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| Ternopil statue, Leigh |
Heading toward Ternopil in south-western Ukraine,
we found the roads to be most challenging! Slow progress was made until we
reached a hotel we thought might offer overnight parking. They directed us to a
car park next door were we had a lovely discussion with the caretaker – he
speaking Ukrainian and us English - but we managed to understand quite a bit!
He was excited that we were from New Zealand and called us ‘amigos of Ukraine’.
We got a cab into the city and had a delightful
roam around the quite elegant streets of Ternopil. There were pretty buildings,
promenades lined with trees and flowers, and lots of street art and statues.
This city has a lake which seemed very popular for
strolling, fishing and boat trips. We stopped at a local restaurant for a
Ukrainian meal before finding another slightly more expensive cab to take us
home to Vanni.
The next day we drove, or rather we bumped, our way
on the terrible Ukraine roads, down and across country stopping at Chernavisti,
then Khotyn to view the Khotyn Fortress. Constructed around the 13th century, the Fortress
was in great shape and sat overlooking a river on one side and a valley on the
other.
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| Khotyn fortress, Marg |
After investigating the Khotyn Fortress, we drove
on to a lovely city called Kamyanets’-Podil’skyy which is one of the oldest
cities in Ukraine, and that also has a fortress.
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| Kamyanets’-Podil’skyy fortress |
We did a drive through first in an attempt to find
a suitable hotel with parking - but to no avail! We were then directed to a car
storage area which, while looking a little grotty was secure, safe and quiet.
We decided to stay there for the night as we were
very tired after the long bumpy day’s drive.
Early the next morning we drove back into the old
town and managed to get a great parking spot which enabled us to walk around
and enjoy the town.
The 10th century fortress which sat strategically
and impressively, upon the highest hill, was a major sight.
We were also delighted with the lovely street art
and colourful old buildings.
Leaving Kamyanets’-Podil’skyy, we drove through
several villages before reaching a little commune which has a medieval building
called Medzhybizh Castle.
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| Kamyanets’-Podil’skyy, Leigh & friend |
After a good look around and admiring its amazingly
solid fortifications and great museum, we moved on to the city of Vinnytsia.
Arriving late, we skirted around the city as we
wished to find our camp ground – supposedly just out of town. However,
following the GPS settings led us around in circles with no sign of a camp!
We stopped on a corner to read our map, when a car
pulled up and a man and woman hopped out offering help. They could not speak or
understand spoken English, but were really enthusiastic.
They were able to read a little English however, so
showing them the camp address, they were able to work out what we were looking
for.
They both pulled out their cellphones but after several calls, it
transpired that nobody knew of the camp. Then after a few more calls, they
signaled us to follow them.
We decided to go with the flow, and they led us
through a maze of narrow dirt roads.
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| Medzhybizh Castle |
We were wondering whether we had made the
right decision to follow when we came to a narrow bridge leading to a holiday
resort – not the campsite we were looking for but a place where we could park
and be safe (whew!!).
We were very grateful to have met such lovely people, and
we never would have found the place, as they are not too common in Ukraine.
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| Vinnytsia, Bug River |
The resort owners were amazed to see us. They had
never had any English speaking tourists before - especially from New Zealand -
and certainly none in a campervan!
However, they plugged us into electricity
and made us feel welcome.
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| Entry to Vinnytsia camp |
It was an attractive spot with cabin accommodation, a
restaurant, and swimming pools, and seemed to be a relaxing place for locals
after work, as well as for people staying there.
Tanya, our hostess was concerned that we appeared
not to be eating.
Finding an English speaking guest who helped with
translation, we ended up eating meals that she prepared especially for us on
the two nights we were there.
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| Vinnytsia campsite, Marg |
The food was absolutely delicious and very filling
– we’re pleased we don’t have scales in Vanni to weigh ourselves!
The resort gave us a place to relax for a couple of
days before heading off again on the bumpy Ukraine roads.
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| Vinnytsia village bus & well |
We still don’t know the
name of the commune where the resort was located, but were interested to see
the communal well which was right next door to the bus stop.
We have seen many such wells dotted along the
streets throughout this part of Ukraine.
They all have slightly different decorations, are
covered, and many have a decorative wheel instead of a handle, to raise and
lower the bucket.
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| Zhytomyr defence sandbags |
Next day, we visited Vinnytsia city, finding it to
be an attractive university town.
We saw our first Ukrainian McDonalds in
Vinnytsia.
Up until this time, we had not seen any of the big food chains such
as McD, Starbucks, etc etc in Ukraine.
We then headed off toward Zhytomyr.
Arriving at the entrance to the city, we found
sand-bag fortifications with each having weapon slots.
Presumably these have
been erected in the case of invasion by Russian paid football hooligans that
have lead the current uprising in Eastern Ukraine.
We had seen others elsewhere, but the Zhytomyr ones
looked very well organised.
We are not sure that we will get to enjoy the charm
of rural Ukraine again, as we are now headed toward the big city of Kiev.
Also,
due to the political situation in Ukraine, we may have to depart the country
sooner than planned.