Transnistria, the country that doesn’t exist!

Transnistria – have you ever even heard of it? Until about a month ago we hadn’t either. Something from National Geographic happened to pop up in Steve’s Facebook feed about this place call Transnistria, a country that isn’t a country sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine. Transnistria believes in its own independence but it is not recognised by the UN, which designates it as part of Moldova following the breakup of the USSR.

Remember at the end of our last update we had just met a guy by the name of Sasha at the Moldovan border, so we met him for a beer or two in Chisinau, and we got on super well. Sam and Sasha talked language of bikes – Sasha loves KTMs, we love KTMs and the rest was history.

What eventuated from there was something money could not buy. He invited us to stay with his family in the home he grew up in, in a little village called Tirnauca just outside of Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria. He arranged for his brother Maxim (who didn’t speak any English at all) to meet us at the Moldovan/Transnistrian border and help us with getting across the border that doesn’t exist. It was a really strange experience, having to go through passport and customs control, but it was also very real with armed guards around.

Max took us to meet his parents, Vasily and Natalia who were amazingly welcoming. Natalia gave us all huge hugs before we could even get out helmets off. They had prepared an amazing meal including a lot of fresh produce coming straight from their garden. They showed us around their big section which included a huge selections of vegetables and fruit, two cellars with a huge range of preserves and bottled goods, and two 1950s Russian motorcycles. Max’s kids, sister and her daughter all came to meet us. They all went out of their way to welcome us and make us feel right at home. After dinner and a look around their land Max took us on a whirlwind tour around Tiraspol, which was really cool at night as all of the fantastically-lit buildings.

They all saw us off the next morning after Sam had given Max a ride on his bike, which brought a huge smile to Max’s face. On we went to the Moldovan/Transnistrian/Ukrainian border. This border held some concerns for us and we weren’t sure what to expect – what we got was an ultra smooth low stress border crossing with very friendly border guards. Fantastic ?

We spent the night in Zatoka, our first brush with the Black Sea, after the GPS led us up the garden path again. We were heading down a dirt road when all of a sudden the road just stopped. We could see the road another 150m away and we thought a little cross country would be fine. An hour or two and a bit of swearing later we finally made it back onto the road.

Ukraine was a new frontier for us all and it certainly felt like it. English language was even more limited than before, and there was what appeared to be a very cold face to the people. What we’ve seen since is that once you break through that initial cold front the people are amazingly friendly and helpful.

Zatoka was a very interesting place too, think the Eastern Bloc version of the French Riviera coming straight to you from the 80s. We planned to take a rest day in Zatoka but with the unplanned night in Transnistria and the rather elongated trip from the border we didn’t have the time, although all of our bodies have started letting us know a little rest may be useful. Steve’s got super tight calves and a blister so is limping around, Amand has some low back niggles that need regular stretching out and Sam has a sweat rash on his back from the heat.

The grind of getting on the bike day after day is now routine and feels comfortable, but the continued push to get enough kms under our belt while still being able to take breaks and enjoy the places we are travelling through is the ongoing challenge. We’ve refined our packing techniques and get the bikes ready much quicker now, but the days still seem to race by. Fortunately at this stage we are all getting on really well and have had no major bust ups. All in all we’re coping pretty well ten days in, but there’s still a long way and a lot of kms to go!!!

Day ten took us into Odessa, well that was a pretty mad experience! The roads became chaotic, yet with a little bit of courtesy mixed in. Things got even more crazy when we came across a military convoy of about 20 trucks travelling at 40km/hr. Jumping in and out of a traffic on a bike is no issue, but with cars trying to do the same and the military police not happy with the whole thing it was almost laughable how crazy it got. We’re pushed on and found a beautiful little beach on the other side of the city, pulled up on our noisy bikes, cracked out our Trono chairs and had a picnic. What the locals must have been thinking! After a quick swim we hit the road and had to pass the convoy again enjoying more zipping in and out of traffic.

In Mykolayiv we found a cheap hotel and asked our smoking hot hotel receptionist (as they all seem to be!) what is good to see and do. “People visit the zoo or come looking for love” she said. And we could see why. Fear not, we did not find love or a Ukrainian wife here!