Prices

[Pkeel]

Can somebody give me an idea what the cost would be for the following:

Online English lesson's for Russian woman learning English.

Round trip train ticket from Belgorod to Sevastopol.

Cost of a really nice dinner at restaurant in Sevastopol.

Hourly fee for interpreter in Sevastopol. ( an estimate of how many hours would be needed would be helpful as well, but of course much depends on the two of us)

Cost of a day of driving around Sevastopol and enjoying the sites.

I appreciate the help.  I am very glad to have found this site.  Thank-you for all the advice.  I am trying to figure out how much money to bring and what kind of emergency reserves I might need.

[calmissile]

I will let others give you estimates on your other questions but as far as emergency funds.......... I would suggest having at least $2000 on a credit or debit card available if you need it.  Several of us have been faced to purchase a full price ticket home to the US for $1500 - $2000 when the airlines screw up reservations and/or you decide to extend your return.   One of the tricks the airlines use is to tell you that there are no seats available on any of your recommended return dates and the only choice you have is to buy a new ticket.  It sucks, but sometimes the only way to get back home.

[Patagonie]

Can somebody give me an idea what the cost would be for the following:

Online English lesson's for Russian woman learning English.
I would say between 10 and 15 $. No more. I did for 10.

Round trip train ticket from Belgorod to Sevastopol.
Guy so you are visiting a woman in Belgorod and after you see an other in Sevastopol. Well how are you explaining to the last one that your flagpole didn't get any action before taking the train ? You put some seals on it and you send some photos of it to the Sebastopol's girl prior your trip ?

If you are with the cows at the end of the train i can arrange you a good price. I would say less than 100$, but depend second or first class. Don't go with cows, generally it is booked very early.

Cost of a really nice dinner at restaurant in Sevastopol.
I would say 100 $ (for two)

Hourly fee for interpreter in Sevastopol. ( an estimate of how many hours would be needed would be helpful as well, but of course much depends on the two of us)
Between 12 and 15 $ probably 15$.
I would advice to kiss her as soon as possible.
And to have sex after few hours after, so you can limit the communication to the strict necessary.
It will decrease your costs grandly.


Cost of a day of driving around Sevastopol and enjoying the sites.
Don't know.
If you stay in bed, it will cost you nothing.

I appreciate the help.  I am very glad to have found this site.  Thank-you for all the advice.  I am trying to figure out how much money to bring and what kind of emergency reserves I might need.
Credit card. And a friend you can contact in case of emergency. The rest all in cash.

[Pkeel]

Patagonie:  No I am going to reimburse her for the trip from Belgorod to Sevastopol.  She doesn't know I am planning this.  I am going to spend a week with this woman on a WOVO trip.  Is the 100 one way or round trip?

Doug:  Yes i will have a credit card with a nicely available balance for an "emergency".  I am trying to figure out how much to have available in a debit card and how much in cash.  I am normally very cautious and would take double what I need.  I really want to avoid doing that as I think that will cause as much trouble for me as having too little.

 I want to do it in dollars as I have no idea how difficult or easy it is for her to change money from Ukraine in Russia.  It will be much easier for me in dollars, too.

[calmissile]

Pkeel,

In Ukraine, it has been my experience to take money from an ATM as is needed.  I usually have several hundred dollars stuffed away in case the bank account or ATM has a problem.

In Ukraine it is getting more difficult to find banks that have dollars to exchange for grivnas although there is not a problem with them accepting dollars in exchange.

You will find that in Ukraine there are daily limits on the ATM's in addition to your banks daily limits.  You can sometimes go to a different ATM to circumvent the ATM's daily limit.

In general, I prefer to use my debit card to get grivnas as needed for daily needs.  Carrying around a lot of cash can sometimes be a disaster.

You will have to let someone else answer you about what the conditions are in Russia.

[CDW]

Make sure you inform your bank that you will be using ATM in Ukraine, otherwise you might get declined, depending on your bank.

My cards were declined in Colombia.  Later I realised that I should've informed my bank!! 

[CDW]

Cost of a day of driving around Sevastopol and enjoying the sites.

It will cost you nothing if you walk! 

[CDW]

Online English lesson's for Russian woman learning English.

FREE if she uses http://www.livemocha.com

[Olly]

Round trip train ticket from Belgorod to Sevastopol.  150-180$
Cost of a really nice dinner at restaurant in Sevastopol.  from 120 $

[onlyFSU4me]

It will cost you nothing if you walk!

 Trust me, you do not want to walk around Sevastopol! Take one look at a city map and you will see it has a lot of canals winding through it, it would take you forever to get anywhere.
 Pkeel when we were there this summer there were guys down by the docks who were looking to give people tours of the docks and the city, and some of them spoke english. I would suggest looking there when you arrive. And to give you an example of pricing, my wife and I paid 60 dollars each to a tour group to get a ride from Saki which was about about 50 miles away, given a tour to 5 different sites in Sevastopol and then driven back to Saki at the end of the day. So I am guessing that you should find someone local there who should drive you around showing you the sites for that much or even less.     

[calmissile]

Patagonie:  No I am going to reimburse her for the trip from Belgorod to Sevastopol.  She doesn't know I am planning this.  I am going to spend a week with this woman on a WOVO trip.  Is the 100 one way or round trip?

Doug:  Yes i will have a credit card with a nicely available balance for an "emergency".  I am trying to figure out how much to have available in a debit card and how much in cash.  I am normally very cautious and would take double what I need.  I really want to avoid doing that as I think that will cause as much trouble for me as having too little.

 I want to do it in dollars as I have no idea how difficult or easy it is for her to change money from Ukraine in Russia.  It will be much easier for me in dollars, too.

If you have have not already done so, you might want to check out the sites to see from my trip report.  Sevestopol starts on Page 4, Post#85.  We had a wonderful time there last summer and it is my favorite city so far.  http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=15123.75

As to a nice restaurant to have lunch in,  try the restaurant across the bay(inlet) from the submarine pens when you visit them.

Another memorable moment was walking the waterfront in the evening.  See the photos.
I hope you have as great a time as we did.

[Pkeel]

Elena has been there before.
She wants to discuss with me and decide the places to go.
She said something about caves, laying on the beach at night looking at the stars, and a dolphin show.
She studied geology in the area in college.
Her mother lives in Ukraine, too.

Me I am a little boring maybe.  I look forward to the food, grocery stores, restaurants, and I think there are some ruins nearby.   I also hope to learn some recipes.  She keeps talking about how she wants to cook me delicious meals.

It will be nice to have something to do to distract us, yet not so much that we don't get to find out about each other.  this is really hard.  It is nerve wracking to be thinking about it all, trying to plan, what to expect, what to do, what not to do, how much to have available, so much to think about!  It sometimes gets hard to remember the idea is to relax and enjoy a vacation to an exotic place with a nice woman.

[JayH]

Me I am a little boring maybe.  I look forward to the food, grocery stores, restaurants, and I think there are some ruins nearby.   

Oh boy-- this area is filled with history-- from 1000 plus years ago  up to the recent Soviet era. There is more than you can see on one trip(please reference Calmissile TR in area and his specific comments on that) . Others have offered relevent comments also.
There are so many sites ,museums to see-- you will need to choose between these.Do some research--it will pay you to think about all this prior to being there-the logistics are not so simple.Once again--reference Dougs TR from last year.
Now-- no commercial affiliation !!-- I have a friend there that works as a guide part time( she is a teacher) and does tours of sites. She can act as interpreter  and explain what you are seeing - this is VERY important to understand what you are seeing. She can make all arrangements for transport and entry. If you need help-- I can assist you in getting fixed price .She is fluent in English,German,Ukrainian & Russian.
Re food-- you need to go to markets-- although I have seen great fresh food at a supermarket type-- as good or better than most here( I live in Melbourne Australia and we access as good a food as anywhere with huge variety)
Re-- cost of good restaurants-- price is not the only guide!! The prices indicated should get you good good  and modest amount of alcohol.If you get carried away and drink like an oligarch ( where some of the wine lists prices are clearly pitched !!) you will spend plenty.There is very good wines produced in the area-- good by any standard-- so do not dismiss them.Some of them are also at crazy prices.If your lady is familiar with the area-- she may know some of the names.
Sevastopol is a wonderful place--to get the most from it-- you need to do a little planning and advance organisation to a few key attractions and it will make your visit considerably easier.