bulgaria, romania and moldova

[ed miliband]

anyone been to any of these countries, or all three?

if i can work together some money over the next few months i'm planning on going with some friends at the end of august. idea is sofia -> bucharest -> chisinau. we'd also like to visit tiraspol in transnistria (look it up if you're unfamiliar).

any advice, tips, etc. would be appreciated.

[Philosophos]

well I've been in Bulgaria a couple of times. Actually I'm going to study there in a university. I don't know what's your currency but for every 1 euro you will have around 2 levas. The prices are very low. My friends and I went for a coffee I got a frape, my friends ordered a hot chocolate, an espresso and a cappuccino and we paid 9,50 leva or 4,25 euros (not in Sofia but still the difference shouldn't be very high).

The only tip that I can give you is to learn the language. Even the basics will be welcomed and they will help you a lot. There are some people that know english or french but you can't take the risk of going with just these languages. You should be able to communicate with anyone anywhere.

Oh and be nice nobody likes di**heads in his hometown :grin:

[Os Cangaceiros]

Be sure to bring some bribe money if you go to Transnistria (although you won't need much). Apparently it's an issue sometimes at border crossings. I read a book from a journalist which was published a few years ago who said as much, plus I'm reading Wikitravel right now and they suggest translating a paragraph into Russian about how you know that bribery is technically frowned upon in Transnistria, and hand it to any corrupt officials you may encounter. :lol:

It seems like a really odd place that I'd love to visit sometime.

[goalkeeper]

. I read a book from a journalist which was published a few years ago who said as much

Come clean, you were reading the Pick Up Artist book by Neil Strauss weren't you?

[Os Cangaceiros]

No, it was actually "McMafia" by Misha Glenny :sleep:

[ed miliband]

Be sure to bring some bribe money if you go to Transnistria (although you won't need much). Apparently it's an issue sometimes at border crossings. I read a book from a journalist which was published a few years ago who said as much, plus I'm reading Wikitravel right now and they suggest translating a paragraph into Russian about how you know that bribery is technically frowned upon in Transnistria, and hand it to any corrupt officials you may encounter. :lol:

It seems like a really odd place that I'd love to visit sometime.

luckily one of the guys who should be coming is fluent in russian, which should help us...

their official tourism website is brilliant:

http://www.transnistria-tour.com/en/

[Os Cangaceiros]

"Sports-Complex 'Sheriff'-probably the best one in east Europe!"

hahahahaha I love how they used the word "probably" in that sentence.

That sports complex is pretty impressive, though, supposedly. The head of FIFA went there at one point and said it was one of the only stadiums in Europe that was completely up-to-code with all soccer regulations. It's construction was also supposedly funded by the Russian Mafia.

[ed miliband]

"Sports-Complex 'Sheriff'-probably the best one in east Europe!"

hahahahaha I love how they used the word "probably" in that sentence.

That sports complex is pretty impressive, though, supposedly. The head of FIFA went there at one point and said it was one of the only stadiums in Europe that was completely up-to-code with all soccer regulations. It's construction was also supposedly funded by the Russian Mafia.

apparently their roads are far better than those in the rest of moldova, and their cops are actually less corrupt, mad as that may sound. the russian mafia connection is quite clear, but i hear they also get a lot of money from the russian state itself?

[Os Cangaceiros]

Yeah. They pretty much owe their existence to Russia. Although Putin at one point considered "shutting it down", but that never happened. I think that was after an embarrasing assassination of an organized crime figure in the Ukraine or Moldova or somewhere in that area, which killed a bunch of innocent civilians. A car bomb that was eventually connected in some way to Transnistria and organized crime's influence there, IIRC

[goalkeeper]

luckily one of the guys who should be coming is fluent in russian, which should help us...

their official tourism website is brilliant:

http://www.transnistria-tour.com/en/

This has actually tempted me to look into going.

[ed miliband]

the more i read about bulgaria in particular, the more i want to visit.

[Devrim]

the more i read about bulgaria in particular, the more i want to visit.

I have been there, but not recently. I really like it. I have friends who go there often.

Sofia is nice. I really like the Black Sea cities, Burgas and Varna. I enjoyed the mountains too.

I am not as enthusiastic about Romania. The Transylvanian part is OK, but Bucharest isn't particularly nice.

Devrim

[Sam_b]

If you are going to Romania I recommend visiting Iași.

[ed miliband]

I have been there, but not recently. I really like it. I have friends who go there often.

Sofia is nice. I really like the Black Sea cities, Burgas and Varna. I enjoyed the mountains too.

I am not as enthusiastic about Romania. The Transylvanian part is OK, but Bucharest isn't particularly nice.

Devrim

varna looks lovely, yeah.

i've heard good stuff about transylvania, cluj is meant to be a far nicer city than bucharest; anything in particular that you didn't like about it?

[Devrim]

i've heard good stuff about transylvania, cluj is meant to be a far nicer city than bucharest; anything in particular that you didn't like about it?

It just seemed a very poor, run down place with little of interest about it.

Devrim

[Leonid Brozhnev]

Been to Bulgaria, didn't visit Sofia but spent a lot of time in Burgas, it's a really nice place, amazing food and not as near expensive as the more touristy resort bits to the north. How are you travelling? I got stopped by the Police when driving home one night, but they signalled me on when they realised my Bulgarian was limited :lol: Really looking forward to going back there actually.