1. day - Trip to Ukraine

18.12.2015

This event came about a bit spontaneously. My brother and I had a lot of vacation before Christmas. My first experience with the republics of the former Soviet Union in Moldova and Transnistria was more than positive and the feedback from my work colleagues was also positive, so there was nothing to do but to try Ukraine in person.

It's before six in the morning and we are standing at Ostrava's main station, awaiting the arrival of our train to Žilina. We are not using Leoexpress services for this journey, due to arriving in Uzhhorod around 5 am. There is the first problem on the train (not the last one today) with the tickets, which are issued through the e-shop in one name and according to the Czech conductor there are problems with recognition on the Slovak side. Fortunately the Slovaks don't solve this and with an hour change and a quick tour of the centre of Žilina we continue towards Košice. As passenger and express trains in Slovakia are free for students and pensioners, despite its length the train is considerably full and we barely find two seats available, without a seat.

Košice and the journey to the border

We reach Kosice in time and head straight to the bus station, where we have to buy tickets for the bus to Uzhhorod. Our original plan to take the bus at 1:00pm falls through due to the sell-out, so we take the bus leaving at 2:30pm, hoping to at least see the centre of Košice. This can be avoided by buying tickets online, which we didn't use for fear that one of the trains would be so significantly delayed that we might miss the bus.

It's quite cold, so after a tour of the city centre we wait for the bus in a waiting room, where a Slovak pensioner scares us that we'll be glad to get across the border at least after midnight. Excited by this information, we make our way to platform number 2, where several people are already queuing. It's 2:45 p.m. Our bus is nowhere to be found, and despite the quiet of those waiting nearby, I go to the ticket office to ask where our bus is. The lady at the ticket office takes my breath away by saying that it has already left. Shocked and outraged by this news, I buy new tickets for the 3:30 pm bus, thinking that if this one doesn't come either, we'll pack up and go home.

There is no second unpleasant surprise and our bus arrives. Despite the fact that it's about zero outside, the driver leaves the door open and disappears for 15 minutes. What was the temperature inside need not be further elaborated. With a little delay, dressed in winter jackets with the feeling that we will hopefully get there, we move to the Slovak-Ukrainian border accompanied by the Spartacus series (in Ukrainian).

On the way we have several more stops, the most interesting one is in Michalovce, where another 20 people get on the already full bus and after driving about 20 meters another 2. A similar situation is repeated somewhere in the middle of the forest, when the bus suddenly brakes to the side of the road, opens the back door and almost while still driving two more people jump on. At least the bus is already warm and we are getting our first experience of how marshrutkas work in Ukraine.

It's about seven o'clock in the evening and we have finally reached the border of Vyšné Nemecká. Everyone standing there gets off the bus and takes the line of waiting cars to check in to take them across the border. After an hour and a half of waiting on the Slovakian side, we move to the Ukrainian part of the border control in full anticipation of what will happen. After reading many discussions and articles, we expect a thorough search of all our luggage and even a possible request for a bribe. Fortunately, this prejudice is broken by the customs officer, who with a smile greets the whole bus and collects the passports and in 20 minutes we enter Uzhgorod without any further complications, which starts right after the border and we have some 20 minutes to get off the bus.

 Finally in Uzhhorod

We get off the bus at Uzhgorod bus station, happy to be here, but an hour late. Now we face the struggle to find an ATM and withdraw money. Fearing we won't find an ATM, we exchange 10 Euros for the unfavourable exchange rate in Košice, just in case, so that we can at least have enough for vodka this evening. Once again our fears were false and we found ATMs on every corner. We are grateful for the ATM at the Vopak supermarket by the train station, which will only dispense 100 kroner notes, which are not easy to pull out in that quantity. The excitement of the wad of cash in our hands is spoiled by the discovery that the ATM has not returned our card. Shocked by this fact, we squeeze what we can and thankfully get the card out. Well, there is no shortage of surprises and complications today. We divide the money, buy some vodka and make our way on foot to the city centre where we should have booked the Atlant hotel through Booking. Fortunately, there are no more surprises here, we open the vodka in the room, wash down today's journey and fall asleep with fatigue.

Useful links:

Czech Railways
Eurobus.sk - Buy tickets online from Košice to Uzhhorod
Hotel Atlant on Booking.com