transnistria: bender and tiraspol again

I admit that part of the reason I did this trip was because I wanted to retake some of the photos I'd taken during my first trip, but lost when I lost my camera. I found a set of flights that wasn't too expensive, and the timing of the flights worked out really well for a weekend trip. My first trip had been three days, but this time I smushed everything into two days.

Since I'd already done it, getting to Transnistria was easy and convenient. I took the first bus from the airport in Chisinau to the central bus station, so I was able to catch an earlier marshrutka to Bendery. 

The last time I did this trip, I'd spent a day in Tiraspol, a day in Bendery, then the last day in Tiraspol.

After going through border control, I got off the marshrutka at the bus station in Bender. The outside of the station still has the letters CCCP on the front, though who knows how long they've been there.

I didn't intend to buy any tickets, but I went inside the building anywho, as I wanted to see how the inside was decorated. I also went inside because I hadn't done so during my first visit a few months earlier.

The inside was perfectly arranged, complete with a large wall decoration on one side. There were plenty of benches on which to wait, I wonder how often they're used?

I walked out the other side of the bus station, toward the city center. I'd seen one of the streets in my earlier visit, but not the market area. As I walked through the market area I wanted to take photos of the people as they sat next to or behind the goods they were selling, but I've never felt entirely comfortable taking people photos from up close. 

Most of the goods being sold were second hand or older, and heaps of them were stereotypically Soviet.

It didn't take me long to spot an exchange booth, which was sorely needed at that point. I needed water and food, but couldn't buy any until I had the cash to do so. Since I already had a general idea of how much money I'd be spending during the weekend, I felt a lot more comfortable with how much money I exchanged.

As soon as I got cash, I walked straight to a supermarket and got drinks and snacks. 

Drinks and snacks make half the yuckiness from travel go away almost immediately.

Condensing all my visiting into two days instead of three days was much easier because I already had a pretty good idea of how Bendery was set up. I knew how to get to Lenin street, which went straight across the city. I walked the street, it didn't take long to get to the statue of the man.

I was surprised to see that Lenin was covered in even more yellow dust than during my visit a few months ago. 

For a man who was a hero of the Soviet Union, in a country that still essentially reveres the Soviet Union, I was surprised he wasn't given a regular cleaning, especially since the area around the statue had been landscaped during that same time.

Walking to the end of the street didn't take long, and I made sure to stay in the shade of the trees. Despite this being the end of August, it was still plenty hot and humid, and I was sweating all over the place.

The train station was just as empty as the last time I saw it, and I still loved it. I'm always going to be a sucker for bigger staircases and columns and big entry halls. This time I decided to step outside the backside of the train station, out to the tracks/platforms. It looked (to me) quite similar to what I remembered of the backside of the train station in Tiraspol.

On the way back through the train station I looked into a waiting room, and the area where you buy tickets, both of which were totally empty. Does anyone work here? How often does a train come through?

I turned around and walked right back toward the city center, heading as straight as I could to the stela that designates Bender as a city of military glory. This monument sits in the middle of a traffic circle, there is another war memorial on one side of the traffic circle, with a tank.

The war memorials were quite close to the bender city sign, it was convenient to take the city sign photo on my way to my next sight. This spot in the city was the one place I felt a military presence of sorts, as there is a large army-like tent maybe 15 meters away. I have no idea what it is, or who is there, but I do admit to being slightly worried.

From there I started what I knew would be the longest and hottest part of my day, the mostly unshaded walk to the military cemetery in the northern part of the city. I walked quickly, hoping to cut down on time spent in the direct sun.

The cemetery was just as solemn as I remembered, and just as empty of people. I assume there are visitors from time to time, but I don't know when they come.

Just as during my last visit, I went to the supermarket across the street just after leaving the cemetery. 

I knew exactly where to stand to take advantage of the air conditioning, which felt wonderful. I bought the same things as the last time: ice cream and drinks.

I walked through the victory arch again, marveling that something so grand was in a country that clearly as economic problems. It was definitely in better shape than the Lenin statue, no doubt it is much newer.

One of the reviews on google maps says the victory arch was built in 2008 to honour the 600^th anniversary of the first historical mention of Bender. That's certainly an anniversary I've never before seen celebrated!

I walked back toward my last sight of the day in Bendery, the old/new fortress. As I entered the gates of the general area I noticed a whole bunch of soldiers marching, so I took photos. I assumed they were going back to the army base I know is close to the fortress, but who knows. The march was rather casual, but with the fortress in the background it was a neat photo to take.

The fortress was just as disappointing as the last time I visited, I went through much more quickly. I knew which photos I wanted to take, and there weren't other people to get in my photo frame. The better part of this visit was that the church was open, and I enjoyed taking a peek inside.

The outside of Alexander Nevsky church is what I call puke yellow, which is a fairly boring colour for a church. The inside was much more interesting, there were frescoes everywhere and a bright gold iconostasis up front. 

Just like everywhere else I'd been in town, there was no one around.

At that point I knew I'd seen everything I had on my list for this visit to Bendery, so I made my way back to the city center to catch a bus. There are other random places around town that might be interesting to visit on a future visit, but I don't know if I'll come back to Bender.

Since I knew where I was, and where I wanted to go, I hopped off the bus to Tiraspol in the middle of the city, instead of waiting to get to the end of the line. It was easy to find the accomodation I'd booked, and easy to check in.

I ended up relaxing/cooling down/charging electronics for far too long, but I felt like I had an excuse. My feet were tired from the walking I'd already done, on top of really feeling the heat. I went out in the early evening, hoping to see a few things before sunset.

I headed toward Park Pobeda, and was just as unimpressed as the last time I saw the park. There was no one around, and not much to see. I hope this gets better at some point during the year, maybe when it isn't so hot?

I passed the theater on my way back to the train station, it was just as pretty as I'd thought the first time I saw it. I wonder what the inside looks like, and whether its worth trying to see a performance if I ever come back to Tiraspol.

By the time I got back to the train station I wasn't able to go out to the tracks, as the door was locked. I suppose that means there were no trains coming through after 1800 or so?

I walked back to the 25^th of October street, then followed the street to the heart shaped city sign at one intersection. It's a cute sign, and the first time all day I saw other people around. (Other than on the bus I'd ridden from Bendery to Tiraspol.)

Across the street in a big platz in front of a movie theatre was a fountain with flowing water, loud music, and heaps of people. I noticed a sign that said the birthday of the city (or was it the country,) was the following Monday, so everyone (including the government,) was starting the celebration a couple days early.

It was neat to finally see people, so I found a place to sit and just watch everyone for a while. Some were dancing to the music, but most were just hanging out with family or friends.

As it was early evening, the sun was starting to go down, and temperatures were starting to cool down. I imagine that was part of the reason people were out, as I had finally stopped pouring sweat.

After watching people for a while I went to get dinner, then back to my hostel. Even though I'd already taken a short nap in the afternoon, I crashed early, and it felt fabulous.

The next morning I got up early (since my body was an hour ahead on Moscow time, getting up early was easier,) and ready to go for the day. 

It was easy to get myself sorted, and ask the owner to leave my pack during the day.

My first sight of the day was the train station, since I hadn't been able to take the photo I'd wanted the day before. The doors to the tracks were unlocked, so the photo was easily and quickly done. From there I walked back to the main street, heading toward the building that I think is the supreme court of Transnistria. (At least, that's the translation of the name on the building.) It isn't big, but it does look nice.

From there it was an easy walk to Suvorov Park, back to the monument of a guy on a horse. The landscaping had changed slightly from my last visit, but the statue was just the same, of course. I looked at the area that has all the flags of the districts/states in Transnistria, but the wind wasn't blowing, so there wasn't much to see.

Further up the street I was back at the huge government building with the tall Lenin statue in front. Good times, and I felt as if I was back in a ghost town. There was no one around, either near Lenin nor on the sidewalks. Weird.

I went back to the local history museum across the street, and actually enjoyed it as much during this visit as I had during my first visit. There is something about old photos that always catches my eye, particularly when the photos are of people and groups. Everytime I see old photos I wonder what those photographers would think of group photos today, and I wonder how photos will look decades from now.

The only disappointment about the museum visit was that I wasn't able to get close to the Lenin statue out back this time around. The gate to get there was closed, and I don't think it is opened very often, darnit. 

After leaving the museum I started walking, knowing that I had just one sight left on my list, and knowing that the walk there wasn't going to be short. I'd found this sight on a travel app, but there was no address, so it took a bit of searching the city map to sort out the actual location.

Over an hour later I found what I was looking for, a memorial with a jet. I think it was dedicated to pilots who fought, something along those lines. There are a few benches around the memorial, and several of them actually had people on them, yay for being in civilization again. 

Quite a few of those people were looking at me as I took my photos, I got the impression there aren't a lot of foreign visitors coming out to see this memorial.

From there it was an easy (but just as long,) walk back to the city center, I had timed everything quite well. I knew what I wanted for dinner, so I was able to order as soon as I sat down in the restaurant. When you order that quickly, they bring the food pretty quickly, and I ate quickly.

Feeling good about everything I'd seen over the weekend, and having a full belly, I was in a great mood as I walked back to my hostel to pick up my bag. The walk to the bus station went as expected, and I had exact change to buy my bus ticket. I didn't have to wait long for the next bus to leave, and the whole ride went as expected.

Back in Chisinau I went for a walk down the main street of the city, instead of heading straight to the airport. 

This walk brought back some vague memories of my visit 10 years before, and made me realized I want to come back to Moldova and explore a lot more at some point in the future.

Anywho, the bus ride back to the airport was still super cheap, and the rest of my trip went exactly as planned.

russia: adler and sochi

Going on a beach holiday in Russia wasn't high on my list of things to do in this country. That being said, Sochi was on two city lists that interest me: it is an Olympic city, as well as being one of the host cities for the World Cup in 2018. One of my very first goals in traveling Russia was to visit all of the World Cup host cities.

The airport called Sochi is actually located in Adler. As I discovered during this trip, nearly everything was actually located in Adler, or outside of Sochi. The flight from Moscow was a little under four hours, and getting to my accomodation only took 30 minutes thanks to a convenient local bus.

I'm somewhat embarassed to admit that I did not drop off my bag and immediately walk back out to start exploring a bit. Instead I stayed in my bed for a few hours, only leaving again during sunset. The humidity was a lot higher in Adler than in Moscow, as were the temperatures, and I felt it all immediately. I grew up in the Midwest, with plenty of heat and humidity, but I haven't lived in it in a while, and it always hits me hard when I'm traveling.

The next morning I took my sweet time getting moving, but I can say I was slightly productive during the morning hours. 

I spent time looking up the history of the area, as well as what I could see or do other than laying out on a beach. (Laying on the beach was the focus of this trip, but not the only thing to do.)

There has been population in this part of the world for a long time, going back to even before the Roman Empire. Wikipedia is full of names of kingdoms that ruled this place that no longer exist, but a general list would include the Romans, the Abkhazians, the Ottomans, the Georgians, and more.

Russia took charge around 1830, and stayed in charge for the most part. Since the region is almost 1700 kilometers from Moscow, it doesn't completely feel like Russia. Adler and Sochi are resort towns, I didn't feel a lot of traditional Russian culture while I was there. Part of this is because Russians make up 70% of the residents, and Armenians make up much of the rest. The Armenians come from enclaves in Turkey and Georgia. The other small minorities are Georgians and Ukrainians. The architecture is nearly all boring Soviet, there is very little of interest in that regard. 

While I was in the area, I took each day pretty easy. For the most part, I went to the beach for at least a few hours each day, while also seeing something else in Adler, or Sochi itself.

I found Lenin in Adler, he was quite small and painted silver. Definitely not like the other Lenins I've seen around the country, and as he was just off a street, with no platz in front, the statue didn't feel as important as in other places I've seen. Figuring out how to take a picture with the man wasn't easy, as I didn't want to get run over by a car, nor did I want my phone run over by a car. 

I found Lenin in Sochi too, but in Sochi he was unique. In Sochi, Lenin is not a statue. He is part of a big mosaic with red tiles. It's really eye catching, and feels more like art instead of politics. I don't know if that makes any sense.

It was in Sochi that I was able to take a boat tour of the coastal waters. It felt really good to be out on the water, with the wind in my face, looking back at the coast. I think there was some information from the boat captain, but since it was in Russian I didn't pay any attention, nor did I care. I was just in it to see the coast from out on the water.

When I took the boat tour I was surprised at the cost, because it was only 500 rubles for 90 minutes or so, which is a great price. I was originally expecting a much higher price. I assume you could probably rent a boat for the full day for a completely reasonable price.

In one of the smaller neighbourhoods of Sochi I found a bust of Yuri Gagarin. Though the man is a Soviet hero (for good reason,) I was surprised to find him. I don't know of any connection between Gagarin and the Black Sea area. (Nor have I done any research.)

One morning I took a bus from Adler, heading north to a spot in between Adler and Sochi. Stalin had a dacha built for himself there, visitors can tour the place every day. Getting from the bus stop to the dacha involved an hour long hike up roads that wind up a mountain, mostly in the sun. That part wasn't so much fun, but I was excited to see something of Stalin's, as there isn't much left in Russia.

As usual, the only tour option was in Russian, so I didn't understand most of the information. That being said, it wasn't hard to figure out what each room was, and the dates or style of architecture didn't mean much to me. 

Stalin wasn't a tall man, he was quite a bit shorter than most world leaders. His dacha was built with his height in mind, complete with shorter steps on the staircases.

His pool had mosaic decorations all around, his balconies were wide and spacious, his billard room had plenty of space, and more. It was quite fun to see how each room was arranged, and I have to admit I liked the place. That's probably because most of it was decorated with wood, not gold or other flashy stuff. It's a big building, but in the way the rich do, I bet Stalin referred to it as his 'cottage.'

One day in Sochi I visited the sports museum. The lady wanted to charge me the foreigner entry fee, even after I showed her that I live and work in Russia. She definitely had an attitude, but let me pay the local fee after I started to leave. I live in Russia, therefore I pay into the tax system that subsidizes museums in the country. That means I should be paying the local fee, not the foreigner fee; I hate being looked at as a human ATM. Just because I'm a foreigner doesn't mean I have a lot of money. Sigh.

Random note: the train stations of Adler and Sochi are very very different. 

The station in Adler is much bigger, and much newer. Think glass and wide open atrium like atmosphere. The station in Sochi is much closer to a traditional grand station with columns in front. You have a fantastic view if you're at the Adler train station for sunset.

My beach time was all at the beaches of Adler. All the beaches I saw were made of small stones, and none were very big. They were all quite busy, none of them were peaceful. I have no idea why someone would make this area a traditional beach vacation for their family. Of course, it's not as if Russia has a lot of options for a beach vacation.

The entire time I was in Adler and Sochi the weather was sunny and hot. The day I left it was rainy and cloudy, which seemed perfect. Would I come back to Sochi? I didn't see the mountain areas where the Olympic games took place, and I'm sure there are other hiking options in the area. There are also a couple small towns I'd like to come back to see.

transnistria: tiraspol and bendery

I've been fascinated with geopolitics for a long time. I love learning about how people view themselves, and when those views become strong enough to want to be separate. I think there are 195 official countries (as defined by the UN,) in the world, though there are a number of territories and areas that function as separate entities, but are not internationally recognized as separate. There are two more countries that are recognized by some others, but not enough of the rest of the world to be considered officially recognized countries: Taiwan and Kosovo.

It's the separate areas that fascinate me the most, those that function by themselves, but have little to no official recognition. I took a few days to visit one of them, which calls itself the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. The short name used more often is Transnistria, which is a whole lot easier to say.

Transnistria is basically the easternmost sliver of Moldova. Most of the republic is on the eastern side of the Dniester River, between the river and the Ukrainian border. Moldovan law actually defines the area, and designates it as an autonomous part of Moldova. In reality, Transnistria functions as a completely separate country.

The history of Transnistria is complicated, as are the histories of many countries in this part of the world. The area has been part of Ukraine, Moldova, and more. The capital city of Tiraspol was probably founded all the way back in 600BC, so there has been habitation here for a very very long time.

I reckon most people don't really know where Transnistria is, and have only a vague recollection of the name. This vague recognition probably comes from the early 90s, when the collapse of the Soviet Union caused total chaos in this part of the world. 

Former Soviet republics were struggling to figure out independence, and areas like Transnistria wanted to separate from Moldova, which was basically a new country anywho.

My journey started with a flight from Moscow to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. The flight was in the middle of the night, which wasn't as bad as it sounds. After hanging out in the airport for a few hours it was easy to catch a marshrutka to the city center, getting off at a stop near the central bus station. From there it was easy to get on a marshrutka to Tiraspol. The hardest part was figuring out how much I was supposed to pay, as I don't understand Moldovan.

The drive from Chisinau to Tiraspol is easy, though a bit nervewracking when you get to the official border. Since Transnistria is not officially recognized, there is no stamping of passports when you 'leave' Moldova. Moldova doesn't even have border control officers at the border. Transnistrian soldiers investigate your passport, and print out a paper visa for your visit.

The soldiers at the border asked me where I was staying, so I'm glad I had booked a place ahead of time. It seemed like there was a list of some sort, because the name of the place I had booked was familiar to the guy. 

He also asked how many days I planned to stay, that information went into a computer as well. The paper visa goes in your passport, then you give it back when you leave Transnistria. Passport stamp geeks like me wish there was a stamp, but I understand why there isn't. Maybe sometime in the future.

I stayed on the marshrutka as it went through the city of Tiraspol, only getting off at the last stop, which happened to be the train station. As I'm a sucker for train stations, I walked through the train station before turning around and walking in the general direction of my accomodation.

Since I'd known I wouldn't have service for my phone, I'd dowloaded maps to my phone ahead of time, which made it easy to figure out where to go. Thank goodness for modern technology. Not far from the train station I noticed a sign (in Russian, English, and Moldovan,) pointing to a tourist information center. I had a general idea of what I wanted to see in the city, but I figured it would be a good idea to see what the info center had.

It was a great idea to walk into the tourist information center. They gave me a paper map of the city, as well as information about specific buses to go to other cities, and where some things were located. 

They spoke good English, I had no troubles with communication.

I checked into my accomodation and ended up taking a short nap. This is when I point out that the local temperature was over 30C in Tiraspol, significantly warmer and more humid than Moscow. I don't like taking naps, but my body needed the rest after the lack of sleep, and increased temperatures and humidity.

Eventually I started walking and exploring, I didn't end up spending that much time walking that day. Definitely not as long as I should've explored. Oh well. I started by walking toward Pobeda Park. 

Heaps of Russian cities have this kind of a park. More often than not there is a WW2 memorial in this park, but that wasn't the case in Tiraspol. There wasn't much of anything in the park, though I did appreciate the entrance gate. There weren't many people in the park either, but that was probably because of the heat.

I exchanged money not far from the park. Since Transnistria isn't officially recognized, they don't have an internationally recognized bank. I saw a couple ATMs, but I think they dispensed Moldovan lei, which wouldn't have been very useful. 

Transnistria does have their own currency, called the ruble. It's value is pegged to the Moldovan lei, the ruble is slightly stronger than the lei. I exchanged Russian rubles for Transnistrian rubles, hoping that I guessed right about how much I would need for three days.

Leaving the park I made my way to one of the main streets of the city: 25 October street. The date is from Russian history, as it is the date in 1917 when the Bolsheviks captured the Winter Palace in St Petersburg and therefore took control of the country.

Walking the length of 25 October street takes you past nearly everything there is to see in Tiraspol. I saw the front of the theatre, which was quite grand. I walked past the House of Soviets, stopping to take a photo because there was a bust of Lenin in front. Another grand building, typical of every house of Soviets I've seen.

I walked into a bookstore, most of the books were in Russian. I found a city sign, and took a photo even though I'm pretty sure I had sweat rolling off me by that point. 25 October street doesn't have shady places to walk, the direct sun was soooo hot.

A block off this street, not far from the city sign I found a supermarket. I was absolutely thrilled to see a few products from Ukraine, as those don't exist in Russia these days. It was air conditioned, which felt absolutely fantastic at that point. I was disappointed in the yogurt selection, there weren't many options. 

I love visiting supermarkets in general, and the chance to buy liquid was sorely needed by this point.

After gulping down a lot of water, I kept going. I found the city house of culture, small but grand. It was right next to another park area, this one with no shade whatsoeva. At one end of the mark was a monument with a guy on a horse, as well as flags of all the regions in Transnistria. There was also a series of flags with Russian colours right next to an identical series of flags with Transnistrian colours. There were giant flags of the countries of Transnistria as well as Russia, flying at the same height.

I kept going down the street, coming to the parliament building for Transnistria. In front of the building is a big statue of Lenin, of course I took a few photos. He stands on a tall pedestal, you have to back up quite a bit to get all of him in a photo, with parliament in the background.

Across the street from parliament was the war memorial I knew had to be somewhere in the city. I found a tank, an eternal flame, names carved in stone, etc... One part of the area was a separate memorial for soldiers who died during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.  Transnistria was under Soviet control when that war happened (I think,) so this memorial makes sense.

On the other side of the war memorial area was the river. I could see some man made beach areas, I kinda wished I had brought a bikini to lay out and actually enjoy the sun. I have no idea whether it is a good idea to go in the water or not.

Even though I'd only been outside for around 3 hours by then, I was exhausted. My lower legs were showing the rash I get from heat exhaustion, so I knew it was time to head back home. I stopped at a restaurant for dinner, enjoying the air conditioning more than anything. I crashed hard that night, which is typical for the first night of any trip for me.

The next morning I made it a point to get going earlier in the morning than I usually do, to make up for lost time the day before. I walked back to the supermarket, loading up on more liquid and snacks for the day. From there I walked to a stop to catch a marshrutka to a town called Bender (or Bendery, depending on who you ask.)

I got off the marshrutka near the center of Bender, hoping it wouldn't be hard to find where to catch one going back to Tiraspol later in the day.

First up for me was walking along Lenin Street, to the Lenin statue. He hadn't been cleaned in a while, I could see a lot of yellow pollen dust all over the statue. Ick. I kept going, all the way to the end of the street, where I found a train station.

This train station was much better than the one I'd seen in Tiraspol, though I think it gets far less traffic. 

There was no one inside while I was there, but the doors were unlocked, and I could see signs designating a ticket office, so there had to be someone I couldn't see. The stairs and ceiling were quite grand, I was thrilled.

On one side of the train station was a train monument, as well as a war memorial. Very similar to what I've seen in various Russian cities. On the way back to the city center of Bender I looked at some of the street signs on the buildings. More than one of them listed names in Russian and Moldovan, as well as historical names of the street. I love that kind of stuff.

I walked to a big traffic circle, in the middle of which was a stelae showing that Bender is a city of military glory. I didn't know that designation happened outside of Russia, but it obviously does. On one side of the traffic circle was an older tank, with another war memorial. Again, typical of a Russian city.

From there it was a looooong walk to my next sight, in very little shade. I was really glad I'd brought water with me, and even happier when I saw another supermarket just as I got to where I wanted to go next.

I love big monuments, this one definitely qualified. It was a victory arch, like those I've seen in Moscow and St Petersburg and Irkutsk and Astrakhan, etc... Just past the arch was another big gate of sorts, the gate marked the entry of a military cemetery. I would've walked through more of the cemetery, but it was now the middle of the day, and the sun was strong. Instead I headed for the supermarket across the road.

Inside the supermarket I walked around until I found a vent from which cold air streamed out. I stood under that for a good five minutes, it felt incredible. 

Ice cream and more water were the perfect purchases. I noticed chocolate for sale, how does anyone eat that in this weather?

Then I got to suffer through more sun to walk to the last place I wanted to see in Bender: a fortress. There was a much higher entry fee for foreigners, something that never fails to irritate me. This fortress is the first thing to visit on tourism lists, but I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. It had been renovated not too long ago, and I felt like it looked new.

This fortress goes all the way back to when this area was part of the Ottoman Empire. 

The outer walls have been rebuilt, as have the towers in various places. You can climb stairs to a walkway along the top of half the walls. There isn't much in the middle of the grounds, it is mostly green grass with a couple walkways. Honestly, I didn't think it was worth the entry fee.

There was a church near the fortress, but it wasn't open, argh.

As I walked back into the center of Bender, I followed a couple buses/marshrutkas and found the main starting point for city buses, and from there it was easy to get back to Tiraspol. 

Since I'd enjoyed my dinner the night before, I went back to the same place :)

Before going to sleep that night I made a specific list of what I wanted to see the next day, my last day in Transnistria.

The next morning I was up early again, and actually managed to get myself out the door by mid morning. First on the list was a photo at the city sign for Bender, then a stop at another, much bigger city sign for Tiraspol. Those two signs weren't all that far from each other, the cities aren't far from each other.

My first sight back in the city of Tiraspol was a history museum. I was disappointed again to find another foreigner entry fee, sigh. Nothing was in English, so my extra money went I don't know where. The foreigner price was three times the local price, so I feel like I have a legitimate complaint there.

The museum was decent. There were several rooms with different parts of Transnistrian history. I saw traditional Ukrainian clothing and culture, uniforms of soldiers from various wars, products produced in Transnistria, etc... Looking out the window in one of the back rooms I was thrilled to see another statue of Lenin.

After leaving the museum I tried to figure out how to get to Lenin. It turned out that the statue was in an area behind a locked gate, sigh. As I walked by that gate, it opened, and a truck drove through. I took the chance to walk through at the same time, and eventually found an open door. Employees were standing just outside the door, taking a smoke break. In my very broken Russian I asked them if I could get closer to Lenin and take a photo. Yay!!

The history museum was really close to the war memorial area I'd seen a couple days before, and that area was close to a bridge over the river. 

I walked across the bridge, to a marshrutka stop on the other side of the river. It was easy to catch a ride to my next and last stop for this trip: a monastery.

Noul Neamt monastery was founded in 1861, and has somehow survived, even though the area was under decidedly non religious Soviet control for a long time. During those years, from around 1960 to 1991, the monastery served as a hospital. The entire monastery is surrounded by brick walls. I found the entry gate and walked into a nice garden area. 

The inside of one wall was covered in a religious mosaic mural. 

The property isn't big, but manages to hold at least two churches, a bell tower with lovely painting, and what I assume are accomodations for the monks. I didn't see anyone else the entire time I walked around, but I'm sure someone had to be there. One of the churches was open, the other was not. The interior of the open church was totally covered in frescoes, and light streamed in, so I was a happy camper.

I left the monastery and went back to the main street to find a stop to catch the next marshrutka back to Tiraspol. The ride wasn't long, but it was longer than I would've wanted to walk, if I"d had the time to do so.

My timing ended up being on point, as I only had to wait a couple minutes for the next marshrutka to come along. 

I got back to Tiraspol in time to have one more meal at the same restaurant I'd already visited twice, then grab my backpack from the hostel, and walk to the train station.

I didn't have to wait long for the next ride to Chisinau, and from the central bus station there it was easy (and cheap!) to get back to the airport.

I wonder if other cities in Transnistria are worth exploring?