a feminine ending, making it Odessa).


The magnificent Odessa-Golovnaya Railway Station.


After walking down Rishelievska Street I arrived at the UNO Design Hotel.


And the slightly amusing interior design as I exited the lift on the second floor and on the way to my room.


Quite a spacious room and very reasonable for $58 a night.


I then headed out to find some dinner. A lit-up Snowman on Derybasivska Street, Odessa's most famous street and named after José de Ribas, the founder of the city of Odessa


I settled on some tasty and inexpensive borsch, chicken, salmon, garlic bread, buckwheat and a glass of tomato juice at Puzata Hata, a Ukrainian cafeteria-style chain restaurant at the end of day 2.