It doesn't become any easier.

---

I got up early, packed my things and said goodbye to Ana's mum and one babushka. Then myself and Ana went on a final minubus trip across the Ukrainian steppe, an hour to Artemovsk where the train from Donetsk to Moscow stopped. As far as I could see out of the window there was a flat expanse of frosty fields.

Saying goodbye was as bad as I expected, especially because I don't know when I will see her again. Yulia Savicheva's 'Esli v serdtse zhivet lyubov' didn't help me hide my sadness from Ana. I have said a lot of goodbyes in the last fortnight, each one is becoming harder than the previous one.

I didn't feel much like a conversation once the train left, so I shunned the three people in my carriage and slept or listened to music for the entire 20 hours. The experience was very boring, punctuated by having my passport confiscated and some not very polite treatment from the border guards. Opening my packed dinner from the Kovalchuks made me feel better; Nadezhda got up early to prepare an entire cake, thickly cut ham slices, pieces of chicken, a loaf of bread, chocolates and a big bottle of coke to tide me over. I am very grateful for how kind the family were to me.

---

Photos

Pervomaisk.
Between Popasnaya and Lugansk.