26 Jul Ukraine…it is massive!
Odessa Ukraine and onward to Kiev and further east-July 21-25
Sarita found us a pretty decent hotel for our two night rest in Odessa at the hotel Zhirka, nice except for prostitute floor (2nd) where Sarita and a few others were staying. We were on 4th, next to the prized washer. The only dryers were in the basement though, which will surely be the location of all my future nightmares.
These last days with most of our original team have been bittersweet. Having a good time together in the way of good friends, but knowing it was coming to an end as Dave, Amy, and Jan returned to England from Odessa.
We will miss them all so much, as our team will surely be quieter without Dave’s easy banter, Amy’s occasional singing, and Jan’s patient good humor.
The crazy nightclub we stumbled into on our fist night had amazing pizza and very cheap beer, with musical entertainment ranging from swing band covers of modern songs, live and very angry metal sung by a girl in a playsuit, and at the end of the night, an Irish Ukrainian band, complete with bagpiper.
We met new teammates Stefano and Pietro for the first time at this club, and we were surprised to see them still agreeing to go with us after meeting this way! They are easy-going and both have a good sense of humor.
Odessa was best part of Ukraine, though, and it turns out our 2 hour detainment and $30 payment was far less time and money than many teams. We heard another team had to pay 50 euros and had their camp knife confiscated.
We ate at an amazing restaurant last night, at the recommendation of past mototaxier Jeff’s Ukrainian wife. Lots of laughter and storytelling, and Dave had us choked up with a heartfelt thanks speech for making the trip happen. Plus he gave Don a new SailorMan keychain.
We attracted a lot of attention for our sidewalk parking spot in front of the hotel. A few insane homeless people would come by and shout at us, we paid the security guard at the hotel to watch the bus to make sure they didn’t try to get in it. We also met a few great new friends, including a young filmmaker named Dennis who was most intrigued with our bus. We had him, the security guard, and another nice fellow named Taras who gave us a $20 donation for the Lotus Centre all add their handprints to the bus.
After 11 hours on the road, our first travel day post-Odessa was at last done. Stayed at nice little cottages on the road to the Russian border. Made 580 kms despite the rain, thanks to the good roads.
A good dinner of all sorts of Ukrainian foods, like salo balls served with bread and spicy salsa and BBQ sauce, dumplings, and Cossack snack was our reward for the long day. The restaurant did have a pole and smoke machine, though we never saw them put to use. We stayed in log cabins which had a big bed upstairs and a sectional sofa down, and a very fancy bathroom with a luxury rain shower.
Bizarrely, there was also a zoo at the hotel, with peafowl, swans, chickens, reindeer, monkeys, two big black bears, and a guard llama who ran after us went we went to investigate the zoo animals.
It was a good rest after a log day, with, as always, another expected again to make it nearer to the Russian border.