My Trip To Western Ukraine

[steveh1155]

Departure day - I had packed my luggage the night before so all I basically had to do was wakeup, drink coffee, shower, get dressed and drive to the airport. I had prepaid parking at one of those park & go lots and was thinking about how smoothly everything was going. The shuttle dropped me off at the airport by the Delta desk and I picked up my boarding passes and checked my bag in. I noticed I had about an hour and a half until my flight, so I read and kept an eye on the departures board and noticed that the departure time for my flight is now delayed. I only have about 30 minutes to make the connection for my flight to Amsterdam, so any delay is obviously not going to work.



 I went back to the ticket desk and had the agent search for anything else going to Kiev - no luck.....the next available flight would be tomorrow at about the same time. I had kept trying to call my gal and tell her the bad news - that I would be a day later - but couldn't get a hold of her, just the auto message from Kievstar. I was already ticked off at Delta, and thought she's not gonna be happy after driving all the way to Boryspil and finding me not there.....and then my thoughts sort of devolved into "why didn't she answer her phone or why did she turn her phone off"!!! Well I won't tell you exactly what I was thinking, but you get the idea. Finally the logical part of my brain took over and I called her landline. She immediately answered and asked me in a panicked voice what was wrong. I explained everything and she said not to worry, she'll be at the gate waiting for me when I arrive.


I was feeling much better after our conversation and drove all the way back home to attempt departure again tomorrow. You'd think I would have at least gotten some sort of apology from the ticket agent like "sir, we're very sorry our pathetic company has completely screwed up your travel plans. What can we do to make it better?" No.....they don't do that. Departure Day 2 next.

[steveh1155]

Departure Day 2nd attempt - I drove back out to the airport and finally got to board a plane. They had me routed through a different airport a little further east so this cut the leg to Amsterdam down to 7 hours which was better. I can never manage to sleep on a long flight, but I brought my Kindle and read to pass the time. The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful and after a short wait boarded a Ukraine International Airlines flight bound for Kiev. One thing I noticed was that the flight attendants were much younger, much more attractive and much friendlier than the attendants on most of the domestic legs in the US, who lately seem to all be at least 50, overweight and not so friendly - I'm sure they're not all like that but just a random personal observation.


We finally arrive in Kiev and I proceeded toward passport control, which only took about 5 minutes to get through. I retrieved my luggage and headed for the green line at customs. After loading my bags through the x-ray the customs official just waived everyone through - no opening bags, no questions, nothing, pretty much like my last trip here. I exited out into the main terminal and look around but don't see my gal, just taxi drivers. So I'm thinking she might be running a little late so I just hang out for a little while. Terminal F must be one of the new terminals and I like the layout better than B terminal where I used to always arrive and depart. You no longer have to go through security to get to the check-in desks which is kind of nice. Well, the minutes go by and still no sign of her. Luckily before I left I had called my cellphone provider and asked for the unlock code for my phone which they emailed to me, so I thought maybe I should give her a call and see what happened. I look around and find a place to get a sim card and not too far away was the currency exchange with a very long line. I get in line and was standing there about 5 or 6 minutes when suddenly I felt two arms wrap around me from behind. I spun around and there she was. We hugged and kissed and hugged some more - gosh it was good to see her!!! She explained to me that all this time she had been waiting for me in the old terminal B where I used to arrive, and frankly that's where I thought I would be too, but now none of that mattered, it was just good to see her!!!

[steveh1155]

We finally got to her house and I unpacked, she made me a meal (I love green borscht!!!) rested a bit and helped her in the garden. I was glad to see her family again and they were as usual, very welcoming and genuinely glad to see me. I've purposely left out a lot of details about her and myself - this isn't so much about our relationship as it is about my first trip to western Ukraine. We really have no relationship problems other than the occasional minor disagreement, but then it wouldn't feel "real" without that :>) She often tells me that she knows me better than I know myself and I think she's probably right. The end goal here is obviously marriage and we both want that very much (I have the K-1 packet ready to go - just waiting on one more translated document that I should have in hand in another 2 or 3 weeks)



We both took it easy for a couple days and I sort of got over my jet lag. Finally it was time to pack for the train. She had purchased the train tickets for us about a month or so in advance and since I had never been on a passenger train before I was looking forward to it as a new experience. She looked at me a little strange and laughed when I asked her if there was a dining car. She said she would bring something to snack on and drink, and she also said I probably shouldn't eat too much on the train....ha, I found out why later! She called a taxi and we got to the train station with plenty of time to spare. As we made our way to the train I asked her aren't we supposed to check our luggage or something? She sort of rolls her eyes again and tells me the bags will go with us in the compartment. We hand the purser our tickets and climb aboard. All I know is that we have the two bottom beds in a 4 bed compartment. My only knowledge of train compartments comes from what I saw on TV as a kid, so when I slid the door open and looked inside.... well, it was quite a bit smaller than what I had envisioned, but the beds all looked as though I'd be able to stretch out when I lay down to sleep and there was a small table by the window we set our drinks on. The train finally pulled out of the station without anyone else coming into the compartment and I was thinking, what luck, just the two of us. What I didn't realize, was that the train would make a stop at every small village between here and Mukachevo (no wonder it took 15 hours) taking on or letting off passengers along the way, so at the very next stop a young 19 or 20 year old young girl steps into our compartment and then we were 3.
My gal talked with the young woman for about an hour or so while occasionally translating something she said to me and then we all ordered tea (apparently coffee or tea is about all you can order)


It had been dark outside for about an hour or so and I was beginning to get sleepy so we all decided it was time to turn in, the procedure was to unroll the mattress for each bed and fit the sheets - there was even a pillow. I was banished to the corridor while the young girl and my gal got dressed for bed (PJ's and everything!) I wasn't going to go to all that trouble, I just slept in my jeans. I was surprised how comfortable it was with the car rocking back and forth and I quickly fell asleep. A word about the facilities on a train. There were two bathrooms in each car, one in the front of the car and one in back and if you feel nature calling you had better hope you're not approaching a station because the bathrooms are locked for a certain amount of time before and after stations because, well, when you flush the toilet it, uh goes right out on the tracks. I didn't wake up again until we arrived at the station in Lviv. I'm not sure what time it was but it was still dark out and we were still several hours from Mukachevo. I looked out the window at the Lviv station and it seemed a little surreal - dark and foggy with the lights from the station creating beams of light in the mist and I swear I saw a horse drawn wagon full of straw that looked like a scene from "Young Frankenstein".

[Wayne]

I have taken over night trains in Ukraine several times. You can purchase all 4 bunks in the compartment if you don't want to have strangers with you. It does not cost much.
 
They also have deluxe cars with larger compartments, only two lower bunks, TV, air conditioning and room service. This version costs more than 4 tickets in the other style. You don't want to take the cheapest version! That is the car with no compartments.  Yes, the toilets are locked at each station because they flush out on the tracks. However, the deluxe car has a cleaner toilet room with soap and towel. There are also less people on the car, so let use for the toilets.
 
If you go from Ukraine to Poland by train, they have to change all the wheels on the cars because Poland, I believe, uses narrow gage. Anyway, there is a long delay because of it.
 
 

[steveh1155]

I have taken over night trains in Ukraine several times. You can purchase all 4 bunks in the compartment if you don't want to have strangers with you. It does not cost much.
 
They also have deluxe cars with larger compartments, only two lower bunks, TV, air conditioning and room service. This version costs more than 4 tickets in the other style. You don't want to take the cheapest version! That is the car with no compartments.  Yes, the toilets are locked at each station because they flush out on the tracks. However, the deluxe car has a cleaner toilet room with soap and towel. There are also less people on the car, so let use for the toilets.
 
If you go from Ukraine to Poland by train, they have to change all the wheels on the cars because Poland, I believe, uses narrow gage. Anyway, there is a long delay because of it.
 
 

The train wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, in fact I rather enjoyed it - much more relaxing than air travel.

[steveh1155]

After a bit more sleep I awoke and looked up out the window. It was beginning to get light out and thought I'd check out some scenery. The countryside was decidedly different now, and I could see we were in the mountains. My gal was beginning to stir and she said coffee sounded like a good idea. We had coffee and and it was time for me to exit to the corridor to let my gal and the other young lady get dressed. We finally pulled in to the Mukachevo station, got our bags and stepped off the train. We made our way to the taxi's where she negotiated a price and we were on our way to Teplitsa sanatorium. It took us about an hour to arrive and I think the taxi fare was about $30, which seemed very reasonable. I found it interesting the way the house construction here
differed from that around Kiev - most seemed to be made of wood with roofs made from clay tiles or in some cases, what appeared to be fiberglass asphalt shingles similar to western homes. The scenery looked a lot like what I saw on numerous trips to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. The peaks were all tree covered with what looked like mostly conifers with a few spots that had been clearcut. I later found out they were attempting to eradicate some type of invasive pest that had been present.


We arrived at the sanatorium and we went to the front office to to get the keys. Well, I couldn't wait to get to the room because despite the fact that I slept fairly well on the train, jet lag was still bothering me and I really felt like laying down and crashing for a few hours. Unfortunately, those thoughts went right out the window when I heard my gal say "THEY HAVE TOURS". I could tell she really wanted to go, so we rushed over to the room, dropped off our bags, splashed some water on my face, and out the door to the tour bus. I was thinking, how bad could it be, maybe two or three hours and we'd come back and I could take a nice long nap. I found out when we got on the bus that it wasn't just a three hour tour, it was all day (and then some). Since the tour guide didn't speak any English, my gal tried to translate everything he said as best she could, so I sort of got the gist of it.


Some pics below of the building we stayed in at Teplitsa and that first day on the tour.

[steveh1155]

The cost of the accommodation was about $100 per day for two and included all meals (pretty much all you could eat) daily massage, mineral baths and use of the gym. The food wasn't bad and there was plenty of it but a bit bland for my taste. In the evenings we would sometimes go over to the cafe/bar located on the property and drink cognac and snicker at the karaoke or take walks along the highway and buy fresh strawberries or cherries. A couple of times we hiked into a woods at the base of a mountain across the highway - plenty of mosquitos, but thankfully I had brought along a small bottle of 100% deet repellant, and that kept them at bay. One evening back in the room I had my luggage beside the bed closing it back up and sat down on the bed and heard/felt a sickening crunch. I quickly stood up and there on the bed were the remains of my $600 eyeglasses (yikes) - my vision isn't terrible, but reading is very difficult and seeing anything more than 6 feet away is difficult which would make any more sightseeing pretty much out of the question. My gal suggested we go into Vinogradov (about 2km down the road) and look for an optician - there was enough of my eyeglasses left that they may be able to read the prescription and I could get a replacement pair.


We got up the next day, ate breakfast and called a taxi to go to Vinogradov. The taxi picked us up and dropped us off on sort of the main street in town. We walked a bit through town and I noticed that they really take more than a passing interest in their religion - many many churches here, most were orthodox but also catholic and even saw a protestant Reformed church - all very old. Most were either open or in the case of the Reformed church, a little old man (caretaker?) emerged from a side building and was happy to give us a private tour. We stopped at an outdoor market and out of the corner of my eye there was a dark haired woman wearing a scarf and what I thought was just traditional dress. At about the same time my gal let out a gasp and turned to me and gave me a stern warning about looking a gypsy woman in the eye!!! Apparently they'll give you the evil eye or hypnotize you or something ;>)
Well, eventually we found an optician and the lady behind the counter thinks she can get the prescription off my old glasses and to come back in an hour. Since I had no idea what the cost would be I assumed the price would be about the same as my old glasses. Wasn't really looking forward to taking a $600 hit on my spending money, but really needed to be able to see clearly again, so I would have to pay for my own carelessness. We stopped at a sidewalk cafe and sat down for coffee and ice cream - really good ice cream. We headed back to the optician and inquired about my glasses and she tells me to try on the pair she finished for me and great, I'm thinking, at least I'll be able to see now and the cost was just $10 (ten bucks, I couldn't believe it!).
Most of the photos I took there were with a film camera and unfortunately they're not back from the photo lab yet - I'll post a few more pics later.

[calmissile]

Quote from SteveH
At about the same time my gal let out a gasp and turned to me and gave me a stern warning about looking a gypsy woman in the eye!!! Apparently they'll give you the evil eye or hypnotize you or something

I really had to laugh when I read this. Someone on the forum many months ago was arguing that there was no such thing and claimed to be resident of Ukraine.

I never fully understood all of this about the transfer of evil thoughts or spirits between two people, but my former fiance did not want me to meet her girlfriends because they could transfer bad thoughts about her via eye contact with me.  It sounded all crazy to me, but for sure there is a cultural thing about eye contact and the spirits.   LOL

[steveh1155]

Quote from SteveH
At about the same time my gal let out a gasp and turned to me and gave me a stern warning about looking a gypsy woman in the eye!!! Apparently they'll give you the evil eye or hypnotize you or something

I really had to laugh when I read this. Someone on the forum many months ago was arguing that there was no such thing and claimed to be resident of Ukraine.

I never fully understood all of this about the transfer of evil thoughts or spirits between two people, but my former fiance did not want me to meet her girlfriends because they could transfer bad thoughts about her via eye contact with me.  It sounded all crazy to me, but for sure there is a cultural thing about eye contact and the spirits.   LOL

Ha, I forgot to add - that the next morning when we opened the door to our room there was a dead rat on our doorstep (seemingly deposited there by one of the cats running around), but to my gal it was further proof that we had somehow offended the old gypsy women we saw at the market!

[steveh1155]

Here's a few more photos from my mobile phone below. Apparently I'm one of a few Luddites who still use film on occasion and still don't have my film back from the lab.


1) pic of me
2) Orthodox church in Vinogradov - we took a few trips to this small town that was just 2 or 3 km down the road from where we were staying.
3) street in Vinogradov near the market where I was warned to steer clear of the Gypsies
4) hike through the woods at the base of one of the mountains (lot's of mosquitoes)
5) higher up in the mountains looking toward Romania
6) another vantage point


We had met another nice Ukrainian couple (from some town in central Ukraine) a little older than us, on one of the tours up into the mountains, who said they come to this area often - enjoyed talking to them through my fiance. The husband thought we were in some sort of competition for who could drink the most shots of locally made cognac in 15 minutes. I let him win! This brought home the fact that I really need to learn the language - my gal promises to teach me.

[Boethius]

Nice trip report, Steve.

I was happy to see Vynohradiv in your TR.  There is a well known minister there who I have sent money to in the past.  He feeds children (orphans/from dysfunctional families/poor) daily, and has a government building to provide shelter to street children.

For anyone with a few dollars, I can't recommend enough sending a little something to change a child's life.

http://lifenets.org/vinogradov/

[Faux Pas]

We had met another nice Ukrainian couple (from some town in central Ukraine) a little older than us, on one of the tours up into the mountains, who said they come to this area often - enjoyed talking to them through my fiance. The husband thought we were in some sort of competition for who could drink the most shots of locally made cognac in 15 minutes. I let him win! This brought home the fact that I really need to learn the language - my gal promises to teach me.

Good luck with that. My MIL has demanded the wife teach me Russian for the last 3 years. We haven't gotten very far 

[Daveman]

Excellent report and photos Steve, well with the exception of that strange Totem pole looking thing that some nut put the dark glasses on...


Looking forward to more!


Did the Ukrainian gentleman challenge you to a game of chess?  Seems kinda common once the drinking starts.. or I just look like a chess geek.. not sure which... so I carry a portable backgammon board with me (Nardi) just to mess with them... 


I agree with you completely about the train rides.. some don't care for them too much, but I sleep like a baby (cry all night and wet the bed)...  but wake up completely refreshed.. or something...


carry on!

[Anotherkiwi]

...I agree with you completely about the train rides.. some don't care for them too much, but I sleep like a baby (cry all night and wet the bed)...  but wake up completely refreshed.. or something...carry on!

Another classic from RWD's King of stand-up comedy.

[steveh1155]

Nice trip report, Steve.

I was happy to see Vynohradiv in your TR.  There is a well known minister there who I have sent money to in the past.  He feeds children (orphans/from dysfunctional families/poor) daily, and has a government building to provide shelter to street children.

For anyone with a few dollars, I can't recommend enough sending a little something to change a child's life.

http://lifenets.org/vinogradov/

Small world - I checked out your link and discovered this organization (LifeNets) is located right here in my home town...yes, very deserving of any gifts anyone could send them.

Excellent report and photos Steve, well with the exception of that strange Totem pole looking thing that some nut put the dark glasses on...

Ha...I have to agree with that! Must have been the camera angle\lighting

[steveh1155]

It was the last day of our stay at the sanatorium and our train back to Kiev was departing later in the evening, so we decided to take a taxi early to Mukachevo to spend some time in the city. My gal called the taxi driver and negotiated a price of about $30 from Vinogradov to Mukachevo. One thing I noticed was the younger taxi drivers had a habit of "changing" the price of the fare once they got you to your destination, so we stuck with this older driver we'd used before and the price he would give us never changed. We arrived at the Mukachevo train station and checked our luggage in at a storage area located in a small building beside the station and since we had a few hours, decided to walk around a bit. The taxi driver had given us directions to the main street which was open only for pedestrian traffic, so we found our way there and stopped at a cafe and had some coffee and ice cream. I noticed that the street was full of well dressed kids of all ages from young kids to teens all milling around, so I asked my gal about it and she said it was the last day of school and it was sort of a tradition for kids to dress their best and hang out in the city center. All the street vendors were seemingly ready for them and doing a brisk business, but what I really noticed was how well behaved all the kids were - for some reason I saw a striking difference between attitudes of younger people here and kids of any age in any large city in the US I've been. It was starting to get late, so we started walking in the direction of the train station. Since this was our last day here I wanted to get my gal a new dress or pair of shoes or something, so we stopped at several shops as we walked but each time she looked a bit and said they were all a little too pricey and that I should save my money for this fall when she comes here - gosh I love this girl!!!
 
We arrived at the train station, retrieved our luggage and boarded the train. We got to our compartment and there were a couple young devushkas sitting in the compartment with a large Ukrainian guy standing between them carrying on a rather animated conversation. I thought they were just saying goodbye to someone they knew until my gal whispered in my ear that he was trying to hit on them & then I got it and could see them rolling there eyes looking at my gal. Apparently he "offered" to carry their bags onto the train for them and now thought he was owed a little something "extra". He finally left after being told repeatedly that under no circumstances would either of them ever give him their phone number, but heck, I admired him for trying and was even rooting for him at one point! We finally got settled in, and as the train pulled out of the station, said goodbye to Western Ukraine. It was still light outside and as we were going through the mountains headed back east I watched the scenery go by out the window. I observed that the train tunnels through the mountains were all guarded on both ends by armed Ukrainian military - some standing at attention in guard shacks and others out in the open with assault rifles in hand. I couldn't imagine what the threat was way out here in the middle of nowhere, (blow up a tunnel and strand a bunch of tourists?) but apparently someone thought it was a good idea. It was getting dark out now so I laid down on the bed and started to doze off, but darn if the 3 women didn't banish me to the corridor again while they changed into their pj's. 
 
Arrived at the Kiev train station the next morning and took a taxi back to her house. I still had a few days left until departure back to the states, so we decided to walk around her small town and visit with some friends and family. More pictures below: