Quote: (06-17-2018 06:46 PM)nola Wrote:
Quote: (06-16-2018 12:05 PM)scengja Wrote:
Today is my last night in Chisinau. Figured I should post some observations after spending a week here.
Getting in from Kiev: I got a driver to drive me here from Kiev (found on some overpriced drivers-for-foreigners-site). Paid 180USD, which got me a new SUV, which matters given that the roads are nasty in some stretches. You can probably get a bus for like 10USD. Trip took about 6 hours, there were some issues getting out of Ukraine, no idea why since I speak zero Russian, after about 30min they just let us through. I asked my driver “have problem?”, he just replied “problem yes”. Unfortunately, that is as far as his English went.
After that we drove through Transnistria, no problems, just another border check (they looked through my luggage that’s all). Here is an important thing to remember; when you leave Transnistria and enter Moldova their will be a little booth next to the road, stop there and make sure you get a slip from the guy, there are some stories about people having some issues if you do not have this slip when you leave Moldova.
The city: I try to be positive about all places I visit but Chisinau is not making it easy. You just get the feel that it is fairly sleepy (granted temperatures were around 30c). Of course, architecture, the streets etc. are pretty grim, there are a few nice parks though, but that is pretty much it.
The girls: I have to say surprisingly bad. I think the previous posters in this thread are correct that most hot Moldavian girls left a long time ago. I walked around in town for many hours without seeing an 8 or above. Tinder also confirms this; I got the “no more people around you” after only like 20min of swiping with limited quality. Been busy working so have not checked out the nightlife besides a few bars (saw a few decent girls with obvious sponsors) There is a touristy skybar in the Radisson Hotel called Zaxi which has a decent view (and of course overpriced drinks).
Conclusion: It is hard to recommend Chisinau for any reason really. Unless you have an “in” like nola talked about. Spending time in a 2nd tier Ukrainian city or in any Romanian student city like Iasi or Cluj just makes a lot more sense.
What other venues did you visit in Kishinev? Not going to argue the city is sleepy for sure.
Radisson Blu bar is where the hookers hang out and it's only good for playing blackjack in the casino as they are running a 5 deck (non auto) shoe (which is good)
Skybar which is next door to the Cosmos Hotel is for sure a shit show, not recommended.
Also tinder sucks everywhere I won't touch it other than for entertainment/boredom reasons.
Given that I was pretty de-motivated by the quality I saw on the streets I did not check out any nightclubs. Went for a drink with a girl I met on tinder at a place called Mojito, it was just a big terrace bar, saw a few decent girls, but place was not too crowded. As for the tinder girl she was not really my type, so I quickly changed it into a "tell me about Moldova"-date instead, which was good.
Anyway, clearly I am not the one to ask about Chisinau nightlife, the key take-away from my earlier post is just that I personally was surprised by the lack of quality on the streets.