UKRAINE - MOLDAVIA - ROUMANIA

Well, here starts an intense adventure wich takes me throught the Black Sea, Ukraine, Moldavia and Romania... A rich ten days trip where meetings and discoverings where parts of my daily program...

I will try to give you my impressions day per day, to try to make you understand better the feeling I have when I am travelling !

12/25/2007

" Boarding to the Ukraine and first news:

- I will be in Odessa on the 27th... thing I didn't know before...

- The board clerk design me a 4 persons cabin whereas I bought a ticket for a single seat...

The trip can start! "

Bye bye Istanbul !

THE BLACK SEA

26/12/2007

" The first night was rather hectic. Beer, vodka and first meetings: a crew of young Ukrainians working in Istanbul, Niko the Moldavian speaking a bit french! I think I am the only pure tourist on this ship. Being the curiosity, it is more practical to meet new friends.."

" The sea is quiet, disappointed at the beginning (I wanted to see big waves), I am finally happy that it is not more. I spent my time to take rest today, lying down, it is nice to be rocked by the sea, standing up, it is an other story... and my stomach doesn't like so much! "

ODESSA

The port where I disbark...































On the way to the city center...

12/27/2007

" First steps in Ukraine and first feelings: Odessa seems to be a nice city where the sovietics contrasts are clearly visible...big russian style buildings, luxurious cars... mixied up with the old Lada and dilapidated buildings... "

The main square...

Look at the picture below, they are pushing the tramway wich has broken down :) !!

"In going away from the center, the street starts to be like a land of potatoes. The colourfull buildings are still there.. and in the street the little sellers (mostly old women) are increasing.

I discover, thereafter the market, two of them are inside and this other one, wich looks like a souk outside...there the pictures were not welcome and many times, I had been told off by many people..."

Just click on this picture and zoom in the price...divide it by 7,3 and you will have the price in €... amazing!










" My bilan of Odessa is a huge contrast wich has been confirmed all the afternoon... From the people who asked me to take them in picture to the people who told me off....from the clerk at the railway station who told me piss of when I asked her if she speaks English to those who seing that I was foreigner told me their only word they know in English...the oppositions are numerous...

Now, let's go to Kiev by a train by night"

The railway station

" I introduce you Vova, Ukrainian guy, who doesn't speak English, who has for alphabet, the cyrillic one... We were together for the whole night, having only a pen and some papers to discuss (in drawing) and our imagination !!! The best moment was certainly the one when we exchanged our adresses: indeed, he wrote only with cyrillic letters and me with latin one...He couldn't write his adress in Latin, and our mailmen can not read a word in cyrillic...so I had to write his adress in listenning carefully what he said!

It was Christmas time and we exchanged some presents...and mine was to send him our pictures..."

KIEV

12/28/2007

"In the morning, through the window, I discover some landscape scattered of snow on the way to Kiev"

"Here is a Babouchka, old lady waiting at the exit of the railway station and renting flat or housing people for some nights...I had heard speaking about that and I wanted to try... I followed one of them.

On the left is the building where I had my flat. Unfortunatelly, it was not at the Babouchka's home but I was alone. Anyway, I felt like an ukrainian guy for one day, having his own flat, and taking the common transport to reach the city center. I discovered also a neighbourhood of Kiev where the life is totally different than the center (like in every city :) )"

On the way to the city center...

Below, the main street...

The market in Bessarabia's place...

Who wants caviar ??? =====>>>









Here, still the main street of Kiev, the Khreschatyk street....and all the long on the right side, some gates...

" Christmas was not past here...due to ortodox calendar, it stands on the 7th of January !!! Go back to the future !"

Here is the Meydan, the monument of the independance of Ukraine, the 24 of August 1991

" Kiev is disproportionnal, at least the buildings...I knew cities with a huge architecture but Kiev has something extra! These big buildings combine charm and immensity...

As since I arrived in Ukraine, contrasts are still present, here between the center and the neighbourhood where I live, it seems like to be two different cities. I didn't snap so much in the neighbourhood, the atmosphere was heavy, and we don't feel so reassured everytimes... There, many people sell food on the street... They come with some crates... To try to sell some stuffs for living...The poverty is present and we can see it quite easily...

Despite of that, I played the pure tourist on the evening in sampling caviar, cooked meats and some cheese"

12/28/2007
" Today, a big part of the center is waiting for me... After having gone to put my backpack in an hostel (yes the Babouchka it was only for one night!), the real visit of Kiev can start... "

The St Sophia complex...

View from the bell tower...

The St Michail complex...

...and the St Andrew church...

The funicular...

Panoramas on the Dnipro...

The theater...

" Here is a nbeautiful bridge with something particular: as you can see on the right, planty of padlocks have been putting there... After getting married, the newlyweds put it there and write their name on it...Best wishes!"

The stadium of Dynamo Kiev

"The coldness makes the visit particular... in doing a break in a coffe, I met Kadir, turkish guy, with who I walked around all the afternoon..."

The arsenal, place im memory of the soldiers died during the Second World War.

The St Nicholas complex...

12/30/2007

"In this morning, I feel the tiredness! I spend a bit more time in the bed before going to the memorial of the Second World War ( here is)"

"The main street is closed for the cars and it gives a new face of the center of Kiev...much more quiet..."

"It is time now to leave the center to railway station to take my train to Chisinau, the capitale city of Moldavia"

"I discover here the first class... all the trains were full and it was the only way to get Chisinau..."

Oupss, does it work?

12/31/2007

"Well, I am now in Moldavia, despite the heat in the train and the shortage of Hryvnia (Ukrainian currency) to buy water...I feel well... ready to discover a new city..."

"First steps in Moldavia: the railway station and after some events, I take the road to the road to the city center..."





























" The city is very quiet... the smallest capitale city (capitale village?) I have never seen..."

The cimetery...

A nice park in the center...

The parlement...

Click on this picture, and read what it is written on the top of the door... You don't dream, it is the Presidetial building...

Another park, close to the center...

Here is the main square...








Like in Kiev, you can find here an exchange office at every corner... You can find dollars everywhere...

"On the way back, I find the market wich I had heard speaking about...Certainly the place the more agitated of the city...Here again, pictures are not welcome...Just some pictures have been taken"

The main street, Stepan Cel Mare Si Sfint...

" One day is enough to visit Chisinau... After having bought some food and some beer...I go back to train station to catch the train to Bucarest"

" I spent my New Year nigh in that train, eating a bit of caviar and drinking some Moldavian Beer. Thereafter. I drunk some vodka with a clerk and I went to bed... "

BUCAREST

1/1/2008
"After a difficult night in the train, I arrived at 6.30 am in Bucarest, very tired... I waited, couple of hours in the railway station, for the openning of the shops, when I realized that we were the 1st of January and that everything was closed... I went out, looking for a map which finally I found...and I started to walk to the youth hostel I had seen on Internet...Fortunatelly, it was close to the railway station and some places were free... I took a rest before going to walk around in the city..."

The pantheon...

This huge building ( see after ) has been build up by Ceauşescu.. no need to remember you this horrible story...

The Opera...

"In the evening, I met a funny French crew with who we tryed to find a restaurant to get some food... I t was a difficult task because everything was closed but finally we found a nice traditionnal restaurant where we get some nicec food... If one of you read this messageö please try to send me a picture of you ;) "

1/2/2008

" After a long night of sleep, the program is to visit all the center of Bucares... Today is still a legal holiday and everything is still closed! I am rapidly disappointed by this city where some few nice buildings rub elbows with ugly buldings coming from the communism..."

In memory of the revolution of 1989...

"The contrast of Bucarest, a quite nice church near to a ugly and durty building"

On the road to the People's palace, name of this huge building which remembers the subhuman things the dictator did...

"Another point of why I don't like Bucarest: this building, at the back ground, very close to the people's palace could be quite interesting... Unfortunatelly, look at the front rank, nothing is maintained... That was enough for me and I decided to come back to the hostel, very disappointed by this city..."








"One the way back it started to snow..."

01/03/2008

"Today, wake up at 6.30 am to catch a train to Sinaia in the hope to ski a bit. When I went out, the street was recovered by 40 cm of snow...The trains was deleted..and before to come back to the hostel...a little picture session took place..."

"On the afternoon, I went to the bus station to take a bus to Istanbul... I though it wouldn't have run because of the snow which had paralized the country and Bulgaria also... Finally, it was running and I started the last adventure wich takes me to Istanbul"

" After some hours of road, the police stopped us in a secondary way with others trucks. There, our crazy bus wanted to continue and we satyed blocked by snow. We have waited 10 hours for a tractor to get out. Finally, after some trials, it was not enough and a second one arrived... At 4 in the morning we could have continued the road direction Istanbul..."

"In the morning, we crossed, in Bulgaria those beautifull landscapes wich conclude perfectly this crazy trip..."

" This first long trip around Turkey was very intense... I discovered some nice cities...different than the other estern cities I visited before... Ukraine and Moldavia are really different than that I had ever seen... That's come certainly from the fact that it is much less touristy... Bucarest disappointed me but maybe I was to tired at the end of the trip to really enjoy it... I know that the rest of Romania shows very beautifull landscapes... It will be for the next time...

I met also interesting peoples with who I learnt many things... I hope that this strong experience will be followed by some other awesome adventures..."