Moldova. It's of those small countries in Eastern Europe that England occasionally play in football qualifiers but appears unknown to anyone else. According to my Lonely Planet, it's consistently ranked near the bottom of the World Database of Happiness and is the poorest country in Europe. Since becoming independent in 1991 following the break-up of the USSR, it has enjoyed a brief but turbulent history. The regions of Turkic Gagauz and Transnistria have broken away from Moldova (the latter declaring an unofficial independence) and they currently maintain an uneasy truce. My Lonely Planet also states that Moldova's main industries are organised crime, arms dealing, and human trafficking allied with possible returns to Communism, although savvy travellers tend to take these sort of statements of theirs with a large pinch of salt. With nothing much in the way of major industry in the country, it's a wonder why it actually exists as a separate country. I doubt the country would appear on most people's holiday itineraries and for us, appeared merely to be a means of getting from Transnistria to Romania.

We left the Transnistria border poorer (well, our tour leader Gareth did after palms had to be greased to be allowed out of the "country") and soon arrived in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. After taking taxis to the Chisinau Hostel, we headed out on a walking city tour. There appeared to be quite a contrast in lifestyles in Chisinau. Passing drab, soulless apartment blocks and collections of ramshackle huts on the outskirts, we arrived in the heart of the city and the huge main street lined with Western-style boutique shops and plush restaurants! Where had all the money come to build these in Europe's poorest country and who actually shopped there? Well, I could hazard some guesses but none of them good. There wasn't actually much to see in terms of tourist sights. There was their own version of the Arc de Triomphe (called the Holy Gates), some government buildings, and a few statues. Chuck in a few museums and that was it. I did like the "Glorinal" though - Moldova's very own combined glory hole / urinal. Or it may not have been. Since most of us hadn't eaten all day, I think the highlight was the various foodstuffs we gobbled along the way, from chocolate waffles to stuffed pastries.

Our hostel was situated next a huge shopping mall, called Mall Dova as a play on words, and we found a German-themed restaurant in there for an evening meal. Unfortunately, the beer wasn't up to much - I was told that many local beers are preferred "cloudy". A precursor to the shits if ever there was one. I stuck to rum after that. Conveniently, the hostel had a separate common room which we occupied for the rest of the evening. Also conveniently, the petrol station next door sold cheap alcohol to drink in said common room. It seemed a bit wrong that petrol stations sold alcohol but hey, this is Eastern Europe, everything goes.

On Friday, Gareth had supposedly booked us on a tour of the Milestii Mici winery. We were ushered into taxis and arrived at the winery to find they didn't have any knowledge of our booking. We contemplated just heading to the shop to get a few sample bottles and taking the taxis back to the hostel. Luckily we didn't because after managing to get ourselves booked onto a winery tour, it turned out to be one of the main highlights of the trip. The place was astounding. Situated in a disused limestone mine, the winery comprises of about 160 miles of tunnels and the largest collection of wine bottles in the world, ~2 million bottles! Tours were done mainly by car. The procession of cars in each group wound through the tunnels Italian Job-style, stopping at various points for photos and explanations. The walls of the tunnels were filled with huge wine barrels and the bottles themselves. The tour ended at an elegant restaurant 60m below ground with the obligatory wine-tasting. The white, a Cabernet Sauvignon, was lovely, but I wasn't a fan of the red or the dessert wines. All in all, an absolutely stunning experience and highly recommended! They should put the place on UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list.

We had a train to Bucharest to catch later that evening at about 5.30pm. We took taxis from the hostel to the train station. The first two taxis arrived in plenty of time. Plenty of time for a vodka run. However, a massive accident just outside the hostel meant the third taxi containing Gareth (and all the train tickets) got stuck in traffic. Bucharest was a tour stage break and many people had onward flights the next day so had to catch the train. A few of them started having kittens as time ticked by and the third taxi hadn't arrived. Our train pulled in and other passengers got on. With minutes to go, we asked the guards to hold the train for a few minutes but no chance. With literally seconds to spare, Gareth's taxi arrived and we jumped on the train with a massive sense of relief! The closest of close shaves! The vodka train to Bucharest was off! We had the usual border checks and also this time the wheels of the carriages had to be changed as the track gauge sizes differed between the two countries. Gareth had his own cabin and I moved in with him so the others could get some snore-free sleep. Did I get any thanks? No chance! Just more moaning because people could hear our snoring through the cabin walls!

My thoughts of Moldova? Well, we only had a short visit to the capital and the winery. As a capital city, there was nothing really special about Chisinau which set it apart from other Eastern European cities, although I might have enjoyed it more with a night out in the centre. Good shops, bars and restaurants. Not a lot in the way of tourist sites. However, the Milestii Mici winery tour was amazing, maybe even worth a visit to the country just for this. Oh, and I should mention, as ever, that the women were stunning!

See you next time in Romania :-)