Transnistria is a self proclaimed republic in Moldova which became separated from Moldova in the 1990’s.

There are regular buses that run from Chisinau to Tiraspol every half an hour or so. We left at 9.00 a.m. for 37 Leu and got to the border in about an hour. There are no longer any problems at the border as there were in the past. It took me only a minute for my passport to be processes. About half the passengers on the bus were foreign and no one had any issues. After passing through the border, the remainder of the journey only  took about 10-15 minutes.

A group of us stopped at a very nice restaurant down the main road called Seven Fridays. There was a very large variety of food available and all very delicious. It was well worth the visit.

The city doesn’t seem to have much to see but there is the Kvint factory (www.kvint.md). We went on a tour of the cognac factory and tasted 5 different cognacs for $32. The tour was very informative and the cognac was really good with a nice spread put out for us.

If you want to take a tour or/and buy any brandy, you must either pay with the local currency (which you can exchange at the bus stop as you arrive) or pay in dollars (but you must have the exact money. They can’t carry dollars; the authorities won’t allow it.)