>>1049133
Once saw a post on /int/ where a Moldovan casually mentioned "the town rapist" as if it was nothing. I mention this to demonstrate to you Moldova is fucking harsh, it's like everything dangerous about Russia but twice as poor. There is literally 0 tourist infrastructure that all of Europe has now.

I'd probably recommend you learn a tiny bit of Russian. I don't entirely know the situation regarding language in Moldova but generally the farther east you go in Europe the lingua Franca becomes Russian not English, although that's changing, I wouldn't put money down on many moldovans being fluent in eng.

>>1049155

I knew a girl from Moldova who was drop dead gorgeous. She had to have a body guard whenever she visited her grandparents. It's not a happy place

>>1049155
>I'd probably recommend you learn a tiny bit of Russian. I don't entirely know the situation regarding language in Moldova but generally the farther east you go in Europe the lingua Franca becomes Russian not English
Russian is indeed useful in Moldova, although the sole official language is Romanian, and the media are Romanian-only. In Chişinău I heard nearly as much Russian as Romanian spoken in the streets, and just about everyone seemed to be able to speak both (I speak pretty good Russian and a little Romanian, and tried switching back and forth to see how people responded), although rural areas are less Russian.

I enjoyed Chişinău, weird, small, and shabby though it was--sort of half Western Europeanesque and half Soviet construction/demolition site mess--and while I never felt all that unsafe it is definitely pretty sketchy in some respects. It's one of only two places globally where I've been shaken down for money by cops. It was actually sort of funny, since it was the middle of the day on the main street, they told me the bribe was "for some champagne," and they walked off cheerfully with the equivalent of about $5 each. But it would have been scary down a dark alley at night (as was the case in Odessa, the other city where that's happened to me). There's a good brewpub, a weird central market, and some bizarre nightlife (discos with burlesque shows, etc.). Take cabs at night--if not for crime, because there are only about fifteen streetlights.

>>1049133

We get a fair bit of discussion on Moldova here actually, ill give you a general rundown of whats normally said:

Moldova is actually an interesting destination, and although there are (arguably) better countries in Europe to visit from a tourist and attraction sense, its got a few perks, most of the attractions and things to do are located on Moldova's wiki travel page so i wont cover them here.

Some general hints:

Moldova proper can be dangerous in terms of crime (in terms of Europe), they have some issues with enforcement because of a combination of lack of police and the fact they are poorly paid so chances are unless its something big and important (or you bribe them), they normally wont respond to robbery, drunkenness and minor assault. In Chisinau its less of a problem and enforcement seems to be on Ukraine levels in terms of service. Chances of you running into any problems are actually small, but they exist and are higher than most other countries in Europe, id say dont worry about it, just dont go anywhere that seems sketchy and just keep to well traveled and busier areas during the night.

Someone like a few months ago was saying dog training is terrible, he was riding a bike through and in numerous villages he would be chased by aggressive dogs that were not locked up. They also have bad feral dog problems, if your in a minor town or village, ask whoever your staying with if there are dogs around before you go out at night because they tend to wander in packs and might be aggressive.

Corruption is rife because nobody is paid well, living standards aren't high but people tend to be nice to foreigners (some are a bit ancy about Russians).

Most people go for Transnistria, its a breakaway state in the east of the country, is much financially and socially better than Moldova proper, they are accommodating of former Soviet bloc countries but dont like Romanians much

>>1049218

(cont)

Westerners are welcomed and are now a more common sight but people might act a little different around you, not like hostile in any way but they just look at you a bit differently.

Dont watch documentaries on Transnistria, shit like foreigners being followed by the secret police (the final open branch of the KGB), hotel rooms being bugged, and them being the worlds biggest illegal arms dealers aren't true, they aren't a crackpot dictatorship and they dont care about the average foreigner, though they might care about western media trying to slander their own country despite knowing nothing of their situation.

Transnistria has corruption, although a lot less than Moldova because people are paid better, though at boarders and while driving you can expect that you might be asked for a on the spot fine from police officers, id be more worried about Ukrainian and Moldovan boarder customs than the Transnistrians.

Probably best not to bring up Transnistria in Moldova, many Moldovans get angry about it, a large part of it being that the Transnistrians are far better of that your average Moldovan and that the wealth of the region is being stolen.

Hotels in Transnistria are Soviet style, if you haven't experienced them, they are different from western hotels and mightn't be up to your standards.

Visa process isn't particularly complicated and almost all will be accepted, but it can be hard to get into Moldova from Transnistria if you enter from Ukraine first.

>>1049222
>they aren't a crackpot dictatorship

What the fuck are you talking about? It's totally a crackpot dictatorship. If you don't trust foreign media, check local media or Ukrainian media.

>>1049271
Crackpot dictatorship where the dictator loses the presidential election to the opposition?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistrian_presidential_election,_2011
I totally don't expect anything like this happening in North Korea.

>>1049271

Its not crackpot dictatorship, believe it or not they are actually democratic and arguably are more democratic than Moldova proper and are 100% more democratic than Ukraine.

Been there for two weeks. Also to Transnistria for day. Transnistria is actually pretty normal, looks nicer than Moldova, no problems with anyone there and the border was a breeze.

Moldova has all in all less than 10 actual tourist destinations. Three days is more than enough to see all of Chisinau, you can go to Soroca fortress ( but it's a few hours of riding on their shitty roads ) or Milestii Mici wine-caves or Orheiul Vechi cliff monastery. Chisinau has only a few hostels and people don't really speak good English there, especially in Transnistria. Cigarettes and alcohol are cheap but watch yourself, some places can be a bit dangerous by night. Tourists sometimes get rape-drugged and robber.

Ask anything else.

>>1049155
>I'd probably recommend you learn a tiny bit of Russian.
Protip: while its geographical reach is obviously far more limited, Romanian is way easier to learn than Russian.

Hey guys,

One of my friends is in the Peace Corps. He did part of his training in Chisnau and has his assignment in another large city. I think he's been there for about half a year so far. He doesn't use 4chan, but I'm going to link him to this thread and see if he'll respond.