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Reviews

• Incredibly expensive for what it is but the only tour operator going to this part of Moldova which is worth seeing

  PopHouseForever,,Apr 10, 2022

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  2.00

  Gagauzia is a unique experience with a mixture of Turkish and Russian (often with no signs in Romanian and communication in Russian) so I was grateful for being able to see this part of the country. It was a whistle tour through the area which wasn't unreasonable given the area not being a tourist hotspot. However, I was left largely disappointed with the tour on the basis of the below. Pros • Seeing a lesser visited part of the country, the difference in culture and going around various small towns. • The meal at Gagauz Sofrasi ethno-tourist complex was delicious, very reasonable and interesting to wander around. Cons • Cost - I appreciate that noone else seemed to be doing tours to the area and the current climate means that costs of tours might be more expensive. However, given that I also did the Transnistria tour with this operator when I was the sole attendee, I was shocked that this was charged at around £170 which is £60 more than that tour, for possibly only one hour longer (though within the time range for the length of the tour). It's primarily a drive around the area, so I don't think the reasoning when I flagged this of "there's more time driving" is justifiable for such a large delta in the cost of the tours. Had I noticed / remembered how much it cost, I would have cancelled but the cancellation policy was 24 hours before the start of the tour and the day before I was with the same operator in Transnistria - awkard to have cancelled it in the car... • Knowledge / Preparation: with the Transnistria tour, Andrian seemingly knew just about enough to give a brief history but here, not only did I have the overwhelming feeling that he didn't know what things were or was telling me the incorrect information (again having to consult Wikipedia, luckily having bought a data SIM card at the airport), but at one of the local museums for example, he sent away the owner / manager who was offering her guiding experience on the basis of her going into too much detail and taking too long, but the result being that Andrian had to keep asking the other employee my questions / translating what this employee said when he couldn't answer. It was a very brief summary of things like "oh these are some traditional clothes, here's some traditional tools" which I thought wasn't overly prescriptive. After being picked up, I had to sit in the car at a petrol station as Andrian filled up the car, bought a coffee (having stayed up late the previous night socially he told me...) and had a cigarette. Pick-up was at 09:00 and all three of these activities in my opinion should have been done before collecting me, as that's not too early in the day and ate into the tour. As we were driving around, it felt like the suggestions being made were again thought on the spot. • Not really a tour: like with the Transnistria excursion, I was dropped off to walk around different places. It was only if we did something that Andrian himself hadn't done and was interested in, when he would also join but would go off by himself. It felt like I was paying for him to also experience things. • Language: like with my Transnistria excursion review with this tour operator, the English ability was really an issue with this tour, perhaps because he was more uncomfortable with the vocabulary here as the tour isn't as common. It got to the point where I would ask something and I had no reply or the response wasn't in relatio to what I had asked that I stopped trying. If you speak French or have a US accent (I have a UK one), perhaps it would have been better. • Being asked to post a review: this was uncomfortable on the ride back because of my feelings which I hadn't fully shared (save for remarking on the cost several times) because I didn't want to be two-faced and I am sure that this is not what would be wanted, but I was still some distance off from my hotel so I wasn't comfortable with the request.