Moldova-Ukraine: Fear the unknown

I don’t think I had even heard of the existence of this country until fairly recent. Moldova is quite a small place, nestled in between Romania and Ukraine, with about my same age; a relatively new country. Online forums made me fear Moldovan police officers and other travelers made the young country sound so dull and boring. I usually don’t allow such opinions influence my route, and for Moldova, it was no exception, not that I had many alternatives; I needed to reach Russia, and Moldova was in between.

“How many people actually live in Moldova? Are there larger cities beyond Chisinau, the capital?” I asked myself these questions as I was inside my helmet and on my bike, where some of the most interesting thoughts come about, because I was riding in endless countryside, with scarce humble, wooden houses on the sides of this road that weaved around and over serene yellow hills. I enjoyed this relaxing ride, bypassing Chisinau, until I reached Old Orhei, where I would stay for a couple of nights.

To this day, I’m not entirely sure why, but Moldova, Old Orhei specifically, made me feel great inner peace. Perhaps it was the large garden at the place I stayed in, Vila Roz, hugged by the surrounding landscape, or maybe it was the cherry trees the owner invited me to eat from, or the swing and hammocks in the grassy area.

It very well could have been the bicycle ride I took along the Raut river through farmland and prairies, seeing old excavated caves on the side of the mountain, a monastery built into the rock itself, and the church atop.

I’m glad I came to Moldova, despite the warnings of corrupt police officers and a dull country. Actually, I don’t recall seeing policemen during my stay, which makes me wonder what would have happenned if I’d needed one. A “dull” place can mean different things based on who you ask. For me, Moldova was far from being dull, it was a peaceful place to be, enjoy the scenery, and great food.

Popular belief spoke horrors of Moldovan police, but Ukrainian officers were much worse, apparently. After a total of 4 hours, waiting for the ferry to cross from Cosauti, Moldova, to Yampil, Ukraine, and the Ukrainian customs to allow me through, I was then riding on the infamous roads of Ukraine, known for the terrible conditions most are. In this regards, what I read online by other motorcyclists, was very true. By far, these were some of the worst roads I had ridden on. To make matters worse, it had just rained and water filled the large potholes making them difficult to be seen.

I arrived late night in Kiev. Needless to say I had zero problems with the police on my way there. Perhaps I was lucky, or maybe it’s a similar situation with the popular belief of policemen in Mexico. Having grown up in Mexico myself, I can say, for the most part, they’re not that bad. I’m sure there are exceptions, though, but not the way we’re made to believe.

The following day I went on one of the most unique tours I’ve ever taken part in, granted I don’t go on many tours. It was something called “Urban Exploration”, or urbex, for short, which consists of exploring man-made structures that are usually hidden or abandoned. In this case, our guide Max, took a small group of us into the underground tunnel system of Kiev. We literally walked up to a manhole, opened it and climbed down into countless kilometers of tunnels.

Sometimes crouching to pass by, other times with plenty of space, Max spoke of events and parties that occasionally take place in the tunnel system, as we walked with boot covers, gloves, and flashlights in hand.

After hours of exploring, we surfaced and moved locations. We arrived at a seemingly normal children’s playground, with apartment buildings around. Max then unlocked a door close to the playground and revealed a stairway leading underground. It was a former soviet bunker! Some of the rooms had old, rusted machinery, and yet others, like the classrooms, were in near perfect conditions; desks, chairs, books, posters. In the supply room, we found crates full of gas masks and filters in mint condition.

Urban Exploration was a unique experience, something different than a traditional sightseeing tour. Many times, urbex involves trespassing private property, however, for our trip, we stayed completely legal… I think.
For someone who claims not to go on many tours, I wasn’t living up to this claim; the next day I went on an equally unique and atypical tour, this time, to the abandoned city of Pripyat and nearby Chernobyl.

A few hours ride, some security checkpoints at the 30 kilometer and 10 kilometer marks, and I was standing in a once promising city, Pripyat. This city was built specifically for the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear plant and their families. More than residential buildings, Pripyat had everything, schools, police station, recreation center, a small stadium, a river, and even an amusement park.

After the Chernobyl incident, everyone was evacuated, leaving an intact city. Some time after, this intact city would be ransacked for anything of worth, and the passing years would do the rest to bring it to its current state of ruins.
At the security checkpoint, we’re told not to go into any building within the city. I believe that’s more of a statement to waive any liability, because our guide didn’t seem to have a problem with allowing us inside buildings. I saw a kindergarten turned upside down when people took anything of value, leaving behind old desks, benches, toys, lockers.

Walking over broken glass and crumbled concrete, I explored a university and played a forgotten piano at what seemed to be the multimedia room. Fortunately for others, no one was around to hear me play.

It felt surreal to be there, a ghost town, I could see the inspiration for some horror movies. Our tour guide explained most visitors were locals to Ukraine when the site first opened for tourism, and that the number of foreign visitors began to grow in recent years. I’m glad I was able to see it now, unrestricted and not as popular yet; my group had 7 people and we had each site to ourselves.

Moldova and Ukraine were two countries that concerned me a great deal. I was never sure I wanted to visit them in the first place. My original plan had been to ride all day in order to cross them as quickly as possible, looking for safe haven in Russia, which wasn’t my idea of refuge either, but with the World Cup happening, it was sure to be safer than my preconceived and unfounded beliefs of Moldova.

Contrary to my thoughts, Moldova proved to be the place I felt more at peace than anywhere else up to this point, and Ukraine was one interesting and unforgettable experience.