I woke up after the wedding and headed out across Moldova. I was intending to make it to Odessa. It wasn't far and if things went good at the border I could be there for a late lunch.
Some Moldovan country side
The east side of Moldova wasn't quiet as beautiful and the west but it was nice. I ended up passing Chiseneau and headed towards the twilight zone....
Transnistria is a little strip of land in Moldova that has claimed its independence. It is unrecognized by about half the world but the other half supports it and there are a few military troops from Russia mainly there. I asked if I could go through Transnistria and the answer from everyone was ya no problem.
I am headed down the road come around a big bend and then BAM 4 guys with rifles and 2 tanks in the middle of the road... I don't know much but I know not to mess with a guy with a gun and if he has a tank well ya. I slowly with no sudden movements turned around and went back to a police station I saw. He pointed me in the direction to head and went off that way.
I get to the "border check point" Moldova doesn't have anyone there only Transnistria checks you out. They were nice and one guy took me around to the 3 different buildings I needed to go to for all the paperwork all was well!!! I stopped in Tiraspol and got some money exchanged, since they have their own currency, and had some food and looked around. Then headed off towards Ukraine.
On the way I was stopped for a document check which ended up being fun with the police guys just wanting to see the bike so I let them sit on it and honestly they never asked for documents!
Then I got to the border. I go to get out and they guy says theres a problem.... OK whats that you don't have a Moldovan exit stamp, I was expecting this from what I had read online. So he calls his boss and I get put in a tiny room with this guy with like 4 stars on his uniform and all kinds of medals. He gives me the run around and finally hints at a bribe. So I just blatantly asked how much you want. I had been at this for 45 minutes already and it was getting old. He says ohh I didn't say anything about money, with a big shit eating grin on his face. So I tell him enough bullshit you and I both know you want money how much.... His smile is gone now and he realizes I am not just a dumb foreigner with no language capabilities, My Russian is best for causing trouble. I give him the equivalent of 5 dollars he says more so I go in 2 dollars more so I go to 10 he sits there and finally gives my passport back and I go on.
I felt so bad I never been made to feel like that before... It was a terrible experience for me.
I get to the Ukraine side and theres a big line. They had one guy roving the line looking for suspicious things and I talked to him told him what happened and he was pretty upset about it. He says wait a minute and then waves me to the front. They apologized for how I was treated leaving Transinistra and pretty much just checked me through their border in 5 minutes. They were so nice it made me feel a bit better.
So I was off towards Odessa still not feeling to happy and just thinking of what I could of or should of done differently in the situation.
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