ODESSA AND A TASTE OF CRIMEA

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Waiting for the taxi cab larissa called for us took forever, a bit panicky now as we need to get to the bus station on time, drived came and all the time he was driving he was on the cell phone screaming at someone and we almost got into an accident, he got us safe but charges more than the agreed price saying were supposed to pay for the backpacks as well, argued with him but really futile, he wont open the back of the car we cant get our things if we dont pay him, gave him the money and cursed hm as he sped off! Really hate taxi drivers, everwhere in the world theyre the same. Found the platform bought tickets we were given customs form by the driver and we are off, bye Moldova, hello Ukraine!

I made sure, double cked with the driver that the bus goes through Palanca and not Tiraspol, never wanting to get harrased in Transnistria again. At the border as usual official comes up takes our passports then disappear for awhile comes back ditributes the passport back and off the the other frontier. At the Ukrainian border same thing goes only after he stamped all our passports gave it to the person in front and had it distributed around, the driver started the bus and I panicked as Craig and I have not received our passports yet, a kind woman handed to us eventually, and then comes the customs form.Pheww!! panicking for no reason at all.

First impression as we arrive in Odessa late afternoon, not very much different from any other big city. At the bus station we struggled to find the minibus the hostel noted to get on for the hostel so we looked for taxis and they wont take us for the price the hostel said we should pay, 40 dibdobs, instead they want 70 saying bad traffic which was true that time of the day. When we arrived at the hostel there was no one except for the Colombian Fernando, so we have the hostel to ourselves, quickly got our laundry done and walked around to look for the big supermarket where we shopped for our meals and of course beer.
Trying to watch some tennis on the big TV in the kitchen area but the babushka was watching soap opera, tried to use internet but computer broken, even called the receptionist at home Vlada said shell figure it out the next day. Midnight there was a commotion, another backpacker arrived, i locke the dorm so have to get up and open it for him, it is a Finnish guy who later we did not like as he was quite annoying.

Early morning in the kitchen sat an American dude named Nolan who we found out later works in Russia and is here to renew his visa, he recommended places to stay in Lviv and Kiev, quite helpful. Fernando the Colombian dude drew a map of the city centre with recommendations where to go, hes been here a month now so he knows a lot of things in town. Got on a minibus but overshot our stop, marine station was a few stops away when I asked a local who happens to speak perfect English, he told us to walked back where the bus came from and go up a flight of stairs, so we did and emerged in this beautiful part of the city, opera house, this and that, nice building evrywhere, took a walk down the harbor checked on possible tickets to Varna, Bulgaria by boat but off season already. Found an internet place so we got on and booked hostel for Crimea at Balaklava. Waled back to town, a loong walk to get to the train and bus station to try and buy tickets out of there, at the train station we had a hard time finding departures for Sevastopol, asked the temperamental old lady at the counter, nyet, nyet, Simferopol blah blah blah. Eventually we figured trains dont go to Sevas but to Simfero so we tried the bus station, found a ticket booth and we, in sign and body language expressed our desire to buy tickets to Sevas, eventually the lady understood and we got our tickets. he said 24 at the end i believe that was the platform number, we shall see tomorrow. Chilled at a nice park and had our lunch which we bought from the supermarket. Then
got on the minibus, paid the fare and explained to the driver where we want to get off, the kind passenegers made sure we got off on the right stop, they asked for the stret name and address though we know where to get off we know they are trying to help us so we just let them.Back in the hostel
cooked dinner and chatted with Fernando, Nolan and the Finn, me and my big mouth i encouraged the Finn to go to crimea as well and he said he will follow us there, so Craig and I try to device a way to lose him.

Morning came, went back to town to internet and said byes to Jarmo and Tuuka our good Finnish friends we met in Moldova as they fly home this afternoon, went back to hostel to grab our backpacks and photos taken by Fernando and off we go. The taxi driver is confused he says there are 3 bus stations in odessa, which one, we said here is the map look it, he cant read the map!! not again i thought, happens to us every time, after much arguing he got us off at the right station.At the bus station we started to panic as we cant see any bus on platform 24 15 mins to departure, went back to the ticket counter and asked the lady we bought the ticket from, cant understand her so a kind lady in the queue asked for the paper ticket and she said platform 2 or 4, uhhmm that is why, hurried outside and indeed found the bus on platform 2, deposited our packs on the under carriage for a fee then hopped on the bus, we are seated at the very end of the bus, Craig found lots of space behind us so we figured it is ok to put our day bags there. we got yelled at by the bus driver when he went to the back, turns out it was their bed, 2 drivers take turns as it is 17 hours far! Luckily we dont understand a thing he says so we played dumb, later another passenger got on and tried to do the same and he was warned by the locals, probably saying dont even dare put your stuff there the driver just went ballistic on these foreigners earlier


Lots of stops, one stop we desperately looked for toilets cant find them so peed behind the bushes , 8am we made it to Sevastopol. hopped on the tram number 20 but after going uphill the passengers disembarked, the tram is getting back cant understand why doesnt seem to be broke, when we got off, we decided we will buy our train tickets as the train station is just next to the bus, Craig went and i stayed to look after our packs, seems like forever, when he got back he said he thinks he got us the right tickets for 2nd class, we have to ask locals to read it for us. Being Saturday buses are not frequent, made it to the 5 kms stop, the last stop for the tram and tried to figure out where to take the tram or minibus for Balaklava, we eventually found the bus stop which was behind another bus stop directly accross from the trams, minibus 9 wont take passengers with backpacks(well most of them) so we waited for the tram which runs every hour, after a long hot wait, we got on and got to Balaklava, walked 10 minutes to the hostel, called the International Backpackers as we walked towards it, a group of Russian tourists said do not stay there it is a mess, no water etc. We had to decide wheteher to go back to town or just wing it for tonight and leave the next day, so we did, the babushkas showed us our rooms, seems fairly alright, hard beds. The babushka when i mentioned no water handed me a 5 liter jug of water saying to clean our teeth and wash, great...

Walked to town as Craig refused to hop on the minibuses, half an hour later we made it, quite pleasant place lots of people sunning themselves, we looked for a place to eat, we sat down on one restaurant next to the dock, but were being ignored, when we got the menu she never came back and ignored my calls so we left, behind the main drag we found an Italian restaurant, ate there and chatted with the waitress who spoke perfect english, had a couple of good baltika beers on draft, and before we know the waitress is helping us find accomodation in or around Balaklava, though she was not that attractive she was quite helpful and i teased Craig one of us have to sleep with her to pay for her kindness, well take her out first off course. ordered more beer and even then we decided not to bother, went on the internet and Craig found a place in Bakhchisaray very cheap and not on hostel world, Priban i think is the name of the place . booked it quickly then we decide to climb the old fortress on top of the hill, very nice spot to lounge around, lots of locals waited for sunset then went back down and had kebabs from this Lebanese guy. Back at the hostel i discovered there was water so had a shower quickly, it was a trickle but at least I am able to clean myself, after an hour the water stopped flowing again!! Thank god we leave tomorrow.

Early check out and struggled back to town, got to the train station and bought tickets to Bakhchisaray. took i think couple of hours from Sevastopol, ticket was cheap. in the train old ladies and men come up and down the aisle selling things, from newspaper, to flowers, lavanders, thoses packeged fish snacks which i love and Craig despise. At the train station in Bakhchi, we asked a taxi driver if he knew where the street is that Craig wrote on the piece of paper, he did not print the booking request nor wrote down phone number or the name of the hostel!! The driver was unsure of the street and Craig suddenly remember vaguely the hostel name, murmuring it softly as he was unsure, the taxi driver says ahh!! he knows it so off we go. We went past the Khan's palace and went uphill suddenly we found ourselves on top of the hill with a nice view of the town. The receptionist does not speak English, after the driver made sure they have rooms for us he left us and we struggled to tell the lady we pre booked it in the internet, someone on the phone talked to Craig whos speaks English, back and forth explaining things, eventually she booked us and we were shown the room on the top of the hill, summer houses for about $10 per person per night, not bad. There was no light bulb, and the lock does not work so we asked reception for a bulb and new lock. The bulb screw is loose! we'll figure it out tonight. We walked down the hill towards the Khan's palace we tried to remember the way the taxi went up but every which way lead down anyway so passed through people's houses and 15 minutes later we made our way down. Looked for a place to lunch next to the Palace then we explored it, quite a big place. Now the next problem is how to get up to the Chufut-Kale monastery combo church and some settlements in the caves further up hill. There was a guy handing leaflets to a restaurant, spoke English well so asked him to tell us the way, he made us take any minibus going one way and the end stop is it.

Got there and went to buy ticket at the booth, a nice fellow named Sasha a young man wanting to practice his English volunteered to show us around for free so we agreed, he said he guides in the summer, and English speaking people are rare visitors here. We learned a lot about the Crimea's history so got to the church quite impressive hewn from the rocks above the valley cant take photos inside the church it was simple but beautiful. The we hiked up further to the caves, halfway through Sasha siad his goodbyes and told us the best place to go, we explored the caves with gusto it is a big place and took us couple hours to walk around it, there was a guy playing violin inside one of the caves, astounding acoustics!! Scenery looking down the valley with white limestone walls on the other side of mountains was cool as well. We kind of got lost trying to find the way down and we got to this place that looks like only security people are allowed, there was a man there in fatigue uniform but did not say a thing to us, eventually we found the trail and went back down, caught the minibus and ate at the place where the leaflet says was good food altough no booze. The style is central Asian with tables where you can sit and cross your legs with cushion and all. Food not so good though. Back at hostel went to shower but you have to hand in coupons and it is in Russian, brought the breakfast coupon instead the babushkas laughed at me and just let me through giggling.. Met a very nice young Polish couple who gave us tips for Sevastopol and Yalta.

We met them again the next day at the bus station when we tried to go to Yalta the bus already had gone so we have to change plans and decide to visit Balaklava again to see the Naval ship Museum thingo.
The place was quite interesting, they built a tunnel under the mountain and goes for maybe miles(wasn't sure) it is for the nuclear arms. had lunch at this outdoor bar thing and got pissed coz were bored, then went back to bakhchisaray, we are now quite comfortable with the minibuses in town and we made sure we bought tickets for tomoroow's excursion to Yalta.

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Photos

BALAKLAVA
CRAIG AND THE BALAKLAVA HARBOR BEHIND HIM

BALAKLAVA
BACKPACKERS HOSTEL; NO WATER!!

BACKCHISARAY
raspberries growing wild