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In 2024 I'm taking more stuff with me for the bicycle that I bought in 2023 in Chernivtsi which is now in storage in Kiev.
I'm taking:
A lot of stuff again, and there is more but the above is the most important of what I'm taking.
Additions, trip 2 starting July:
Summary: I went to Ukraine in April, then back to NL 26 June, and ca. 4 weeks later in July returned to Ukraine again.
I had a lot of very interesting experiences again, here are a few of them, I will add more information later.
In Veliky sorochintsi I stayed in Khutor Gogolya, with old style houses with thatched roofs
More to be added.Experiences to be added...
Going to Lviv to pick up my residence permit was an adventure. There was a possible issue of not having valid papers though it was caused by the delay in my residence permit being sent to Lviv (from Kiev):
I was going to make a bike trip from Kremenchuk to Kiev. After about 30 km at Gradizk on 4 June I photographed a bus stop, it was right next to a mini police station that I hadn't even noticed because my attention went to the bus stop :) A policeman wanted to see my papers and said that my work permit ends on 5 june, I could get a fine. What about the normal allowance to stay 3 months? Not valid he thought. I said that the residence permit was delayed (in getting to Lviv, it was actually issued 15 May I saw on the permit). I sent a message to my lawyer, cycled on but consisered options, also because I had pain in my left wrist and elbow (I want to install a h-bar type handlebar on the bike, which should remove this problem). Then the lawyer said the policeman was right, I should get to Lviv as soon as possible and that coincidentally the permit had just arrived... So a bit farther I asked a guy and son who were selling chereshnyas (bird cherries, look a lot like cherries but they are more bitter) at the road, about taking a marshrutka to Kiev with my bike (I would pay the driver extra for the bike). Possible, he thought, but later he suggested riding 27 km further, near a hotel, there marshrutkas stop, and there are more options there. I rode on to go there and before I left he gave me a big bag of chereshnyas... He didn't want payment... I cycled on, then 5 km or so later I asked someone else who was making pictures of statues at the road side, for his views on the best option to quickly get to Lviv. He made another suggestion to go further to Zolotonosha, but then said: "I have another option for you. We (he and his sister) can take you to herkassy, then you can take the train from Smila to Lviv." What about the bike? "You can send it to Lviv with Nova poshta". So again 2 people helped me without asking... I don't think people in NL would do this.
More to be added on this story...
On Tuesday 11 June I went to a bike shop to look for tyres, it was open but there was no power, it was dark inside, and the guys from that shop would return in 1-2 hours, a woman sitting in the doorway said. She was pleasant to talk to so I got talking to her about several things: that shop was combined: flower shop + bicycle shop. Strange combination but I had seen stranger combinations in NL... She spoke pretty good English and she said she had lived in England for 3 months (but her English was likely fairly good already, as 3 months is not long; I heard a certain way of talking that definitely comes from living in the UK so it had a noticeable influence). She said she thought about staying in the UK or returning, and returned, she would go into the army too if needed. I mentioned the situation of my former friend from Kharkov (who left Ukraine and seemingly left her ideals too as she even insulted me when I suggested a business collaboration in October 2022) and I told her about the woman witb whom I got talking outside a supermarket in NL after I heard her speaking Russian. I then asked whether she was from Ukraine and yes, she was from Kiev. I asked her about her views of life in NL vs Ukraine and better in NL roads, better in Ukraine: lower taxes :) Then I asked whether she would want to return to Ukraine and she said likely no, because she wants another child and an isdue is the mines in forests. That seemed to me a fake answer and I was sure that it meant that as usual, in this case too as for most people money overrules everything... This woman in Lviv was different, I returned to Lviv to arrange a few things in August and went to that bike shop to ask whether she might be interested in telling more details on her view of life in Englands vs the USA but she wasn't there. I got talking to a guy working in that bike shop, which was interesting and I loved the apple juice that a relative of his made, much better than apple juice in shops but possibly expensive due to the number of apples that are required. It could be cool to offer that among various Ukrainian products to people who are interested in bike tourism in UA...
On 13 June I went to a large bike shop, far on the other side of the city and the following happened on the way there: some guy was saying something to me about where to ride. I said that I am a tourist (so I don't always know), he asked from which country, I said The Netherlands. He said "Can you take me in your country, I am a good guy". Hmm, that is not up to me of course... He asked whether I like it in Lviv, I said "it is ok, but I like other cities more". He: "Where do you work, as a truck driver?", I: "No, I am not working now"... He: "Oh you have so much money?" I: "I have enough", he then asked: "Can I have 100 euro, I am a good guy, I need help", I said "Many people need help", he asked again 100 euro and I said "No" :)
Here I had some misadventures, annoyances and sorted out more stuff.
Cycling in the Netherlands is at the moment less safe and more annoying than in Ukraine. I uploaded a video about my experiences from 3 weeks in NL to youtube
The video that I made cycling from the outskirts of Amsterdam to Amstelveen has quite a bit of noise from the F12W dynamo, posssibly from position of mic on the DJI, I uploaded it on youtube but here I will just tell most of the experiences which show what is going on in NL now. This is fairly recent, I did not experience such issues before:
I cycled 35 km to Amsterdam to buy some Alpen muesli (red package, my 2nd favourite after Kellog's Country store which I can't find in NL any more, Alpen muesli is also hard to find).
After buying the muesli and visiting the centre, on the ride back to Alphen a.d. Rijn, and after experiencing a complainer on an e-bike and an idiot on a e-fatbike, I was thinking about the issue that cycling in NL is not just no longer safe, but also annoying.
The problems are caused by riders on e-bikes who don't want to brake, who don't anticipate, and some are simply dangerous nutters. The latter type of people seem to be attracted to especially e-fat bikes. I had heard that there are a lot of complaints about e-fatbikes/people on them, and at first I thought it was a non-issue, but I found out the past few weeks that they are indeed a problem. My experiences, written down on 22 July 2024:
All these things were caused by people who are not able to judge situations, not anticipating and blaming others for having to brake, or who are crazy. Having to brake is part of life but they want to be able to go 25 km/h everywhere, which is not possible on most cyclepaths esp. when there are many others cycling, especially on a narrow cycle path.
It was more dangerous and more annoying the past 3 weeks riding about 600 km in NL than the 1600km in 6 weeks in Ukraine... Actually I can add last year in UA too: 600km in 3 weeks in NL was more dangerous and more annoying than 2600km in Ukraine despite riding a lot with cars there...
First a bus from Amsterdam to Wroclaw, then train to Przemysl (on 30 July), train to Kiev (arriving there 31 July), I took my bicycle from storage, cycled to a friend in Irpin, stayed there a bit more than a day, then early 2 August I cycled to Kiev, sent my bicycle via Nova poshta to Kremenchuk, went to the storage facility to take a few things, but sorting out my things here took so long that I went to a hostel for a night, then took a marshrutka to Kremenchuk next morning (it would have been better to have taken the option of elektrichka Kiev-Grebinka, then Grebinka-Romodan, then a diesel from Romodan to Kremenchuk, all possible with the bicycle, though I would have arrived later, ca. 19:20 or so). I arrived ca. 15:30 in Kremenchuk, went to the hotel, then next day met the realtor and seller of the house. Arranging everything took time but after having done that on 16 August we signed an agreement at the notary.
On a Sunday evening I was going to an ATB supermarkt close to my hotel 'Uyut' (which means 'cosy'), I saw a violin player but she was just packing up. I asked her what she played and it was 'charivna (skripka)' if I recall correctly, which means something like 'enchanted violin', a song I know for example from a performance by Nina Matvienko. I would have liked to hear her play it, perhaps next time, she would be there next Sunday. We talked a little bit about life in NL vs UA and she was positive about my wish to buy a house near Kremenchuk, Such as positive attitude is a pleasant change from those who doubt or who express no interest... I thought I would not be in Kremenchuk next Sunday, but due to paperwork issues I was there, however I made a bike trip to Nagirne that day, and it was very windy, later stormy and this caused that after 100km in such weather I arrived very late back in Kremenchuk, after 23 O'clock. I went to the ATB market anyway for some groceries but she logically wasn't there. Pity. Sometimes people are very pleasant to talk to, same as with the woman in the flowershop/bike shop in Lviv, but it doesn't happen often.
I had been thinking in 2023 about visiting a house that I saw for sale on dom.ria.com, and it is supposed to be very pretty area. So could be nice, as someone confirmed to me and I went there but it was very windy that day. It is hilly from Svitlovidsk onwards, but everything was going well. There are places with a small beach, steep hills and I felt while riding here that this area is definitely too far from Kremenchuk and not my kind of area with all the hills. Ihad a look at the area, and beach, then I needed to return ca. 45 km. I tested a bunch of bicycle lights on this trip, especially the Axendo 40 vs B&M Briq. The Briq is clearly superior in light ouput, and light colour. It was stormy riding back which slowed me down enormously on several kilometers along the river. I arrived in Kremenchuk late, ca. 23:00, then went to an ATB supermarket then to the hotel.
More to come.
After the trip to Nagirne I went to Cherkassy which I thought could be interesting.
Well, later it was interesting but the first day was mostly annoying. It started badly by losing my noise cancelling headphones. I rode back and found tgem but this was a wasted 6km. After leaving Kremenchuk first through Vlasivka, then Svitlovodsk, then Podorozhnye, The road up to Podorozhny I had already ridden on my trip to Nagirne, and after that it didn't become more interesting and disliked all the climbing. there were no hotels in the area, I asked some people too, so on to Chigirin. I made a stop at a sign of the region ('kirovograd'), and a car stopped. It was quite late when I arrived in Chigirin, a bit after 22:00, so I rode towards where there should be a hotel. There were 2 shown on open street maps (I use Osmand+ for navigation) but I asked a few people before I got there. They weren't sure but in the end directed me to the same place as on the map, to which I planned to go. They said you might have to call. I got there but the entrance was closed. How to get in? I saw no phone number... I saw stairs to a back entrance which was open, went down, saw people eating but they said the hotel is not open... They pointed me to another hotel, the 2nd in Chigirin that is indicated on open street maps, but they were full... What to do? I rode on, asked one guy who wasn't interested in answering, rode further and saw a sign "I {love} forest". What was that? It was getting late so if I didn't find anything then I would go sleep in a field or forest, or something. 2 guys came out when they saw my bicycle with the bright headlamp. It turned out they are forestry workers,]. I asked them about a hotel but they said there are none close by. Then what to do? There is a curfew and it was around 23:00. Well, they let me sleep there, made tea, even gave some food...
I talked with them about various topics, life in Ukraine vs Netherland.
more to come, then: From Chigirin to Cherkassy.
staying at a room, part of a house, in Cherkassy. More details to come.
I cycled from Cherkassy to Smila twice, each trip was ca. 75 km, and the 2nd time, 23 August, I saw on the way there in Bilozirya festivities. People singing, performing poetry. So the day before independence day. I had seen such festivities in other cities on previous trips but not sure whether they were related to 24-8, also on 23-8, is that usual? [ Answer from a friend: 23 August is the day of national flag of Ukraine. Festivities might be related to that ] Also interesting I saw several Migs (I think, probably Mig 29, dual stabiliser) flying overhead on that trip. I went a second time to Smila to check out the 2nd entry/exit sign during daylight and to see whether there were more. I did find another which was a bit less cool than the other 2 but all are interesting. One I saw first on the bus trip on 5 June is the coolest, with a very nice mosaic. The 2nd one I saw on my first bike trip to Smila but it was dark so my pictures were done with a pocket light with narrow beam.
There was an issue for which I needed to return to Kremenchuk, and go to the notary again, so, I tried to leave Cherkassy but this was a mess. I didn't want to go (ride with the bicycle) back the same route, so I wanted to go via the other side of the river, but I was not allowed to ride across the bridge over the river... Then I tried a bolt taxi, I asked whether he could take me, he said "don't cancel, I can take you with the bike", but then he cancelled. Bolt charged me 70 UAH (about 1.50 euro), WTF? All the conversation in the app was gone with the cancelling... Another driver in a bolt taxi was extremely rude, didn't want to answer any questions. I should have called him an a-hole and made a pic of the number plate and sent a complaint to Bolt. I think I will remove this app from my phone. In the end I took a diesel train to Grebinka with my bike, then an electrichka to Kiev., after that a day of rest then to Kremenchuk.
On 26 August a night train to Lviv. I talked to 2 women from Kharkov on the train. The 2nd one spoke English and she told me that she was living/working (I think it was giving massages) in Sweden but she didn't like the people there. Men were stingy! They didn't want to pay for drinks as she experienced on dates. I asked whether it is hard to get to know people (introverted), which is what I read/heard, and she said yes... She seemed to think other people (non-swedes) living in Sweden is positive, strange, unless she meant that she likes them better than swedes. I asked why she didn't move to another country than Sweden, but she said it would be difficult/costly to start all over again.
She also said that (so she was now living in Sweden but had returned to Kharkov, for a while; I didn't ask why) sleeping on the train is not comfortable. Hmm... I said that for me it works well, I sleep fine on the trains... This is actually what makes travel by train great in Ukraine: For long trips you have a place to sleep, you can order tea (and snacks). For me it is a very nice experience each time. I went to Lviv by night train, and after a day there returned by night train.
In Lviv I waited a bit at the train station then off to Privatbank to arrange a few more things for my business account. On the way to the branch where I went last time (I returned there as they were very helpful there), I saw a woman with very unusual dress, blue, the bottom at an angle. I thought "wow, you only see women dress like that in Ukraine!", it was just as unusual as the previous year when I saw a woman in a sort of evening dress near the statue 'Rodina mat' in Kiev.
More to come.
I went to the same hostel/guesthouse where I went in 2016, I had interesting conversations here with the owner and guests, so I decided to return here
I uploaded a short video from Kharkov about where you get drinking water in Ukraine, which can be:
- filter with special faucet
- can to filter water, fill it and the water falls through the filter using gravity
- getting water from a machine that supplies fresh water.
Someone commented with that video that there were possibly gas-water machines in Kharkov.
The hostel owner sent this link:
https://www.shukach.com/ru/node/43463
Much more to be added...
Leaving Kharkov: In September I took a night train from Kharkov to Kiev, got talking to a woman who told me her employer Philip-morris (cigarettes, isn't that a dying business?) changed the place of their business to Lviv. She didn't like it there and I said that I also don't like it in Lviv (though I got to like it much more since having stayed there longer and since riding there with my bicycle and visiting the many parks farther from the centre). I like it more in Kharkov, she did too...
Went to get my bicycle, to Irpin for a day, then to Kiev for 2 days, relaxing a bit, took the train to Kremenchuk with the bicycle. For this I used electrichkas, in which this is allowed. Well the last one is actually a diesel train with different layout but there is a compartment (with entry to the carriage that is not used) where I could put the bicycle.
Last modified: 2024-9-16