Crimea, Ukraine May 2013

As a result of our experiences in Russia & the Ukraine last year we both would like to encourage others to learn some basic Russian and the Cyrillic alphabet as a really important way of improving a visit to either of the countries. I had evening classes for six months before we left and was not able to say much more than a few basic phrases   but it was very much appreciated by local people and as a result we felt our experiences were almost 100% positive, unlike many travellers we met who did not make the effort and wondered why they had more negative responses. People in the region can sometimes appear rather stern and severe on the outside but my experience was that a few words in Russian soon changed all that and those we met quickly relaxed and were kind and helpful.

As part of our preparation for travelling to Russian speaking countries again in the next couple of years I have been continuing my evening classes and my holiday this year was to a wonderful place near Yalta in the Crimea, Ukraine where I was able to live in a small guest house with a local family, have some tuition in Russian and then practice what I had learned with them, as well explore the local area which is both beautiful and historically interesting.  I found the food to be delicious despite all the constraints of my diet (I am a Coeliac with Liver problems so not easy to feed) and I felt very well looked after by Valentina and her team.  See their website at http://www.muschinskaya.com/index.en.php 

I had a wonderful ten days there which was not nearly long enough and would highly recommend it.

View of Black Sea from the Sunshine Path

Local beach at Miskor

Yalta

Ai Petri mountain from the garden

Studying on the terrace

Yalta from the sea

Ai Petri mountain

28th April: To Central Ukraine at 29 deg 42' E. (20 miles west of Uman, 1996 miles so far)

Stork on nest - common in Ukraine villages

Lunch stop in western Ukraine

Lorry park campsite - the woman in charge made us camp next to the only other lorry in the place. 



Levoca

 The second day at the excellent Levoca camp site was marred by far to much rain but before we left on 25^th we had heard Tengmalm’s owl there and found a pair of Hawfinches nest building. We moved on towards the border not quite knowing where we might camp or where we might get to. The countryside changed from pine clad hillsides to open undulating farmland with a rather high population density. There were several White Storks already nesting in many villages but the area was not really suitable for camping away from it all. We got as far as the border and saw the km long queue of vehicles before turning back to camp in the fenced lorry park of a local transport café. Actually we had a very pleasant afternoon in this car park in the warmest sunshine we have seen and we had 26 bird species from our deck chairs, including three nightingales in a competitive singing contest. (They sing also during the day, despite repute). In this area each town and settlement has a very distinct community of Roma, they seem very much the underclass here. (It was very noticeable that there are no Roma at all in Ukraine)

The lorry park was a surprisingly good nights sleep considering the coming and goings of 40 tonners all night. We were almost first at the border at 0530 am and were through the Slovakian and Ukrainian customs and immigration surprisingly quickly, only 3/4 hour. The only thing that surprised us was that both sides wanted to see documentation for the Tab - apparently caravans here have their own documents. Luckily we had written the Tab serial numbers on the vehicle V5 and other vehicle docs. First impressions of Ukraine (other than a very aggressive first border guard) were very good, it was similar mountain country to the Slovakian hills and rose to 770 m in one point. But after that the lowlands started and it was then farmland for a very long time, with villages frequently. The road quality was quite poor and followers are advised to keep on the main border - Lviv - Kiev road rather than stay on the E50 after Stryj as we did if you want to keep your speed up.(it had been quite reasonable to that point). It was very bumpy and potholed and really shook the TAB around. It is more direct to the south-east but seemingly slower. We could not even get up to 40 mph let alone our target 50 mph! Another lorry park camp at Rogatin 24.5 E. We saw five species of butterflies today, see the invertebrates page for pix.


Our second & third days in Ukraine have been a really enjoyable journey through the country from west to east. After a few more miles on the E50 the road improved somewhat so we decided to stick with it rather than diverting a couple of hundred miles or so north just to get onto some motorway.. Although it has brought our average speed down quite a bit (10mph through one very long town with cobbled streets all the way) we didn’t regret it and have enjoyed seeing the villages, stopping at the local shops and exchanging waves & smiles with the people here - we had a father & son come & check out our "cool car" while we were having lunch at the side of the road. The small farms of the first day, with lots of people working in the fields and horse drawn ploughs, were largely replaced by vast fields being ploughed by vast tractors. All the village houses though seem to have their own large plot of land which is in the process of being planted.
After coming through to the Carpathians with spring seeming to be on hold (in some places less green than in the UK) here on the plains it is suddenly in its full glory with everything much greener and beautiful blossoms everywhere (they grow a lot of pears here amongst other things). It is also much sunnier & warmer with day time temperatures yesterday afternoon and today into the high 20's.

Mike officially became an old age pensioner today!!

(You can see details of the Vidlak site at  www.campimngvidlak.cz and the Levoca site at www.rzlevoca.sk)