11 Ukraine, Moldova, Romania

Ukraine: Soviet TankA huge Red Army monument welcomed us to this Ex-Soviet State. (Just larger than France). We read that Ukraine had been a cradle of Nationalism against Russian oppression. Stalin wanted to stamp out Nationalism. In 1932 he created a famine by setting unrealistic grain production quotas, and placed the grain silos under armed guard ‘until the quotas were met’. The population, including the peasants who toiled in the fields, starved to death. Between 5 and 7 million people died.

The scenery was of woodland and rolling cultivated hills. Rural villages were patchworks of flowers and painted fences encircling neat rows of vegetables. (Private ownership of agricultural land has been introduced but Ukrainians cannot afford equipment. Average monthly salary is $60 and pensioners receive only $2). We were inspired, for a change, to take lots of photographs but it was cloudy and it became darker and darker at midday. ? We realised it was the Solar eclipse!

We soon had to decipher the Cyrillic alphabet because most road signs had no Roman letters. The roads were patched and bumpy. Many roadside-parking areas had a large concrete ramp (so drivers could repair their vehicles!). Colourful mosaic panels covered the walls of bus shelters throughout the country; contrasting with grey houses and faceless apartment blocks. On the outskirts of cities there were abandoned factories with broken windows and collapsing walls. In the middle of nowhere large new houses were being constructed. Was this the joy of getting out of the concrete apartment blocks or is buying building material, a way of coping with rampant inflation? We saw churches being restored and new ones under construction.

The official language of Moldova is now Romanian instead of Russian. Moves towards reunification have led to ethnic fighting. There is still even a tiny Russian Communistic area, the ‘Republic of Transdniester’. A local newspaper stated that over half of Moldova’s population lives in absolute poverty. There were, however many delicatessens selling Moldovian chocolates and wine. Our dog eared Lonely Planet guidebook of Eastern Europe did not have information about Moldova but we found an old Intourist map, welcoming us to the “Moldovian Soviet Socialist Republic”, “Lenin Boulevard”, “Museum of the Communist party”, “Republican museum of the friendship of the peoples”; none of which could be found any longer. The entrance fee to the Museum of History and Art was only 10 cents. It had lovely modern ceramics and tapestry weavings. Since it was 3 days before the independence celebrations, trees and kerbs were being painted white. Dipli got one ‘white-wall’ tyre in the process. Some of the drier grasslands we camped in, reminded us of South Africa. (Home sick)

The traffic consisted of horse carts; some stacked high with hay. The horses all had red woollen tassels hanging like ear rings next to their cheeks. A woman leading a cow came past. Leoné photographed them. She was so delighted that she went off and returned with apples, milk, cheese, herbs and vegetables from her garden. We were in Bukovina, the northern area of Romania, famous for its marvellous painted churches. They were erected within defensive walls. Great armies used to gather there. To educate, entertain and arouse the interest of illiterate soldiers and peasants, biblical stories were portrayed in brightly coloured cartoon style frescoes on the exterior walls. The houses in the villages had decorative patterns and intricately carved gates. In the gardens were water wells covered by a variety of turreted roofs. Flocks of geese and ducks wandered next to the fields of sunflowers. We decided that Bukovina was one of the prettiest areas in Europe.

We eventually found a Romanian campsite. The cold showers were on the outside of the ablution block. We used their water and Dipli’s water heating, to catch up with the laundry. Leoné preferred not to use the bulky Sputnik washing aid. So it was scrubbing those jeans on hands and knees. The following night we parked high within the panorama of green hills and valleys. The fat sheep and lean shepherds gathered round and we “chatted”, using phrase book and sign language.

Dracula’s Castle

In the perfectly preserved medieval town of Sighisoara we had lunch in the house where Count Dracula was born in the 15^th century. (The rest of the vampire legend came from the imagination of a 19^th century novelist). We also visited what is claimed by some, to be Dracula’s castle. (Bran castle) It had been built 600 years ago and was lived in until 1947. It still had all the wooden frames and panelling and nooks and crannies, cosily furnished and decorated. One of the best castles we have seen.

Nearby in Brasov we came across a large supermarket (quite rare in Romania). At the meat counter we tried to decipher the labels. Leoné gestured to a fellow shopper: “Moo? Or Baa?”, she asked and pointed. He replied, in perfect accent: “Do you speak English?”…

We also found an ‘Hole in the Wall’ Internet Café which charged $1 an hour. (In Germany the charge went up to $4 to $6 an hour). This was still cheaper than using our satellite phone for e-mail.

We wondered why concrete apartment blocks often had adjoining stables and vegetable gardens. We read that the unpopular Romanian Communist leader, Ceausescu (1965-89), had transferred the population of about 6 000 farming villages to these faceless high rises, ”to systematise” Romanian agriculture. .

All of the 1500km of narrow roads we travelled on had road works. Apart from horse carts and trucks there were also the Romanian manufactured ARO 4WD. It looks very much like a 110.

Iasi has the Church of the Three Hierarchs (1639). The exterior is completely covered with intricate decorative patterns in stone.