Teaching moment, learn from another's missteps Part 1

[Taz]

On the way back down, I am amazed to encounter a street/trail bike coming up the hill followed by a kid on a scooter. This area is pretty much snow and ice covered roads. At least they are wearing helmets and decent clothing. In the summer I’d love to ride that road on a dirt bike. Wintertime would be more appropriate for a snowmobile!

Finally back down the mountain. It was definitely a worthwhile detour; great view and tasty food. Now it is too late to go to Sudak. Soon night will be upon us but Lana suggest Sudak again. I know what the roads are like going there and I’d rather be on them in daylight especially since Russians love to drive with only their running lights on until its so dark they MUST have their headlights on to see. Twilight is an especially dangerous time to drive there and I have no plans to be on mountain roads at this time.

Going back to S’pol isn’t exactly an easy drive. Fog has rolled in and it is incredibly difficult to see. Again people with no headlights on…just waiting to become a statistic. It is very telling the number of roadside mini memorials to people that have been killed on this road. Ever kilometer or so you will see a wreath or some other makeshift memorial to the people who died here in traffic accidents.

Something I forgot to mention earlier where all the bicyclists on the road. It appeared to be a major event. I literally saw hundreds of bicyclists of all ages. I saw girls as young as probably 12 years old decked out in spandex riding clothes but then riding a mountain bike. Then of course I saw the ultra-serious guys riding state-of-the-art carbon fiber framed bikes as well. In general very few chase cars so it was almost like open season on bicyclists. I sure as heck wouldn’t have wanted to ride on these roads without a chase car to keep people from running me down. At least everyone had a helmet on. While that would help you to much if a car mows you down it is better than nothing. I did see quite a few pretzeled wheels. The roads are even less kind to skinny bicycle wheels than car wheels.

We make our way back through the fog and finally it starts to dissipate as we approach Balaklava. We decide to make a detour into Balaklava again. We have a nice romantic stroll and end up back at the apartment.

We discuss the coming day and Lana promises no more distractions. We will go directly to Sudak. I will go there the most direct way we can but it is less scenic. We hit the hay as we are both pretty beat from the long day.

We get up the next morning early. I am determined to make it to Sudak not matter what. Lana is on board with the plan. We are both a bit sad. This is our final day in Crimea and we both hate to leave. We’ve definitely grown closer over the past few days. She’s realized that I’m not quite as impulsive as she thought and that a lot of thinking goes on behind the scenes that I may not always articulate. She’s definitely been measuring me as the days have passed by and I her.

We are making good time on the roads BUT then I get stopped randomly outside of, but just before, Simf for no apparent reason. Lana immediately shuts up and says nothing. Officer speaks to me in Russian. You know my drill by now; compliant but slow. He tries to talk to her. She answers me in a Spanish phrase I taught her. He lets us go and off I bolt before he changes his mind.

We hit Simf and I realize maybe the other route would have been better. Traffic is again bumper to bumper. I thought we were at a good time to miss most of it but didn’t pan out. So slog through the terrible traffic and sit behind busses belching toxic fumes and tons of particulate matter. An hours later we’ve covered 20km for a 12mph average. Boy aren’t we flying!

On the other side of Simf I hammer the throttle. Back up to warp cruising speed. I can see the cops for miles when on top of the ridges. We are averaging about 130km/h or better here. An occasional truck to deal with but pretty light traffic. The roads are becoming more mountainous and sometimes I am going as slow as 40km/h. Then again I see the unmistakable signs of Lana’s potty dance and it can only mean one thing; pit stop. At least we are fairly close and I don’t feel too bad. I am sort of bummed though because the weather isn’t near as nice as yesterday. A lot of cloud cover is hiding the beauty of the area. I find a good toilet for Lana and I buy some munchies for us and clean out some junk from the car.

I offer to go to Novi Svit which is a little town just past Sudak that is right on the sea. We drive past Sudak. I point out the 14th century fortress there. She definitely is impressed with its splendor. She loves the view into Novi Svit. Town is deserted as it isn’t tourist season but we walk hand in hand along the beach. Truly a romantic moment made even better once the sun comes out.

What I thought would be a 5 minute stroll turns into a 2km (one way) as Lana wants to explore an area that looks interesting. We ignore all the “do not enter” signs as it wouldn’t be Russian to listen to them. Walk over barricades, avoid the dilapidated steps and come to a nice little area. It would have been nice if it wasn’t for the broken beer bottles, empty syringes and used condoms littering the area. Obviously quite a few RW have given it up here in this area and the evidence is every where to be found. What is it about Russians that have no apparent national pride to keep their area clean? A scenic place like this in most areas of the US would be very pristine but not here.

All this junk sort of kills the romantic moment for us. We finally leave and hike back to the car. A very nice walk in all but time is again flying and we aren’t to Sudak’s castle yet. It is now after noon already and I am not looking to the long drive back to S’pol especially on these roads and if the fog comes in again. We had some light snow/rain coming into the area and I decide we’ll leave along the coast as the weather looks better there.

[Taz]

Well we are finally to the section that details what happened to me; a live almost lost, one saved and another almost taken.

We get back to the car and Lana needs a toilet. They are all closed for the season. I inviter her to use the sea and I'll even get some leaves from one of the trees and she playfully pushes me. We head back to the fortress and after a little fumbling around find the entrance that is open. As we go in some guy stops us and we fork over a not so big wad of grivna as many other places.

We go through the main entrance and the sight before is breathtaking. Truly a beautiful view within the walls. The walls stretch to the left and right about 2km or so (just a guesstimate as I didn’t measure). Up on the main hill (about 150 high than then main ground) is the furthest wall overlooking the Black Sea. Easy to see approaching ships for many miles out or any armies from the land.

As we walk further into the area we see a few other tourists. There are also about 10 horses or so grazing in the courtyard. Apparently they are the primary lawnmowers for the fortress. They generally seem to be in pretty good health. They appear to be pretty sturdy animals. I did a lot of horse riding growing up so I know my way around them. They seem to have longer hair than most horses in the US that I’ve seen. I couldn’t determine the breed. They were shorter than a quarter horse but not quite as stout as a Morgan.

Lana is very cautious of them and more than a little afraid. I tell her to not walk behind them as it can be very dangerous. I’ve been kicked a time or two and it hurt like a muther but nothing serious. Vigilance is important regardless especially around horses you don’t know.

We walk back toward the entrance and take a few photos. The cloud cover is starting to burn off and while not as warm as yesterday, it is at least clearing up a bit. We wonder back along the main interior fortress wall. The horses have moved and are grazing along our footpath. I see some buildings I want to show Lana.

I see a group in front of us near the building I want to a few photos of. As I walk past a few horses they move a little. This makes Lana uneasy. I just keep my distance and never walk behind them.

As I pass one horse on my left, he moves his front hooves to the left. Just a subtle step or two and continues grazing. The next second he bunny-hops his hindquarters to the right. He has now done a quick 90 degree turn and his rump is facing me. At this moment I knew what as about to help. I immediately started to run as quickly as I could.

The horse bucked forward, his rear legs came off the ground and I saw his hooves flying toward my face. Unfortunately I was still in range of his hooves. Worse yet I was at full extension of them which is the worst possible place to be as maximum force is generated at the very end of the kick.

I was struck with the full force of his hooves in my head and face. I’ll likely be disfigured for life.

Gotcha! Actually all is true other than he missed my face. So I am still has handsome before. The problem occurred with the impact to my skull. It was the full force of the horse hooves. I had moved just enough so that it didn’t strike my cheek bones, eye sockets or jaw. A hit here would have sure disfigured me permanently. It would have shattered my cheek, jaw or nose if it had hit there.

As it was I received the entire force of about 10,000 Newtons or possibly more. To give you an idea this is about the equivalent of my skull being hit by a small car going about 20 mph. I was sent flying backwards. My neck was snapped back and I thought I was dead. I was knocked unconscious and when I came too I had lost my vision at first. Then it became only blurry. Now my vision is still impaired in one eye. I can’t seem to focus on anything with my right eye. I can see things but not clearly with it.

The trauma to my neck was pretty extensive. The impact snapped my neck backwards. Immediately after it happened, I was in pain...pain by the barrelful. I knew the pain that I felt at that moment would pale by comparison with the pain the next day after the endorphins wore off. My neck became stiff very quickly. I wasn’t able to turn it to the left or right or move it easily.

I knew at that moment that I was lucky to be alive. The horse could have caught my temple and was only a few inches from it as it was. I got hit on the left part my forehead and the top of it. I just wanted to collapse someplace and sleep but with a head injury you need to remain conscious for at least 24 hours.

I felt that if I actually stopped anywhere I’d not want to get up again. Lana and I walked a bit more around the castle. I knew there weren’t any hospitals close that could help me and I felt more miserable by the minute. I decided to walk up to the top of the hill and call it quits. I didn’t come this far to just turn back and go back to S’pol.

We climbed to the top of the hill and it was a magnificent view. There was this incredible wind tunnel effect as we went through the last arch exiting to the exterior castle wall. The wind accelerated to about 80 mph through this arch and you could almost fly if you wanted.

On the exterior wall is a sheer cliff. It was a straight drop of about 150-200m to the rocks below. Only thing between you and the drop was a rusty old railing. Lana walked a little close to it and I cautioned her to be careful. I wasn’t feeling too well so I went and set on some steps that led up to a drawbridge type door that lead to one of the main towers. The steps were about 19 meters up (~60’). They were made out of stone blocks about 2 meters wide and very sturdy though uneven.

I decided to inch my way up the steps. I didn’t really feel like standing but I wanted a better view. After a few minutes I was at the top and what an incredible view. I had never been up here before. I could look back over the fortress wall into the interior of the courtyard. The entire layout of the grounds was quite visible.

Lana saw me here and decided to walk up the steps. I told her to be careful. She ascended the stairs very carefully. She stopped by and looked over to the tower. The drawbridge type door was up so the stairs went no where. It was about 4 meters or so to the tower itself. Lana asked me if I wanted her to take a picture of me but I said I didn’t feel too well. She tried to cheer me up and came closer to comfort me.

After a few minutes she stood up and wanted to take a few photos. I felt a little better so she took a photo of me. She took a step back, promptly lost her balance due to the stones being so uneven and promptly fell off the edge of the steps to her doom below.

That is how it happened except for the “her doom below”. Thankfully for Lana I have incredibly quick reflexes. While they might have been dulled by the kick to the head, they were still fast enough to grab her. She was already past the point of no return if I couldn’t hold on to her. Thank god I am not a small or weak man. She was free-falling just as I caught her arm.

As her full weight was caught with my arm, the shock it sent to my already pain-wracked body was incredible. I felt like someone had just shoved and electric cattle prod into my chest, head and neck. My bought felt like it was being electrocuted by the pain coursing through my veins. I almost let go. The look of terror in her eyes was incredible. She was less than half a second away from dying and she knew it and she wasn’t saved yet.

The pain almost caused me to lose my grip. For a second I started to relax my grip and she could feel it. Her eyes opened even wider than they already were. If I couldn’t get a better grip on her she was a goner. The milliseconds seemed to stretch into hours. We were locked in a life and death struggle and if I couldn’t hold on she’d surely die. It would have been a challenge under normal circumstances but with the extent of my current injuries I honestly don’t know how I did it.

Every moment the pain increased in my body. After about 2 or 3 of the longest seconds in my life and likely hers, I had a better grip and I was able to pull her back to safety. My body was wracked with pains spasms. All I could do was sit on the steps and feel every beat of my heart feel like it was going to make my head explode. I expected at any many to see shards of my skull launched across the fortress grounds just before I collapsed.

Lana was shaking like a willow tree in a storm. She was on the verge of sobbing uncontrollably but fought it back. She just hugged me like there was no tomorrow. Not a word was spoken for the next 15 or so minutes. We sat together and then made our way back down the steps and back down the hill. We didn’t talk about it for a long while, a day later. At that moment there was a special bond created between us. It didn’t matter if we would ever love each other, marry or anything else, there is something you can only share when you save someone’s life or they save yours.

Understandably Lana needed the toiled and so did I. She was hungry and we stopped a sort of outdoor restaurant that was more of a tent with vinyl sides. We had a great meal and headed back to S’pol. I really wanted some drugs for pain but all I had was some ibuprofen and I ate them like candy at our meal.

Leaving town I decided to go back differently and through Yalta. The weather looked pretty bad the way we came in so I was going back the slightly longer route to avoid the possibly snow or rain. The option going back was going to be longer and more circuitous. Either one was a bad choice but I took the one with definitely better weather.

This turned out to be a really bad choice. I couldn’t turn my head due to my injury. The road had extremely sharp turns and constant elevation changes. The turns were about as tight as the road from Yalta up the mountain but we were constantly going up and down. Again there weren’t any guardrails. Turns were like some of those super tight ones in parking garage so that while going down the ramp your car bumper almost scrapes the ground in front of you. Think of a road like this were the hills were so steep I was going up them in first or second gear as it wouldn’t pull a higher gear. Then imagine about 90 miles of these roads and my neck so stiff I couldn’t turn it. I had Lana as a lookout for me.

After what felt like forever, we finally made it to Yalta. We were about halfway home at this point. I just wanted to get back, take some painkillers and relax for a while and hope my injuries weren’t so severe I was still going to die. All was going relatively well until the fog rolled in.

The drive became a nightmare on the way back. It was the pea soup kind of fog, so thick you would need and electric knife or a light saber to slice through it. My stress level went up by a factor of 10. My endorphins were starting to wear off on top of it. My neck felt like, well, like I’d been kicked by a horse. I’d done quite a bit of sparring in tae kwon do classes and I never got hit like that and thank god for that. I don’t think anything prepared me in my life for that kind of hit.

I became even more dependent upon Lana to be a lookout. I’d sometimes just come to a stop on the side of the road because it was too dangerous to continue. Then some idiot in a black BMW would go roaring past me into the bottomless fog like it was as clear as high noon in the desert.

After a lot longer than I wanted, we finally made it back after a couple near misses. Nothing like a truck pulling on the road in front of you with no lights on in the fog to get your attention in a hurry. But hey, that is business as usual in Ukraine and Russia.

I was really worn down by now and my head and neck of course were hurting pretty intensely. The rest of my body followed suit as well. I was really starting to get concerned at this point. I asked Lana to spend the night in my room to make sure if I needed anything someone was nearby. She readily agreed. I stayed awake all night. I finally slept for a few hours in the morning. She doted over me all night long. I wasn't sure if it was because I saved her life or because I almost died; either way I am not complaining about the care and attention I received from her!

Originally we had planned to drive to Odessa and take a break on the way back to Kyiv but not in the same hotel. I didn’t want the drive to be too tough for her. We discussed briefly that she was willing to go directly back to Kyiv in light of the circumstances even if it would be about a 10 hour + drive. I was dreading the road construction in northern Crimea.

We loaded up the car and hit the road. Simf as usual was a PITA to get through. I found a better path through the road construction and drove through a different field instead of the main field. It was much faster and less bumps which my head really didn’t want to feel anyway.

We ended up on some pretty remote back roads at times. While going through a town in the middle of nowhere, I saw and incredibly expensive white Bentley convertible. The guy driving it had to be a billionaire or close to it. Finally we made it back to the main highway from Kyiv to Odessa and could run decent speeds. I won’t even get into the number of times I was stopped by the militia or pit stops for Lana. It became a running joke between us…would I have to stop sooner for Lana to make a pit stop or to chat with the militia.

We were hammering it on the equivalent again of the Ukrainian autobahn. I was averaging about 190 km/h for long stretches. I was tailing a BWM coupe at about steady 200-210 with a BMW SUV on my tail. We would occasionally run a bit faster but not much. We had a little motorcade going when out of nowhere this militia officer comes running out from the side of the road with his little electric baton. He looked like an electric version of the Michelin man with his uniform and all the reflectors.

I looked at Lana and she had just caught a glimpse of the guy. I looked at the speedo and in the draft we were well over 210. I did the quick math, speed limit of 130, I was running at least 210 true…all that equals up to big ticket. I did the only prudent thing and hammered it even more. The BMW driver behind me came along side and gave me an affirmative gesture and he really hammered. I stayed in his draft for a long time until we were out of the “danger zone” and resumed a more normal cruise speed of about 180 or so.

It was right about then that disaster almost struck. A pedestrian almost died. Some guy hopped over the divided highway and ran across the road. The BMW in front of me swerved and as I watched him I immediately swerved to avoid whatever he was. At the last minute I saw it was a guy in all black clothing. Let’s just say that guy had more lives than a cat and there had to be skid marks in his shorts.

At this point we all slowed down a bit more. The rest of the cruise was uneventful on into Kyiv. I really needed it a stress free ride and a place to relax as my neck was killing me and my head was throbbing like a disco light. Unfortunately this night turned out to have even more stress than I could have imagined.

[Taz]

I'll post more about our return to Kyiv when I have time. My health isn't exactly the best at the moment. I have these incredible headaches that just won't go away. I went for a CT (CAT) scan and a bunch of other tests. Fortunately my skull isn't fractured. I have issues with nausea, memory loss, difficult to focus on tasks, vomiting, loss of vision in my right eye and a whole host of other symptoms.

Drugs tend to reduce the pain but never eliminate it. I feel ok and try to be my normal outgoing self which is almost possible while the drugs are at their peak effectiveness. When they were off the pain is incredible. It feels like a hot poker in my skull slicing to and fro. My doctor hopes there will be no major permanent damage though I've likely sustained some but hopefully on a minor level.

My memory loss is the most troubling of all. I also seem to be more irritable than before. I never was moody before but I feel that way at times now. I called my doctor and he said that is pretty common. With any luck most of the symptoms will go away in a few months though some may be more much longer if not permanent. Probably the most troubling is I can't read at all with my right eye. I can only read with glasses now. There is no range with it that anything is in focus. I am going to an eye specialist next week. I'd sometimes were glasses due to astigmatism or if my eyes were really tired. I didn't need it to pass my flight physical or to drive. Now there is no way my right eye would pass.

It truly was a frightening thing. It makes you painful aware of your own mortality. But for the grace of God or the quick reflexes he gave me, I should have died. Unfortunately I didn't escape unscathed but better than dead. My doctor is pretty amazed that I didn't die at the scene. He said that I do need to be very cautious now because any a relatively minor (in normal terms) bump on the head could be fatal. He said don't play soccer with my kids as a hit to the head with a ball could easily kill me now. It truly is a sobering thought. I've almost died 2 times now in Russia or Ukraine. Thanks to some incredible luck in both situations I am here writing this.

I have to really start to assess if I want to keep going back. I don't go back for the women but I really appreciate the culture and country. The women are just icing on the cake so to speak. Maybe it is time to take stock of this and think about the odds of continuing to be lucky. I am pretty damn experienced in so many areas of life and this experience is the only thing that has kept me alive a lot of times there or out of harms way other times. Maybe now is not the time to decide this as I am still reeling from the effects of a pretty serious injury. I know in my heart how lucky I was to survive. I booked a ticket to go back just because you have to get back on the horse when you fall off (pardon the pun).

I can't say that I am fearful because I've never been afraid of much in my life. I can be cautious as needed but I normally take very calculated risks. Some of the stuff that happened to me I couldn't really have planned and been prepared for in advance. It is these unknown risks that are killing me, no pun intended. I assign a risk factor to them but apparently not enough. I'll have to think through my future plans and see what, if anything, I can do to further mitigate these risks other than to live in a bubble while there. I am not a spectator in life, I am a participant and I'd rather go out with my boots on than die in my sleep. Something tells me I'll likely get my wish someday.

[SANDRO43]

Some of the stuff that happened to me I couldn't really have planned and been prepared for in advance. It is these unknown risks that are killing me, no pun intended.

You sustained a severe head injury and still went traipsing around, climbing walls and all ? Sorry to say this, but that horse seems to have ejected common sense out of your brain with its kick .

Hope you'll soon be back in the saddle (no, belay that, whatever else ).

[Taz]

Sandro - I knew I was hurt pretty badly. I couldn't drive yet and Lana didn't know how. I was hoping that I might be mistaken about how badly I was hurt but I've always been able to accurately assess my injuries. Growing up in a family with a doctor around you tends to make you aware of these things. Of course I spent my fair share of time in hospitals due to my love of car and motorcycle racing.

I am just too active of a person to sit still for long. I almost had my arm amputated after a very bad fracture (complete break, compound fracture) because I could just sit in a chair for months on end and do nothing. The doctor says the bones weren't healing well, if at all, because I couldn't just sit and do nothing. When he finally explained that I might lose my arm IF I didn't just sit and do nothing for about 6 months I finally got the message.

I didn't exactly do anything really strenuous and those endorphins are wonderful drugs. Too bad they don't last long enough.

There wasn't anybody around to help me besides Lana. I've spent enough time in Russian hospitals that I don't want to go back. The ambulances take forever (if ever) to arrive and I was far away from a hospital. I once administered CPR to a guy who had an apparent heart attack in Ukraine and it took 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. His wife was having a fit that nobody had responded quickly.

[BC]

I once administered CPR to a guy who had an apparent heart attack in Ukraine and it took 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. His wife was having a fit that nobody had responded quickly.

Taz, you gotta quit.. You're close to giving me a heart attack just reading..

[AnastassiaAsh]

I have to really start to assess if I want to keep going back. Maybe it is time to take stock of this and think about the odds of continuing to be lucky.

YEP! 

[Taz]

I don't give up that easy! I am just going to go back wrapped in a big plastic safety bubble and wearing a helmet.

I still think I have to be one of the luckiest guys alive though.    At least now Russia and Ukraine are even in their attempts to kill me. I hope neither succeeds.

[Taz]

Well another update will soon be forthcoming. JD is definitely going back. It appears that I'll be his "taxist" while in country as well as sheperding around a few other forum members. It looks to shaping up to be quite an interesting trip. Unbelivably after all my tales of woe and interesting times didn't scare them off. They sure have some guts!!! Even more so to get in a car with me.  I promise not to launch the car of any bridges like I've done on my trips. Those small bridges make great jumps for a car. Hit them at about 100mph and you can really fly!

Amazingly enough JD is actually taking my advice and has plans to "re-visit" women he had sort of blown off earlier. "Svene uletili!" or in other words pigs flew.

One forum member has never been over before so he is definitely a virgin. Another was the St. Pete on sort of school trip but wasn't that interested in RW at the time but boy have times changed! 

We all arrive in country 1 May and we'll be heading back to the US 11 May. If I get a chance I'll post a few updates while in country. Quite honestly I am hope I am so busy I don't have any time to do it until we get back.

[AnastassiaAsh]

Taz, do you feel much better already after that accident?  How many people are going with you?

[Caperone]

I read the whole thing. wow You could make a movie with these stories! 

I hope you're feeling better. 

[Taz]

@Anastassia - Quite honestly I am not 100% healed but we have a saying "I'm not getting any younger".  I would say I am at about 60% of normal. Considering my energy level is twice that of normal people, I'll be 20% more energetic than the average person. 

I am taking 2 other guys with me AND JD. I've arranged some very good discounts for the guys at agencies and I took care of all the lodging and transportation arrangements. It is even more work than doing it for just yourself. Good side and bad side is we are going during the holidays. Most women should be off of work but finding an apartment was more expensive and harder to find.

@Caperone - Wow, I can't believe you read the whole thing. A lot of people here read it piecemeal; just a bit at a time. There is a lot of useful info in it.

I'm sure I'll have a lot more to add when I return. I have absolutely no plans to go near any horses. I know I am very lucky to be alive at this point. My head is a constant reminder. Even today I still had headaches but in general my head has improved. I may be starting a new project at work and it will make it very difficult to get away later in the year so it is sort of now or never.

[Caperone]

I missed the story when you started posting it. It's a great story! 

I'm not sure what amaze me the most. After a couple of trip, JD's worst ennemy is still himself, yet he still goes that way.  Despite JD being JD, he still could attract some nice women to even get close to marriage. 

Yes. lot of good information. Especially on what NOT to do!   

[Taz]

I think in many ways, JD's "success" or almost success is a testament to RW in general. They are quite forgiving and a really good one won't mind a man who has a good heart but who might be a "fixer-upper". I've made a few mistakes along the way myself but generally they haven't ones that weren't unrecoverable from. In all though I am very sincere guy and the women pick that up very quickly. They see how I take care of my friends and that speaks volumes about my character to them.

I think any guy can be successful finding a RW if he approaches this quest with a good attitude and common sense. It does help to speak a common language. So JD is working again very seriously at studying Russian again. I never study it any more. I would have to put in too much time and effort to get much better. I am about 85% as good as I'll ever be unless I were to live there full time.

This trip will be a good study in different styles of guys. They all are pretty bright and intelligent. All appear to be motivated and pretty enthusiastic at this point. Less than one week to go and we'll be in Kyiv. In exactly one week they guys should have a few meetings under their belts. It will definitely be interesting...

[Lily]

We all arrive in country 1 May and we'll be heading back to the US 11 May. If I get a chance I'll post a few updates while in country. Quite honestly I am hope I am so busy I don't have any time to do it until we get back.

Great time to visit Russia! We haver a splendid weather here, sunny and warm. People enjoy the sun and May holidays.
Are you going to St Pete or Moscow?

[Taz]

Happy Easter Lily! I'll be in Ukraine this trip. It will probably be a while before I go back to Russia. I am really tired of the visa hassle. It is a lot of extra trouble to pay for a visa, wait for it to come, then have to get it registered. I really wish Russia would change its visa policy. It has a terrible effect on tourism.

I used to have a business visa but it isn't worth cost any more. The maximum period they will give is one year now and that can be a real issue to get.

[Caperone]

Yes, the visa is a real pita. What is the best way to get one (as you need an "invitation" if I read well)

Great time to visit Russia! We haver a splendid weather here, sunny and warm. People enjoy the sun and May holidays.
Are you going to St Pete or Moscow?

We had 30 centimeters of snow in the last week here... 

[Taz]

Don't remind me about snow. Not too far from where I live had a blizzard yesterday. I went out to my car today and it was covered in snow! I am so tired of winter!!!!! Crimea is looking very good to me.

[LiveFromUkraine]

Happy Easter Lily! I'll be in Ukraine this trip. It will probably be a while before I go back to Russia. I am really tired of the visa hassle. It is a lot of extra trouble to pay for a visa, wait for it to come, then have to get it registered. I really wish Russia would change its visa policy. It has a terrible effect on tourism.

I used to have a business visa but it isn't worth cost any more. The maximum period they will give is one year now and that can be a real issue to get.

Hi Taz,


If you are around Odessa then shoot me a pm.  I will be here until June..  I have been living here for about a year now and will be returning to the states in early June.

I am glad you are healing and hope all goes well.


Regards,



Thomas

[FredC]

Great thread Taz. I'm glad to hear that you are healing. Sounds like you are one hell of a friend/mentor/wingman. You never said how things are going with Lana. Will she be joining you on your trip? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Taz]

Just got back from an amazing trip. I took a few other RWD members by the hand and took them to the motherland! I have more installments of JD's saga and I'm sure the other members will post their own trip reports too at some point if they feel comfortable. It was quite an adventure for them. They followed most of my advice and had the experience of their lives. As for me, the saying "no good deed goes unpunished" definitely applies. I'll delve into that later.

I'm in the process of editing posts to add to this thread. JD had an interesting time there. He never ceases to amaze (or disappoint) me.

[ISORW]

Okay, it's been 18 days since you posted...where is the trip report?  I'm sure I'm not the only one who is wondering what happened?

[Taz]

I will post mine after some of the people I went with post theirs or at least get well into them. I also have very limited internet access at the moment.

[Taz]

It has taken a while to get this written due to some relatively recent injuries. I recently took a bad fall and screwed up my knee and broke a few fingers on my dominant hand. Let’s just say typing isn’t very easy now. I have also been waiting for other members who traveled with me to publish their own trip reports as I don’t want to steal any of their thunder. Some or our encounters are obviously overlapping a bit as we traveled together. Not to mention Internet access has been somewhat problematic as of late.

So let’s begin at the beginning. As many of you know, I posted prior to my trip regarding taking a few newbies under my wing when I returned to Ukraine. I was surprised at the number of responses. I had to choose from my potential victims, errr students as to who would be the best guinea pigs. Maybe I was more like Dr. Strangelove than Dr. Josef Mengele.

My victims, Myrddin and SwissKid, seemed like pretty decent guys on the surface. Everyone has their quirks and eccentricities. Even ol’ Taz has a few but I do try and be pretty consistent in all manners of speech, thought, action, etc. WYSIWYG would sum me up pretty nicely. Speaking of myself a bit, I’d shaved off about 35 lbs (17 kilos) since my last trip and about 50 lbs from when I first met Lana. While not slim and trim, I was definitely looking better.

I had offered up makeover suggestions for the men. To their credit they took to heart. Myrddin totally freshened up his wardrobe and went with the full frontal nudity look…of the face that is. SwissKid ditched his mustache as well. Myrddin went for the full makeover and the results will speak for themselves…later!

After 2 suitable candidates were found, I started to assess their strengths and weaknesses more in depth over a few weeks to see if I’d bitten off more than I could chew. Once satisfied that I could actually help them (or at least not hurt them), I started to get everything in order for our trip. In order to lessen the stress on them, I was taking care of pretty much all the arrangements on the other end. All they had to do was just show up at the airport. To that end I even made it easier for them but I’ll elaborate in a bit on that.

I spoke extensively with them about what days and other travel arrangements. Once we had a suitable schedule we then had to arrange tickets. Myrddin was out of town gambling when I found some great fares. I called him and said we have to pull the trigger right NOW! I could sense a little reluctance in his voice as if he was a bit unsure if he really wanted to go through with it or not but like a good soldier he got with the program. I felt I had more faith in him than he did himself!!!

[Taz]

Since Myrddin lived somewhat close to me (compared to JD and SwissKid) I had arranged my flight in such a manner so as to make a stopover in his city so that I could meet him and then we’d fly over together to AMS and then on to KBP. The second victim, SwissKid, lived further east than either of us and not too far from JD. I was able to coordinate SwissKid’s ticket so that we would all meet up in AMS and take the final flight into KBP together.

For some unknown reason, I told JD I was going back over and taking a couple of neophytes with me. For some ungodly reason that spurred JD into wanting to go back. I thought he had truly sworn off EVER going back. I told JD when we were arriving and he decided to tag along. So I encouraged him to reserve certain flights outbound that put him on the same flight as SwissKid to AMS and then he’d meet up with all of us there for the final leg. Unbeknownst to JD, I then switched his seats around and put him right next to SwissKid on the flight from DTW to AMS.

Since I had the flights all lined up I had to work on lodging and transport. All planned on going to Mari in a rental car. This was going to be a challenge as well. SwissKid, JD and I are all pretty tall. SwissKid is almost 6’5”, JD is about 6’3” and I am about 6’2” and Myrddin was the runt of the litter at a “claimed” 5’10”. I know Myrddin felt like the runt of the litter living in Land of the Giants but he was a good sport. The challenge was finding a car all of us could somewhat comfortably fit in. I finally found a nice Skoda wagon for us (like a VW Passat) and coughed up the arm and a leg they wanted to rent it. This didn’t exactly turn out as planned.

I found some decent apartments in Mari. I rented one for everyone including JD. PITA to deal with several people to get this done and I had to wire the money over. I didn’t really relish doing this to someone I didn’t know. One issue was going to be when we actually arrived in Mari. I didn’t think I could drive all the way to Mari after a LONggggg flight from the US so I sort of had plans to stop somewhere along the way but I figured I’d leave that to later.

Next up was getting dates lined up for the guys. I encouraged SwissKid and Myrddin to use an agency that treated JD pretty well. I said come over to the candy store and pick that flavors that will tickle your palette.

Myrddin came back with armfuls of candy and so did SwissKid. I asked them for bios/intro letters and then massaged them a bit. I had helped Myrddin quite a bit in this regard regarding the online Russian language sites so I knew only a little more tweaking was required. I forwarded on the picks, bios and photos of the men to the owner and got the ball rolling. JD is JD, so he of course defied normal logic and decided to see the one girl he had sort of blown off before in Zap and decided at the last moment to visit her and then head on to Crimea to possibly rekindle an old flame.