vendredi 25 mars 2016

Iasi - Chisinau

Day 20 and 21: iasi 
Day 22: Iasi - Ungheni 57 km then ungheni chisinau by train 
Day 23 and 24: Chisinau 

We finally have our passports thanks to our mum and DHL!! As Moritz couldn't join us before the 26th, we had decided to have them sent to Iasi. It was not so easy to find their office, Leila cycled across the whole town and industrial zone to get them but luckily they were here :) So we enjoy the new freedom to leave Schengen ;) We spent 2 days in Iasi (pronounced Iach)  just resting and hoping Kim's knee would get better. The city is nice but rather quiet and there is not that much to do. However, the hostel (named bicycle hostel !!) was very nice. Brand new and with a very friendly staff. We could even play Catan. 

On day 22, we took the road again to reach Chisinau. However, as soon as it went uphill, Kim felt some pain again so we decided to cross the border and get to the closest town, Ungenhi to catch a train. The border crossing was easy, the guy even spoke french. Finding the train station (more precisely, a counter to purchase a ticket and ask if bicycles are allowed) in Ungheni was not that easy. And it would have been almost impossible if we hadnt spoken some russian. Seems everyone speaks at least some russian in Moldova. The ticket to Chisinau (100km, 2.5 hrs)  costed only 1$ per person. We were told to ask the train staff about the bicycle and it was no problem in the end. Except that the train was pretty high so lifting bicycles to 1m is not so easy. We met a very nice moldovian jazz musician who spoke french on the train. The train was empty and only had sleeping wagons! Quite surprising for a country that is crossed in max 6 hrs even on the slowest train ever... We arrived in Chisinau at 8 pm so it was already dark and pouring rain. We drove on the sideways for safety but there were holes everywhere, sometimes filled with a lot of water making driving at night even more freestyle. We couldn't find the hostel we wanted to go to at night so we went to a nearby hotel. 

After having moved to the hostel (which was really impossible to find at night, it did not even mention the name on the gate...),  we went looking for an english speaking doctor and ended up at the brand new International hospital Medpark. Kim could see a doctor straight away and after 20 min it came out that he had to take ibuprofene for 10 days and stop cycling for a week. Could have been worse as we have planned 4 rest days anyway (2 in odessa and 2 on the ferry)  so he will only have to take the train to get to Odessa. We spent the afternoon walking around the city and its market (it feels a bit like africa, the auto station is similar to a taxibrousse station !) and met really nice people at the hostel. 

The highlight on day 24 was the visit of The Milestii Mici wine cellar which gained the 2007 Guiness World record for the largest wine cellar. Its a really fascinating place. They turned a limestone quarry into a wine cellar. About 2 million wine bottles are stored in 200 km of underground tunnels! During the day it also turned out that Andrée-Anne, a traveler from Quebec, is going to drive Kim's bicycle to Odessa. So she can have a try at cyclotraveling and Kim doesnt have to worry about taking his bicycle on the train :) 

So the plan is now for Kim to leave on the 7:30 train to Odessa, stop in Tiraspol and discover this crazy place. In the meantime, Andree - Anne and Leila will pick up Moritz from the airport and they will all cycle to Tiraspol to meet Kim. On the next morning Kim will jump back on the train to odessa while the others will drive in one or two days. We ll keep you updated! 

PS: sorry the pictures are randomly displayed but it takes forever to reorganize them. ..  We hope you won't get too confused.
Passports !! 2 months later we finally have them again and they now have a beautiful Iranian visa inside ;) 

Iasi 

Cycling again!! But not for long...

Park in Chisinau 


Chisinau market 



Ungheni train station 

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