Sergiu speaks no English; I speak even less Moldovan, but Sergiu explains – via Natalje – that if we drink enough alcohol this totally won’t matter. Well, it’s gotta be worth a shot. Ahem.
Turns out he’s right. As Sergiu exuberantly offers up shot glasses of mulberry vodka, pine-needle vodka, strawberry vodka, “medicine” vodka, “78 per cent proof” vodka and “at this point I forgot to take notes” vodka, we start chattering away in some special drunken Esperanto before breaking lustily into urgent folk songs, and then at last I stumble home, chuckling, to my rustic wooden chamber – and when I wake up I can hear cocks crowing, donkeys coughing and Sergiu’s extended family. On the sunny balcony, Emilia is serving warm home-made bread: with rosehip jam and fresh cottage cheese.
And as I sit there nursing a mild hangover and good strong coffee, staring at the silvery mist rising from the Dniester, Sergiu comes up and shakes my hand and gives me a free bottle of the raspberry vodka. Which was apparently my favourite (my memory is hazy). And as he does this I think: what a nice guy, what a nice family and what a nice country. Because it is true: absolutely everyone I have met on this trip has been lovely and that is something truly special.
In a world where tourists are increasingly shunned, heckled, taxed, cursed and processed industrially through sterile resorts, Moldova is a place where they welcome you with delight, because they get so few tourists, and because they really want to see you. Put it another way, visiting Moldova is like going home to the warm and funny family you forgot you had. Fantastic.
How to do it
Regent (www.regent-holidays.co.uk; 0117 453 3001) offers an eight-day Vineyards and Villages trip in Moldova covering the rich cultural heritage of Chisinau, the enigmatic allure of Transnistria and the rustic charm of Moldovan villages, with wine tasting and ancient monasteries along the way. It costs from £2,825 per person sharing and includes flights, three nights at a four-star hotel in Chisinau (one at the beginning of the trip, two at the end), a further four nights’ accommodation in a variety of family-run guesthouses or boutique properties, plus a number of meals and guided tours.
Note that while the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has no warnings in place for Moldova, it advises against all travel to Transnistria. Ignoring FCDO advice could invalidate your travel insurance.