Safe Return Doubtful

I’ve just spent 10 days there and found useful information quite hard to gather, so here goes,

1 – It’s not going to be expensive. According to the Kiev Post – it’s the cheapest country in Europe and the third cheapest in the world.


2 – I had very few problems with motorists, on the whole they gave me space. But I avoided any busy roads except when absolutely necessary.
The roads are in a terrible state though; traffic meanders around sections of road weaving between potholes so deep you could lose most of a Lada in them. Expect minor roads to be unsealed, some main roads are. So it’s slow going, plan accordingly.



3 – Money exchange. The advice I got before travelling was that cards were widely accepted and Euros could be exchanged easily. In the places I went this wasn’t the case. No shop, restaurant or accommodation I used accepted cards. Euros were difficult to exchange except at official exchange kiosks in the main towns. Dollars or Pounds would have been easier.


4 – I can’t recall travelling in a country with such friendly people. Riding through the countryside pretty much everybody waves and shouts ‘Dobrje Den’ to you. Very few people spoke any English, but in hotels and restaurants I had many conversations by Google Translate.



5 – When negotiating the potholes and trying to choose food from a Cyrillic menu don’t forget this is still a very young country (1991). Even its own people are frustrated and want quicker progress.


6 – Almost always accommodation was 400 Hrvynia (about £13). Entrepreneur types move out of their houses in the summer and rent rooms, these are often better than Hotels. For the price though, there was a huge range of quality for the 400 Hrvynia, and not easy to spot the good ones ahead of time.


7 – Food. Expect huge menus with only one or two items available. Carry a translation of the key words. Borscht seemed to be always available (beetroot and cabbage soup), and usually good. There’s a good roast stew served in a pot that was good also. And, biscuits and cakes served loosely in shops, keep an eye for the sesame ones. The beer was good with lots of choice.



8 – In my last 5 years in Education I worked in Health and Safety on School Trips. Here, I rapidly needed to forget most of that. This was the aspect of Ukrainian life I found most difficult to accept; no seatbelts to be seen in many vehicles, cars and trucks not roadworthy, kids unsecured and riding on top of 4WDs,
Undertake a 15 second mental risk assessment before using plug sockets in shabby hotel rooms. Avoid sockets in bathrooms. If you’re room is on the second floor or higher consider an escape route in case of fire.


9 – The country has very little crime. When storing your bike overnight hosts can’t even contemplate that it could get stolen. Rurally at least, houses aren’t locked, and theft seems incredibly rare. Having said that, I did lock my bike. Partly for the reason of how stupid you’d look if it did get stolen with the bike lock on top of it unused..



10 – it’s a struggle to be Eco-Tourist minded. There’s a lot of unnecessary plastic that in more developed countries has disappeared. There’s less litter than in the Balkan countries I was in last year, but still it is a problem. – Somewhat Ironically there’s what seems a brand new batch of electric Mitsubishi police cars, when the emissions that the diesel trucks and cars push out make the air around major roads a problem.


11 – Route choice. Considering that the roads are in such a bad state, it’s slow going almost everywhere, so taking mountain tracks was not only relaxing and scenic, but also not that much slower. It’s more difficult to find these tracks than in other countries, so research well and ahead of time. I received bogus advice from Ukraine Tourism about a border with Romania at Vicovu de Sus. I was told this was new, and had been open for 12 months. They directed me to a picture on StreetView. And this article But it is firmly closed, and has been for 7 years, resulting in a 100 km detour.

12 – In August below about 350 metres its very hot in the afternoons, mid 30s, and doesn’t cool off much in the evening. In the mountains there is less humidity, and while the temperature may reach similar heights, it cools down quickly in the evenings.



Don’t let any of these things put you off. Rather I hope, the opposite. It’s wonderful touring, packed with adventure.

“Few places in this world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action.” Muir