Tuesday                       16/09/08                     Day 66                        Russia-Ukraine

The final stretch to the border saw Dave fall victim to the omnipresent and officious traffic police in the Kursk region. A couple of minimal “fines” for speeding and overtaking offences nicely used up our rouble loose change and we arrived at the border with plenty of time to spare, having completed our 3200 mile drive in a tad under 90 hours.

The Russian Border crossing was as expected and we had become familiar with the nuances of their system. The Ukraine was an unknown quantity and started poorly; we were hit with a compulsory insurance green card priced at €60, which we baulked at, for what would only be five days in the country, and also, we weren’t carrying that amount of Euros. After some humorous negotiation we agreed a 70% discount and paid in a combination of Euros, Roubles and some left over Norwegian Krone!

Once at customs we were dealt a myriad of paperwork all in Ukrainian with no English translation available. By now the previous few days toil had eroded much of our patience and we had had enough of waiting around not knowing what was going on, so when one customs officer approached us and said he could make all the paperwork go away and stamp our passports, no questions asked, for €20 we jumped at the chance! Within minutes we were driving free in the Ukraine, but, due to extensive road works, we were following a 40 mile diversion through farmers’ fields and rural ex-soviet backwaters.  We made it through thanks only to the Russian car that we were following and their constant asking for direction on the signless diversion route through the countryside. We reached the main highway to Kievshortly before dark and, with the pressure off, we made camp in a cornfield, within striking distance of Kiev, and had a very early night.

Wednesday                 17/09/09                      Day 67                        Ukraine

After an excellent and well appreciated nights sleep we went for a jog around the corn fields, enjoying the brisk morning air and shaking the long drive out of our legs.  Ever in need of showers, we headed into Kiev where we paid a man not to clamp the Land Rover and headed on foot to the Lonely planet recommended  hotel, only to receive a soviet style “Niet!”, and, after some enquiring, an explanation that they were fully booked. To make the most of the parking we had paid for we decided to stay in the centre for lunch in an underground shopping centre that sprawls across the city, beneath the buildings and roads. We located the food court and, once full, made our way to the neighbouring Samsung Internet Centre to research alternative digs for the night and a sports bar to watch the Champions League football. At this point we discovered that Arsenal were in town playing Dynamo Kiev which made the outlook on finding a spare room amongst the travelling Gunners distinctly gloomy.

We tried anyway and our luck was in; we had found a very nice hostel  within walking distance of the centre at a good price, and with no parking restrictions on the road outside. We made full use of the facilities and strolled up the cobbled hill back into the centre and found a reasonable Japanese restaurant for a pre-match meal. Just across the street was the sports bar we had researched earlier but most of the seats were empty and reserved, the drinks were expensive and the atmosphere was non-existent.  As such, we got directions to one of the ubiquitous Irish bars also showing the Utd game, which ended a disappointing 0-0. At least Arsenal lost.

Thursday                     18/09/08                      Day 68                        Ukraine

The next morning the hostel manager paid us a visit whilst we breakfasted in the room to see if we wanted to stay another night. We still had to look around Kiev, use the internet and buy some warmer clothes to supplement our shorts and shirts, until we made it to more temperate climes, so happily agreed to another night. A man moved into the adjoining room shortly afterwards and began to talk to us. It took us a moment to recognise the language as English through the thick mask of his Cork accent and we began piecing together the words we could identify into sentences in our heads and hedging our bets with our replies. We established he had been in Kiev for a week or so and he offered to show us to a local market where we could pick up very cheaply some of things we needed. The three of us headed to the indoor market that was a hive of sights, aromas and activity and watched it all go by from a small side café selling pints of tea and pastries for a few pennies.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse so we opted to take the metro to the city centre, and at 5p per trip it is well recommended, even if a little confusing despite only having three lines. We scouted the shops for a while and Dave managed to pick up a replacement pair of flip-flops before heading to the internet centre to shelter for the bulk of the afternoon. In the still torrential evening downpour we ran around central Kiev looking for somewhere to grab dinner and eventually dived into the Rock & Roll Café, which although a little pricy, was justified to get out of the rain. Still sodden but well fed, we got the Metro back to the hostel to dry off, chip away at the mounting diary backlog and have an early night.

At 4:30am the Irish guy stumbled in and started some drunken gabble to us, still half asleep, and was soon encouraging us to join him in a chorus of “Paddy go to Bed”. Unable to get up from where he had slumped between our beds, Dave gave him a helping hand and tucked him into his own bed. Had he not been such a big chap we might have been more annoyed!

Friday                          19/09/08                      Day 69                        Ukraine

We headed to the indoor market for breakfast and stocked up on supplies, including several kilograms of dried fruit and nuts. Al sourced a new towel to replace the one used to clean the axle in Siberia and some skipping ropes to help in the battle against our dwindling fitness. We lugged our purchases back to the hostel and noticed as we passed the Land Rover that the left front indicator was missing and the front wing bent and scratched – it seams as soon as one thing on the car is sorted another problem takes its place.  As we stood in annoyance we were joined by two local men, who introduced themselves and asked us questions about what had happened. We explained we were staying at the hostel and hadn’t seen what had happened which combined with our hand gestures the two men mistook for us saying the person responsible was down the ally leading to the hostel. The younger of the two pulled back his jacket to reveal a holstered semi-automatic pistol, we clocked the misunderstanding and quickly sought to clarify the situation, thanking them for their generous offer to teach whoever had dinged the car some manners.

 We were concerned about the legality of driving with one front indicator and the issues it could cause at the border so we headed to a nearby independent Land Rover mechanics who had left their card in the window the day before (a little suspicious), but weren’t surprised to find they didn’t have the part. Our last task in Kiev was to get some US dollars or Euros as back up cash, often useful for surprise taxes at borders, but this proved harder than expected so we withdrew a load of Ukrainian which we would change at the border. We left Kiev in rush hour, stopping for dinner and fuel before camping for the night in a field.

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