Curchi, Moldova

On my second day in Moldova, I wanted to visit a village and see what real Moldovan life is like. Since I got out of the house late and most buses leave early in the morning, I was not able to visit the touristy historical village of Buteceni.

Persuaded by two friendly Romanian tourists, I decided to follow them to Curchi, which has a monastic complex. It turned out that the monastery was under renovation and quite small. Besides the nearby hills and farmland, there was nothing else to see.

However, the bus journey to and from Curchi made up for the lackluster monastery. I felt like I was in Asia as the ride was bumpy and crowded. By crowded, I mean that the corridor was packed with people like sardines in a can! On the way back, I had to hitch a ride as the bus was late and I had a train to catch.

Chisinau, Moldova

Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, a former Soviet republic in the southeastern corner of Europe. I was curious as to how life is in this lesser known part of Europe.

My first experience with Chisinau was similar to that in Bucharest--stray dogs. In fact, I almost did not enter CouchSurfer Serghei’s apartment due to several barking dogs in the driveway.

Chisinau contradicts the image of Moldova. Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe, but one would never guess so when strolling through the center of Chisinau. There, every street is lined with trees. The main strip, Blvd. Stefan de Mare, is lined with grand neoclassical and Soviet-style buildings, including Government House, Parliament House, Presidential Palace, Opera & Ballet Theatre and its Arc de Triomphe. Luxury cars, such as Mercedes and BMW, are all over the city.

I visited Chisinau on National Language Day, a public holiday to celebrate the Romanian language. A huge stage with performances was set up in front of Government House, across from the Arc de Triomphe and Cathedral Park. Vendors nearby were selling popcorn, crepes, doner kebab and pastries. There were so many people that I felt the entire country was there!

Brasov, Romania

Brasov is a city in the region of Transylvania, which is renowned for Dracula. I was not visiting this place to find vampires. Instead, I came to experience the mountain scenery and historical architecture.

Brasov, like the whole region of Transylvania, has a German feel to it. That is because the Habsburgs used to rule the region. Thus, the town abounds with red-roof buildings, central courtyards and reminded me of Central Europe.

I had two highlights while in Brasov. The first was walking down Strada Sforii, the narrowest street in Eastern Europe. My second highlight was hiking up Tampa Hill, with its Hollywood-like “Brasov” sign on top. The summit of Tampa provided us with sweeping views of the mountains and both the old and new areas of Brasov. I will especially remember the old city walls that surrounds the old town.

I took an overnight bus to Chisinau, Moldova that night. I was the only person neither from Romania nor from Moldova. The interesting aspect about this trip is that it took forever for the Romanian authorities to allow the Moldovans to leave Romania, which I found ironic. The bus surprisingly arrived 20 minutes early, at 4:40am. Given the fact that it was still dark when I arrived, I decided to wait until dawn to walk to my host’s apartment. Waiting 1.5 hours in the chilly night was worth it, as barely anyone speaks English in Chisinau and there are sometimes more stray dogs that there are people!

Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

Veliko Tarnovo is a hill town in central Bulgaria. I chose to visit here in order to escape the large city and also to experience old architecture.

The town is filled with 19th century wooden homes built in the Bulgarian National Revival style. The scenery around town is extremely picturesque as many of these buildings are on a hill and appear as if they are stacked on top of one another. Add a river and a fortress and you have got a picture-perfect town.

In fact, I was surprised to learn that Veliko Tarnovo was the first capital of Bulgaria back in the 12th century. The czar at that time ruled in the still intact Tsarevets Fortress, which has spectacular views of Veliko Tarnovo.

I took an overnight train that day to Bucharest, Romania. As usual, it was at least a 2-hour wait at the border, making a simple journey into a complicated one (the train ended up to be 1 hour late). However, there were few people on board and I got to lie down. I also had a good chat with Ross, a British traveler who has been to several former Soviet republics before and was heading to Transdniester, a separatist region in Moldova.