Ukraine

Still in the Masuren lake district I was looking for a nice Hostel in Minsk. But I was not really able to find a proper one. Also I had kept all these recommendations from others in my mined, that I have to go to Ukraine and see Kiev. So I quickly changed my planes and was driving to the Ukraine border.

At the boarder was such an huge queue that I definitely will stay there for 4 hours. So I just was passing the hole queue in the hope there is a separate queue for motorbikes, but there wasn't. As I was staying there some very friendly Ukrainian citizen were starting talking with me. But they wasn't able to talk in English and I wasn't able to talk in Ukrainian. So we just used hands, feeds and google translator. One of them was making me understandable: "What you want to stay in a tent. No, you come with me and stay in my house and we are drinking Wodka together."

It was really good to get in contact with him, because he allowed me to enter the queue in front of him and he help me and sayed where I have to go at the boarder and what I have to show the Police men. So after 2 hours I finally made the boarder cross to Ukraine. And that was not just a cross to another country it was a step out of the European countries inside to a new very, very poor world. A poor world, but so friendly and with so much hospitality I never experienced before.

So after the border Lonia my friendly host, was jumping on my back seat and we were driving to his home. He was of course without a helmet. But Nobody cares here about a helmet on a motorbike. His wife and his oldest son were driving the Car to there home.

To be honest I was totally afraid and scared about the situation. The house had perhaps 70 or 80 qm, but they were living there with three sons, a daughter, three cats and three dogs.

But the evening was great, we had dinner and afterwords we drunk Wodka and had a dialog with google translator. But then he pulls out a big glas out of the cupboard. In the glas were some big white cubes, it looks like some pure fat with a lot of salt. Then he took one out and cut some thin slice of it witch he also cut down to some sticks. Then we eat it and drunk Wodka to it. Some days afterwords someone explained me it was pork fat a Ukraine speciality called "са́ло - Salo".

Later on he showed me photo albums from his life and family. It was really interesting to get a view to his life, as an example some years ago he was sill driving a Moskvitch.

The next morning we had a nice conversation on the PC over a translator and he showed me later on his Motorbike and was totally happy about to be allowed to have a ride with my bike.

My lovely host, Lonia.

After this experience I was driving the hole day over absolutely boring strait roads and reached Kiew at the afternoon.

Slowly I started to feel myself safer here.

It is an absolutely interesting city were I was seeing very impressive nice buildings and on the other hand very poor houses in a very bad shape.

On the last two Pictures you can see a red bridge in the background. I was fascinated by this gigantic metal construction and a local was able to tell me something about it. This bridge was constructed eight years ago, but was never finished, because they have not the money left and so it is now just rotting by itself and has no use. For me this example is a representation for the situation here.

Of course I must use the deepest subway station in Europe. On this picture you can not see it but after this elevator you come in to a small room and have to turn right and have to go again on such a long elevator. In total you get lifted for 65 meter.

Like everybody before was recommending me Kiev I also recommend everybody to see Kiev. Here you don't have to be afraid about safety. The Ukraine conflict is just in two provinces at the east side ongoing.