Going East: Crossing the Borders of Realty and Presuppositions

Eastern part of Europe includes a wide range of aspects: geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic. The division and understanding of what is Eastern Europe might differ. It might be referred to former communist European countries under the Soviet Union influence. This factor carries within different presuppositions and realities that might not always be highlighted in the media and other sources, but can be easily seen in the reality.

Of course, when talking about the East, not all of the countries were occupied by Russia in the 20th century, but still, some can fit in based on their political regimes. In the Eurovoc, a multilingual thesaurus by the Publications Office of the European Union as “Eastern Europe” are classified Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia which just shows how different division might be. It is undoubted that culturally, economically, historically and in other spheres, there are differences between the West and the East.

The trip of 2016 (30.07.-07.08.) involved crossing Hungary, through Romania, further near the border of Moldova and towards Odessa in Ukraine. The more East one goes, the more it becomes apparent that it is a ‘separate’ world.

Day 1

Crossing the Hungary-Ukraine and Ukraine-Romania border

It takes a long way to get from Hungary to Ukraine and Ukraine itself is a really big territory thus the actual distance in real life is much bigger than it might seem. Crossing Hungary-Ukraine border from the Hungary-Ukraine there were no problems, but from the Ukraine-Romania side, first problems appeared. The problem was the necessity of authorization paper as the car owner’s name in the car passport should be the same as the persons’ who is driving the car no matter if the person written in the car paper’s is mother, father, husband, wife, etc. At least in Ukraine, they don’t recognize this kind of rights over using the car. This policy is way different from the European Union’s (EU). Furthermore, despite some indicators of not drinking, smoking or even stepping out of the car, some people were noticed to be drinking near the car, smoking and just walking around due to long waiting time. Some of the alcohol consumers seemed to be teenagers or young adults. After some time, pulling down the border, a woman let go despite first indicating that she cannot let go without the ‘missing paper.' Also, the roads full of bumps, holes, and other defects seems to be a normal occurrence. But the good thing was that even in such a rural area, there were many gas stations as the gas is extremely cheap (around EUR 0.50 per liter) and thus many people just cross the border to fill the gas. After some time, it seemed that the group that was drinking alcohol had to encounter with the ambulance. Perhaps it just seemed in hardly-any-light streets. The car itself after some time driving on a unpaved road, the there was a sound of something exploding and from the front of the wheel started to occur scratching sounds. Something was wrong, but after some time the sound simply disappeared. As it later got figured out, most likely it was a bigger or smaller stone.

Day 2

Romanian landscape

The next day it was going towards the Parcula Natural Apuseni, and as Romania is quite big by its territory, of course, it took most of the day just driving to there. Romania’s territory from the Ukrainian side was quite flat but after some time, towards Apuseni Mountains, it becomes hillier and also with more tress which seemed to be missing. At the beginning of the national park, there was a big lake that seemed as a “should be” for a nice recreation. There were some thoughts about is it fully restricted area where you cannot eat, etc. but in the reality, it was way less restricted. First of all, the lake itself seemed like an ordinary lake, and also there was a lot of trash along the shore, people starting a fire, swimming and doing all sorts of activities that could be classified as illegal or suitable only for an ordinary place (swimming, eating). Furthermore, there were also some safeguards parked near the people and they didn’t even turn towards people cooking, etc. All the atmosphere was ruined by people’s actions as well as their intolerance of nature preservation.

Day 3

Turda salt and Dracula place

Romanian countryside

The road continued to go towards Turda as the destination was Turda Salt Mine (Salina Turda). Near the Turda it was still interesting to see mountains and them being covered by some short green grass. Usually, mountains are covered by trees or cliffs so you cannot see much of green vegetation there. Turda Salt Mine itself consisted from two big caves. One of them was closed due to maintenance or some other reasons, so it was possible to enter only the Joseph cave. It was more than 1000 m deep and descending was by lift or by stairs. As the line to lift was quite long (with the maximum capacity of 4 people, usually letting in around 6-7 people), the decision was to go by stairs. First, that could be noticed that some people had mixed the direction (as it seemed at first) as at the beginning there was a sign that said that the stairs are for descending. At the end of the stairs was another sign saying that is also for ascending. Anyhow, the view was good as the whole salt mines were nicely lit. The light was so bright that you could even take pictures of people and their faces could be lifted good enough. Inside it was possible to see also different activities for children and grown-ups. One of them was ferry’s wheel that allowed to see the salt crystals. That was the only activity that was connected to the particular place. The rest of the things were just an example of communism and marketing: mini golf, dart games, etc. This gave the view of the place as making as much profit as possible. Strangely that they didn’t think of setting bungee jumping place as the opening of the cave is quite big. At the very bottom of the cave was 0.5-60 m deep water. There were also boats for visitors to enjoy getting around the whole cave and touch the walls. Basically, you couldn’t see much new, but it still gave a nice feeling of being in the middle of a cave.

Sighișoara

Later the road went to see Sighișoara, which is known as a birthplace of Vlad Țepeș (Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia) who is more known as Vlad Dracula. He had a reputation of cruelty and thus also become an inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897). Most likely Vlad III had nothing to do with drinking the blood, being scared of the sunlight or sleeping just in one place, but his character fit nicely to the possibility to be so. Nowadays Sighișoara is a popular place to go just to see the Dracula’s house that is now a restaurant, the Gothic architecture in the small city, etc. The house itself now is in a yellow color, with many flowers and has nothing of the spirit of being something mysterious. The best time to visit the town itself is definitely in the evening so that the street lighting can give more vivid views.

Day 4

Brasov – the center of the ones interested in Dracula

Râșnov Citadel, Romania

Nowadays Brasov is a really touristic town is shops, cafeterias, markets, private people selling different goods connected and not connected to Dracula. Of course, the most visited place there is Bran Castle also known as Dracula Castle. However, the first stop was at Rasnov Citadel which is a quite nice castle with fortification in the top of the mountain. It is a historical monument that served for defense and a landmark in Romania. The activities there were mainly connected to the place, including some dressed as knights, axe throwing, and others. There was no fake sounds or installations that would ruin the overall atmosphere. But near to it was also located Dino Park which attracted children. Also, to get to the top, you can use either stairs or pay around EUR 6 for a lift (one way). This makes more profit and for the entrance, one should pay separately.

The Bran castle itself is also a fortification. There is, however, no evidence that Stoker, who wrote to world famous novel about Dracula, knew anything about the castle, which has only tangential associations with Vlad III. Now it is a museum, displaying art and furniture collected by Queen Marie. At the moment of arrival, one side of the castle was under reconstruction thus there were some additional noises and also the overall atmosphere didn’t have a link to Vlad III. Small stairways with rooms full of nice interior didn’t give association that something bad could have happened there. Perhaps it the castle would be visited at night, it would be different.

Evening in Bucharest

Casa Presei Libere, Bucharest

Bucharest as the capital is big. This also means that there is a lot of things to enjoy and see. One of the big structures that shouldn’t be missed is the parliament that is the second largest administrative building in the world after the Pentagon. It is nicely lit, but big trees might make it difficult to see fully. In front of there is a park and the place doesn’t seem heavily secured. A woman drew a car on the pedestrian walkway in front of the parliament and the police station. This action didn’t seem to cause any further reaction of any parties or authorities.

A nice place where to eat, drink or simply enjoy the vibe, was Food Hood outdoor place. The territory itself was covered with sand and had a look of a beach in the city center. There were also some buses located that served as selling places, surfboards, and other decorations that perfectly suited the scenery.

Day 5

On the way to Moldova? No, Ukraine

A day was sunny, and there was time to go to Moldova – to Kishinev and Tiraspol. At the border, further problems arose regarding the authorization over the car as in the car’s passport was another name than the driver's. First who checked the paper was a girl who said that first she would contact some other worker but already then it looked like she was expecting a bribe. Then another driver came, and he said that he would talk with other border control of Ukraine, not Moldova, despite we wanted to go to Moldova. He was talking over the phone for over 5 minutes, seemingly explaining all the information about us. Later he explained that we can ask further if they will send us back or not. And then he started to threaten to us that if in the next border we don’t get past, we should immediately return otherwise he will launch a patrol after us. So we did as require. First, the driver and then I were called inside some special room behind half-closed and mostly closed doors. There were two big men. They explained that we cannot go further with the missing paper but if we are willing to help them calling a “coffee” they might try to help. They asked how good coffee we are willing to contribute. Another one started asking strange questions about my name, occupation, whether I’m married to the driver, where are we going, etc. Later he just said that he will fill the needed papers, we should just put on the table the solution (a bribe) so that when he would turn back, it would be fine. I asked how “strong” they like their coffee to be, and they answered that they like very strong, with milk and sugar. The other guy’s hand was always supporting his head, and he seemed bored. He saw that the driver had more money than he indicated. Thus he said that why is he lying and basically there was no way to get away without giving the bribe apart from returning. We the solution was found, we went further to the other control side. Another man came and said the same problem about the papers. I asked if it is a big problem and he said that yes. I asked if there is any solution for this and he said I will try to figure something out. “Take the passport and put in … (bribe),” the man said. When he saw our offered Moldovian money (about EUR 15), he simply said: “This is not even serious.” At that moment it seemed that we had lost it because we just had another EUR 50 in one piece and we didn’t want to give that, so I said that I already paid for “coffee” for the other guys before. To that he simply said “This time I am letting you through and turn a blind eye like it never happened but never do it again.” That was such a big relief, and we were finally again in Ukraine.

Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve

So no Moldova and we were heading towards Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve near Tulcea after spending almost three hours at the border. When we arrived there, it was already around five p.m., and we found a lady who suggested that a better place where to view the river would be near Mahmundia (taking into account that we didn’t want to spend too much time on the river). So we headed towards the indicated place and reached it around six p.m. and of course there weren’t that many people to join too. We went to one of the boats which already had tourists on them, but it was full. The captain first said that it would be грн 400 for the boat and грн 300 as the last price. It was still about EUR 50, so it was too much. I wanted to see the river, but it seemed that also this plan would fail so we just simply started to walk near the riverside towards some fishing boats. There was one old guy who seemed like a solution, and he even started to talk first. He was talking in the Romanian language. Thus we didn’t understand any word. We used a phone to ask somehow about the price but he just all the time kept repeating one word that later turned out to mean “pounds” as he understands that we are from the UK not that we simply speak their language. In the end, we got quite a reasonable price – EUR 15 per boat for 45 min. The boat had an electric motor so you could feel the wind howling behind your ears. The river was overgrowing, but you could see numerous bird and other species as well as over-flowed houses. Some birds seemed like ducks; that couldn’t fly, but they were desperately trying as they heard the boat approaching. Pelicans were sitting on the long islands and didn’t seem that afraid. The boat itself lowered its speed no to scare them away. The sun was setting and eliminated its beams in the water. Many darker birds in groups were crossing the sky. The water was at least +22 and full of algae as well as many other plants. Time to time the old man had to lift up the motor to clean the moving parts from all the grass and other things that got stuck there. He was also trying to explain different things in the Romanian language, but we understood just about nothing except “pelicans.” Anyhow he seemed nice and even gave me and a water lily that was quite different from any other I have ever seen. He said that we should tell none about it by making a hissing “ššš” sound. The boat was even able to make a new way through all the reeds and other plants. All the scenery felt like a part of CSI: Miami.

Day 6 and 7

Odessa way

Ukrainian car and road

As you cross the border, you can definitely feel the difference. It’s all around – in people, road quality, animals and other spheres. The more East you go, the more sense of history and poverty it composes. The outskirts of Ukraine looks like being stuck just after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Near the roads and also in the town centers you can see abounded factories. Some towns are even more industrial than anything else. The road itself in many places has more holes than anything else so that it seems that sometimes no road is better than a road in Ukraine. People are selling their goods (honey, watermelons, melons, etc.) and even some of obviously not their made or grown things like cloth, peaches near the road, including also autobahn (normally forbidden). Goats, cows, donkeys and other animals are walking near the road or being left there to eat the grass full of CO2. A lot of farm animals which are used for daily works looks too exploited. They are skinny, and people still keep putting them for a ride and carrying grass, wood and anything else that might be needed. All this had the feeling that they will keep using a horse or a donkey as long as he or she collapses in the middle of the street. Hitchhikers in Ukraine isn’t a term as it can be and is anyone. We had seen even an old lady around 70 or more raising the hand and waiting for someone to take her to the next town or somewhere else. Some public transport stops were seen, and even full families were seen there waiting, but at the same bus stops were also seen people hitchhiking so, I guess, the public transport isn’t such a common occurrence. Yet nature looked nice. Near the sea, the terrain is diverse, much more trees than in Romania, but at the same time also some places without any greens. A lot of places for agriculture so one could also see ordinary people’s daily lives on a field. You could also spot a lot of fires as this is how many people tend to get rid of the old grass.

As one really good looking a natural place that needs to be talked about was Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. It is located near the river Danube, which flows into the Black Sea. It forms the largest and best preserved of Europe's deltas. It hosts over 300 species of birds as well as 45 freshwater fish species in numerous lakes and marshes. The best way how to explore it, is with a boat, especially with a speed boat to get through some smaller waterways. One can easily spot pelicans and other species sitting on the islands and muddy places. One can also notice some overflowed houses and other places. Somewhere, where it is less overflow, you can spot some ordinary animal species such as geese. The water was really warm, about +22 or so-to-say “like milk.” Whitewater flowers were also quite popular to see on the surface of the water. Birds were constantly going here and back in the sky. Some bird species was desperately trying to lift himself out of the water thus making hissing sound with his wings. Most of the time the bird didn’t succeed to lift himself up.

Ukrainian road

Many working-class people had sheep dogs for gathering sheep and having them on the road was quite common practice. When the owner wanted to get them off the road, he started to whip them and yell in anger and using some course words. The average temperature at the end of July and the beginning of August was +30…+35. People seemed burned, especially men. I didn’t see any men who looked white or without getting some sun on the skin. Yet rarely their heads were covered. Women, on the other hand, looked like out of the scenery, they were wearing make-up, dressed in new cloth (obviously bought in Kiev or somewhere outside the towns and villages), high heels and light skin. Only after 40, they seemed to become more ordinary. At the same time kids seemed to be kids enjoying their childhood outside the doors. Many had new bikes differently from grown-ups. They were playing on the streets. Older people mainly had some rusty bikes like from 80’s or even older, without color and obviously not taken care off. Of course, there was also no such thing as locking the bike.

Babuska

Odessa itself is stated to be a touristic city near to the Black Sea as well as a major seaport and transportation hub. Indeed, one of the first things, when you step out, is that you can see many tourists walking around. One of the names for Odessa also is "pearl of the Black Sea.” That is mostly for tourists and tradespeople. For others, it might be more disputable. At the same time the air is fresh, definitely not like in Bucharest which is like being in a greenhouse and the only solution is to wait for the wind or some water sprinklers. Comparing Kiev and Odessa – there are many differences. First of the visually most noticeable ones is the green area, including trees. In Odessa, it is way less. If you are driving in a car, you can also notice that far fewer people are paying attention to any driving rules. Many cars seem to be from 80’s, including the popular “Lada” which was really popular in the Soviet times in many socialist countries, including Latvia. In the city, there are many road signs and marks missing so sometimes it is impossible to tell if the street is one-way or which way the traffic is going if you are not a local. At the same time, good thing is that most of the parking spaces are for free even in the very center of the city. The ones that are not for free, they have some people, who work there and say the price as there are no cash machines where to pay. The lack of the cash machines means that most likely they aren’t paying any taxes or that is rather easy to cheat about the income as you don’t get any paper in return.

Yet the architecture is rich in places where it has taken care of. You feel socialism all around, but there are also some interesting pieces like a one wall house and others. The stairs that lead to the harbor (Potemkin stairs) are quite impressive. People like to sit there, take pictures and the view is nice.

The other side of the buildings is that many are abandoned and slowly collapsing. Some didn’t have any paint left. Also in Riga, there are many like that but usually they are covered with a green net, or it is written that it is dangerous to be near them. Also, the movement “Occupy me” has become more popular as mainly creative people, hipsters, and others are sticking notes and taking places to take care of and turn them into social hubs or even galleries. It is definitely something that Odessa would need as I think that it would be more useful.

One really positive side is that almost every park or public place has a free internet which is not common in every big city. That makes it possible to find the necessary information much easier. It doesn’t take much, but I guess not everyone likes that there is a free internet that everyone can use, but you can also limit the downloads and other things so that it is only for the most basic things and none would use it as a free monthly internet. Still, I didn’t feel that safe simply to take my phone out and start browsing the internet. I am pretty sure that I would spot someone who would try to rip it out of my hand. Otherwise, especially tourists highly appreciate an opportunity to use the internet to download audio guides, maps or simply find the necessary information on a spot.

You can also see quite popular different open-air markets, flea markets or simple people selling something on the street or some places where you can buy various goods starting from fruits until some old mechanic tools, auto parts, and others. Of course, you can bargain, and you never get any check with the bought goods. Different might be in the central market where in some shops they have some cash registers. Some people also are screaming the name of what they are selling to attract people’s attention. The best one to visit is the Seventh-Kilometer Market (Russian: Промрынок 7ой километр; Ukrainian: Ринок “Сьомий кілометр”), where people come from different parts of the Eastern Ukraine. There is even a special train Odessa-Chisinau where people go to buy goods to the market and back. There is a whole research done about it called “BORDER-CROSSING AS A STRATEGY OF DAILY SURVIVAL: THE ODESSA-CHISINAU ELEKTRICHKA” done by Abel Polese who is a student of Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France (you can read more here). You can find various interesting volumes related to the Eastern Europe from an anthropological perspective. In the market is the widest selection of goods that you can imagine. The market works every day, except Fridays so sadly I cannot give any more personal information about it but I’m sure it is worth visiting. It represents the positive side of bureaucracy and is an important part of people’s survival. Terms “illegal,” “fixed price,” “taxes” are almost nonexistent.

In the markets, you can also see the diversity of people – mothers buying something for their children, men looking some mechanical tools, people begging for money, middle-class daily job workers, also some higher income people simply buying products from farmers. Most of the sellers seem talkative just to sell their goods, but some are quite old, and you can see that they might be utterly lonely and for them, there is nothing much else to do. The minimum wage in Ukraine per month is 1,450.00 hryvnias as for 2016[1]which is around EUR 50. The amount paid to retirees is 70% of her/his previous salary so the average pension in Ukraine is USD 53.78 (in June 2015).[2] Pensions can as high as USD 68.75 per month are also common.[3] The prices are quite lower than in the most of the big European cities, for example, one-way transport ticket in Kiev costs USD 0.16, in London – USD 3.25. Despite the fact that according to the Cost of Living Plus Rent Index to compare cost of living fact that “You would need around 5,722.22$ (4,400.96£) in London to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 1,500.00$ in Kiev (assuming you rent in both cities)”[4], Some of the things that are people’s daily life make it almost impossible to survive without some additional income, for example, one room apartment in Kiev center still costs around USD 297. Comparing to Latvia with the minimum wage of EUR 360 (2016), one room apartment Riga costs around USD 368. Also, the price of groceries isn’t that different – even if you buy a coffee in a coffee shop, it costs around EUR 0.80, so it is rather a luxury for Ukrainians. The fact is that the minimal wage is more than four times lower, but the difference between expenses isn’t four times. Even in Latvia many people are struggling with most of their salary (all or half) goes to the rent and food, so they choose to live with someone, including the people they don’t know but favoring to have the second half and to get married in early age. Another interesting thing that I had noticed in Ukraine and Latvia is that despite the struggles, people like to dress well, and they like shopping. There are many shopping centers and people spend a lot of money on that to simply look good. Women wear make-up on a daily basis as they always do it before leaving the house. As a contrast, in Latvia in the recent times due to the “hipster fashion,” many second-hand stores are opened and people even with high income go there to buy something. Second-hand and old-looking clothes have become fashionable. In Odessa or Kiev, I didn’t get this feeling. There are some second-hand stores but not so many. Also, a big difference is seen in men. In Latvia, they still try to look neat and fashionable and having a long beard still looks “in.” In Ukraine, especially in Odessa, you could see that most of the men don’t pay such a high attention to their looks, and they also look over-tanned. Most of them are without hats and don’t use any skin protection like sun cream that seems like could be a daily necessity if the temperature is around 30o C even in August. You can see couples where women look like from a fashion magazine and men who are quite average or even below average. If the outlook is important at least for women, how could they be with this kind of men? In Latvia, they would have a hard time even to get a date (only if you are rich).

A beach near the Black Sea

Another aspect of groceries is an inadequate price of alcohol, cigarettes and tobacco products. Even a Ukrainian girl admitted that she chooses to smoke just because it is the same price as bread. It started as simply going out and taking something to have easier talking. The same it is with alcohol. People like to simply sit, for example, near the coast and drink. Also in Latvia, it is quite similar, but it is actually forbidden to drink or walk with an open alcoholic drink in a public space. The government also wanted to implement a law that will forbid women to smoke, but it would be challenging to control in practice. At the same time, the prices of these harmful products are high and every year keeps increasing, for example, one pack of cigarettes cost around EUR 3.00. There are some stores where you can get cheaper alcohol but still it will be around EUR 2 for a bottle or around EUR 1 for a can. Alcoholism still is a problem, but it means that people spend more money on it, and police try to somehow control it. In Ukraine, same as in Latvia, legally you can buy alcohol at the age on 18. In Latvia, you will always be asked to show an ID even if you buy a small cider. However, in Ukraine that is rarely a case as most of the underage people will still easily find ways where to buy something. Many people are making their own drinks as a part of possibility how to earn additional money. Also, according to Ukraine’s law, it is also possible to drink beer, wine or cider with a meal on licensed premises at the age of 16. This policy is also in the UK. Also there you can see that alcohol is a big problem. But they usually do it in bars, and it is not as they depend on it. In Ukraine, you can genuinely see that there are older people who simply drink, don’t work and beg for money. According the ‘Independent’ gazette, “Ukraine is the world’s sixth heaviest drinking country with an average 13 liter per person annual consumption rate.”[5] You can also find various Ukrainian stories about how they tried their first drink already at the age of 10 or how easy it to buy for a kid an alcohol, saying that it is for parents. Quite common is to drink is also for someone’s health and in different events. You could also view the problem from the perspective that this drinking habit is heavily influenced by the Slavic mentality toward alcohol consumption. Take a look at Russia or even Slovenia – drinking even with parents doesn’t look like something abnormal. In case of Latvia, it might be due to high direct influence of Russia in two occupation periods and also because of high Russian population in the biggest cities (Russian population in Riga is 37.7% as of 2015[6]). In Daugavpils, which is called in daily talk as “Russian city” the amount of Russians is 49.7% against 19.4% of Latvians as of 2016. As for Ukraine, in the practice, you can see that alcohol is viewed as a normal substance. Another issue that I noticed a wide selection of different alcoholic drinks. Even the amount of different types or ‘Kvas,' which can sometimes also contain a small amount of alcohol, is tremendous. And you cannot blame, because ‘Kvas,' especially when served cold, can help for thirst.

As for the sea itself, you would expect to have a paradise, but the reality might take you to a different side. Although we tried one of the biggest public beaches near to the Odessa center, it was full of algae. At least at the bottom weren’t any stones. The view didn’t look somehow different from any other sea. Upon leaving, I spotted a sign that said that it is open until eight p.m., so I guess it’s not even that accessible if you want to see a sunset or simply stay longer at the seaside.

At least the nightlife is vivid, and a lot of the shops close late so you can easily find a grocery store in the evening to grab something. There are music and people sitting in the outside cafeterias, including also Ukrainians. They will serve you, but if you don’t know any Russian or Ukrainian, it might be more challenging.

Thus the language matter is still quite challenging. If in Riga which is also a multinational city, it is a job requirement for a public sector to know English fluently, in Ukraine it is not so. You might expect from younger people at least to know some English but in many times it is not the case because in cafeterias mainly work rather young people. The same experience was also in a tourist-oriented hotel with a cafeteria on the first floor. The girl who was serving there apologized that she doesn’t understand. In Riga, that would mean that you face the loss of clients just because you cannot communicate with them in a language that they understand. Of course, it is a non-written law, because the official language is only one official. This is one of the only ways where you can see democracy in Latvia, but at the same time, you can see also see, mainly Russians, who see that as an excuse not to talk in the official state language. In Ukraine, Ukrainians can understand someone talking Russian, but it is less likely that someone who talks Russian will fully understand the Ukrainian language because there are many words that are different, including even the month names like lyuty - February березень - Marc, квітень - April and so on.

At the same time, one of the biggest differences that I noticed between Russians and Ukrainians is their hospitality. I didn’t experience any of them being rude. Some guys even took us in a taxi and didn’t even ask to pay despite that it was obvious that we were tourists. Also, when we asked an older lady about which transport to take at the bus stop, even more than one tried to explain to us which to take and which not to take. Yet you could also feel that crime level is rather high. In the metro, which is one of the most typical places where daily thefts happen, two people even were talking about us as we were obvious tourists because they thought that we don’t understand them. Later one even showed to me with a finger. As I understood what they were talking, I would say that they were Russians so I cannot say that it was an example of the Ukrainian mentality. When you see drivers, you can hear that they are cursing and are quite impatient if someone is slower or not drive as careless as they. But cursing is rather popular in any culture, isn’t it? It just differs the level of word harshness, and the Ukrainian language is definitely influenced by the Russian language as in the Latvian language non-formal language you can hear and even see some writing with the Russian curse words as they sound much better than the local language equivalents and also for many there are no equivalents.

Day 8 – Leaving Odessa

A sign on a bridge

The traffic in Odessa is quite big, so it takes a time to get out of the center. Apart from that, the day started with picking up some guys to share the road cost. It started with an obvious problem – they weren’t in front of the train station, or they didn’t see the driver. I used the time to find a toilet. One was for free in the main station, and there was an obvious reason for that. It was like 20 years ago or so when there is only a wall between them so walking past there you could see people inside doing their things and you needed to stand on your feet. At least the smell wasn’t big, and it had a place where to wash hands. But no flashing. And people used it like it was normal and socially fully acceptable. The Odessa train station itself is really big and full with people. Trains still looked like from the Soviet time with some new color and advertisements.

When I arrived, the guys still weren’t there. It took about 30 minutes to find them. So we were driving until the evening of the same day. The first half of the way was on the highway, at least it seemed to be a highway as it was quite different from the standard view of what a highway is. You could see people walking there, selling different goods. One of the Ukrainian passengers bought a huge watermelon which seemed to weight about 20 kg. The car was overloaded. And the road got even worse. The GPS said that to make about 600 km will take 14 h which we didn’t believe and at the end it turned to be right. Of course, first it was a direction towards Kiev that’s why 300 km was like nothing but after that, the road gets smaller and smaller and with more twists and turns.

The Ukrainian guys were talkative, and there was no hostility. One bright example of the oldest Ukrainian was about his neighbor in Poland. He said that he was a good engineer and earned a lot of money. Now he is just sitting at home and drinking. The whole place is full of empty bottles and food getting bad in the fridge. He has depression and it is not as he wants or searches for any help. He has the face of a man who has given up on life but the body still somehow functions. Different negative occurrences in life can be a source of drinking until it becomes a daily habit. And you cannot do much about it. I guess alcohol seems like an easy remedy or easy way out to keep yourself entertained with something.

A Soviet time monoment

Ukraine’s territory is big, and you can feel that while driving. The territory of France is also big, but it feels way different as you are always on the highway or some good national road so driving 600 km in one day is like nothing. In Ukraine, it can turn into a nightmare. You should have a high car so that you won’t scratch the car or bump into something if you are outside of Kiev because Kiev is a different story. It is more similar like in Latvia that the most of the money goes to the capital, and outscores are left almost like 30 years ago or so. Going towards Lviv, another big city, didn’t feel like it as the road still got worse or with some bad parts so that you couldn’t drive fast all the time. The Ukrainian said that it is because of heavy trucks. But roads looked more like after a war than anything else as you could see even big holes that sometimes you had to drive though as there was nowhere else to go around or the off-road was better than the road itself. We could see something that looked like forest fires but later we understand that these were from people burning fields of corps that have been harvested. Also in Latvia, it is a common policy, as well as people, do it simply “for fun.” But mostly it happens in spring to get rid of the old grass, not after the harvest as it is illegal by law to burn a field or even have a bonfire in your garden. In Ukraine, it is far less regulated but for people, it means much easier work because the fields are massive, and that is almost the only one means of survival. In Ukraine, we also saw a lot of farm animals in rather a poor condition. They were overused by field workers, especially donkeys. Even the new donkeys were already carrying carriages and other things. Some of them were left tied near the road to eat the polluted grass. Of course, it is unhealthy, but not everyone understands that.

It was after 9 p.m. when the first town was reached, and GPS said that it is 4 hours to the next one where to drop off the other guy, so we decided not to go there and stay there, so they both went to search where to stay overnight. Only the older guy said that it would have been better if he would have used the train because of all these difficulties. I guess he thought that we would drive faster. The other guy wasn’t that talkative from the beginning and didn’t mind.

We stayed at Lviv overnight. You could see that it was also lively during night, you could see some cafeterias that work all night. Also, parking was no problem as you could park for free even in front of the train or bus station. That gives more freedom and saves some time as you don’t have to walk 1 km out of the center by food to your car, or you can go to different parts of the center by car. In Riga it is almost impossible to find any free place and the closer to the center the parking place is, the more you pay. You have to pay also if you go to a cinema, to a hospital or any other public institution. Police and other authorized people regularly check how and where people have parked. The fine ticket price differs, but usually, it is around EUR 20. I think that in Ukraine police would have a lot to do if there would be more rules implemented. Even in Kiev, you couldn’t see any speed limit signs or something like that. Further research should be done about the accidents and police work in Ukraine as it might be interesting to find out something new.

Day 9

Towards the EU

This was the day to finally cross the border and reach Budapest to pick some people and head home. The Ukrainian police had different plans. The first police car stopped us in the crossroad where one of the roads led to the border. The officer wanted to explain to us that the driver had left blinker on when it should have been right when crossing the intersection. I don’t know exactly what he was talking about because I remember only straight road towards the traffic lights. Also, he waved to stop just when we are about to pass so it was really suspicious. I think that he did that because he saw a foreign registration number. The officer then on the screen showed a video that should have been evidence. The resolution was so bad that you could barely even see a car. Then he called in another room which was an additional sign that he just wanted a bribe. I kept telling that the driver doesn’t understand any Russian or Ukrainian and he said that it is fine, he will just write a paper and the driver can pay. I said that he is sure that he didn’t press any left light and the policeman just gave up. He said that he lets us go. Apart from some useless questions like where are we from, where are we going, is that “your person,” the policeman wasn’t that active in interrogating and let us go in less than 30 minutes. It was a happy relief.

We were on the road that leads to the border between Ukraine, Romania, and Hungary. And then in the next 2 minutes or less we saw a police car passing us buy and then a man went out of the car. He waved his traffic baton. Another drama could start. We tried to play dumb that we don’t understand the language, but I guess that wouldn’t be the best option. The policeman told us that we didn’t stop at the stop sign and that the other colleague so that on the video (the one that was already interrogating us) and that he called them to stop us. The fact is that there was no stop sign. I told that and he simply continued with the routine questions where are we from, where are we going, have we been drinking and if not today if we did that yesterday (??). And right after that they just let us go. And we were heading to some bigger border crossing.

One more typical thing in Ukraine is that you can see gas stations after every 100 meters near to the boarder and surrounding areas, so it is a perfect place where to tank a way cheaper gas. So did we but at the gas station, we also noticed some direct begging. I didn’t see that many beggars on the streets of Odessa or Kiev, but there was one family that was quite interesting. A mother sat with three children asking for money from everyone who stops to fill the gas. The youngest child looked like around five years, so I gave at least a waffle bar. And what happened next was an act of selflessness as the girl gave the chocolate to the mother, and she ate it all. All of them had clothes that were dirty of with some defects, but one of the girls had a much shorter sleeveless shirt looking more like a young woman who would be desperate enough to sell her body. Also, you could see that girls were behaving more like boys even based on how they were walking. At least they weren’t that aggressive to attack. Another interesting situation was when paying with cash as the machine refused two international cards – Master and Maestro. But the second person who comes in could easily pay. The driver was required to go to the nearby exchange office. There a lady said that she doesn’t have any hryvnias. How come? In the end, the situation was somehow resolved.

Reaching the border control, you could see a huge line, so it was decided to go to the other smaller control point as it was known that checking here usually takes a long time. We were driving again on an obscure road to the border control, and there were some cars standing. It was the same sanding, this time about 2 hours in the direct heat of +30o C as a minimum. There was a Slovenian bus (written “Slovenia” with big blue letters) with a Budapest’s cityscape on it. Quite ironic. The control just asked to open the luggage section. A man briefly inspected the inside with eyes and touching some panels. He didn’t even go inside the saloon. Later, the same checker forgot to even ask the driver to open his trunk. He was talking with some other Ukrainian guy, and he explained something about the big fishes he has caught using some slang words like “ahujenna” and “blyat.” They were both laughing like it was a normal informal conversation. This time, at least they didn’t check the whole car. Apart from the problem that it was hard to start the car in front of the gates that lead to the EU, there weren’t any further problems.

And soon there was an EU standard highway and known language changed to foreign one. Where do you feel more home – in a place that is similar to where you have born and the language you understand or in a place where your country has moved to – towards higher standards? It’s hard to say, but Ukraine had some charm that was different from Romania’s. You could also feel the EU breath in Romania and how it is changed. But you can also understand people who try to resist it. It is hard to change the daily habits, especially if you don’t see how it can be different in a better way.

Overall, Odessa and other cities are interesting places to see and enjoy, but you should also be careful. The Eastern Europe carries within different mentality that is not always hostile towards foreigners and especially tourists who are seen as an easy target for different speculations or direct robbery. Make sure you have all the necessary documents and that you keep them safe. Be ready to see waist difference between poverty, nice nature, unique roads, clash between the past and future that can be spotted in communist monuments, traditions and people themselves.

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[1] FedEE Review of minimum wage rates. Source: http://www.fedee.com/pay-job-evaluation/minimum-wage-rates

[2] Government Slavery: 470,000 Officials Become Hostage to the Regime. Source: http://ukrainianweek.com/Politics/86272

[3] Pensioners travel outside of separatist areas to get their cash. Source: http://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine/pensioners-travel-outside-of-separatist-areas-to-get-their-cash-374882.html

[4] Cost of Living Comparison Between Kiev and London. Source: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Ukraine&city1=Kiev&country2=United+Kingdom&city2=London

[5] Is Ukraine Drinking Itself to Death ? Source: https://medium.com/@annakiroyants/is-ukraine-drinking-itself-to-death-d40d0633f8a8#.y4vdzt7tc

[6] "Table ISG191. RESIDENT POPULATION BY ETHNICITY AND BY STATISTICAL REGION AND CITY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR 2016" Source: http://data.csb.gov.lv/pxweb/lv/Sociala/Sociala__ikgad__iedz__iedzskaits/IS0191.px/table/tableViewLayout1/?rxid=992a0682-2c7d-4148-b242-7b48ff9fe0c2