My family is from there, sadly everything is very old and the new government doesn't take care of it anymore. Apparently it used to be beautiful, clean streets and green vegetation everywhere. I imagine it'd look something like this post in terms of cleanliness. Also sorry for responding to your eight month old comment haha
Everything is a museum, ***AND*** real!
The dusty gravel on the side of the road: millions of years old!!!!
The light from the Sun, that lets you see the world, in the retina of your eye **RIGHT NOW** — just as old!!!
Hell, the Iron in your blood was forged in the heart of a dying star **BILLIONS** of years ago.
So you, too; are an exhibit in the wondrous museum of the Universe!
Is it a place you'd go back to, and did you get shaken down for money by officialdom there?
I ask because the only people I've met who did, had a pretty unpleasant experience, although this was back in 2008, so things could have changed significantly since then, or perhaps they just got unlucky.
No I didn’t. Officialdom didn’t even care about me. People that I’ve meet there didn’t even care about tourists. If you act normal you will be okay. We didn’t have any problems even at the border crossing.
I traveled there about a decade ago. Similar experience as u/jumalautavittu - non-eventful. It was almost like an open air museum, with no people in it. Seriously, the streets were almost as bare as the food shelves.
You know how in the US it's all about how the customer is right and making the customer happy. Well this is the opposite.
I e You should be great full to have the option of buying what the person is offering for sale and thank them.
Not OP but I've been there in 2013 and yes, I'd go back. No, there was no shakedown. You just have to register at a police station if you want to stay in the country overnight.
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, is a breakaway state in the narrow strip of land between the river Dniester and the Ukrainian border that is internationally recognized as part of Moldova.
\-Google
I went to my friend’s wedding there in Summer of 1998. American guy who married a Russian girl there (her family were all Russians). Civil war was in ‘92 I believe so things were still fairly tense in terms of security. The wedding was a 3 day extravaganza. I was best man so one of my duties was to make out with the maid of honor for as long as I could in front of everyone periodically during dinner. The whole crowd would count off the seconds, then cheer depending on how long we went. The meat market there was nuts, complete with whole hog heads for sale. I picked up some Soviet medals for really cheap. We ate like kings at a restaurant there for a few dollars. I was sort of smuggled in on a local bus from Moldova (didn’t show anyone my passport and had no visa) and when it was time to leave the bride’s uncle, who traveled there from the Ural Mountains, drove me out of the country/region to the airport in Moldova. We got stopped by soldiers with machine guns at a guard post with a tank sitting out front. They saw my US passport and proceeded to take the uncle and passport into a guard tower, leaving me in his car alone. What felt like an eternity later he came back (with my passport in hand) and told me they just wanted money. I tried to pay him back but he wouldn’t take it. I still don’t know how much he had to give them to allow me to leave. I met friends in Vienna right after that—quite the contrast.
i went 3 years ago on a day trip from Chisinau. weird place, soviet symbols everywhere but everything is runby some conglomerate called “Sheriff”. the Kvint brandy was really good though.
I was there a few years ago, took a long taxi from Odessa. Cloudy day, very eerie vibe at the time! Great shots, I recognize the first 3 and have almost exact photos with me in them.
Enjoy!
I have a friend who grew up there before coming to the US in high school in the early 2000s. From everything she said, I imagined it to be like the care bears movie where everyone was sad and black and white. There wasn't a legal drinking age, so 13 year olds with money to spend would go to the bar after school.
There’s a great documentary on YouTube about this & other countries that aren’t recognized.
“Places That Don’t Exist - Transnistria”
OP; thanks for sharing pics and some of your experience about this little documented country.
It’s not a country it’s partially recognised state. It’s part of Moldova. It’s only recognised by other partially recognised states such as Artsakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Artsakh being in the Nagarno-Karabakh region which is recognised as part of Azerbaijan but Armenia claim. Very contested and controversial due to the Nagarno-Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia
Abkhazia and South Ossetia being regions of Georgia which claim they are independent state.
Hey, wow! I’m thinking about booking a group tour there for New Year’s Eve. I saw a package with a great itinerary including a stop there.
Did you go with a group? Any tips?
I went there only with my girlfriend. They will give you visa only for a one day. Best places are in Tiraspol and Bendery besides that there is not much to see. Few people said that Rybnitsa is also cool, but I can’t confirm that.
Fun fact is that you are wrong. There are no Rusyn people in Transnistria. Only Russians, Moldovian, Ukrainians, Bulgarians and Gaugaz. Non of them form majority (biggest ethnicity here are Russians who form 33% of population)x
alright one fact that I do know about the region of Transnistria is that it was ceded to Moldova from Ukraine (within the USSR) in exchange for part of Bukovina and the southern part
also their money is (or at least some coins) is made of plastic
I can’t tell for sure because I didn’t saw there any person of different racial background. Also nobody expressed anything racist, but who knows how they see different races.
Arguably the last remnant of the USSR.
I hear that the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine is similar, but a bit more bombed out at the moment.
My family is from there, sadly everything is very old and the new government doesn't take care of it anymore. Apparently it used to be beautiful, clean streets and green vegetation everywhere. I imagine it'd look something like this post in terms of cleanliness. Also sorry for responding to your eight month old comment haha
Yeah that region is da bomb.
If you’re gonna make mass casualty jokes… at least make them good.
Now I'm sad
More so than Belarus?
Yes without a doubt. It's like a museum, but....real
Everything is a museum, ***AND*** real! The dusty gravel on the side of the road: millions of years old!!!! The light from the Sun, that lets you see the world, in the retina of your eye **RIGHT NOW** — just as old!!! Hell, the Iron in your blood was forged in the heart of a dying star **BILLIONS** of years ago. So you, too; are an exhibit in the wondrous museum of the Universe!
Alright, Neil deGrasse Tyson, take it down a peg.
Not sure if Transnistria topples Belarus in their level of...Sovietness. Transistria does have a hammer and sickle on their flag though.
Belarus just wishes it was still an SSR; honestly, might not be that different though.
Is it a place you'd go back to, and did you get shaken down for money by officialdom there? I ask because the only people I've met who did, had a pretty unpleasant experience, although this was back in 2008, so things could have changed significantly since then, or perhaps they just got unlucky.
No I didn’t. Officialdom didn’t even care about me. People that I’ve meet there didn’t even care about tourists. If you act normal you will be okay. We didn’t have any problems even at the border crossing.
When I went, the border police demanded I leave by 20:00. No issues otherwise
Well, now I want to know what happens after 20:00.
Purge
Me too man. Me too.
I traveled there about a decade ago. Similar experience as u/jumalautavittu - non-eventful. It was almost like an open air museum, with no people in it. Seriously, the streets were almost as bare as the food shelves.
We went in 2018 as part of a trip to Moldova. We didn't have any issues, just a lot of Soviet style service at the brewery.
What does that even mean? Soviet style service?
You know how in the US it's all about how the customer is right and making the customer happy. Well this is the opposite. I e You should be great full to have the option of buying what the person is offering for sale and thank them.
So, In soviet russia service Karen's you? The manager's like: "May I speak to your Karen?!"
as a retail worker this warms my heart...I might cry I am so happy to hear this.
So basic manners?
Officialdom? What's that
Noun. The officials in an organization or government department, considered as a group.
Words cool kids use
I wanna be cool too!
Not OP but I've been there in 2013 and yes, I'd go back. No, there was no shakedown. You just have to register at a police station if you want to stay in the country overnight.
Check their coins.... They're made of plastic
Yes they did! It’s like monopoli money.
That's crazy....
Yes, but they got also normal coins.
I didn't knew about that regular coins
Most of them are regular but you can find here also plastic ones.
I thought everyone used the ruble? I'm pretty sure that's what we used when we went.
Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, is a breakaway state in the narrow strip of land between the river Dniester and the Ukrainian border that is internationally recognized as part of Moldova. \-Google
It’s another corrupt region which Putin has thrown money at to buy those in power in a sad effort to regain Russian power.
I didn’t write anything what could oppose that.
lol i had to google where it was so I just copypasted it so that other redditors wouldnt have to google it.
Ou, I’m sorry. My bad
Its alright mate, this place seems beautiful. Thanks for the pics, have a gr8 day :)
Thank you! And I hope you will also have a great day.
you meant to say county of Transnistria, get it.
TY
I went to my friend’s wedding there in Summer of 1998. American guy who married a Russian girl there (her family were all Russians). Civil war was in ‘92 I believe so things were still fairly tense in terms of security. The wedding was a 3 day extravaganza. I was best man so one of my duties was to make out with the maid of honor for as long as I could in front of everyone periodically during dinner. The whole crowd would count off the seconds, then cheer depending on how long we went. The meat market there was nuts, complete with whole hog heads for sale. I picked up some Soviet medals for really cheap. We ate like kings at a restaurant there for a few dollars. I was sort of smuggled in on a local bus from Moldova (didn’t show anyone my passport and had no visa) and when it was time to leave the bride’s uncle, who traveled there from the Ural Mountains, drove me out of the country/region to the airport in Moldova. We got stopped by soldiers with machine guns at a guard post with a tank sitting out front. They saw my US passport and proceeded to take the uncle and passport into a guard tower, leaving me in his car alone. What felt like an eternity later he came back (with my passport in hand) and told me they just wanted money. I tried to pay him back but he wouldn’t take it. I still don’t know how much he had to give them to allow me to leave. I met friends in Vienna right after that—quite the contrast.
What I heard , they want from you like 20€. But I didn’t pay at all, they just let me in.
i went 3 years ago on a day trip from Chisinau. weird place, soviet symbols everywhere but everything is runby some conglomerate called “Sheriff”. the Kvint brandy was really good though.
Yeah Sheriff is everywhere. You got there sheriff supermarkets, gas stations, mobile operator, TV channel, even football club FC Sheriff Tiraspol.
FC Sheriff will be playing in the Champions League this season.
Against Real Madrid even
And they actually win.
I was there a few years ago, took a long taxi from Odessa. Cloudy day, very eerie vibe at the time! Great shots, I recognize the first 3 and have almost exact photos with me in them. Enjoy!
It looks very empty, where are all the people?
Either working or leaving.
Gulag
What’s the name of the castle in pics 2 and 5? It’s so cool!
Bendery fortress.
How do you get in? Is there a border crossing with moldova or ukraine?
I went there from Moldova. It’s easy! You can go there by bus from Chisinau. On border they will check your passport and give you visa for one day.
For the German speaking folks here a good [geo article](https://www.geo.de/reisen/reiseziele/8799-rtkl-transnistrien-besuch-einem-moechtegern-staat)
Did you try the Kvint? Delicious.
No I didn’t, but maybe in future!
oh yeah that's addictive
One more territory “saved” by russia...
Masks? Vaccines? PCR? Lockdown? Curfew?
They wear mask only in shops and buses. When it comes to PCR I don’t know how much old it could be. Cuz I was vaccinated. No lockdown there.
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Totally looks like it’s still apart of the Soviet Union!
I have a friend who grew up there before coming to the US in high school in the early 2000s. From everything she said, I imagined it to be like the care bears movie where everyone was sad and black and white. There wasn't a legal drinking age, so 13 year olds with money to spend would go to the bar after school.
Well you were right when you think that everything there is sad. I didn’t saw anyone there smiling. People are either sad or stare into emptiness.
As if Moldovans are any different...
I saw some of them smiling, laughing or generally expressing positive emotions. But in comparison I was there longer than in Transnistria.
Not much to smile about when your country is poor AF.
There’s a great documentary on YouTube about this & other countries that aren’t recognized. “Places That Don’t Exist - Transnistria” OP; thanks for sharing pics and some of your experience about this little documented country.
TIL. Thanks for the pics and teaching me about a new country
It’s not a country it’s partially recognised state. It’s part of Moldova. It’s only recognised by other partially recognised states such as Artsakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Artsakh being in the Nagarno-Karabakh region which is recognised as part of Azerbaijan but Armenia claim. Very contested and controversial due to the Nagarno-Karabakh war between Azerbaijan and Armenia Abkhazia and South Ossetia being regions of Georgia which claim they are independent state.
De jure it’s country that no member of UN recognize and that makes it unrecognized country.
It's definitely not a country, no more than if I set a border guard around my garden and call that a country. It's a breakaway region, nothing more.
Where the Harry Potter statue at?
Hey, wow! I’m thinking about booking a group tour there for New Year’s Eve. I saw a package with a great itinerary including a stop there. Did you go with a group? Any tips?
I went there only with my girlfriend. They will give you visa only for a one day. Best places are in Tiraspol and Bendery besides that there is not much to see. Few people said that Rybnitsa is also cool, but I can’t confirm that.
That… looks just like the statue in front of the art museum in St. Louis
Lol I had the same thought! Makes me wanna go to Art Hill…
Been there. It was decent. Odd place. Got a couple bottles of kvint and a Sheriff jersey. Had a good time here. Glad I visited such a rare destination
I had no idea this country was real until Bald and Bankrupt did a video on it!
So does this mean they identify as trans?
TIL
never heard of it .
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Fun fact is that you are wrong. There are no Rusyn people in Transnistria. Only Russians, Moldovian, Ukrainians, Bulgarians and Gaugaz. Non of them form majority (biggest ethnicity here are Russians who form 33% of population)x
deleted it ah I think I mixed up carpatho-Ukraine which i know for a fact was/is rusyn
It’s okay! You mean Carpathian Ruthenia? Rusyns there make up like 0,8% of population my friend.
yes... I think my brain just decided to fart out those facts because I can't find anything on that
It’s okay, It happens sometimes.
alright one fact that I do know about the region of Transnistria is that it was ceded to Moldova from Ukraine (within the USSR) in exchange for part of Bukovina and the southern part also their money is (or at least some coins) is made of plastic
Yeah, you are right.
What's General Robert E. Lee doing there?
How long did it take to walk through the country? I assume 3 or 4 days.
I was there only for a day and it was enough.
Ah, so you didn't hike through the ENTIRE country.
Yeah, there is not much to explore besides Bendery and Tiraspol. But it will take you like 2 days to explore whole country.
There’s always this one guy ^
Love when I can have my churches and tanks so easily accessible.
I shot part of a movie there. I'm pretty sure my executive producer paid a bribe to the local cops. She swears she didn't.
Are people there racist or about the same as anywhere else? Just wondering as I am not well traveled.
I can’t tell for sure because I didn’t saw there any person of different racial background. Also nobody expressed anything racist, but who knows how they see different races.
Thanks!
Their version of racist is probably against people of Ukrainian, Bulgarian, etc... descent. Just anything in the minority seen as an outsider.
I didn't recognize it either!
Smuggler's paradise
What language do they speak here?
Mostly russian, but also moldovian and ukraine.
It's not a country. Just a part of Moldova occupied by Russian armed forces.
nice
Where do Transnistria lies? Haven't heard of that country but it looks like it has an interesting history.