Kulturide East Adventure: From Bucharest to Niznij novgorod

From Bucharest to Kiev

We've been dreaming for three years, planning for one and we've been on the road...

After putting up tents in Tudor's living room, after bargaining sheep furs and "painting" our old motorcycles with brand new stickers we've managed to pull ourselves together, pack everything and leave for the big adventure.We headed towards our Moldova, towards Radauti, on a straight road which allowed us to think about all the things that we might have forgot and which we must urgently buy from the first gas station.

In the evening we set the base camp on the front lawn of Gabi and Sorina's house, in Satu Mare (Moldova). We had spent time getting ready for wilderness, for cold and rain and in return we received a sunny day and a warm traditional meal on the front porch. So we started to relax. We even sent home with our friends, Alina and Cristi who came with us, a warm sweater or knee braces.

After such a day when you feel like droping all bags and leaving in a shirt, we calmed down and crossed the border. Ukraine got things real for us but it lasted just until the first gas station where we ordered in Romanian, exchanged lei and hid all valuable stuff (no, not in intimate places). We rode without stopping. We were all amazed by how beautiful can Ukraine be, by its forests, curved roads and cows. Radu was rather impressed by the toilet paper with Putin's face.

In the end of the day we turned down a side road and Sasha appeared from nowhere inviting us in a fast ukrainian to camp in his garden. Denisa tells him we have 2 big plates and a small one but the man smiles and makes room for us between crops and fruit trees. He even gives us some potatos. We can't figure out how to cook them on a primus so we boil them.

Later Serghei joins us with some beers as a starter and it's time for Tudor to reveal the palinca (Romanian strong drink) hidden under his saddle. Alex takes all his things in the tent since there's a long night ahead of us. All the stories we're read along time come true. We all started talking in a ukrainian-romanian-palinca language. Radu is everybody's best friend since he doesn't drink a drop. One by one the heroes go to sleep. One single voice can be heard in the night and it's Tudor's perfect romanian: Come Sasha, let me show you where I live. Sasha understands nothing.

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From Kiev to Niznij Novgorod

We broke up with Kiev. We left it for somebody else. We're heading towards Moscow but we don'tcross the border and look for a nice place to camp near a river.

We stop in villages to buy some food and people gather around the bikes: children who make selfies with us, people who used to live in Galati and other curious men. They are happy to see us, they ask questions. The ladies in the market are patient and explain us that the dry fish we put our eyes on is only for beer. I guess we'll buy some beer then.

Instead of a river we camp near a corn field. We are under attack by a bunch of mosquitos and we communicate from under the net hats. In the middle of the night, a car with the lights turned off passes by our tents. Codrut drags his axe closer.

We wait for more than 4 hours at the Russian border. Vce normalno, like they'd say. We get there on a sunny weather and we leave on a heavy rain. God damn it guys, can you just move a little faster please so we don't have to put our rain coats on? Instead of that, they keep calling for us: Calniegru, come, what did you write here, not ok, write again. Devushka, Calea Bucuresti is the city or the street, decide woman. Constantin! Which one? Whomever you want cause they both wrote something wrong. Everybody there noticed us. We wouldn't be surprised if there was some betting going on as well, on how many whould cross the border before us.

We step on Russian land and we are discombobulated at the first gas station where you pay before you fill the tank. Tudor pays for 15 liters but his tank takes only 14, Denisa is reimbursed for Tudor's extra liter, Codrut fills his tank with what's left from Denisa's and Radu doesn't pay for enough to fill the tank. We try to solve the equation and get even in the evening.

After paying for riding on highways, Radu is happy to see holes in the road again. A cop stops us by waving his stick 5 times and asks for documents. He is nice after all because he doesn't say much when he discovers Denisa's fake permit and lets us go after we give him the original.

We enter the city on rush hour and we stay in line for 60 minutes. We even visit Kremlin from the road. The driver of a bus comes out on the window and shouts in Moldovan: Ba, where are you going? On the 61 minute spent in traffic Alex and Codrut, the only ones with a gps, go ballistic and we cut 6 lines at once to keep the rhythm with them. Nevertheless we lose Codrut but we reunite at the hostel. There we discover we have to pay cash and we don't have any money. That's how we end up in an Infinity car with a mobster. After an elegant parking on the zebra the man takes us in a supermarket and ...eto bankomat.

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