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Sent from Odesa, Ukraine on Aug 11, 2005 

Vilnius, thru Minsk (Belarus), Kiev & the Crimea,
Odessa (Ukraine), Moldova next.

I am sending this from Odessa, Ukraine, just arrived from
Crimea this morning after an 13-hour trip by train, 3rd
class, since all sleepers were taken.  I had my city tour,
photo at Potemkin Steps, etc.  I am arranging a way of
getting into Moldova without visa, hopefully I will be
there by early afternoon tomorrow.  Then I am done with
VERY Eastern Europe, will start doing the Balkans.  I
should add that while Kiev is a world-class city, the
Ukrainians apparently very Western, the infrastructure in
Very-Eastern Europe is severely lacking for travel on your
own, like no Info Desk, English-speaking staff, orderly
ticket counters, very few (and expensive) hotels, etc.. 
Very few people--none at ticket counters--speak English.  I
found only Lithuania the best-prepared and most functional
of all the places I visited this time.  It is ready to join
the European Union, though English still has a way to go
there too.

1. Basics.  Prices are much cheaper in Eastern Europe,
(buses etc.) than in Turkey and Mexico.  The weather is
cooler than I expected.  But Crimea was hot.

2. Slavic-Russian Posturing.  I have not seen females
elsewhere who can show off what they have on as sexily as
the Slavic girls, including the ones from Poland.  The
young women all seem to have exquisite figures, with long
legs and nice bust size.  How they display their assets
seemingly so casually--yet infinitely studied and
practiced--should be studied by modeling agencies in our
parts.  The outfit on each woman is seemingly only made for
her, to maximize her assets, including lots of pantie
traces, belly display, almost-to-the-nipple boob-show.  Add
the demure and aloof look, gorgeous hair, and a
million-Dollar gait unique to each woman, this is a
high-class show.  Most younger men instead project a
tough-guy image, in all-black outfits, like pants, pointed
shoes, t-shirt, and perhaps also a black leather jacket,
studied-distant demeanor, crew-cut hair.  I cannot decide
if I should applaud our women for having passed this phase
in their evolution, or should pity them for having become
sloppy-casual, losing much of their allure.

3. To Minsk, Belarus ($=2700+ local currency, time same as
in Lithuania, 7 hours ahead of EDT in USA).  Arrived from
Kaliningrad back in Vilnius at 6am, got my bags from
storage at the train station, walked back to the bus
station for the 9am 4-hour ride to Minsk, arriving there at
about 1pm.  The bus station in Minsk is the worst I have
seen anywhere.  Total chaos.  The women at the counter look
offended if you speak a language they do not understand. 
So I said to hell with this and headed for the train
station, a modern building about a 100 meters away.  Yes,
the station is modern alright, except there is NOTHING in
English, and would you believe, no Information Desk
anywhere.  Pissed, I was just figuring out how to get to
Kiev when a charming 21-year-old blond girl came over and
in passable English asked if she could help, her name
Alesya.  What could have been a miserable visit in Minsk
turned into a Roman Holiday of several hours.

We got my ticket for the 8:50pm 12-hour train to Kiev for
about $18, 2nd class sleeper--1st class about $35, but I
did not know this was a sleeper then.  Then we put my bags
into storage (very cheap) and jumped into a taxi and headed
for the TEARS Monument.

NOTE.  The way I sometimes do unknown large cities is mark
on Lonely Planet map the noteworthy places I want to visit,
choose the furthest, take a taxi there--if bus and metro
seem too complicated--to get a feel for the city as we
drive, and then trace back to the train or bus station
visiting all the places I marked, also walking along
livelier streets and parts.

The monument is at a very quaint spot next to the river. 
And apparently it is a popular spot for weddings, for there
were about a dozen parties there taking pictures, etc. 
Nearby is also a neat cafe.  We did all that and meandered
back to the station, taking a taxi for the last part as
these parts seemed uninteresting with huge buildings and
empty spaces.  Minsk is not a pretty city.  Since it was
almost totally destroyed in WW II, all construction is new,
mostly of huge buildings.  One right across from the train
station is as big as the Empire State building on its side.
It is of Stalinesque (fruitcake) style.  The area around
the river is nice and there were a few quaint spots along
the main stretch in town Praspekt FRANCYSKA SKARYNY.

Alesya came back with me to the station, we got my bags and
found out the platform number. She came with me all the way
to my wagon, gave instructions to the woman attendant,
asked my email, gave me a kiss and just as she was walking
away, I stopped her and gave her all my leftover local
change, about $30...  I have several nice shots of her that
I will post on Minsk page.  The train itself reminded me of
the Trans-Siberian train Tom and I took last May and June. 
It was full.  Fresh linens were given upon arrival, I made
my upper-bunk bed, sharing the open (no doors) cabin with a
well-to-do Ukrainian woman and her daughter in early teens,
arriving in Kiev to a nice weather at 8:50am.

4. Kiev, UKRAINE ($ = 4.7 to 5.1 local currency) is a
world-class city, the Ukrainians sophisticated and Western
European.  Kiev is bound to become a popular tourist and
backpacker hub soon, as Prag a few years back, once they
iron out a few snags and getting there gets smoother.  Upon
arrival at the very large and modern Train Station, first I
wanted to familiarize myself with the station.  a)
Immediately upon arrival, you have to carry yourself and
your bags up 4 sets of 15 steps, which I thought was
idiotic.  Then you take the escalator down to the entry
hall.  The exit on this side has Mac Donald's to the left
across the street.

I saw nothing in English, and no information counter. 
Lonely Planet mentions Counters 40 and 41 as being Tourist
counters.  In this part, the counter numbers ended at 38. 
So I took the escalator up again, walked 200 meters of a
wide corridor to the other end of the building, and saw the
Tourist Counters there.  But as Slavic jokes go, the woman
there spoke no English.  On this side a small electronic
window shows the destinations in local language and in
English.

a) Trains to CRIMEA. I saw that there was a 17-hour train
to Sevastopol--no direct trains to Yalta--Crimea. I was
going to Odesa first; instead, I decided to go directly to
Crimea and then head for the Balkans via Odessa.  There are
3 trains to Sevastopol: 13:05, 20:20, and 23:05, 1st class
sleeper (2 persons per cabin) is $50, 2nd class (4 persons)
$15. 

b) Kiev, city tour of my own.  I took a taxi to ANDRIYIVSKY
UZVIZ for about $4, a very quaint street right at St.
ANDREW's Church, and the farthest north from the station,
and walked back hitting other spots, first St.MICHAEL's
Monastery, across from it, about 500 meters distant across
a mall, SOFIYSKY Church, walked to the GOLDEN GATE, and
back to the MEYDAN NEZALEZHNOSTI, the center of the city
and its pulse especially on a Sunday.  I also browsed the
VULITSA KHRESHCHATYK Street off the Meydan; it becomes
pedestrian only on weekends and is a very lively place with
cafes and everything else you might desire.

c) Internet.  At the Meydan Nezalezhnosti, with the Mac
Donald's at your back, walk down the square on the right
side and enter the large building to your right in the
middle, go up the steps to 24-hour Internet for about $2.50
per hour.

d) ATM's.  There are several at the train station.  Get
money when you arrive.

5. Sevastopol, Crimea.  Crimea is about as flat as the rest
of Ukraine at first.  The mountains start about 1.5 hours
into the Crimea.  Lonely Planet says there is not much in
Sevastopol as such, except the fleet, that the ride to
Yalta, the prime destination in Crimea, over the mountains
is gorgeous.  In fact, I did like Sevastopol.  Upon arrival
there after 1pm, a pretty young woman, Alina her name, came
over and asked if I wanted an apartment for just $20 a
night.  There are not many hotels in these parts, and all
expensive, especially in summer, so I said OK.  She took me
to the apt.; I asked to write down the address, and then
asked her to join me to the PanPan aroma depiction of the
Crimean War very much like our Civil War diadiorama
Atlanta.  The depiction was impressive, the detail amazing.
 We took a taxi to the center of the city; I got off to
browse.  I found the section around Mac Donald's really
attractive.  Facing Mc MacnDonald'salk one block to your
right and then head a block towards the sea to see the
really attractive part of Sevastopol for seseverallocks. 
Hotel Sevastopol facing the Black Sea has perhaps the best
location in ttown but when I entered the building all I saw
was a surly guard as a desk next to the entry.  The place
has seen its better days.  What a waste, for it is an
impressive building at a fine location.  After browsing the
city for about 5 hours, I took taxi back to the apartment,
to my relief found the place, had a nice Mac Donald's
dinner (I brought with me), watched TV, and fell asleep. 
As for the apartment, it would be considered lower
middle-class in USA, just one room, a bath, small kitchen,
and a narrow bbalcony  But for $20 it was fine.  She came
with a taxi to the apt. at 7am, for the taxi to take me to
the bus station to YALTA.

b) Yalta.  Is the primary destination in the Crimea.  As
such, I expected a more orderly and functional bus station
upon arrival there 2.5 hours later on winding roads thru
the mountains.  In fact, the place looked total chaos, with
long lines at every counter.  The city was even more
crowded.  I took a taxi to the Port building to check into
taking a boat back to Sevastopol; there were none.  The
port is city-center, right across the BRISTOL Hotel.  I
recommend the location, If you want to pay $100 a night
(summer).  I browsed the Promenade (Naberezhnaya Imeni
Lenina Street), took a taxi to the chair lift for a
wonderful view of the city, the surrounding steep
mountains, and of course the Black Sea.  I also took a taxi
to the LIVADIA PALACE, where in Feb. 1945 Stalin,
Roosevelt, and Churchill met.  Just then rains came and I
decided not to bother with the bus station; instead, took a
taxi 77km (200Gr = $40) directly to the city of SIMFEROPOL,
from where there are trains to all of Ukraine.  (there are
no trains from Yalta.)  There is one train to Odessa, at
4:53pm, taking 13 hours.  Looking forward to a nice sleep
on train, alas I was told all sleeper beds were taken, that
I would have to ride 3rd. class, just on a seat--so very
cheaply, like $5.  It was a zoo in the wagon, as many
soldiers on leave were also on the train.  But I got a seat
and the hours passed.  We arrived in Odessa at 6am.

6. Odessa.  Odessa seems an orderly city.  I paid a taxi
20Gr ($4) to take me to the Londonskaya Hotel overlooking
the harbor, right next to the POTEMKIN STEPS--1925 film
Battleship Potemkin.  My bags with me, I walked down the
steps, then up, then walked about 1km to EUGENIA Travel,
sightseeing and taking photos along the way, to arrange my
entry to Moldova.


7. ADDENDUM Slavic Countries.  Two (other, besides lack of
English) very annoying things in Slavic countries: 1)
Spitting.  This is also something I had complained about in
the Mideast.  Guys do this arbitrarily on the street or at
waiting spaces (outside) at train and bus stations.  It is
a disgusting habit, but it seems this is a popular pastime
in these parts.  One wonders what these guys have up their
throats.  At least they could this into the bushes or into
some corner, but no, they do it anywhere they feel like it.
This happens also in Moldova but less, even less in
Romania, I noticed.  2) People asking for--rather
DEMANDING--cigarettes.  If you give in to every request,
take my word for it, you will lose a pack in an hour at bus
and train stations.  Many do not ask, they demand one,
repeating loudly CIGARETTE, if you say no the first time. 
I mumbled "dont understand you" and walked away from these
guys.  Many come and stand beside you for a moment before
asking, which you can readily recognize after a while, and
in that span, I usually walked to some other spot.  No one
in Moldova and Romania asked for cigarettes.

b) Slavic Women. This said about Slavic countries, as far
as the white race, the Slavic women are in a special league
of their own, among the most attractive, per capita more
beautiful women, AND the average beauty above the average
elsewhere.  (Use tennis divas Anna Kournikova and Sharopova
as guideline . . .)  Young women in Moldova, Romenia,
Bulgaria, and Macedonia are so so, beauties at say Level 8
are exceptions--3 in Bucharest.

c) TOILETS. One more detail, the train station in Kiev has
won some sort of architectural award.  I dont know how a
major train station WITHOUT an International Info desk, or
English-speaking staff somewhere, can win an award but so
it goes.  Of the many separate restrooms scattered around
the building, some 50 in toto perhaps for men alone, all
are all squat-toilets WITHOUT bath tissues.  So, by all
means, BRING ALONG A ROLL OF TOILET TISSUES if you are
heading to these parts . . .

Sirman