I hope you don't mind me saying so, but the best YT comments are on the clip rather than on other comments. The negative guys should be ignored. (And here I am breaking my own rule).
The night train from Thessaloniki to Sofia is amazing, you get woken up at 3am to Crain the train from one European train gauges to Russian train gauges. It was mad, basic but great fun. Check it out if you get the chance, the cabin was amazingly old, felt almost antique.
In S Africa I used the Durban-Johannesburg train often when I was much younger. It was slower than a car, which would take 6 hours or 7 if you stopped for lunch. This one used to leave Joh'burg at 4.30 pm and arrive at 9 am, meaning 16 hours. Later it was 6 pm to 8 am, or 14 hours. The main reasons were the 3ft 6inches guage and the tortuous journey through the very hilly country. In a couple of valleys you could see the engine on the other side of the valley. About half-way they changed from electric locos to steam. It was reasonably comfortable, and the catering service from the tiny galley was an exraordinary feat: wine steward; soup (in a special anti-slop dish) fish, choice of 2 main courses, then sweets and then cheese and real coffee in a pot. They had "first and second sessions" for first & second class, but it was the same food. The stewards must have been gymnastic candidates the way they balanced things, as the train tended to rock.
You really suffer for your art, Steve! It’s refreshing to see a travelogue where the emphasis is on the journey and not about being on an ego trip. Don’t ever change 👍
The piles of clothes on sheets on the ground outside the station brought home just how poor people are there😢. Reminded me strongly of Paddy’s Market in Glasgow where we had to shop when I was growing up there many years ago.
I’ve decided to watch your travel vids in chronological order , and it’s great to see how your confidence and style has evolved over the past few years . Keep growing keep travelling . Your followers will keep watching 👏👏👏
The most remarkable thing to me - in what was a remarkable journey - is that the station is such a fantastically presented building but which seems to have virtually no use! Love the video.
Your blog today leaves me speechless….the architecture, especially those carved pillars and little courtyard areas at the church in Bucharest, is stunning! So much history there. The whole idea of the bogie change is fascinating to me - never realized it was a possibility. I don’t know how you’re smiling and functioning with two overnight train rides, including interrupted sleep. 😵💫 You’re a travel hero!
Steve, Found your videos by accident several weeks ago. I've been addicted since then, not only because of your witty and charming comments, but also due to the places you visit that most people couldn't find on a map (Chisinau, Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, Ludza (?!), etc.). Keep on traveling, I'll be following every trip. Guillermo - Miami, USA.
Amazing old school technology. I always wondered how they did that. A beautiful train as well. I loved the vintage style of your compartment. Great video. Keep up the good work.
Absolute classic. That is surely one of those bucket list train journeys you have to take if you are a train enthousiast. Can't help thinking that getting everybody onto another train might be a bit easier than physically changing the bogies!!! What an adventure though, as you said you got the full experience. You are living the dream m8.👍😁
Totally insane Steve, lifting the train while you are supposed to be sleeping🤣Chisinau station was incredible indeed, shame about the lack of trains but maybe its a seasonal thing? Cool video mate👍
@@andrei19238 yes, I believe CFM even went bankrupt a year or so ago? We're lucky this train is running at all! It's even better than the last few years, as this train is now daily, up until a few months ago, it was only 2-3 times a week. This area really is on my bucket list.
That trip was mind boggling what with the gauge change and all. It's not a journey that I would make but thanks for taking us along. Looking forward to your next adventure.
Very interesting video, Steve. Usually travel shows on TV just show the "good" bits but you've shown warts and all. Love it. This area would have been behind the Iron Curtain .Greetings from Australia.
Looks like you had a relaxing night mate 😂 like stepping back in time on that train. Thanks for sharing the experience Steve. Look forward to the return leg 👍
Steve, I don't think you go purposely out of your way to find Europe's strangest journeys, but you do find them anyway. Thanks for sharing. Imagine if the GWR remained as broad gauge and services from Scotland to the South West needed to stop for hours to swap the bogies 😂
They might have gone for something like the Spanish. Their trains have adjustable bogies and the gauge change takes less than a minute I think. The train just goes really slowly for a bit and then it's off again.
Think I prefer a later arrival but not a 3am call, and we complain about a bus replacement service, love the train set and the train station. Thanks for showing us this special journey, glad you can deal with scammers. Take care
The video of you walking between the carriages bought back childhood memories of me doing the same on the old trains between Invercargill and Dunedin.... just as terrifying 😂 And there the similarities end... ha ha. Fantastic video 📹
@@blj007 our train would stop at Clinton where there would be a mad dash to the refreshment room (no buffet cars then) for a 15 minute break to buy a cup of tea and a pie. Passengers would take the pie etc back on the train for the rest of the journey, and the naughty ones would throw their New Zealand Railway cups and saucers out of the window when they were finished 😄 The discarded NZR crockery is now a collecters item, the cups etc were very thick and heavy.... no doubt in the hopes that the would survive they impact from being thrown from a moving train onto the tracks below 😅.
Ah! I loved this. That's how I remember the trains being in Eastern Europe 20 years ago, slow, rattly and dark. I'll have to do this run myself at some point.
Czechia, Poland and Hungary now don't have this trains - but they are Central Europe. This train to Moldova is a time travel back, but Moldova is pure Eastern Europe, as Romania also between Central and East...
A video like this is simply not complete without Moldova's 2022 Eurovision entry included somewhere. "Join the train! Be our guest! Chisinau to Bucharest!"
Old Bucharest is beautiful, and the interior decor of some of the restaurants is breathtaking. The food is absolutely amazing. If you have studied Latin, reading Romanian is actually easier than you may anticipate.
You're taking us to places most of us will never go, Steve! That was some journey, mind you. That station in Chisinau! Just a wee bit quiet just now, but it must have been a busy place in times gone by. Thanks for the ride!
That train. Wowzers. Like you teleported to the past! We love how you always find something positive to say, no matter. As always, really enjoyed this one. We're counting down to our return to Scotland in September and are doing some new-to-us things, thanks to your channel. :)
It's an amazing experience, isn't it. I travelled by train from Oostende to Minsk in 1970s and experienced the gauge change in Brest, along with the Soviet border controls of course. We were asked if we wanted to change money. I didn't and so stayed on the train. Otherwise I would have missed all the excitement!
13:47 The excellent Mentour Pilot. Excellent info about aviation! 19:09 I suppose you've figured out it's not a terminal building but connecting to east and west?
I don't know what's better in this video... Visiting my country (Romania), the fantastic old school train, your great accent or the fact that you're a Mentour Pilot fan as well... (I've also visited Moldova twice).
@Alex Macedonian In Chișinău și la un sat în afara orașului. Sincer să fiu, nu îmi amintesc numele. Aveam cam 15-16 ani și am mers cu un prieten să ducem niște ajutoare la oameni pe care i-am întâlnit la o biserică. Drumul de la Timișoara a fost lung, schimbarea roților la graniță a fost un eveniment interesant și vizita a fost bună. Chiar și acum îmi aduc aminte ce zgomot făceau garniturile de tren în Chișinău când le manevrau și se "întindeau" cuplele între vagoane - venea zgomotul de la îndepărtare și ajungea la noi.
Great video. I was on a train to Chisinau back in 1994 from Kiev..same kind of train! I would love to go back and enjoy the experience again. Before the war the station served more trains like to kiev and Odessa. Hope peace will come again soon cause Moldovans are suffering a lot from it.
Brilliant stuff Steve, what a crazy trip, like time travel! I went to the Czech Republic in the early 90s, before it was taken over by drunken Brits on stag parties, and the whole country was fascinating. There is something otherworldly about eastern Europe, that train was fantastic :)
Czechia not Eastern Europe my friend, and Hungary also. They are Central Europe Romania is South-Eastern Europe and Moldova is the real Eastern Europe... You just see and feel the difference immediately.
@@lightanddreamsphotography7140 The Iron Curtain is still deeply ingrained in many people's minds. The Ukrainian border is closer to where I am right now than the western parts of my own country, yet Ukraine feels to us as if it was on a different continent. Slovakia and Hungary are less than an hour by train and they feel far away (by now you can probably guess where I am).
I left Romania with great memories after meeting some wonderful people and seeing incredible places (a video to come on this) It is a shame though for the train station to be such a poor welcome to a fantastic country, glad it will be refurbished!
@@mihaelafilipescu5818 ,de ce suntam primii care ne vorbim tara de rau?Bucurestiul e foarte curat comparativ cu multe capitale mari europene,e plin de istorie ,de arta si oameni frumosi! Cand mai veniti pe acasa ,veniti cu sufletul deschis.
Another great video. The work you do and the stuff you put up with to bring these videos to us is really greatly appreciated. Please be careful and don't fall off a train going from car to car. And yes, that dinner looked yummy. Thanks again for all the work that you do to bring these to us. Say hi to Alicja for me. Be well, stay safe, be careful of those trains, love from Texas.
What a interesting journey Steve. Love that train looks like something that came out of the 30's. Question why do rain tracks to the station always have to be the ugliest part of the city lol imagine if they went through the nice parts. Thanks for a great video as always. Happy Easter
I just got back from a two week cruise in the Mediterranean and saw some amazing and inspiring places (please go to Kotor in Croatia...one of the most scenically beautiful places I have ever seen). I sure don't travel to these older less visited places like you do. Some of the cities ,(as in this video) make me sad...the people there look so care worn...truly made me appreciate my own circumstances...which isn't a bad thing is it? But I love old and historic...and that train sure fit the bill.. beautiful.
Wow! I wasn't expecting them to do the change of gauge by lifting the carriages bodily off the old bogies and rolling new ones in! I was expecting a variable-gauge system, where they unlock something on the bogies, drive the train slowly through a special section of track, and lock the bogies again.
oh my goodness........I've traveled by train many many times and never have I witnessed a train like that! Good thing you had a flashlight or how could you have gotten about it was so dark. You are brave and have a spirit for adventure for sure! The man having to enter your cabin to attach the 'wheels' was quite amazing! I think due to light issues and 'wheel' issues I would forgo this train! Although, I so appreciate you doing it - it was awesome to witness! You are such a trooper and love your videos!
😮 What an experience Steve! Surely it's got to be easier to get all the passengers to change to a different train at the border? I mean what difference does it make compared to getting everyone out of bed for an hour and a half to complete all that faff! Bizarre...
Now that seems like a proper good old sleeper journey, after watching this I feel like I will have to add it to my bucket list. Is it not possible to collect the tickets from Chisinau? Also was it hard to communicate in English in Moldova and Romania? More about the fun fact, last year's Moldovan eurovision entry was not only filmed in the train but the whole song was about the train, which had a bit of political meaning hinting at a possible unification with Romania as some Moldovans think they might be the next Ukraine
Thanks Fran! Communication in Moldova was a bit tricky, I used the little Russian I have to get by. I bought my tickets on the Romanian website, hence the ticket collection in Bucharest only. I wasn't brave enough to navigate the Moldovan website :)
Steve, you get the same problem with the gauge change between Poland and Belarus! Strangely enough they use similar sleeping cars (all ex-RZD from Russia).
My thoughts: I've never met anyone who wanted to go to Moldova. I experienced the bogie change when I went from London/Hook of Holland to Moscow, as we moved from Poland to Russia. We had to all get off the train then. Your dinner looked excellent. And the station in Moldova is outstanding. Your videos continue to both entertain and fascinate.
I had a month's work in Bucharest some years ago, and it is indeed a crazy place. Stayed in a hotel where I had an inch long cockroach in my bedside table (happily a dead one!) that was never removed by the cleaner. It was next door to fairly decent Irish pub, I remember, and that August it must have been 30C. Loads of outdoor tables to eat and drink at in the evening, enjoying the scenery - mostly stunningly beautful Romanian girls wearing very little and with a quite evident underwear shortage. Extraordinary place.
One of the very best videos you’ve made. Full of interesting events and seeing the Moldavian railway station was amazing. The sleeping carriages reminded me of the 1960s sleepers in the UK.
This is how you sort the "westerners" from the "easterners" - I bet my dad who grew up during the soviet union occupation could have slept through that whole border gauge change ordeal! 😂
My Dad is from the Caribbean and I bet you he would have slept through it all too. 🙄 We had an eartquake about 20 years ago hit us and shake us good for some seconds, 45 ish seconds. He slept through it aaaall. Things were falling, we were shaking and we fell and screamed, chairs toppled over, and all the rest you can imagine. He woke up looooong after it was over stating that he felt weirdly strange. He did not even knooow we wete hit by an earthquake. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Some guys are just not tired enough. Usually, if I put my head on the pillow I sleep in just seconds, no matter what. Long ago me and some fellows had our bedroom right next to an airport apron where they were starting and testing airplane jet engines. That kind that are now banned because of noise. I was just sleeping as a baby. Long story short - do some real work and get tired and you will sleep anywhere
I have just by chance come across your content and I am working my way through but I have to say your positive attitude is a total vibe and actually quite inspiring. Loving the content!
If you think it is crazy from Bucharest to Chisinau.... Wait untill you get to the Chisinau to Bucharest part! It will all be.... Folklore and Rock and Roll! 😂
Very true about sleeper trains! They get you where you want to go, first thing in the morning... and ready for some sleep! Great video, nonetheless! I definitely want to take that train.
Its a great ride, done this a couple of time. Gara De Nord is definitely full of characters! This train is a time capsule of the communist era, nothing has changed. I loved that though. I also did this ride the first time in winter and you may not have seen it in Spring, but each carriage still has coal burning heaters called 'soba' at each end and the conductor opens up and stokes the stoves with coal regularly and man it gets warm!...very effective. Even though its slow, a lot of it is during the bogey and wheel changes which is super interesting. Its nostalgic, its rustic, and that's what is great about travel. 👍👍
Went on this train trip in 1996 to watch Moldova v England in a World Cup qualifier for France 98. Don't think much on the train has changed but we were 4 to a cabin, and the change of train wheels took 4-5 hours at the border so things have improved now it seems. We were sold wine in old plastic bottles and there were about 20 English all together on board and will always be remembered as another great trip going unofficially and without England travel club membership We couldn't stomach the same journey back so 4 of us got a taxi back to Bucharest, 7 - 8 hours trip, costing about 100 us dollars. The driver only fell asleep at the wheel once. Next was Tiblisi, Georgia. We flew to Atlanya, then Trabzon and coach from there to Tiblisi. 37 of us travelling unofficially - Loaded magazine did an article on us; Georgian Mildred. Great days
Thanks for the great review. We are doing the same trip in June, we are under no illusions that it is not the most comfortable of journeys but are very much looking forward to it. We have checked out many vlogs on this trip and this is the best by far. We also travelled on the night train from Brasov to Budapest a few years back and loved it.
Brilliant, Steve, I love your sense of adventure. Not a place I'm likely to go to - too few holidays, too many other places - so look forward to seeing your next video so I can see what I'm missing. Hope you stay safe from all the hawkers. Take care
That's my kind of train journey! Those gangways between carriages takes me back to the 1970's (when I was a kid) traveling across Europe to Yugoslavia by train on our summer holidays. Pure mental!
Thank you very much for sharing this great video. It is an awesome train journey to Moldova and keep safe, Steve. Looking forward to watching more of your adventures in Eastern Europe.
I've just found your channel recently and I like your style. A simple Travelogue by train without the techy stuff I know nothing about and through the old Eastern Bloc countries which fascinate me too. Bon voyage.
Man ! What a trip and changing the under carriage of the train to boot - unbelievable ! another good one Steve ! we’ll await your next trip to the states where you can do a few c&classic’ rail trips there too ! See ya soon !
Wow, how cool to see such a place! I learn so much by following your channel. I love to stop the vlog and read wikipedia about the places you travel through and then check the maps to get routes and geography... Keep up the adventures!
That is quite a ride, and it is something really classic. My congratulations on this, I really liked it. Planning on doing the same in the future myself as well. I am a Romanian train enthusiast that travels a lot and also posts on TH-cam. Have a good one. Cheers 👍
Superb stuff. That journey ticks all of the boxes - travel by train, overnight, compartment to yourself and even a border crossing thown in as well. Who cares if you don't get much sleep. That's what tomorrow is for.
Excelent! I plan to do the invers journey, from Chisinau to Bucharest, by early August. I look forward to that, thank you for this video, travel all you can!
As a new viewer, I have to say that I really appreciate your patient, calm, and respectful demeanour. Other travel youtubers are not so gentlemanly!
Thanks so much, really appreciate it (and your views!)
I hope you don't mind me saying so, but the best YT comments are on the clip rather than on other comments. The negative guys should be ignored. (And here I am breaking my own rule).
The night train from Thessaloniki to Sofia is amazing, you get woken up at 3am to Crain the train from one European train gauges to Russian train gauges. It was mad, basic but great fun. Check it out if you get the chance, the cabin was amazingly old, felt almost antique.
Oh I’m interested in this now :)
Same on Caledonian Sleeper (scotlands sleeper train) if you have booked a seat and not a cabin.
Respect to the railway workers and your patience!
The best travelogues on the Internet. Love watching Steve's travels!
Once again you show the oddities of travel unlike any TV equivalent.
I agree 100%.I posted similar myslef.
That Eurovision song?
You went on a real train!!!!! A real adventure, modern trains miss so much of the
real thrill of getting there!!🌿
They think it’s all over…. It Chisinău
😂
😂😂😂
Beautiful!
Oh dear. 🙈
Give it (Buch)a-rest!
In S Africa I used the Durban-Johannesburg train often when I was much younger. It was slower than a car, which would take 6 hours or 7 if you stopped for lunch. This one used to leave Joh'burg at 4.30 pm and arrive at 9 am, meaning 16 hours. Later it was 6 pm to 8 am, or 14 hours. The main reasons were the 3ft 6inches guage and the tortuous journey through the very hilly country. In a couple of valleys you could see the engine on the other side of the valley. About half-way they changed from electric locos to steam. It was reasonably comfortable, and the catering service from the tiny galley was an exraordinary feat: wine steward; soup (in a special anti-slop dish) fish, choice of 2 main courses, then sweets and then cheese and real coffee in a pot. They had "first and second sessions" for first & second class, but it was the same food. The stewards must have been gymnastic candidates the way they balanced things, as the train tended to rock.
You really suffer for your art, Steve!
It’s refreshing to see a travelogue where the emphasis is on the journey and not about being on an ego trip.
Don’t ever change 👍
Thanks so much Billy!
The piles of clothes on sheets on the ground outside the station brought home just how poor people are there😢. Reminded me strongly of Paddy’s Market in Glasgow where we had to shop when I was growing up there many years ago.
I’ve decided to watch your travel vids in chronological order , and it’s great to see how your confidence and style has evolved over the past few years . Keep growing keep travelling .
Your followers will keep watching 👏👏👏
That's really nice to say, thank you!
The most remarkable thing to me - in what was a remarkable journey - is that the station is such a fantastically presented building but which seems to have virtually no use! Love the video.
So true Nick!
Your blog today leaves me speechless….the architecture, especially those carved pillars and little courtyard areas at the church in Bucharest, is stunning! So much history there.
The whole idea of the bogie change is fascinating to me - never realized it was a possibility.
I don’t know how you’re smiling and functioning with two overnight train rides, including interrupted sleep. 😵💫 You’re a travel hero!
Haha thanks Gabriele! I have no idea how I stay awake either, just running on adrenaline I think :D
Steve, I think your channel is so underrated! Love your effort to travel far and beyond 😊
Who underrates his channel?
@@Digitall3 not me, I think he's great and has taken us to many places we would never go ourselves including all forms of transport!
Underrated by whom? Do you understand what the word means? Your comment makes no sense.
I think Adriana has it right. Steve is literally underrated at 55K followers. It deserves to be at 550K.
@@Digitall3 Nobody. It's just one of these silly 'underrated' comments that are polluting TH-cam at the moment.
Steve, Found your videos by accident several weeks ago. I've been addicted since then, not only because of your witty and charming comments, but also due to the places you visit that most people couldn't find on a map (Chisinau, Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, Ludza (?!), etc.). Keep on traveling, I'll be following every trip. Guillermo - Miami, USA.
Hey Guillermo! Thanks so much for watching the videos! Really appreciate your comments :)
Nice one Steve. Keep ‘em coming!
One of the funniest travel posts with the antiquated train sleepers and all the kerfuffle with changing the rail gauge!
That was a crazy, crazy ride Steve - but utterly brilliant! Hope your journey back was just as memorable 👍
wander how many beer glasses have fell through the gap between the sleeper and dining cars?
Amazing old school technology. I always wondered how they did that. A beautiful train as well. I loved the vintage style of your compartment. Great video. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Elizabeth!
Absolute classic. That is surely one of those bucket list train journeys you have to take if you are a train enthousiast. Can't help thinking that getting everybody onto another train might be a bit easier than physically changing the bogies!!! What an adventure though, as you said you got the full experience. You are living the dream m8.👍😁
Cheers Michael! So glad this kind of authentic experience is still available!
I thought the same, would have been easier to provide another train at the Moldavian border.
And maybe changing the schedule to make this train change happen at, say, 7 AM rather than 4 AM?
Like others said, very nice person, showing respect and tell it like it is. Well deserved sub. All the best from a Romanian living in Sydney.
“…and make it even heavier” 😂🤣😅 love your content!
Totally insane Steve, lifting the train while you are supposed to be sleeping🤣Chisinau station was incredible indeed, shame about the lack of trains but maybe its a seasonal thing? Cool video mate👍
chisnau has very little train service because they have no money
everyone uses busses
@@andrei19238 yes, I believe CFM even went bankrupt a year or so ago? We're lucky this train is running at all!
It's even better than the last few years, as this train is now daily, up until a few months ago, it was only 2-3 times a week. This area really is on my bucket list.
I guess they figure everyone will be awake anyway because of the passport check....
I'm happy to find a fellow traveler who enjoys the entire voyage! And to answer your question, yes I would, absolutely!
That trip was mind boggling what with the gauge change and all. It's not a journey that I would make but thanks for taking us along. Looking forward to your next adventure.
What a fantastic looking train and cabin Steve.. Stepping back in time.
Hats off to the train crews.
So true mate, and to think they need to do that twice a day!
Very interesting video, Steve. Usually travel shows on TV just show the "good" bits but you've shown warts and all. Love it. This area would have been behind the Iron Curtain .Greetings from Australia.
Thanks so much Richard!
Looks like you had a relaxing night mate 😂 like stepping back in time on that train. Thanks for sharing the experience Steve. Look forward to the return leg 👍
Steve, I don't think you go purposely out of your way to find Europe's strangest journeys, but you do find them anyway. Thanks for sharing.
Imagine if the GWR remained as broad gauge and services from Scotland to the South West needed to stop for hours to swap the bogies 😂
Oh I'm so glad I found this one Howard! :)
They might have gone for something like the Spanish. Their trains have adjustable bogies and the gauge change takes less than a minute I think. The train just goes really slowly for a bit and then it's off again.
I love that you were watching Mentour Pilot!!! 😂 He’s fantastic!
Think I prefer a later arrival but not a 3am call, and we complain about a bus replacement service, love the train set and the train station. Thanks for showing us this special journey, glad you can deal with scammers. Take care
Totally agree thanks John!
The video of you walking between the carriages bought back childhood memories of me doing the same on the old trains between Invercargill and Dunedin.... just as terrifying 😂
And there the similarities end... ha ha.
Fantastic video 📹
used to do that as well,the old man worked for the NZ railways so we only travelled by train
@@blj007 our train would stop at Clinton where there would be a mad dash to the refreshment room (no buffet cars then) for a 15 minute break to buy a cup of tea and a pie.
Passengers would take the pie etc back on the train for the rest of the journey, and the naughty ones would throw their New Zealand Railway cups and saucers out of the window when they were finished 😄
The discarded NZR crockery is now a collecters item, the cups etc were very thick and heavy.... no doubt in the hopes that the would survive they impact from being thrown from a moving train onto the tracks below 😅.
I certainly felt like a child :)
Ah! I loved this. That's how I remember the trains being in Eastern Europe 20 years ago, slow, rattly and dark. I'll have to do this run myself at some point.
Aye it's so good to know experiences like this still exist!
Czechia, Poland and Hungary now don't have this trains - but they are Central Europe.
This train to Moldova is a time travel back, but Moldova is pure Eastern Europe, as Romania also between Central and East...
I watch Mentor pilot too! Love your videos, love seeing places I will never go.
A video like this is simply not complete without Moldova's 2022 Eurovision entry included somewhere. "Join the train! Be our guest! Chisinau to Bucharest!"
Hey ho, let's go! 😂
I wish TH-cam would let me include a clip in the video, totally love it!
Folklore and Rock N Roll, Chisinau to Bucharest!
I saw them live at Ia Mania in 22.
Old Bucharest is beautiful, and the interior decor of some of the restaurants is breathtaking. The food is absolutely amazing. If you have studied Latin, reading Romanian is actually easier than you may anticipate.
Steve relaxing to Mentour Pilot :) Anyhoo, I wish the UK could "celebrate" rail travel like this.
What a train of character! THat's real travelling--thank you.
You're taking us to places most of us will never go, Steve! That was some journey, mind you. That station in Chisinau! Just a wee bit quiet just now, but it must have been a busy place in times gone by. Thanks for the ride!
That train. Wowzers. Like you teleported to the past! We love how you always find something positive to say, no matter. As always, really enjoyed this one. We're counting down to our return to Scotland in September and are doing some new-to-us things, thanks to your channel. :)
Superb! Thanks and enjoy planning the trip :)
Absolutely astonishing that they change bogeys. Great video Steve ! 🙂
I absolutely agree with you - I would have LOVED that train ride; particularly getting to be in the compartment they needed for the change-over work!
It was good for the video anyway :D
It's an amazing experience, isn't it. I travelled by train from Oostende to Minsk in 1970s and experienced the gauge change in Brest, along with the Soviet border controls of course. We were asked if we wanted to change money. I didn't and so stayed on the train. Otherwise I would have missed all the excitement!
Superb mate!
13:47 The excellent Mentour Pilot. Excellent info about aviation!
19:09 I suppose you've figured out it's not a terminal building but connecting to east and west?
That’s crazy ride indeed. But I believed that it would be an unforgettable experience 😄
That was a wonderful ground-level look at Bucharest and the train to Chisinau, I really enjoyed tagging along. Thanks so much.
Cheers for joining me!
I don't know what's better in this video... Visiting my country (Romania), the fantastic old school train, your great accent or the fact that you're a Mentour Pilot fan as well... (I've also visited Moldova twice).
@Alex Macedonian In Chișinău și la un sat în afara orașului. Sincer să fiu, nu îmi amintesc numele. Aveam cam 15-16 ani și am mers cu un prieten să ducem niște ajutoare la oameni pe care i-am întâlnit la o biserică. Drumul de la Timișoara a fost lung, schimbarea roților la graniță a fost un eveniment interesant și vizita a fost bună. Chiar și acum îmi aduc aminte ce zgomot făceau garniturile de tren în Chișinău când le manevrau și se "întindeau" cuplele între vagoane - venea zgomotul de la îndepărtare și ajungea la noi.
Steve you show it "Like It Is" and we appreciate this enormously. Loved the video. Many thanks!
Great video. I was on a train to Chisinau back in 1994 from Kiev..same kind of train! I would love to go back and enjoy the experience again. Before the war the station served more trains like to kiev and Odessa. Hope peace will come again soon cause Moldovans are suffering a lot from it.
Fantastic. Thank you
Brilliant stuff Steve, what a crazy trip, like time travel! I went to the Czech Republic in the early 90s, before it was taken over by drunken Brits on stag parties, and the whole country was fascinating. There is something otherworldly about eastern Europe, that train was fantastic :)
Dark and depressing. Makes me glad I don’t travel anymore.
Czechia not Eastern Europe my friend, and Hungary also. They are Central Europe
Romania is South-Eastern Europe and Moldova is the real Eastern Europe...
You just see and feel the difference immediately.
@@kevhynaleks2631 No offence meant, I was using the description in terms of the Cold War period rather than geographically
@@lightanddreamsphotography7140 The Iron Curtain is still deeply ingrained in many people's minds. The Ukrainian border is closer to where I am right now than the western parts of my own country, yet Ukraine feels to us as if it was on a different continent. Slovakia and Hungary are less than an hour by train and they feel far away (by now you can probably guess where I am).
Absolute classic Steve. Well done once again. Looking forward to the follow up.
Nice inclusion of @Mentourpilot !🤩
13:49
Love your inquisitiveness and ability to rough out these train journeys. I really loved the old-fashioned train journey.
Bucharest looks like an interesting city. Your train ride was epic, like going back in time. Loved it!
you can visit..
I left Romania with great memories after meeting some wonderful people and seeing incredible places (a video to come on this) It is a shame though for the train station to be such a poor welcome to a fantastic country, glad it will be refurbished!
@@mihaelafilipescu5818 ești din București?
@@mihaelafilipescu5818 ,de ce suntam primii care ne vorbim tara de rau?Bucurestiul e foarte curat comparativ cu multe capitale mari europene,e plin de istorie ,de arta si oameni frumosi! Cand mai veniti pe acasa ,veniti cu sufletul deschis.
Another great video. The work you do and the stuff you put up with to bring these videos to us is really greatly appreciated. Please be careful and don't fall off a train going from car to car. And yes, that dinner looked yummy. Thanks again for all the work that you do to bring these to us. Say hi to Alicja for me. Be well, stay safe, be careful of those trains, love from Texas.
Thanks so much Kate!!!
Wow Bucharest has arcades Cardiff style!!!
Thank you of course for another fine video-well done too!
What a interesting journey Steve. Love that train looks like something that came out of the 30's. Question why do rain tracks to the station always have to be the ugliest part of the city lol imagine if they went through the nice parts. Thanks for a great video as always. Happy Easter
I did one month ago but the opposite routes (from Chisinau to Bucarest). Very interesting trip. It was of course the same train but without wifi.
I just got back from a two week cruise in the Mediterranean and saw some amazing and inspiring places (please go to Kotor in Croatia...one of the most scenically beautiful places I have ever seen). I sure don't travel to these older less visited places like you do. Some of the cities ,(as in this video) make me sad...the people there look so care worn...truly made me appreciate my own circumstances...which isn't a bad thing is it? But I love old and historic...and that train sure fit the bill.. beautiful.
Hope you had a lovely time Yvonne and I have heard often how amazing Croatia is, somewhere I NEED to get to soon!
Kotor is lovely but it is In Montenegro.
Loving your train journeys taking us to places we will probably never go. Laughed all the way through this one .
Wow! I wasn't expecting them to do the change of gauge by lifting the carriages bodily off the old bogies and rolling new ones in! I was expecting a variable-gauge system, where they unlock something on the bogies, drive the train slowly through a special section of track, and lock the bogies again.
Me too; that's how they used to do it on trains between Paris and Madrid.
oh my goodness........I've traveled by train many many times and never have I witnessed a train like that! Good thing you had a flashlight or how could you have gotten about it was so dark. You are brave and have a spirit for adventure for sure! The man having to enter your cabin to attach the 'wheels' was quite amazing! I think due to light issues and 'wheel' issues I would forgo this train! Although, I so appreciate you doing it - it was awesome to witness! You are such a trooper and love your videos!
😮 What an experience Steve! Surely it's got to be easier to get all the passengers to change to a different train at the border? I mean what difference does it make compared to getting everyone out of bed for an hour and a half to complete all that faff! Bizarre...
normally there would be a switch in trains but Moldova is Moldova I guess. Romania is very chilled - you have a lot of freedom to fk up if you want to
I was thinking the same!
That interior shot of the building at 21:45 is gorgeous. Like a dream.
Now that seems like a proper good old sleeper journey, after watching this I feel like I will have to add it to my bucket list. Is it not possible to collect the tickets from Chisinau? Also was it hard to communicate in English in Moldova and Romania?
More about the fun fact, last year's Moldovan eurovision entry was not only filmed in the train but the whole song was about the train, which had a bit of political meaning hinting at a possible unification with Romania as some Moldovans think they might be the next Ukraine
Thanks Fran! Communication in Moldova was a bit tricky, I used the little Russian I have to get by. I bought my tickets on the Romanian website, hence the ticket collection in Bucharest only. I wasn't brave enough to navigate the Moldovan website :)
Just wow!. That train reminded me of Horror Express with Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing. Old and cozy with some class.
Steve, you get the same problem with the gauge change between Poland and Belarus! Strangely enough they use similar sleeping cars (all ex-RZD from Russia).
What a superb train journey. Be fascinating to do it in daylight too.
Great video
So true! Would love to go back and do just that!
My thoughts: I've never met anyone who wanted to go to Moldova. I experienced the bogie change when I went from London/Hook of Holland to Moscow, as we moved from Poland to Russia. We had to all get off the train then. Your dinner looked excellent. And the station in Moldova is outstanding. Your videos continue to both entertain and fascinate.
Cheers Barry!
I had a month's work in Bucharest some years ago, and it is indeed a crazy place. Stayed in a hotel where I had an inch long cockroach in my bedside table (happily a dead one!) that was never removed by the cleaner. It was next door to fairly decent Irish pub, I remember, and that August it must have been 30C. Loads of outdoor tables to eat and drink at in the evening, enjoying the scenery - mostly stunningly beautful Romanian girls wearing very little and with a quite evident underwear shortage. Extraordinary place.
Have expected Borat to put in an appearance.
One of the very best videos you’ve made. Full of interesting events and seeing the Moldavian railway station was amazing. The sleeping carriages reminded me of the 1960s sleepers in the UK.
This is how you sort the "westerners" from the "easterners" - I bet my dad who grew up during the soviet union occupation could have slept through that whole border gauge change ordeal! 😂
Haha love this!
My Dad is from the Caribbean and I bet you he would have slept through it all too. 🙄
We had an eartquake about 20 years ago hit us and shake us good for some seconds, 45 ish seconds. He slept through it aaaall. Things were falling, we were shaking and we fell and screamed, chairs toppled over, and all the rest you can imagine. He woke up looooong after it was over stating that he felt weirdly strange. He did not even knooow we wete hit by an earthquake. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@zianeshkasparen4358 Hahahahaha, amazing!
Some guys are just not tired enough. Usually, if I put my head on the pillow I sleep in just seconds, no matter what. Long ago me and some fellows had our bedroom right next to an airport apron where they were starting and testing airplane jet engines. That kind that are now banned because of noise. I was just sleeping as a baby. Long story short - do some real work and get tired and you will sleep anywhere
I have just by chance come across your content and I am working my way through but I have to say your positive attitude is a total vibe and actually quite inspiring. Loving the content!
If you think it is crazy from Bucharest to Chisinau.... Wait untill you get to the Chisinau to Bucharest part! It will all be.... Folklore and Rock and Roll! 😂
Very true about sleeper trains! They get you where you want to go, first thing in the morning... and ready for some sleep! Great video, nonetheless! I definitely want to take that train.
Its a great ride, done this a couple of time. Gara De Nord is definitely full of characters! This train is a time capsule of the communist era, nothing has changed. I loved that though. I also did this ride the first time in winter and you may not have seen it in Spring, but each carriage still has coal burning heaters called 'soba' at each end and the conductor opens up and stokes the stoves with coal regularly and man it gets warm!...very effective. Even though its slow, a lot of it is during the bogey and wheel changes which is super interesting. Its nostalgic, its rustic, and that's what is great about travel. 👍👍
Steve, that has to be one of your craziest adventures yet! Great to see you going to such places.
Went on this train trip in 1996 to watch Moldova v England in a World Cup qualifier for France 98.
Don't think much on the train has changed but we were 4 to a cabin, and the change of train wheels took 4-5 hours at the border so things have improved now it seems.
We were sold wine in old plastic bottles and there were about 20 English all together on board and will always be remembered as another great trip going unofficially and without England travel club membership
We couldn't stomach the same journey back so 4 of us got a taxi back to Bucharest, 7 - 8 hours trip, costing about 100 us dollars. The driver only fell asleep at the wheel once.
Next was Tiblisi, Georgia. We flew to Atlanya, then Trabzon and coach from there to Tiblisi. 37 of us travelling unofficially - Loaded magazine did an article on us; Georgian Mildred.
Great days
Superb mate! Haha the taxi sounds dodgier than the train :D
Thanks for the great review. We are doing the same trip in June, we are under no illusions that it is not the most comfortable of journeys but are very much looking forward to it. We have checked out many vlogs on this trip and this is the best by far. We also travelled on the night train from Brasov to Budapest a few years back and loved it.
Have a fantastic time! Just be ready to catch up on some sleep afterwards :)
the meal looked great but all that hassle changing gauges at the border, no thank you!
Its cause of holland and austria😂
Brilliant, Steve, I love your sense of adventure. Not a place I'm likely to go to - too few holidays, too many other places - so look forward to seeing your next video so I can see what I'm missing. Hope you stay safe from all the hawkers. Take care
Cheers Daz!
Come home, Steve. I’m afraid you’ve wandered into a Cold War spy movie!
😂🤣😂🤣
And Agent Steve is loving it :)
That's my kind of train journey! Those gangways between carriages takes me back to the 1970's (when I was a kid) traveling across Europe to Yugoslavia by train on our summer holidays. Pure mental!
You make Alan Wicker look a complete amateur
Haha cheers Robin!
Thank you very much for sharing this great video. It is an awesome train journey to Moldova and keep safe, Steve. Looking forward to watching more of your adventures in Eastern Europe.
Love your spirit of adventure and taking us places I may never get to see
I've just found your channel recently and I like your style. A simple Travelogue by train without the techy stuff I know nothing about and through the old Eastern Bloc countries which fascinate me too. Bon voyage.
Welcome aboard! Thank you!
A beautiful, dark train ride. Moving between cars is a bit scary, but the train compartment is well furnished.
Unexpectedly interesting video. Regards and good luck!
Man ! What a trip and changing the under carriage of the train to boot - unbelievable ! another good one Steve ! we’ll await your next trip to the states where you can do a few c&classic’ rail trips there too ! See ya soon !
Cheers Fred!
Wow, how cool to see such a place! I learn so much by following your channel. I love to stop the vlog and read wikipedia about the places you travel through and then check the maps to get routes and geography... Keep up the adventures!
Thanks so much George!
I'm always surprised but what you get yourself in to Steve. I love it! :) I'm tempted by this journey and is going on my list of potential trips.
The best traintravel guy on TH-cam. I have to see moore of this. But I would not go myself on that train😎
That is quite a ride, and it is something really classic. My congratulations on this, I really liked it.
Planning on doing the same in the future myself as well.
I am a Romanian train enthusiast that travels a lot and also posts on TH-cam.
Have a good one.
Cheers 👍
Thanks so much, I'll check yours out!
Superb stuff. That journey ticks all of the boxes - travel by train, overnight, compartment to yourself and even a border crossing thown in as well. Who cares if you don't get much sleep. That's what tomorrow is for.
You'd love this one Scott! And would love to see your video on it!
Excelent! I plan to do the invers journey, from Chisinau to Bucharest, by early August. I look forward to that, thank you for this video, travel all you can!
One of my favourite videos of yours Steve, what a unique journey