Justin-Klein.com – Life of a Traveling Programmer – Page 48

The Country That Doesn’t Exist

Sep 062010

Despite our best efforts, Peder and I had somehow found ourselves standing at the entrance to the notorious Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic – or Transdniestr, as it’s called in English. What should we do? What could we do? We were stuck at a remote border crossing with a bus full of Moldovans and Ukrainians, none of whom spoke a word of English – including the driver. There was no way back and only one way forward. So we did the only thing possible: we grabbed an immigration form, filled out our names, and prayed that we make it through in one piece.
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Into the Lion’s Den

Public, Transdniestr 4 Responses »

Sep 042010

The minibus terminal in Chişinău. The start of an unplanned adventure.

How many of you have heard the name “Transdniestr?” Not too many, I’m guessing.

Transdniester – also known as Pridnestrovie in Russian – is a small rogue nation occupying a narrow strip of land along the border of Moldova and Ukraine. Perhaps the most notorious of just a few surviving post-Soviet frozen conflict zones, Transdniester technically shouldn’t even exist – and it doesn’t, at least not in the eyes of the outside world.

Yet according to this self-declared republic, they’re one of the world’s last surviving bastions of pure communism. A republic which, with Russia’s support, won a bloody civil war against Moldova in the early 90’s and has functioned more or less independently ever since. Internally, they’ve got their own currency, postal service, police force, army, and president. Yet none of this matters as soon as you step outside their borders, where their stamps and money suddenly become about as valuable as a Post-It note. To the UN – and indeed everyone outside the PMR – it’s just another slice of Moldova.
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Perfect Tens

Moldova, Public 9 Responses »

Sep 032010

In my post from Timişoara, I mentioned that there was one more reason why Peder and I wished we had a bit more time in Romania. I also quietly omitted this same sentiment from the Romania Observations post, as well as from the one written in Chişinău.

Why?

Well, because it refers to something I’ve mentioned several times already, which I’ve tried to stop mentioning, and which – now that I’m back home finalizing these posts after having fully experienced each country from Serbia to Sweden – I can finally put to rest once and for all:

Eastern Europe quite simply has the most blindingly gorgeous women I’ve encountered anywhere in the world, ever.
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Chişinău

Moldova, Public 5 Responses »

Sep 012010

Sadly, I took barely any photos during my quick stop in Moldova – and not one with my SLR. I guess all I can do is post the few I did take…

Our first day of tourism in the former Soviet Union turned out to be relatively uneventful – the real stories of corruption and mafia (of which there were many) didn’t commence until the following day, when we began making our way East towards Ukraine.

For those familiar with the region, you probably already know where I’m talking about. For everyone else…well, here are some of my observations from Chişinău:
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Into the Soviet Union

Moldova, Public 2 Responses »

Aug 312010

Shot from the car, minutes outside of Chişinău.

Moldova. A country which in the last five years has reached the prestigious rank of “third most corrupt country in the world.” A country which, according to the Lonely Planet’s very first sentence on the region, “consistently ranks near the bottom of the World Database of Happiness.” A country which none of my American friends had ever even heard of – until I announced that I was going there.

Sounds like a potential adventure if I’ve ever heard of one 🙂
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