Day 6 - Moldova!

After a minor panic that we’d lost the V5, the Moldovan border appeared remarkably quickly. It was one of the easier ones Ian and Jim had crossed - a check of the documents and a cursory scan of the boot and we were done. There was the time Craig kept saying something inappropriate out of the window, but we’ll gloss over that!

With an official vignette procured, despite trying to walk away having paid for but not received it, we were in our seventh country.

The roads were terrible. For a while. Then they picked up impressively. They were great and empty. Driving past vineyards, it was bliss.

In Călăraşi, we had a wander round while we booked our hotel in Chișinău. Back at the car, we’d received an official summons for illegal parking. Armed with Google Translate, Jim went off to see what could be done. A bit of back-and-forth later, and the official clearly got bored and cancelled the fine and/or court date. Which was nice.

Chișinău was busy. It seemed all the cars in Moldova were here.

The city centre is beautiful, while tinged with Soviet remnants, such as the abandoned National Hotel. Once a symbol of Soviet modernity, it suffered as a consequence of the break-up, the war in Transnistria and the mid-2000s financial crash. Now it stands as a colourful relic, covered in graffitied declarations of love.

There are also a load of jewellery stores. One shop in every five on the main drag was selling rings or gold.

Craig achieved a probable world-first by doing a combined Frankie Howard/Kenneth Williams in a Moldovan rock bar

Songs of the day

Ian: Spanish Dance Troupe by Gorky’s while driving on empty Moldovan roads

Craig: Nancy Boy by Placebo

Jim: Everybody Get Up by 5ive