Monday was a quiet day, just walking around really to get my bearings and relax. One thing I wanted to do was to visit the nearby (95km) city of Lviv (Pronounced L’viv in Ukrainian or L’vov in Russian) So, first off to the train station to see if trains go there.
The answer is “No” or rather, I didn’t understand exactly, so off I headed to the bus station to see if they could help me. I did have a chuckle at the warnings on this sign in the train station. When in Mariupol my friends told me it’s a 24 hour train ride to Kiev and people steal etc. So the warning seems valid.
There is a nice market across the road from the train station and some newer houses.
I found the bus station and indeed it goes to L’viv many times during the day. It’s 95km and takes 2 hours due to both the roads and then the bit of traffic as you get into L’viv. Tickets are 35 Hrvnia (Pronounced Grivna) and with an exchange rate at an all time high of 22 = £1 it was mega cheap. My visit last year was 15 = £1. The fighting is hurting more than just people. I was told because the exchange rate is so bad, petrol has risen and of course this pushes almost all prices up. People are suffering a bit.
Petrol was about 15 hryvnia a litre, so about £0.90 I had filled up in Ukraine once across the border and since I had mega range with my tank, I wouldn’t need any more fuel in the country.
The bus station and timetable for my trip which I would go on tomorrow, Tuesday.
A bit more walking around and getting my bearings and that was about it for the day. There is lots of construction in various states. Some old building which should be condemned and some new buildings which appeared to have been abandoned, some only the structure but some were almost complete. Apparently people running out of money as the economy suffers.
Truskavets is only a holiday or health resort town. The Russians aren’t coming here like they used to this and last year so money isn’t as good as it used to be and the whole place is suffering. It’s not a seasonal holiday spot though and sees a steady stream of people all year. Most of whom stay for a standard 20 days as this is what’s needed for the special mineral water to work its magic.
I had an anxious and worried apartment lady tell me to go down the road to the garage where my bike was. It had fallen over in the night sometime apparently. I thought something must have been lost in translation as the bike was in a garage and all locked up so unless someone had tried to steal it then it should be fine. However when I arrived I found this
The garage floor was wafer thin and my side stand had punched a hole straight through it. The funny thing was that I couldn’t lift it up more than about 45 degrees because the side stand was stuck under the concrete. I did get a little worried when the guy picked up an axe and motioned to help, I thought he was going to murder me for breaking his floor or was going to chop my stand off. Thankfully he ended up using the butt of it to destroy more concrete so we could get the bike up. Anyhow apart from a scuffed barkbuster handguard and a few scratches on the read Hotrod x-Rack the bike was fine. A bit of wood under the sidestand and I left it. I’d next see it on Friday when I would pop over and do my pre flight checks for my trip home.
That was it for Monday. I swapped sofa beds in the apartment, the second was way more comfortable.