Drove back through the village to the info center and asked
if the monastery was open. It was, so we drove to the path, parked
layered up a bit and walked. It was a fairly short walk but it felt
very cold especially in the wind. The monastery was smaller than we
thought. We then entered the caves/chapel under the bell tower. The
monks certainly had it tough in these rock cells but it was certainly
warmer than outside. Their narrow, airy balcony on the cliff-face boasted a dusting of snow and views uninterrupted by balustrade.
After this we decided to drive east and south back to the winery
to complete the circuit. Well we made it to the border of the country
(Transnistria ) that is not recognized as a country except by other ex-Soviet
non-countries.As we approached the Frontier there were Moldovan military with guns, blockades and tanks facing off the Transnistrian counterparts on the other side of the river, similarly equipped. The Transnistrian border personnel were first puzzled by our arrival and then the smiles broke out as they came to understand our origin and travels. However, our request was escalated a couple of levels to a very important person (4 stars) who threw our passports and paperwork down onto his desk with considerable disdain. After much posturing and consideration of our paper-work he authorized another official (3 stars) to enter our details and receive our €20 road tax.
It took us about one hour to get into the country a 10min drive then back out only 30 min to exit. Now our time was tight but we made it back to the winery Milestii Mici. Our water hoses had finally defrosted but did not have time to fill bottles…
EC would have fitted into the cellars, but never mind… An impressive cellar…..
We only saw 5km of it but interesting. The lime stone had been mined
cut into blocks for building; so left the tunnel a bit like Odessa.
The winery is now state owned; but the tonnage and bottles of wine
produced just did not add up. 2000 tonnes of grapes crushed by Milestii Mici, the biggest in Moldova; but 120,000 tonnes for the whole country. We then got taken
into the detestation and tasting of 3 wines. We sat at a table with
two Polish guys; truck drivers who had obviously noticed EC. Our
guide then left us. I paid off the taxi and we drove out with the Poles. Stopped in to buy a bottle or 2 but had no idea of which merlot
it was we liked at the tasting. No pressure or even encouragement to
buy the wines.
We camped on their old entrance. No water lines still frozen
96km