Bucharest to Chisinau: THE WORST TRAIN JOURNEY OF MY LIFE - I LOVED IT!

[@HeidiSK-Walks]

Wow that was a trip! The smell on the platform already... That train really was a challenge. You managed it all so well. A true highlight was the cushion. I couldn't...And you've already brought some quite impressive bed bug bites. Maybe a light travel sleeping bag with an inflatable cushion would help you on future trips. The landscape is beautiful though and you met nice guys on the train.

[@aztravelguy]

I discovered you by chance a few months ago. You remind me of my random solo travels around Europe, particularly the east on similar trains. Never went to Moldova, but can lay claim to Budapest-Bucharest though I had a four day stop in Brasov. That was 18 years ago though! Have been many places since, hope to go eastward again soon. Maybe Georgia is next?!

[@JonDoesTravel]

Yeah I’d love to go there as well.

[@dorawaldman3688]

@ 03:44 They didn't change the power sockets - it says 110 V next to them. Which means they kept the old Soviet cars, changed only their furniture coating, but left the same, Soviet era, sockets. How nice... BTW, the smell on the platforms has been there since times immemorial. (I'm a local, and I know what I'm saying.) The only decent toilet around is outside the station. Walk through the east exit of the station, cross the road, then head to a petrol station with a visible, green OVB logo. OVB is a chain of petrol stations from Austria.

[@Jasmine1991forever]

Imagine what it was like when Bruce Lee was there

[@mdepedrumuri573]

Great video 😮

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@mdepedrumuri573 Thank you 🙏 Glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@mihaivale7170]

Where did you found that train? I saw one of that in Bucharest North station when I was a child.. Never traveled with one of that despite I use trains a lot.. I see that is Moldova's one. We don't have ideal trains in Romania, far from it (at least we buy some decent ones from West, like Astra, RegioCalatori and other private companies), but that one is a piece of museum! I think that train, in a philosofical way, resembles the difference between East (from which Moldova struggles to escape from, from russian influence) and the West, where Romania adhered some time ago with the first chance (being latin, anti russian and anti sovietic). Moldova tries to maintain a direct line with Bucharest, that's why I think they sent that train, despite the effort to change all carriage gauges. I think that train is a good reminder to be carreful at elections and with the polithics. This winter, in Romania, we had presidencial elections. For the first time, there appeared a candidate that broke the law and spread his pro russian influence on TikTok. He is a pro russian dubious guy, talking shits. We did't pay too much attention and he took the first place in the first tour. A very ugly surprise. Nobody knew exactly who he is. We cancelled the elections and will reorganise them in the spring, not letting that guy to win. The russian propaganda spreads everywhere and it looks like that train: dark, unsafe, bumpy, ugly and dirthy. It offers you a nice confy withe pillow, but that white face hides misery and diseases, hiding all behind textile courtains so nobody knows the insides. I think moldovans will change that trains with modern ones as soon as they join EU. Chisinau Train Station looks very good and clean though.

[@JonDoesTravel]

It certainly is a relic from the Soviet era. A once in a lifetime experience that I won’t be repeating anytime soon. Nice to have done it (twice!) though 😂

[@IvanMBG]

Rofl 😂 you are so brainwashed not just in terms of politics but also about the quality of your trains. Your private operators own garbage trains from the West. Especially RegioCalatori with their 50 y old DMUs or Astra whose DMUs have stopped 8 times for a repair and Danes have sent all of the shitty DMUs to you. CFR is way better than the private ones! And Georghescu has been part of the UN and knows perfectly what antihumane structure it is but the Russian trace madeup story is easy to conceive for people like you!

[@CiprianCoci]

I guess he found the train in the Gara the Nord Station..don't you think?? What sort of stupid question was that? In fact..what the heck you talking about? What does Russia or the Russia propaganda have to do with the dirty pillows from this train? Must be Putin fault.😂I am sure the gentleman already knows our trains,some of them love the experience-is like travelling back in time ,except for the poor hygiene that has no excuse. Are you feeling embarrassed for the state of this train ? So do I, but blame the local authorities.And what the presidential election have to do with this train journey? Btw, after 1 and half months, there is still no clear evidence of foreign interference on those elections, so better stop labelling as is a fact until it has been proven.

[@ConnerTravel]

Took this journey on 26th December, great experience

[@jameshitselberger5845]

The compartment looks clean....better than attempting sleep on seats

[@alpitu21]

I have actually took this train home, but the opposite way 😂 from Iasi to Bucharest, it was pretty nice but I didn’t have a sleeping bed, so I slept on the empty chairs. It wasn’t that bad of a ride tbh 😂

[@figulidaniel8963]

Very nice place!

[@ImmortalCH]

Hey welcome to Moldova,hope you have a good time here ;)

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@ImmortalCH Thank you 🙏

[@nickwalter9630]

love your channel. Just writing to help the old algo.

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@nickwalter9630 Oh thanks mate. Really appreciate it 😊

[@jameshitselberger5845]

You need the round German style plug...the two-prong style will of course fall down because it is an adaptor holding the weight of your item

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@jameshitselberger5845 It’s the same two pin plug I’ve always used in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, even Russia without a problem…

[@jameshitselberger5845]

@@JonDoesTravel but you see there is a recessed round hole. That is for the German style plug, strange in Romania but maybe the carriage is German made. Liked the migrant hotel video by the way. Hotel looked really classy except for all the vending machines marring its appearance

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@jameshitselberger5845 It was fine for the price I paid.

[@jameshitselberger5845]

You cannot complain about that train station in Kishinev

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@jameshitselberger5845 I didn’t! It was cool looking. However wait for my next video or two and you will see something I do have to say about it 😬

[@constantinolteanu5553]

Hello i am from Romania but now i live in England .Last year i travel England to Romania by train .Was waw 36 hours

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@constantinolteanu5553 Hi, at least that’s a long way. Makes sense unlike my journey, which wasn’t far at all and still took ages…

[@cosmincasuta486]

@@JonDoesTravel Next time, you can stay home!

[@robbar42]

as long as no one dies...

[@davidionescu2103]

This train is useless. This train is operated by the Moldavian rail company, it can travel the distance between Bucharest and Chisinau only because it is a modified train. Anyway I don't understand why there is people using this garbage, there are direct flights from Bucharest to Chisinau, it takes 1 hour, not 14 hours like this kind of train journey. From end of march, Wizz Air will operate direct flight from Bucharest to Chisinau, and tickets prices are more than aftordable.

[@alpitu21]

I prefer using the train tbh 😂 I can go overnight and I don’t arrive 500km from the city having to rent a car or something

[@vaxian837]

500 km? All of Moldova from north to south is less than 500 km lol.

[@davidionescu2103]

@@vaxian837 From Bucharest North to Ungheni Prut where is the border control train should ride about 481 km, from Ungheni to Chisinau there are another 111 km, so Bucharest to Chisinau by train is about 600 km distance.

[@vaxian837]

@@davidionescu2103 the guy I was replying to said “I prefer using the train bc I can go overnight and don’t arrive 500 km from the city having to rent a car”. He implied the airport is 500 km away from the city, I pointed out the entire country is not even 500 km. It’s a different topic :)

[@IvanMBG]

There are train enthusiasts and with trains you are more flexible with the luggage. There are people who hate flying. I would also take the train. This one is old school and not that bad unless in very hot summer without a/c. Its a night one after all and it eventually gets a bit chilly even in summer. It also has wifi and a restaurant car which also has fully openable windows. I loved the journey.

[@vovixs.567]

For us Ukrainians, it looks just like a typical UZ train of the 2000-10s ("chocolate Ammendorf" painted blue and yellow), except that: - pillows / mattresses had been regularly updated on UZ, usually in dark blue / gray color, as well as bed linen with year marking - no restaurants or bars in any UZ sleeping trains, except intercity+ (hyundai) and, lately, hot meal delivery on some night routes Before covid, CFM ran a few more trains to russia in the old "soviet" green livery, I wonder why they made this one blue like in Ukraine. BTW, was there any tea or coffee in traditional post-soviet glasses with metal glass holders?

[@pavlik77]

The "blonde beer" is Kozel (The Goat) from the Czech Republic. Cheers!

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@pavlik77 Yeah I thought it looked familiar..

[@vaxian837]

As a Romanian, I must applaud you for your courage. Especially for eating that sausage. Like what if you woke up with explosive diarrhea and got stuck on that dodgy toilet right as the train was going through passport control?

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@vaxian837 Would have been a conundrum to be sure 😂

[@thecyberdork776]

👍

[@saracianonimi7192]

HA.HA..Bravoo

[@leisuretime4756]

You should travel in Pakistan or India with trains and then you will not complain anymore about trains in Europe

[@JonDoesTravel]

Oh I don’t know…I’m pretty good at complaining wherever I am 😅

[@monikel]

​@@JonDoesTravel😂complaining comes easy to you as breathing, don't you? 😂😂

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@monikel Exactly, just ask anyone who knows me well 😂

[@valimatei9]

No Romanian would ever do what you did, some of you have no common sense ! stay home !

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@valimatei9 It’s called a spirit of adventure…

[@lorraine.v]

@@JonDoesTravel Ha, ha, ha...yes adventure..Indeed, this is what the Westerners or Americans want, THE ADVENTURE, with all its sides, especially the bad ones! Here, in Eastern countries we have a proverbe: when you are fed up with too much good, you want the bad ! 😊🙃 It's your case also, so, enjoy it!😂😂

[@monikel]

​@@JonDoesTravelthis is a Romanian boomer specimen, just you to know

[@monikel]

Speak for yourself comrade

[@InChisinauCitizen]

Why Moldova ? Stay tuned and don't go Piata Centrala😂

[@yavorbeltov4257]

Just english....you lives to complaining .

[@JonDoesTravel]

Is that a joke? What are you doing now exactly? 🙄Captain positivity

[@jaynerichardson3807]

Well you have done a public service. You tried it so I don't have to and I'm cainly not going to try that any time soon but look on the bright side you lived to tell the tail. Thank you for that ❤❤

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@jaynerichardson3807 Thanks. It’s certainly not for the faint hearted 😅

[@JonDoesTravel]

I’ll be trying a much nicer train in the UK this week 😉

[@jaynerichardson3807]

@@JonDoesTravel I look forward to that

[@LionelLando]

Damn that train looked like trains in India😮. Was it called the Gypsy Express?

[@cosmincasuta486]

Nope! The western colonial 1d10ts express!

[@michaelzabrodin7717]

Next destination - Ukraine?

[@JonDoesTravel]

Would have loved to but not possible at the moment for me unfortunately.

[@michaelzabrodin7717]

@JonDoesTravel definitely worth visiting. Keep up the good work.

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@michaelzabrodin7717 Thanks mate.

[@Jasmine1991forever]

He told the Gara De Nord stinks then he went and used the bathroom in the station. Romania is best country in Europe. Just sayin. When you arrive to Moldova you find don't even have electricity and will be begging to return to Romania.

[@JonDoesTravel]

First of all, I did not say Gara de Nord stinks! I said the toilets stink (fact) and the platform I boarded from stank (fact). While it’s nice that you are so patriotic, don’t expect me to lie and just spout pro Romanian propaganda so as not to offend anyone. I will always tell it as it is, wherever in the world I am (including my own country, don’t worry). That includes the good and the bad…As for what I thought of Moldova, I guess you will see in my upcoming videos…Thanks for watching anyway 😊

[@JonDoesTravel]

Oh by the way, after hanging around for hours killing time in cafes in Bucharest to stay warm, while waiting for my night train and then freezing at the station, using the toilets there was not something I did just for fun, believe me!

[@RedBull10812]

As a romanian I don't think you're right. Most train stations are very dirty, stinky, full of homeless people, in toilets you're lucky if you don't find brown matter scattered everywhere. 90% of trains are leftovers from world war 2 and barely exceed 50km/h. Romania might be the best country in Europe, if you compare it to Moldova only 😂.

[@Jasmine1991forever]

I am just so tired of everyone telling bad stuff about Romania cause it's racism every place against us. Yes, can be true cause there's drunks and beggars in the station but why show bad stuff. CFR, ok, yes old but why negative always? Romania very far since 1989. Yes, nothing perfect but that's not reason to cricitze. As for Moldova it's not real country. Real name is Bessarab and part of Greater Romania

[@Raduiuhas]

Soviet to the bone , the station i mean , but very clean instead of a romanian station ,sadly for me , but the poorness is obvious, for you ,i guess its a shock...

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@Raduiuhas Well I’ve spent most of the last 20 odd years living abroad in various countries, including Far Eastern Russia, so I’m not easily shocked anymore 😉

[@vladgrom6559]

Jon does have a worst wife too😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@JonDoesTravel]

@@vladgrom6559 Er what? ?