Returning back to Batumi after our amazing hiking in the mountains was only another short visit. We had two more days in town to relax before we boarded the ferry that would take us to Odessa, Ukraine. The ferry was scheduled to start boarding at 10pm but when we arrived at 9pm, they told us that the boat had just arrived. At around 2am we were finally allowed to get on board. The next two days we spent on the MS Greifswald and had a pretty good time. All the meals that were served were basic but very tasty and it was great to be forced to leave the cabin at least these three times a day. Most of the two days of the voyage we spent chilling in our little two-bed cabin reading, sleeping or working on the computer.

After two full days crossing the Black Sea we reached the port of Chornomorsk at 6am. Immigration and customs were a bit of pain but after 3h we were finally on our way into Odessa where Vroni's brother Basti was already waiting for us. The next few days we spent exploring the city and surroundings together and catching up after not seeing each other in person since we left Germany in the beginning of 2017. We walked around town for a bit, took part in a guided walking tour and also hired a guide to explore the catacombs of Odessa. The latter was a real highlight of our time there. The vast system of tunnels is very impressive and you can learn a lot about the local history by exploring them.

The time flew by and when Basti had to leave, we also got back on our bikes to cycle again. Within one day we reached Transnistria. They consider themselves an independent country since 1991, but no other country in the world recognises them as independent. So now they are kind of independent, but still kind of part of Moldova. A really interesting situation with such a large political backlog that it would be too much to explain here. From Tiraspol in Transnistria we rode to Chisinau in Moldova and enjoyed a rest day there to explore this next capital. You could have probably spent more time there but we wanted to keep going to get to Romania. After one day we reached the border and were finally back in the EU! Yay, no more borders, visa or passport checks.

In Romania we cycled for three more days through the lovely hilly scenery of Transylvania. We mostly camped but one night we were super lucky with a local family. We just asked them whether we could pitch our tent in their large grassy yard, but they offered us to sleep in a room in the house. We had a beautiful shower, enjoyed sunset on the balcony and were surprised about how amazingly friendly people are. The next day was our last one to reach the town of Miercurea Ciuc where we will be staying for a few weeks to build our new tiny house on wheels!! You will see more about that here on our blog, so be excited. ;-)

Cheers from Romania,
Vroni, Droni and Jonas