Left early from the beach and after a fair few buses, trams and a whole lot of walking we found ourselves on the absolute outskirts of town. After moving away from a couple guys who were attempting to hitch in what appeared to be a drunken state, we got a truck driver to stop. Typical trucker hospitality, he even opened the back of the truck to put our gear in the back, to make our ride in the cab more comfortable.
Now, there seems to be a common link amongst all people who have Russian as a first language. This is, that English and Russian are just different accents of the same language. Confused? Yes, yes you are. What happens is that they speak to you in Russian and if you mistakenly make some kind of understanding movement or sound, they assume you can speak Russian and seem to be not really put off when you reply in English. Sure, it confuses them but it is just a minor difficulty. So you actually have a great time! Everyone is all smiles and you have long protracted discussions! Bought us some fried bread when he stopped at one point, showing us family photos. Great guy!
Next lift took some getting, as we were waiting in the middle of nowhere (as usual) and eventually we got a lift with a Ukrainian husband and wife. I was feeling pretty ill (hot tip for young players: don't eat prawns that you buy off the street in summer) and looked it. I slept for the duration of the ride and at the end they actually took us into their home and gave us food. It was a very basic dwelling, with hand washing outside from a can. The mother lived with them and was the main person preparing the pasta and soup. It was very tasty, but I couldn't eat much. We did gave to say grace, but for such giving people and considering everything, it was not even a problem for me (due to my Atheism views). No worries. Some coffee and then they gave us a bible (in Russian Cyrillic) and a watermelon which we carried for 3 countries before having to leave it behind. They did look at Felix and I like we were for another planet, and for all intents and purposes, that was true. They then dropped us right at the border and we felt truly lucky to have meet such nice people.
So, full of happiness in our hearts we walked up to the Ukrainian border guard. Hmmm, we should have known better. We gave him our passports and he flicked through them. He asked us "Where is your arrival stamp for the Ukraine?" We replied "We didn't get one". He said "Impossible". Well how the fuck did I get here, is what I wanted to say, but quite wisely kept my mouth shut. What had happened was when we got picked up in the Ukraine we were actually in a weird Moldovan transit zone. So we didn't get an arrival stamp when we got to the Ukraine. Kinda a big deal for the Ukraine. So, we got to sit for 3 hours on a wooden bench, while they drank beer, let douche bag Moldavians through, and sort of checked out our story. It was 10pm before they finally gave us an exit stamp and we could go. So, we walked across Moldova. OK, so it is only a few km's wide, but it's still true! So, by this time its 10pm and we attempt to walk across the Moldovan/Romanian border. So sale says the guard (well, he just stood in our way). Turns out we have come across a no walk border. Dammit. Not much traffic and who really wants to take 2 random dudes across the border at 10pm? The usual wankers, who want 20 euros and that. Eventually we get a lift with a couple, who are just anxious that we have the right passports. So they take us over and it gets interesting. I see 200 lei (Romanian money, equals around 50 euros) in their hands when we get to the Romanian border. Then Felix sees 50 lei getting folded into one of the passports. They are great friends with the border guard. Then just after we get into Romania, they stop and the remaining lei go to some random police/border guards. Then in town we find the reason. They are smuggling cigarettes. Two huge shopping bags come out from under the seats, filled with cigarette boxes come out and they are taken off to a nearby house. Its not the best neighbourhood, so we just sit tight. Then they drop us off, and we are pretty relived to say goodbye.
Wandered along the highway out off town, get surprised by wild dogs on the other side of a fence, very glad the fence was there as they seemed pretty keen to get to know us. We followed the highway, but it ended in a ferry crossing. At 11pm. Damn. Ask a couple for directions and they end up taking us the to main train station (even though the guy was an off duty taxi driver). So, we took turns trying to get to sleep in the train station. Apparently I got into a snoring competition with an elderly lady...
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