Heat battle!

The last kilometers through Romania were again characterized by flat landscape and huge fields. There was still one city on the way to the border.

Galati, I didn't make it to the center. What I saw was enough for me. Lots of dirt, lots of dirty industry, lots of brokenness and ruins, the infrastructure in a miserable state like I had never experienced before. That scared me off and made me look for a way out.

The border control was again very easy. Cut in line, processed preferentially due to the heat after I denied the question about weapons or explosives 😀

Then I was in Moldova 🇲🇩, here too the roads were initially in a bad condition. But that should improve. Only the main connecting roads are paved here, everything else is gravel or heavily worn field paths. Because of the heat, I decided to take the main roads. But here too, caution is required. It often happened that potholes were excavated about ankle-deep to be later filled with new asphalt, and all without any warning signs or speed limits. So full concentration was always required, unthinkable in Germany. But here people can deal with it, also unthinkable in Germany 🤗.

The landscape changed at the border, the fields were not as big anymore and it became slightly hilly. I was impressed by the sometimes quite severe soil erosion, entire slopes were simply washed away.

Many farmers were on the road with horse-drawn vehicles or single-axle trailers.

What was quite noticeable compared to Romania or Bulgaria is that they try to maintain and preserve existing buildings. Many nice small houses with a nice paint job, very little neglect. That was not the case in the first two countries mentioned.

They also handle waste differently here, there are enclosed landfills, and there's not as much litter on the roadside.

The people are friendly, open, and interested in you, even though communication is very difficult, but with hands and feet and Google Translate into Russian, it works too.

Today's temperatures put an early end to my journey.

When my thermometer showed 37 degrees during the ride, I called it a day, as not even the wind could cool me off anymore. When I arrived at the hotel, the hotel thermometer showed 40 degrees, that's not acceptable, especially when riding with protective clothing. The locals mostly ride motorcycles with flip-flops, shorts, and a t-shirt.

All in all, it's actually a great country with great people, but I will leave again tomorrow. My gut tells me, even if there is no travel warning, the Republic of Moldova is not a NATO member, borders Ukraine, Transnistria is secessionist and occupied by Russians, better go back to Romania and the Carpathians. It might be a bit cooler there.