Any recent rides thru Moldova to and from Romania to Ukraine?
Road condition... Cops etc...
RSVP

Going back a couple of years now, the main roads were OK but the smaller ones can deteriorate into very small - no more than a couple of deep parallel ruts. Some towns also don't have tarmac on the streets.

Didn't have any problems with cops, but I was only there for 2 days, and one of them was a Sunday. Cash machines can be hard to find, as can places that take cards.

Hope that helps!

Laura

Is last week good enough for you?


I just did from Russia into Ukraine, hen Transnistria then Moldova into Romania etc;..

For having a "view" of the roads, just go to my website: Wanderingsouls.be and go to the video's page and have fun watching!

Small roads in Ukraine:



E68 in Romania:



What kind of bike do you ride? As long as you stay on "normal" roads they are "ok-ish" I mean don't fall asleep while driving because you could get a surprise about the potholes etc. For me, with the light enduro bike, I was faster next to the road than on the road... It just depends how far from the "big" roads you go, the National or Highways are usually rather ok, if you venture to the smaller ones, then the fun starts...!

Cops; honestly, I just did almost 13000km in that region and Scandinavia, and I was only stopped once! In Transnistria. And when the guy saw that we were from Belgium, we could go on, not even showed our papers. Maybe I am just lucky, but 0 police stops. Only the borders ar a bit tricky, certainly if you want to go into Transnistria. I spent 5 hours to get a stupid paper to pay the roadtax which was the equivalent of 2,6€... Took the road from Odessa to Tiraspol, so yep that is the worst border of Transnistria, but then hey, I did it! I think that if you are there you have to see Tiraspol. Look it up in wikipedia or whatever suits you, but it's a special place I think. You are in a country without it being a country... and a Communist one!

If you're lucky, you can do this:





You know what happend? We just drove by, I saw them and I thought, well what the heck, just go and ask if I can take a picture of the beemer, as being a Communist country with a Beemer as cop bike, I thought it was rather interesting... I started to speak with them (ok, it will probably help that I am a copper too... ) and they said yes, no problem. They pulled over a guy for speeding, gave him a ticket and then ordered him to take the picture!!!!!!! This was just completely crazy for me... but it's one of my best memories from this trip.

If you have any more questions, just ask...

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O yes, Moldova NO ATM's... so have cash with you or you're screwed!!!!!
Even in the petrolstations you can't pay with plastic...

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It's not exactly recent (4 years ago), but travels to Moldova were included in a book I wrote (that is now out of print). You can download it for free if you're interested here.

Hi, travelled through a couple of years ago with no problems, border crossings were about 40 minutes each. Andy

Thanks folks ,,,, for great wealth of info ,,
I started from S.Korea on a Harley Road King,, over Siberia.
Sitting in Odessa ,, Tomorrow 5AM I start for Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Durres, Albania then to Bari, Italy by Ferry,, Final destination is Milano,,, which will give me the RTW.
Any more input here on latter mentioned countries,,would be much appreciated.
PS.. Hate Fxxxing ,, pot holes ,, Harley's worst enemy. Many unpleasant memories of Russia!!!!!!!!!!

Joe, see PM.
I'll be leaving home again in a day or two for the Balkans, and your doing it in the opposite direction... would be nice to meet if that's possible... I'm planning to come to SKorea next year (or at latest 2014)!
The putholes are from Odessa on how you are driving ok. As long as you stay on the big road, you will almost not encounter any. The road is not as smooth as in W-EU but for your bike ok!

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Thanks Seb ,, EM sent ,,, noted your tel no.
You will be welcome in Korea ,, also I plan to list all the biker places, where HUBBers can stay free and fix their bikes.

Left Odessa at 7AM..150 km to kiev,, great road then turned west to Moldovan border for 80km..of pot holes...no kafe.. Then greasy Moldovan...immigration and customs...soon Transnistria ... Went thru four borders..while my immigraton card disappeared..Moldovan cop took 30 bucks for not havig Moldovan insurance when there is nowhere to buy them...
In Chisinau.. Found a nice hotel for 90 euro...pool...bike in the closed garden gate...Vis Pas...very friendly ..Feel like I am in Palm Springs this hotel. Pics at my site. Shower ,, din din and to bed for Bucaresti manana ,

Lol... ;-)

I was able to buy the Moldovan insurance in Ukraine, but I also did pay 55€ for two bikes, so it's almost the same...

See you in a week or two!

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So Moldova over ,, new angst about Bulgaria ,, Macedonia and Albania starts.

In Bucaresti ...
Went to bed last night at 8 ,, took a snooze to wake up for the Olympic opening ceremony,, at 11PM ,, it looked like it will be an all night thing ,, turned the tube off a d went back to bed, Woke at 4 AM ,,,last night's wedding party has moved to the pool.
Had reception brew me an espresso ,, took M1 out of Chisinau to west then south. Contrary to my feelings , Moldova is quite beautiful and well organized. The road was fantastic as well. 80 KM away was the border to Romania,, took 20 minutes from Moldova ,,, Romanians are having a meeting . Waited 45 minutes then another 20 minutes to clear the border ,, I feared bad road,, to my surprise ,, great road ,, with sporadic road work congestion. Romanians are very animate people ,, use lot of hands for gestures,, instantly friendly ,, and while I was having lunch ,, a very normal looking guy points to my bike and tells me to come ,, wondering I walked over ,, he says I must pay parking fee of 3 bucks ,, young people in the restaurant,, shaking their heads and fingers saying no ,, I yelled at SOB and he quietly went away ,, and when I was about to take after the lunch ,, a bum showed up ,, hitting me for money. I just took off.
If Moldova is Taiwan ,, Romania is Viet Nam ,, Surprising that Romanian GDP is bigger ,, earlier Euro zone entry. Romanian country side is like the Sunday Farmer's Market ,, horses ,, goats ,, sheeps ,, cows ,, people ,, carts are all out on the street. It's the Latin blood vs northern Slavic blood. Whew ,,
found a cute boutique hotel on Booking.com for 57 euros ,, all Ikea stuff but big bed. Hotel Christina ,, quiet street and no traffic noise. Bike parked right in the entrance off the street. The owner is a wonderful..warm personality... Around the corner is an erotic massage place called... Mon Amor.
Tomorrow to Sofia, Bulgaria.

Used my Swedisgh green card accepted everywhere (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova)

Moldova contrary to rumours had excellent roads, muck better than Ukraine, and the only cop who stopped wanted to speak English and give some advice. That was all. Big smile.
No problems of any sort anywhere.
Then we didn't get into Transnistria - the border guard said himself it would be costly to go through.

Where did you went through? We are in odessa now. Thinking of which way to go.

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Christian

Easy way is going from south direct into Moldova, avoiding Transnistria

coastal road west from Odessa