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Transnistria – a country that does not really exist

A country stuck in a time warp, a time before the Soviet Union collapsed – that ‘s how most travel blogs, herald this tiny strip of land. Well, I hate to destroy this phantasy of a completely different world. Yes, it is a bit out-dated, slow-paced, but this was a relief after the SUV Jammer streets of Chisinau, Skopje, and Pristina. A country that is completely dependent on Russia, economically, financially and politically after it broke away from Moldavia 30 years ago.But also this is changing…

Parliament with giagantic Lenin Statue

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Chechnya’s Rebirth

What comes to your mind when you think of Chechnya, and Grozny in particular? A bombed-out city, bearded men and veiled women? Well, you could not be more wrong. When I visited in August 2019, not only the capital, but an entire country did not show the slightest traces of war.  I was baffled, it was only 15 years earlier that a brutal war was raging in this country between Islamic separatists and the Russian army. What erased this part of Chechnya’s recent history was the program “Chechnya without Traces of War”. It started in 2005, one year after the war ended and made Chechnya, cities and also rural areas, look brand new. Nothing should remind of the horrible war, no ruins, abandoned buildings nothing.

Grozny - downtown

Grozny – downtown

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