Tiraspol, Transnistria - A Breakaway Republic!
Trip Start
Jul 09, 2010
1
Trip End
Jul 09, 2010
Tiraspol, Moldova
Friday, July 9, 2010
* * *
Transnistria, a self-declared communist state on the eastern side of Moldova had decided in 1992 to align itself with Mother Russia. To add credence to its claim it came up with a flag featuring the hammer and sickle, called its currency the Rouble, and declared itself independent from Moldova, sparking a bloody civil war which left both sides bitter and resentful. Michael and I were visiting the disputed region from our base in Chisinau.
Our guide was twenty-eight year old Madhia, the wife of a British ex-pat called Richard who now lived in Chisinau. It was Richard who had organised the trip for us. The next day we would have a few drinks with him in a bar in central Chisinau, but for now he'd left us in the capable hands of his wife and a driver called Christian.
Madhia, apart from being a part- time tour guide also worked in a casino, and her long black hair and tall slim features would have made her stand out like a sore thumb in England, but here in Moldova she simply fitted in. As we got into the car she told us it would take about one hour to reach the Transnistrian border. “And when we reach it, you will need to show your passports and fill in a form.”
Christian was in his mid-thirties and spoke little English but he did like cucumbers. After driving for perhaps ten minutes through the outskirts of Chisinau, he pulled over to get some petrol, and while the attendant filled up the car, he began scavenging in a nearby field. Armed with five or six of the green delights, he passed them to Madhia who soon began chomping. “You want one?” she inquired after seeing our incredulous faces.
TheTransnistrian border was a set of gates along the road. Men wearing combat fatigues and wide-brimmed Soviet style caps stood around waiting for vehicles to approach. All of the guards were armed and Madhia warned us not to take any photos. Michael and I sat in the back of the car, passports at the ready, wondering what would be in store for us.
As it turned out everything was fairly straightforward except for some queue rage in a small hut where people waited to be stamped through. The problem stemmed from the fact people were queuing from two directions but there was only one hatch, and periodically that hatch would close and another would open a bit further along. Understandably, this didn’t go down too well with those who suddenly found themselves at the front of a closed hatch. An angry scene developed with us at the centre of it. Two of our fellow queuers were shouting in Russian at Madhia after she’d edged us forward towards another hatch. From the gist of the pointing we soon gathered that the men thought we had pushed in front of them. An argument broke out leaving Michael and I helpless to join in. We waited in confusion until another man piped up and thankfully began shouting at the first two men which seemed to calm things down. I turned to Madhia asking if everything was okay but she shook her head. “These men, they want to fight with you.”
Whooah! Hold on just a minute! A fight? With us? This wasn’t part of the deal! After all, we were standing in a tiny hut without air conditioning on a border that no country in the world recognised, and we were surrounded by agitated people suffering from queue rage. Just as I was wondering what we could do to get out of this tricky situation, another hatch opened and the crisis was averted.
Transnistria, when we eventually crossed though, was just the same as Moldova. The only differences were the number plates on the cars and the men armed with guns standing at checkpoints, oh, and the odd tank camouflaged with cargo netting at the side of some roads. Within minutes we were pulled over and our passports were studied. Seemingly satisfied that a couple of mad Englishmen had decided to visit his country, the guard waved us on and about fifteen minutes later we arrived at the capital of Transnistria, Tiraspol.
The first issue was getting some Transnistrian Roubles, which featured a portrait of man we would see later as a giant statue. That done, we headed off to buy some brandy, one of the few things that Transnistria was famous for. The brand was Kvint and it was incredibly cheap. “It is even cheaper than Moldova and better quality,” said Madhia. “We always buy some when we come here.”
For a breakaway republic, the streets of Tiraspol seemed fairly normal. There were no imposing statues or tanks about, except for one on show opposite the Presidential Palace, and there were no posters of meglomanics anywhere to be seen. The day was sunny, and perhaps because of this, the people seemed fairly happy. With Madhia leading the way, we walked towards a splendid Orthodox Church known as the Christmas Cathedral. Its gold onion domes making it the key feature of Tiraspol.
I asked Madhia if she liked Transnistria and her reply was a curt and definite no. “But I didn’t really like England either,” she added. “When I was there with my husband last year, I got a cleaning job with a Ukrainian woman. My husband said the work would be easy and because I can speak Russian I could chat to the Ukrainian woman.” Madhia paused and scowled. “Well let me tell you that the work was not easy. She only spoke to give orders! I clean ceilings, floors and everything! But I thought to myself, if I work really hard then she might pay me extra. But at the end of two hours, all I got was fifteen pounds. I was so angry I went straight to a bar and bought a drink and a packet of cigarettes even though I had stopped smoking! Nearly all my money was gone! Just like that! So that is why I don’t like England.”
Just along from the cathedral was a flea market brimming with fruit and vegetables presided over by women wearing headscarves. Inside one large building was the most meat I’d seen in a single place. Masses of hunks and slabs of meat as well as rolls of fat were everywhere. “The market in Chisinau is better than this one,” commented Madhia. “It is cleaner with no animals allowed where the meat is. Come, I’ll show you the second-hand market, it’s not far.”
Old clothes, tools and random electrical components made up much of the wares on offer in the outside market, all laid out on cloth on the ground. We quickly passed it and arrived at a huge statue of a man on a horse, cast in a suitably heroic pose. It was Alexander Suvarov, the Russian general who had founded Tiraspol. "You can climb on it of you want," suggested Madhia.
“It’s not quite the police state I was expecting,” said Michael as we strolled towards the imposing Presidential Palace where Igor Smirnov ruled his kingdom. A huge statue of Lenin stood proudly in front of the palace, once again confirming just where his allegiance lay. “In fact, it seems fairly normal.”
Across the road was a memorial to those who had died during the fighting of 1992, the year that Transnistria had declared itself independent from Moldova. A long list of names had been etched in marble and an eternal flame was burning nearby. After posing by the tank we headed off to get a drink at a riverside bar, along the way stopping to eat some plums from a few local trees.
The view from the bar included a bridge, the river and a beach. A small sliver of sand had been placed along a section of riverbank and people were actually sunbathing on it. I told Madhia about the fact that hardly anyone in England had heard of Moldova. “This is true,” she said. “When I was there I had to show on a map where my country is.” After finishing our drinks it was time to head back to Chisinau before our Transnistria ‘visa’ ran out later that day.
I asked Michael what he’d thought of our first foray into a breakaway republic. He scratched his chin a moment before answering. “It’s been a pleasant day, and it’s not quite the ‘step back in time’ place I was expecting. And it’s strange that Transnistria decided to breakaway from the poorest country in Europe to form an even poorer country. But yeah, it was fun.”
Strengths:
-Very much off the tourist trail
-The beautiful Orthodox Cathedral
-Some good Communist symbols
-Seemed quite safe
-Cheap brandy
Weaknesses:
-The hassle at the border
-Not actually that much there
