Crossing the river

Transnistria, or "Over the river Dnestr", is really a part of Moldova, but operates like an independent country. It is not recognized by anyone else, but they have their own currency, border control, and government. Which is kinda stalinistic. Although I could not see much of that when I visited. It was more or less like any other country
When I booked the hotel in Tiraspol, the capital, I found there were two available on the internet. One that I got the impression was so bad you would rather sleep on a bench in the park, or a high quality VIP hotel. I opted for the latter. "Hotel Russia". But of course...
Getting to Tiraspol meant I went to the central market in Chisinau and looked for marshrutkas. I wandered around for quite a while without finding any. But as I was close to giving up, one drove straight past me. I ran after it, and it stopped outside the market. I got my ticket and found a seat in the back. Better room. Or so I thought. Until the last passenger arrived. A woman who obviously liked desserts, to put it mildly... She sat down beside me, and I was squeezed between her and the guy on the other side. Warm and cozy... Not. But it was only a few hours ride anyways.
We stopped at the border, and I had to go to a small boot to get my entry card. Or note. The guy behind the counter spoke a little English, so I managed to give him all the info he needed. And he printed out a card that allowed me to enter and stay for 48 hours. I was only staying less than 24 hours. So I was happy with that.

Unsurprisingly, there wasn't any significant changes in scenery as we drove into Transnistria. I had no idea where the hotel was, or where the marshrutka stopped, so I just sat watching where I was and when we stopped at something that looked like a market in Tiraspol, I got off.
I stood there by the street as the van drove off. I looked around at the people and the buildings. The noise from the marked inside the building behind me told me this was a major place where people met. I snapped a photo of the houses across the street before entering the market. It was huge, and they sold everything from tea leaves to homemade honey soap. I love the smell of food markets in the morning.

Honey!

More honey, and honey soap

 

After enjoying the buzzing market for a while, I started to walk towards my hotel. I had downloaded the map of Tiraspol using the wifi in Chisinau. Tiraspol isn't exactly the largest city in the world, so it didn't take long before I stood in front of the "VIP" hotel.
I was met by a friendly receptionist, who greeted me in Russian. "Hi, I have a reservation!" I said. She smiled a bit embarrassed. "Ah.... eeeerrr.... No England! Moment!" she said and ran to get someone who did speak "England". A less smiling woman appeared.
"Yes?"
"I have a reservation!"
"Passport!"
Clickety-clickety-click!
"Yes you have!".... (I imagined her saying "The computer says NO!"..)
Clickety-clickety-click!
"No breakfast! But cost for good breakfast in hotel!"
"No thanks..."
"Hmmmm..."
Clickety-clickety-click!
"Room-key. Put in lock. Door open. Elavater over zer! Have nice stay!"
I smiled, nodded and walked towards the elevator. It took me a few floors up. Room key. I put in lock. Door open! Simple instructions... The room was very nice. The view, not so much. I checked out the TV. Not surprisingly, it had a load of Russian speaking channels. But they also had Discovery channel. Dubbed by the least engaging Russian speaking guy they could find. Nice... But I wasn't here for enjoying the room, or watching TV anyway...
I walked out into October 25th avenue and sought out the few things I had found on the internet might be good photo-ops. An old tank parked on a small knoll beside the street, some Lenin statues and a war memorial place.
On my way there, I passed a restaurant with a bit cheesy name. See if you can spot it...

The tank was placed near the war memorial, with a small church-looking building. Behind it, a war memorial. Commemorating the fallen in Afghanistan and in the war with Moldova. Transnistria still isn't recognized as an independent country, but they have an "agreement" with Moldova to just live in peace. Too much bloodshed to bother about a small strip of land east of Dnestr. Which, by the way, ran right beside the monument...

After taking photos of statues and buildings, I just walked around in any street I found. Searching for the unexpected, and the expected. Churches, houses.

Selfie-spot?

Like, Disney? Capitalist imperialism in Stalin country?

25th of October avenue

Are they branching out?

And the Eiffel tower. "Wait what?" I stood the watching this scale model for a while. Almost transfixed by the fact that in one back street, in a nowhere part of town, this scale model was standing. Several meters high. Oh, well.

One thing I loved, were the otherwise rundown old houses had beautiful colours. I took several pictures of them. So these are the United Colors of Tiraspol.

In the evening, I decided to check out a restaurant that was said to be the best in town. The "Kumanek". I sat down, and a Russian speaking girl came to my table. When she realized I didn't speak Russian, she went to get someone who spoke "England".
I ordered the steak with mashed potatoes, and a homemade berry icecream for dessert. A few minutes later, she came with a small entrê. A snack. Quite spicy. And a shot of something homemade. Yikes! That stuff put hair on your chest. And probably your tongue as well...

After a while, my steak arrived. I have to admit; this is one of the best steaks I have ever had. Juicy, perfectly prepared and so tender you could probably chew it with your eyelids. And the mashed potatoes? Out of this world! If I hadn't been full after the meal, I would probably have ordered another round.

And the ice-cream was a refreshing end to the meal. I left with a huge tip on a table and big smile on my face.

I walked back to my hotel for the night. Just popped in to "Sheriff" (a "dear leader" owned chain of everything...) to buy some snacks and drink. Retiring to my hotel room, watching Russian dubbed Discovery while eating locally produced snacks.

The next morning, I went out and bought some breakfast at the supermarket before checking out. I had seen what I wanted to see, so I just planned to go to the train station to catch a marshrutka back to Chisninau.
Before I left, I wanted to buy some old coins. These aren't just old coins, they are made from a plastic composite material. I believe these are the only coins made in this way. A few years ago, metal prices were soaring, and Transnistria decided making coins out of metal was too expensive, so they used a plastic composite instead. I had hoped I would get some of these as change when buying stuff, but it never happened. I asked at the hotel, and they had a small souvenir collection of these coins. I bought it.
But when I walked into the market I had been the day before, an idea came to me. I went to all the small shops and money changers, showed them the coins in the souvenir. Some of them shook their heads, while others smiled and found one, two or a bunch of coins from wallets, paper cups or hidden underneath a bunch of stuff. They were more than happy to get rid of them, since they are no longer in use. I bought everything I could lay my hands on before I went to the train station to take the marshrutka back to Chisinau. I exchanged them 1-1 with modern coins and notes.

I felt happy. And after buying some snacks and drink for my trip, I walked to the train station to catch a ride.

The trip back was eventless. I just sat in my seat, watching the beautiful landscape as we drove by.