This
trip report is part 3 of a 5 part series of my time in Ukraine. Stories
previously posted include my U.S. State Department sponsored service trip and
travels through the Ukrainian countryside Please use the search function to
find out more about these other trips.
In
May of 2012, I had the fortune of being selected as a member of a U.S.
delegation to help teach Ukrainian government officials about U.S. style local
government. Our delegation consisted of me, from Illinois, Dave and Paul from
Washington State, and Marcia from Washington DC. We all worked in varying capacities
for local or regional governments or not-for-profit organizations. We were
accompanied by Slava and Natalie, two Ukrainians who had earlier visited the
U.S. as part of a U.S. Department of State reciprocal program.
Our
service trip wasn’t all business and no pleasure. We had a lot of time “off of
the clock” while in the big cities or while in transit between them. MK joined
us midway through our time in this fabulous country. The cultural exchange and
learning experience to us as delegates was, I’m certain, just as valuable as
the governance experience the Ukrainians were learning from us.
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- - - -
It was well past dark after
we arrived at our hotel in the Carpathian mountain village of Pylypets, so we
couldn't see much of the promised views. That would have to wait until the
morning. This area is often visited by our hosts and guides, Vasil and Natalie,
who like to bike and ski in the area. We jovially consumed some wine, cheese,
and other snacks before being shown our rooms in a large multiple unit cottage
in the back of the property. MK and I got our own room with our own bathroom. This
was a treat considering most of our previous nights were spent in multi-share
facilities.
It was late morning before
we finally got underway on our day hike up to the mountain ridge above us. The
first portion of the climb was via cable car. The price was very reasonable at
only 30 hyrvnia, or about $3.75. I’ve never downhill skied so this was the
first time I was on such a contraption. Gondolas? Yes. Open air seat type of
cable cars? No. This was the first time.
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| Summer use of cable cars gives high mountain access for hikers, backpackers, and mountain bikers |
At the end of the ride, Paul realized he had lost his wallet. He thought
it may have fallen out of his pocket while he was taking out his sunglasses. He
told the rest of us to go ahead without him. He instead was going to walk back
down along a straight line underneath the cable car line in the hope of finding
it.
MK and I felt good making the climb up the trail toward the ridge top. Vasil quickly found out that the
two of us were in fairly good shape, and said as much, while he walked with us
to lead the way. He is a very active adventurer. He routinely takes extended
bike rides of over 100 miles a day. In fact, the day before we arrived, he had
just finished a multi day trip on his bike, pedaling from Kharkiv to Lviv, a
distance equivalent to a trip across the state of Texas. He also likes to
skydive having made over 200 jumps so far.
Vasil started to sing as we
climbed and looked back to measure the progress of the others. Natalie was
lagging behind to match Marcia's slower pace. Dave was having stomach problems
and brought up the rear. He said later that he became very close and familiar
with the huckleberry plants that carpeted the hillsides.
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| Vasil (r) is a strong hiker and athlete |
The views at the top were
impressive. We laid down in the grass to soak up the sun and the views. In
time, the others caught up and joined us as we continued our repose. Two men
approached and started a conversation. They became more animated when Vasil
pointed out that the rest of us were from America. I’m sure it is not everyday
that a Ukrainian hiking in these mountains comes across a bunch of Americans doing
the same thing.
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| Parasailers take advantage of the mountain thermals |
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| MK loves the mountains, especially above tree line |
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| Older Ukrainians take advantage of the mountain views |
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| A conversation ensues after learning us Americans were in their mountains |
The clouds started to build.
We gathered up our belongings and made the trek back downhill. Rain was falling
in the far off valley, blanketing the distant hillsides, and seemed to be
heading our way.
Paul was patiently waiting
for us at the trailhead. He said that one of the mountain bikers that had been
using the trails in the area saw his wallet near one of the cable car support
towers. He offered to go back up and look, but by the time he got back there,
the wallet was gone. He apologized to Paul for his countrymen's behavior.
Stolen were about $400 and a debit card. He was able to reach the US using
Natalie's phone and got a hold of the card company to cancel the account.
“Remember when we were in
downtown Lviv the other day?” I quizzed MK.
“Hmm. Yes. What about it?”
“What did that Gypsy lady
tell Paul after Paul he took her picture and he refused her demands to pay her?”
“Oh, yeah! She said that she
hoped he would someday have less money than her,” MK recalled.
“Sounds like the curse
worked,” I said.
“Spooky, I tell you!”
After a late and filling
lunch along with a brief rest back at the hotel, MK and I, along with Marcia
and Paul, walked down into the village to check out the local flavor: Colorful
people, stooped over babushkas walking along the village lane, horses and cows moving
and grazing on the grass from one modest home’s front yard to another, their
tenders nearby with sticks and whips, people bent over in their fields tending
to their crops, little kids playing and doing all of the things little kids do.
We stopped at a little tavern to have a beer and did more people watching until
dark.
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| She wasn't too thrilled that I took her picture. I apologized for doing so without her permission |
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| Paul (l) knew some of the language to start a conversation |
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| Marcia (l) and I enjoy a conversation in the village park |
Before turning in, we
watched some of Vasil's skydiving videos. Some went back to the hotel
restaurant to eat a late dinner which MK and I had no interest in doing being
full from the earlier meal. We later learned there was a lot of vodka being
passed around at their table.
We packed up our belongings early
in the morning and left this wonderful little hotel in its wonderful small
village. We were heading to a different part of the mountains when we blew a
tire. Our driver, Yurga, would wave down passing cars, asking if they had a
tire iron since the one he had wasn't functioning properly.
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| A flat tire excites the local villagers |
Pretty soon, the whole road
side was filled with cars and people from the nearby village who were giving us
advice and assistance on how to change this tire. It was if they had all called
each other to say, "Hey, there's a bunch of Americans with a flat tire,
let's go take a look!"
One man, obviously drunk,
tried to offer the most help. His beer belly, hardly constrained by his tight
knit shirt, would get in the way as he tried to bend over to help Yurga. He would
frequently curse between his yellowed teeth that tightly clenched one cigarette
after another.
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| Natalie (l) and Paul (m) look on as a local resident instructs us on how to change a tire |
With the spare tire in
place, we drove up and over the pass and to a pretty mountain lake that is very
popular with the Ukrainians. The legend has it that there was a young couple
who were very much in love. He had to go off to war and the tears she cried day
after day while he was gone are what created this lake. We hiked around it's
perimeter before loading up in the van for the long drive back to Lviv.
Our apartment was on the third floor of a very old building right in the middle of Lviv's old city center. Our apartment had three bedrooms and one sleeping area in the living room. Poor Paul, he got the living room area, but he didn't seem to mind at all. The rest of us got our own bedrooms. The five of us would be sharing the one bathroom with its small shower, tub, and toilet. This would be our home for the next three nights
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