Skopje & Ohrid Macedonia: Fortresses and Jiu-Jitsu

Greetings From Skopje and Ohrid Macedonia! (2-10 Sep 2017)

I left Bulgaria on a bus feeling fine but once I got to Skopje and had my first night’s rest at the hostel I woke up not feeling very well. I had a sinus cold starting, messing with my respiratory system, and the ear infection was still giving me grief. I ended up not training at Skopje, the post camp flu had finally caught up with me. Instead I tried working online to catch up on some writing as well as plan out the next part of the Odyssey. At this stage I was looking to make my way over to Myanmar and Thailand which gave me the opportunity to make a stopover and possible class along the way, I’ll tell you all about that adventure next article. Although I didn’t get to train in Skopje I did talk to Martin who runs a club there. We spoke a lot about me coming to visit and had planned out when would be best to come for class, when I ended up sick and just decided to rest he told me all the best places or sight seeing. Skopje is a really nice city with a mix of old historic sights with new modern monuments. I really like the statues to various leaders and generals throughout the city to remind everyone of the long history of Macedonia.

I also took a bus from Skopje to Ohrid and it was a very scenic and quiet route, the hillsides and valleys through Macedonia are really beautiful. There was nothing too eventful, I caught the bus at the station which was right next to the hostel I was staying at in Skopje and away we went through the country side to Ohrid. Ohrid is a small town, built in a valley along the shore of Lake Ohrid, which shares the other half of it's shore with Albania, and up the side of one of the hills where the fortress rests on top. The view is amazing coming in to town as we crested the hills and saw the beauty of the surrounding area. I was very happy to be traveling to see this place and meet Nenad and his gym and looked forward to exploring Ohrid more while I visited. 

Saw this copper roofed church while at a stop to Ohrid. The painter painting under the cloth in the gentle breeze seems to peaceful.

The Sights

As I said before Skopje has a cool mix of old historic landmarks with new ones and the best example of that is the town square. There is an old stone bridge linking the modern town square to the old town market. It's a historic sight, with statues and water fountains at each end and leading up the square that has a giant water fountain and Statue to Alexander the Great in the middle. The roads leading to the square have a series of old monuments and statues, like the arch 'Port Macedonia' that covers one of the streets to the square.

Skopje Square and the Alexander the Great statue.

Port Skopje Arch.

The market, or Old Bazaar, and the remains of old Skopje Fortress are also great examples of the history of Skopje and Macedonia. The market has a few main roads lined with stalls selling practically anything but the whole area is a series of catacomb alleys. I could see a growing part of the catacombs was becoming trendy stores and restaurants for tourists. The fortress is just outside of the catacombs on a hillside overlooking the city. From up there you can see the whole town stretch out in front of you with the town square right below. There’s nothing too special about the fortress grounds itself, it’s been knocked down over the years and other than the outer wall facing the city most of it is half crumbled brick walls, pits and piles of rock inside. The important thing isn’t what it is now but rather what is was before and the history it carries.

Arch to the Old Bazaar.

Skopje Fortress.

The view from the fortress wall.

Ohrid also has a mix of old culture and history with modern tourism. The downtown core has many shops and restaurants, a lot of them lining Lake Ohrid for scenic waterfront views. All this downtown is at the base of the hill that old Ohrid is built upon, walk up the winding roads and you see the houses get older in style and after a while they open up to the Ancient Theater, an old outdoor amphitheater on the hillside overlooking the lake. Tsar Samoil's Fortress sits up on top of the hill itself, overlooking all of the surrounding land. Again, like Skopje the Ohrid fortress was nothing more than a big brick outer wall, with the inside gutted, but the views but up on top were amazing. From up on the lookout there you could see all the surrounding valleys to the next peaks of the far off mountains. Anyone back in the day marching an army in, or rowing one in from the water front, would be seen from far off.

part of downtown Ohrid by the lake

Lake Ohrid.

Ancient theater.

Tsar Samoil's Fortress.

I also happened to walk by the old UN base in Ohrid. It's gated and boarded up now so I couldn't go inside but I managed to take a few pictures from the street. The people of Macedonia aren't happy with the UN from the events that happened during the split into their own country and the UN's exit from helping them so they don't like to talk about this base or that time. 

You can see my photos from this visit and all my other stops over on my Flickr Account.

Roots BJJ Ohrid

Nenad trains at the only gym in Ohrid, Roots BJJ Ohrid, a small group of very welcoming people who are genuinely happy to have visitors come to see their beautiful town. Nenad is a really fit guy, training at the gym at least once a day as well as doing Jiu-Jitsu 4 or 5 times a week, he even asked me to come out to the gym with him and although I wouldn’t mind being completely made a fool by someone who looks like they warm up with my max weight I was just getting over the cold and really didn’t want to push it too much. So instead we just met for Jiu-Jitsu. Although I was staying just down the road from the gym Nenad picked me up since it’s a bit tricky to find. The gym has some partitions for changing and a washroom around the corner, with the rest of the space tatami mats. The coach, whose name I forget, is a purple belt we spoke a little and he was very happy to have me come visit telling me I'm welcome any time. I got from the sense that they, being isolated from the bigger cities, are really grateful to have any visitors and take every opportunity to invite people in and make them feel at home with the gym.

The classes are started with a good warm up, which in my first class giving my rank standing at the end I was supposed to lead but I didn’t want to disturb their usual routine and held back for someone else to take the lead instead. Of the things I like to see when visiting different gyms their warm up routine is one of them. I’m not a fan of huge crossfit like exercise class long warm ups but I like to see the different movements that gyms do, often I find a new movement or chain of movements that I think would be great to remember for later. Just like submission techniques everyone has their own little differences in moving the body to warm it up before class. You can tell a lot about the gym and what style of Jiu-Jitsu they have by their warm ups most times as well. The next part of class was drilling takedowns, which Nenad and I worked different entries for Judo throws for gi class and arm drags into single legs and low singles for No-Gi. It was great drilling with Nenad, not just the takedowns but the whole class in general, because he doesn’t just quickly drill over and over, he’s like me where each rep gets dissected and analyzed and improved upon next rep. Together we worked to really get the moves we were drilling down. I’ve been to other gyms where sure we drill a lot but maybe I don’t feel like I got that technique down too well despite all the reps. Maybe Nenad and I just overthink or maybe other people under think and prefer quantity or quality, either way I enjoyed training with him.

Rolling with Nenad wasn’t as fun, his gym routine definitely made a difference when we rolled. Nenad had no problem controlling and submitting me at will. I guess I should’ve taken him up on those gym sessions after all. Seriously though he was a nice guy and even though he firmly controlled me he wasn’t crushing me like I know he could have. All the guys there were no joke in the physical department and could have easily run circles around me, not that they were looking to hurt or humiliate me, they were just a bunch of fit guys with strong Jiu-Jitsu, lucky for me they were also really nice and I was on their good sides. Nenad and Roots BJJ were great hosts I thoroughly enjoyed my time visiting, thanks for having me guys!

Thanks again for the great times Nenad.

I made a video of my time training with Roots BJJ Ohrid that you can watch below. If it doesn't load, or you want to watch my other videos, just head over to the Panda's Odyssey YouTube Channel and check them out there. Please show some love, like, share, comment or even subscribe, thanks!

My time in Orhid was way too fast and over before I knew it I was on another bus off for another adventure. This time I was bound for my last stop in Eastern Europe before heading for Asia: Tirana Albania.

Until next time,
see you on the mats!
OSSS!!

WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA'S ODYSSEY!
Sign up to the Panda's Odyssey Patreon Account.
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Follow me and other traveling Jiu-Jitsueros at the BJJ Globetrotters blog section.
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Sofia, Bulgaria: Twisted and Mangled

Greetings From Sofia Bulgaria! (28 August - 2 September 2017)

After the amazing BJJ Globetrotters Fall Camp I wish never ended I was on a plane back to Eastern Europe, with my next stop being Sofia Bulgaria. I was looking forward to Sofia because there are a few clubs there I had heard great things about, Twisted BJJ which it seems every Globetrotter that travels this part of the world ends up visiting, and Battle Club Bulgaria, a place my friend Matthew Kaiser connected me with to get an introduction into Submission Wrestling. With an uneventful flight from Frankfurt to Sofia and no problems using the trains or finding my hostel I was ready for some rest before checking out these gyms, the post camp blues and post camp flu is real after all so best not to push it too much in the first few days.

I was actually dealing with an incredibly painful ear infection that started at the camp, and I believe it was more due to some cartilage damage that I got at some point (I seriously believe grapplers break more ears than anything else) so I had to deal with this problem first. I tried some beeswax candles in case it was an impacted wax build up before figuring out I had some damaged cartilage. I really don’t know how those things work, the candle just created more of a mess than anything else in my case. Luckily I had picked some more tea tree oil while at the camp and with the care package I finally received from my Mom I was all set for dealing with the problem. After a few days of rest and checking out the city I was ready to start training again.

The Sights

Sofia is a deceptively big city that sprawls out with lots to see and some great museums, which sadly I did not visit. There is a long complicated history to the city and a few different walking tour companies offer a 2 hour tour to explain it all while checking out the historic sights and buildings. While I did go on a similar route to see the places I passed up on the tour, more interested in the architectural design than the history lesson. Here are some of my photos from walking around the city.

Of course you can see more of photos from this and all my other stops over on my Flickr Account.

Twisted BJJ

When searching the BJJ Globetrotters community for anything on Bulgaria there was a lot of great reviews for Twisted BJJ so it was on the list of gyms I must check out while traveling and as it happens another Globetrotter Nick would be in the area at the same time. I wish I had more time to chat with Nick and maybe do an interview together as he’s been living the dream of a BJJ Globetrotter for some time, having lucked in with a career in a field that allows him to constantly travel and see the world and train all while making a few dollars. In the short time we talked after class it seemed like Nick had a story for every continent and plans to keep going. I’m sure we will meet again one day and I look forward to hearing his stories.

Great meeting you Nick, until next time!

Nick and I both spoke to the club about coming in and agreed with each other when to meet up for a class together. I found the right streetcar to take and got to the club, which is outside of town, a bit early and found the club up above a grocery store easy enough and had already introduced myself and changed by the time Nick showed up. We jumped into no-gi class and moved around training with and meeting members of the club. The place is pretty simple, you walk and there's the front desk and change rooms on the right with a long mat space stretching far back in front of you. For class we worked a few different technique involving the X-guard, like stuffing it and passing or taking the opponent down for a leg drag to back take. Fun stuff, I've been going over some of these techniques again with other classes I've been in and it all makes way more sense, like having them sit and thought over for the past few months and now revisiting them puts them in a new light and gives me a new understanding of them. Anyways it was good class and rolling with everyone after was equality as good, but I never got a single chance to try anything from class, instead I was crushed by all the beasts there. Tough rolls with good guys, be sure to check them out if you're ever in Sofia. 

The Twisted gang.

Battle Club Bulgaria

Another club I checked out was the Battle Club Bulgaria, which isn't a Jiu-Jitsu club or a place that any Globetrotters recommended. No, this is a Submission Wrestling club that my friend, Combat Wrestling Canada Champion and World Combat Wrestling Team Canada Captain, Matthew Kaiser set me up with by putting me in contact with the head coach and Team Bulgaria Captain Kamen Georgiev. Combat Wrestling is very new, only a few years old, so I haven't much experience with it, or Submission Wrestling (other than no-gi BJJ classes) for that matter. Even though a lot of my no-gi techniques are wrestling based techniques I've hardly been in wrestling classes, in fact I would say the classes I've had the pleasure of attending on this journey around the world are the only real wrestling classes I've had. I was very intrigued and a bit intimidated so this seemed like a great chance for an adventure. An adventure in being mangled that is.

The gym is quite a bit out of town, way more than Twisted which is just on the outskirts. This place is way out down a street that only one streetcar goes down, and not terribly often, so if I missed it I would have to deal with taxis, which is not an option for me. It also took a bit to find as the place is back from the road with an old rusted gate out front, making it look more like a haunted house than a combat gym. All part of the deception to the unknowing masses. Once I found the gym and walked in the only person there was a guy sitting out front smoking, after explaining to him what I was there for he assured me there would be class and pointed where to get changed. The gym has a main entrance with all sorts of posters and news articles of the club's achievements in various sports. When you move into the gym area you see there's a MMA cage as well as a boxing ring in the back with mat space and bags to hit on the main floor. From the articles out front killers were created here.

Apparently even with all the problems finding the right streetcar and the gym itself I still got there early. I got changed and started stretching out, Kamen showed up and introduced himself to me. He's a big solid guy and I knew from the start I was going to get ragged-dolled that night. But in a good way. Kamen asked me about my experiences in grappling in different styles and told me some of his achievements, which are many. Once we were done stretching Kamen had me enter the cage (yes, class was held in the cage) with him and start some light rolling from different positions to see where I was at. Basically he chose a position like turtle or bottom side and had me attack him for about 20-30 seconds before effortlessly sweeping and submitting me. I was in awe of the pure gentle power this guy has.   

As we rolled more people showed up and class begun, working drills like pummeling, arm drags and neck ties. Kamen worked with me for for a bit showing me some take downs he figured would be good for my game, like the low single. I worked in with two other guys for the rest of class working different drills then working take downs. We would have a round of working for advantage and going for a take down on each other, once we got to the ground it was done and we'd switch out. I was gassed and my ear was killing me by the time the went for full rolls so I just stood out and watched. These guys were all beasts who could roll at top aggression, while maintaining total control, for what seemed like forever. I was dumbfounded by it and realized just how small I really am compared to some beasts out there (as the picture shows I was the smallest guy there). Thank you Kamen for having me and thanks to your club for the great wrestling session.

The beasts that threw me around, with Kamen in the middle. 

Combat Wrestling, you must be wondering what it is I was talking about earlier. It's a new sport that combines the point system of wrestling for take downs and pins with the submissions of Jiu-Jitsu and other submission grappling styles. I truly believe in the next 10 years it's going to catch on and end up in the Olympics. I really like the idea of it and because of my friend is involved in it so deeply I watch along with it growing and evolving. Maybe I'll try my hand in it when I get home. For more information on the specifics of the sport and who's in charge in your area check out the Combat Wrestling website.

On the road again.

After another stop of making new friends, seeing a new city and learning a new grappling art it was time to head off to the next stop for more adventures. I was off to Macedonia, another country with rich history and solid grappling skills.

Until next time,
see you on the mats!
OSSS!!

WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA'S ODYSSEY!
Sign up to the Panda's Odyssey Patreon Account.
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Follow me and other traveling Jiu-Jitsueros at the BJJ Globetrotters blog section.
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.
Check out my full photo albums for each article at my Flickr account.
Add me and follow along on most social media @pandasodyssey

Bucharest Romania: My New Friend & Dracula!

Greetings From Bucharest Romania! (13-21 Aug 2017)

I left on a train from Iasi for Bucharest, looking forward to Meet and train at the Absoluto BJJ HQ that Mihai talked so much about, little did I know how much plans would change in the coming days. The train route I was taking involved a transfer at one point, at a station in the middle of nowhere where no one spoke English and there was no wifi. I'm glad I had my ticket printed to show to people so they could at least just point to the platform. I had over an hour to wait for the next train, even after all the time it took to figure out which platform it was arriving on. The train I was connecting to was quite late so I was worried I had missed it, maybe I was on the wrong platform, maybe the previous train was the one I should have boarded, not until I was assured by a conductor that I was on the right train did I finally relax.

It was evening by the time I arrived in Bucharest, I was tired and starting not to feel too well. At first I decided to take a taxi rather than figure out the transit system. I walked outside to the one of the waiting taxis and asked how much to get to the the hostel I was staying at, which wasn't that far. I was told an outrageous price so I asked if he would put on the meter as I knew it be would no more than half the price he asked. He refused, telling me it would the same and then telling me it doesn't work, so I told him he's crazy to ask that much and went to the next taxi who also asked for an outrageous price. When I asked him to run the meter instead he told me "Meter? No, it's Sunday, and in the evening, and it's doesn't work well.." because apparently all the meters don't work well when it's a Sunday evening. I had seen on Google maps on my phone that there was a train station nearby, so I said loud enough so other people exiting the train station could hear me "That's a stupid price, I can take the train for way less" and walked off toward the subway. I got to the hostel easy enough and settled in, ready to sleep and plan out my visit in Bucharest. 

In the center of Bucharest there is a huge water fountain, a lot of it was down in repair.

Staying In Bucharest And Taking A Break

I woke up still not feeling well and decided, with the BJJ Globetrotters Fall Camp around the corner, which would be my first camp attending, I would skip training and relax. Hopefully I would feel better for the camp I was so excited for and just take in the sites in Bucharest. I spent some time looking online at the sights and monuments in Bucharest and decide on which ones to see and film and take pictures of, over my time visiting Bucharest I got to see a lot of the city, which has a lot to see.

The estate of Vlad III in Bucharest, it's a museum now.

The Rebirth Memorial, remembering the war.

Unfortunately my memory card on my phone glitched during this trip and I lost most of the pictures, luckily the videos I took were all intact and I was able to make this video. If the video doesn't load you can head to the Panda's Odyssey YouTube Channel and watch it and all my over videos there. Share some love and like, share, comment or subscribe to the channel!

You can also see what ever pictures I managed to save from this trip on my Flickr Account.

Meeting Leonie

During my stay at the hostel in Bucharest I met Leonie, a German woman on vacation checking out Romania. We went out for food one day and wandered about taking photos of the city, I had a picture (that I lost) of the top of a building that was riddled with stray artillery fire from the war. It was cool wandering with Leonie as she would pick out little details from buildings like that, we would guess what the old buildings are before reading their signs, or talk about what they might have been before. Many good times were had hanging out with her so when she mentioned she was off to Brasov to see Transylvania and Castle Bran, Dracula's castle, and asked if I wanted to come along I couldn't refuse. Throughout the trip Leonie had her camera with her taking all sorts of great photos, you can see her blog on the vacation and all her awesome photos from our adventures HERE. I'm so glad I met her at the hostel as I probably would have just sat there watching Netflix otherwise, thanks for the good times Leonie, until we meet again!

I caught this candid of Leonie as we were wandering through some popular narrow alley in Brasov, for some reason I really like it.

Adventures In Brasov

With the new plans to head to Brasov we headed out to the train station in the morning and picked up tickets for the next train that wouldn't be for some time. After grabbing a coffee and waiting we decided to head to the platform we thought we were informed to wait at. All the boards were in Romanian and neither one of us could read what they said so we were going off of the broken English instructions from the ticket desk. We walked out and sat down and waited, and waited. Other trains came and went and finally after about 30 minutes past when our train was supposed to be in Leonie went to go find out what was up. She came back in hurry to tell me we had missed our train that was on another platform and if we hurry we can exchange for the next one that is coming soon. We walked back to the ticket desk to see there was a big line up, it took forever to get to the front, so much so that when we finally got out tickets exchanged we had to run back to the platforms in order to catch our train. It's funny now picturing us running "Is that our train?!" "Platform 6, right?" "Wait for us!!" We hopped on just in time found a seat and sat down, each taking a big sigh to finally be on our way to Brasov. After about 5 minutes of us being on the train now out of Bucharest Leonie asked "Did you read the sign on the train? Are we on the right one?" Which then led to us anxiously waiting for another 10 minutes for the conductor to come by and check out tickets. We were in fact on the train and all was good.

Part of the wall that surrounded Brasov, probably protecting it from werewolves.

Such a stereotypical Transylvania building, it looks just like the hotel in Hotel Transylvania.

We were staying in different hostels since I booked mine last minute but both were walking distance from the train station. Leonie's was closer so I walked her there and we agreed to meet later, in an hour or so time from then, and get some exploring in while the sun was still up. Neither one of us had data on our phones so we would have to use the wifi at our hostels, once Leonie sent me the message she was leaving to meet me there was no way to for me to tell her if there were last minute set backs, or for her if she got lost on the way. Luckily Brasov isn't very big and the meeting area, in the main street tourist area, was pretty straight forward, and also I tend to stand out, so we were able to meet up easily enough. Navigating around the town on the other hand was a bit of pain at times especially when we were trying to find a path up to the fortress or use the buses, but we managed and had a great time wandering the town and checking out all the old buildings. Leonie had a thick Romania tourist guide book so we had all sorts of information about the area at our fingertips, I shot us walking around and sight seeing and with the added information to what were looking at it gave a new depth to appreciating the old architecture and history of Brasov and Bran. As I said earlier my phone glitched and I lost all the pictures of the area but at least Leonie has a great collection of photos on her blog of our adventures, which you can see HERE. There is also the video I put together below you can watch.   

If the video doesn't load, or if you want to watch my other videos, head over to the Panda's Odyssey YouTube Channel and check the out there. While you're there, please show some love and like, share, comment or even subscribe.
 
Let's Go See Dracula!

I was looking forward to seeing Dracula's Castle, even though I knew it was nothing like the movies and Vlad didn't actually live there. It's a monument to a source of a piece of classic literature as well as a historic symbol to one of the most interesting and influential people in Eastern European history. Vlad III (The Impaler) seems like such a fictional character and with his life being the source material for Bram Stoker's Dracula, it's hard to distinguish fact from fiction. To be honest I didn't read too much of the information posted in each room explaining and separating the two as I didn't want to ruin the illusion I've had since childhood. In my mind I walked through a castle of a real life vampire that Van Helsing defeated. The castle itself, in actuality not near as huge as described in the novel, was the setting for 'Dracula' so being there and walking through it as I learned more about it's connection to the real Vlad III was a great experience. I wonder what the townsfolk thought of this place back in the day, maybe they had their own stories of what went on in that place they would tell among each other before Bram Stoker's novel swept the world.

Hanging out at Dracula's castle, the only good shot I managed to save.

New patch to the collection, it's not a gym but it gets a pass.

The next day after Leonie and I got to Brasov and did some evening exploring started early. We met up and made our way to the bus station that would take us down to Bran, it was a bit difficult getting there at first as we had to use a city bus to get across the town to the station and the bus routes are a bit confusing. We made it with only having to ask the locals a few times for reassurance that we were going the right way and on the right bus. Besides that we got to castle Bran without too much of an adventure. When the bus pulled up to the castle we could see the clearing in front was busy. There's a big market selling all kinds of shirts and souvenirs and snacks (even a haunted house!) at the base of the property that the line to the castle goes through. We walked around all the stalls and it was hard not to buy anything, especially a shirt, but somehow I held out and settled later on buying a Castle Bran patch to add to my collection. The castle tour itself was interesting, with some great views of the area from the top, but way too packed with other tourists. There were was really interesting rooms, like the room explaining the fact and fiction of Vlad III and the room with his old armour and weapons and most well known outfits, but there were so many people around that there were times where we had to wait forever to get a decent picture or wait a long time just to move to the next room or be able to read a sign. I'm glad I went with Leonie and got to see this place and I would absolutely love to go to their Halloween party, but I do think they need to monitor the amount of people they allow in at a time. I put together a video of the castle tour that you can see below or over on the Pandas' Odyssey YouTube Channel.   

If you're a fan of the music I use in my videos it's from my brother's band Phantom, give them a listen and a follow or grab their music at their Facebook Page if you like.

After such an awesome time exploring with a new friend it was time to head back to Bucharest, I had only come up to stay 2 nights, time enough to explore with Leonie. I had to head back and get my things ready, I was about to head off back to Heidelberg Germany for my very first BJJ Globetrotters Camp, which I wrote about in my 'Seminars & Camps' post. If you haven't read it before be sure to check it out, I did an interview with Christian Graugart about the camps and Globetrotters organization as well as my take on the camps and how awesome they are. My next article takes place after the camp when I returned to traveling around Eastern Europe, starting at Sofia Bulgaria.

Until next time,
see you on the mats!
OSSS!!

WAYS TO SUPPORT PANDA'S ODYSSEY!
Sign up to the Panda's Odyssey Patreon Account.
Buy Panda's Odyssey Patches at The Gi Hive.
Buy a shirt at Panda's Jiu-Jitsu Store.
Follow me and other traveling Jiu-Jitsueros at the BJJ Globetrotters blog section.
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.
Check out my full photo albums for each article at my Flickr account.
Add me and follow along on most social media @pandasodyssey

Chisinau, Moldova & Iasi Romania: Adventures in Eastern Europe

Greetings From Chisinau Moldova & Iasi Romania! (1-6, & 6-13 August 2017)

Hello! I decided to merge the next two spots I visited because my visit to Chisinau isn't enough to fill one article on it's own and in these two spots I decided to start making new videos, which I've put out since but will be posting again here.

I had some interesting rides going to both places. First it was heading off to Moldova on a bus. Bogdan brought me to the bus station and found the proper bus for me. The buses were more like vans than a real bus and they weren't properly labeled either, so finding the right one is a bit of a task. Bogdan talked to a guy standing by the bus, smoking and not looking too interested in the whole affair. Afterwards Bogdan then says to me, 'This is the bus, they've changed the schedule but they'll take you, just get in'. And in 5 minutes we were off to Odesa, even though I'm sure the bus wasn't scheduled to leave for another 20 minutes. It was smooth trip to Odesa but from there on it changed and became more interesting. I got off the 'bus' and headed into the restaurant in the station, the bus station was set up as a market with different stalls for souvenirs or magazines and snacks at every parking bay outside and a restaurant and different stores inside. The restaurant had wifi and I had 2 hrs to wait until my next 'bus' so I ordered some food and waited and tried using the slow but free internet.

When it came to leaving on the next bus I walked out looking for it, checking each and every parking bay sign. I walked around twice and nowhere did I find anything saying 'Chisinau' so I asked around and although none of the stall operators seemed to speak English I had a copy of the ticket and would show them it, which usually gained a vague finger point or head shake. Finally I ended back at the first small bus I rode in on so I asked the unenthusiastic drivers who were from what I could tell just leaning against the bus and chain smoking the entire time since we got into the station. The first one read my ticket and asked the second a question, then came back with a nod and a number written on some paper. Apparently they would be driving me all the way to Chisinau, and also apparently I needed to pay them for my backpack for the second leg. I'm sure it was a shakedown but it was a pretty cheap one. So I paid them and got back onto the shady short bus and we were off to the border.

Crossing a border in Eastern Europe in a little short bus with an eclectic bunch riding it was particularly an interesting experience. On the way to the border people were flagging down the bus to get a ride along the way, most of them getting off later on down the road but a few stayed. At one point I had an older man sit down next to me and try talking to me, I think in Ukrainian. I tried over and over to tell him I did not understand but that didn't seem to deter him to continue mumbling on to me until he got off 15 minutes later. The wife of one of the drivers, who was along for the ride, thought the whole thing was funny as I looked helplessly over to her. When we got closer to the border I noticed all kinds of stalls and wagons set up selling melons. The entire trip it was nothing but fields and fields of sunflowers and then suddenly it was all melons. People were loading up on them too, packing their entire car trunk with them, I'm sure to sell to what ever town they're going to. I think maybe that was in part why crossing the border took so long, they had to search the bus and our luggage as well as checking all our passports. It was a bit of a nerve racking experience, being asked to park over beside the border security and customs buildings and waiting for what seemed like an hour before we could leave. When we did leave it was quick, the border officer came and gave them some papers and the bus driver wasted no time getting the bus going. The thing is we still hadn't gotten our passports back, so the bus was flying down the dirt road and I was getting a bit nervous thinking maybe they forgot. Finally the driver's wife started handing the passports back and everything was ok, but the thought of losing it made my heart jump. 

I didn't get a picture of all the melon stands but here's one of the many fields of sunflowers I passed.

The rest of the trip was ok, I ended having a much longer walk to the hostel then I expected but no real adventures. As for my train from Chisinau to Iasi there were a few adventures but none that involved me, it was more a ride where I experienced the adventures happening around me. First was the father and son duo I watched board at one point and hop around seats during the travel. The father seemed to time his bathroom breaks perfectly when the conductors would be walking by. Finally at one point he was stopped and after a few words ended up paying the staff for what I figure are tickets that he and his son didn't have. The son must've said something that clued the staff member, maybe the father was trying to get a cheaper ticket for a shorter ride than we were intending, whatever it was after the conductor walked away the father was quite upset with his son. Luckily the father decided sitting away from his son was the best solution as myself and few others were watching him very closing and ready to act if the situation needed it. It would not have ended well for him, . 

The second adventure I watched unfold happened as we crossed into Romania and were close to the Iasi train station. The train staff were very tight for checking proper documentation, each one that passed by asked to see passport and proper paperwork if needed and once we crossed into Romania a customs guard came on board to check the papers himself and also check luggage. The first conductor to come by me asked for my passport, saw the cover with the Canadian crest and 'Canadian Passport' printed on it, looked at me and said "Canadian? Good" and walked off without ever looking at it. The next two to come by checked everyone else and just looked at me and nodded. When the customs guard came by after opening and checking everyone's bag in great detail he just looked at mine, saw the Canadian patches, "Those are yours, Canadian? OK, very good." and walked off without even checking anything. Meanwhile he caught someone for having 3 cigarette packs too many and was forced to get rid of them. A conductor helped him out by buying them off him, I'm sure at a discounted rate too but the only other option was throwing them away or paying a fine. We got into the Iasi train station without anymore adventures with my host Mihai was waiting for me, he brought me to his place to drop off my gear and get settled in and ready for my time in Iasi.   

And with that my adventures getting from one place to the next were over but made for interesting transit stories to share with you. In both cases I made it to where I was staying safe and sound, settled in and was ready to explore and train in a new city. 

Walking Around Chisinau

Chisinau isn't very big, there are things to go do and see outside the downtown core but not a lot, my time there was limited and I didn't quite learn the bus system so I didn't go out on an adventure to any of them. I did walk around the city area close to me and take some pictures of the park and some interesting buildings.

I don't know what this building is but it looks like a place super heroes would have as a base.

The Capitoline Wolf Suckling Romulus and Remus, I saw this statue all over Eastern Europe.

I also played around with trying a new video idea. I filmed as I walked around Chisinau and stopped off at a few points to talk about the sights. My idea is to give a more in depth look at where I'm visiting and although I haven't been able to do this at all the places I've been to, or manage to edit all the footage I have taken yet, I do have a collection of videos of sight seeing different parts of the world, which is pretty cool.  So even know I've posted this video when I first made it months ago here it is again. If it doesn't load or if you want to see my other videos you can head over to the Panda's Odyssey YouTube Channel and see it there.

And as always you and can over to see my Flickr Account where I have more photos from this and all my other visits.

Bercut Fight Club 

The only BJJ club that I was able to contact and that anyone in the Globetrotters community talked about in Chisinau was the Bercut Fight Club. Looking back on how I got around, or the lack of, when I stayed in Chisinau it would be interesting figuring out how to visit other clubs, which are more outside of town. The gym is right by the hostel I was staying at so I could just walk there for class and Bercut has a big sign with directions to make it up to the gym in the top floor of the old building, making things really easy. I was getting over some stomach issues from Ukraine so I had to skip some classes and with the schedule I could only make it to one class. Once I got to the top of the old and heavily graffiti-ed staircase I was met with the front desk to the gym where I nice woman showed me where to get changed and where class would be taken place. Bercut has a main room where I gather the other classes like MMA or different exercise classes are held and a room on the side with a matted floor and a weights section where the BJJ classes are held.

I was a bit early so threw on the gi and started to stretch out on the mats while more people started to show up. There was a good amount of people by the class started and the mat space was pretty hot, for me at least, so I had to take a few water breaks and with just getting over my stomach issues I had to sit out a few rolls and just watch the class. Overall the club members and the class was fun and inviting but not a lot of talk, I had a conversation with one guy who told me that not a lot of the people there didn't speak much English so I would have a hard time conversing with anyone. It was still a good time working some guard passing chains and rolling with the few roll I rolled with. I wish I was in better condition to show up to more classes and get to really meet the club, it was a weekend class and from what I was told it was a more casual setup with not as many people as during the week.

I left a bit disappointed in only being able to attend one class and only able to do so much and I felt like I really didn't get to see Moldova. That just gives me a reason to come back to see more and visit Bercut again and maybe make it out to other clubs as well. I left too early, both in the time spent and time of day, it was still dark when I woke up and the staff were still sleeping when I left to catch a taxi to the train station. Until next time Chisinau! 

Walking Around Iasi

After Mihai picked me up at the train station and gave me time to settle in at his place he showed me around the city a we met up with some friends of his for some drinks. During the week though Mihai was busy with work online so after showing me around I was on own for exploring and seeing sights, here's some of the my shots of Iasi.

I also put together a video, this time more in depth, of walking around the city of Iasi. It was my second video so there was still a lot of learning and trying new things. I feel like I've come a long way with my recent filming, once I have time to edit it all and publish it I will of course post it here. In the meantime you can head to the Panda's Odyssey YouTube Channel to see more of my videos.

As always you and can over to see my Flickr Account where I have more photos from this and all my other visits.

Staying With Mihai

I saw Mihai on the BJJ Globetrotters matsurfing map and contacted through e-mail about coming and visiting. We began talking and arranged me coming to visit, with Mihai promising to take of me and show me his home town. I knew nothing of Iasi before talking to him and didn't know what to expect but I'm glad I made the trip to explore another small town away from all the tourist hot spots. Mihai has a nice apartment up high in a building that gives a great view of the town and it's perfectly in the middle of and walking distance to the downtown area and where the club is farther away from the inner town area. I can say without a doubt Mihai lived up his word and looked after me, making sure I had everything I needed. I had to do some shopping, involving picking up new running shoes to replace the old pair I had been wearing since I started this journey back in Canada. Mihai made sure I always knew where I was going and how to get back, going as far as to instruct me how to tell the taxi drivers to get to his place and what the price should be in case they try to over charge me.

Somehow I never got a picture with Miahi, but here's a nice shot of the view from his balcony. 

The few times Mihai and I ventured out together he would tell me all about the town and history of the area, how schooling is in Romania, the long process that the country went though after the fall of the Soviet Union, and the coming of modern malls and brand name stores. The story how and why the Romanian people love Adidas is particularly interesting. I wish we could have had time to talk on camera and do an interview and get half of what he told me about Romania and his club in an interview to share with you, but I guess instead you will have to go and visit him yourself to hear these great stories. Thank you Mihai for such a good time hosting and feeding me, I'm sure we will meet again one day.     

Absoluto BJJ Iasi

There is only one BJJ club in Iasi and Mihai runs it, Absoluto BJJ Iasi, which is an affiliate from the Absoluto BJJ HQ in Bucharest. Mihai has brought together a good group of guys that train regularly with him, they all were welcoming to me and although I didn't get a chance to talk with most of them, they all seemed like good people. Mihai is a purple belt and he studies a lot of online videos to come up with material for class, when I was there they were preparing for a big competition so putting together their game strategy and the importance of take downs was the focus. I had fun drilling and rolling with the guys, Mihai and I would make sure to get in a roll each class and afterwards on the way back to his place I would ask him about some of the students that I rolled with. They all came from different backgrounds, some older with other martial arts experience, some younger in school and really fit and keen to learn. Mihai knew each and every one through and through and it was interesting hearing his take on their techniques and where each was on their training for the next belt.

While I was visiting I picked a GoPro to start shooting my next new idea for videos: training videos. I've only been able to make a few on these and I want to get back to making more as it shows the fun I'm having drilling and rolling with everyone. I set up the camera in the corner shot some classes and then edited the footage and added music to make this video of us training together. Check it out below and if it doesn't load then head over to the Panda's Odyssey YouTube Channel and watch it, and all my other videos, over there.

      
After a good visit learning about a place I'd never hard of before and making new friends I was off to my next destination: Bucharest! Thanks again Mihai for the good times and looking after me.

Until next time,
see you on the mats!
OSSS!!

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