-- Two days in
Poland
-- Three days in
Ukraine
-- Two days in
Russia
The road from Krakow to the
Ukrainian border is in rather bad condition, it was necessary for me more
than four hours to drive 250 km.
I travelled from the border to Kyiv in two stages, 184 km then 469 in
approximately 13 hours.
The road from
Kyiv to Sergiev-Posad took three days including the crossing of Border.
I had already visited Krakow in September 2005 at the return from the journey in Northern Europe. I revisited this authenticates city with pleasure by a gloomy weather. It was almost deserted by tourists. The municipal officials of the city profited from it for doing road works in the historical centre. Polish workmen worked in Saturdays! As in September bicycling was a treat.
The truck at the foot of the
castle
hill of
Wawel
Krakow
25/03/2006
Second-hand trade market
Place Nowy, Krakow
25/03/2006
I arrived at the border checkpoint of Ukraine around 8 a.m. The line of vehicles on two lanes, one for cars and the other for trucks, was extremely long and advanced only seldom. I put four hours to reach the first checkpoint. I passed by eight checkpoints in one hour and thirty minutes. The truck was visited several times either for control or by curiosity. I was helped in my tour by Ukrainian truckers then by a French people speaking the vernacular language.
The road towards the L'viv
comprised portions in sorry condition. When I reached it, it was too late to
visit the historical centre. In difficulty to find my way at a junction,
I was caught up with by one of the truckers who indicated to me to
follow him towards the exit. I stopped towards 17:00 to bivouac on a service
area. The following day the road was also poor. It improved after Rivne
when it became with twice two lanes. I filled the tank with diesel at a
service station which probably accepted the Visa card after a phone call
at the bank. I due to announce the quantity wished to output my account a
priori. But the full one being lower than the announced quantity, the
balance of the amount was restored to me in Ukrainian currency.
Weather was misty and the visibility of
approximately 50 meters. The countryside was always covered with snow. The
road traffic was not very dense and primarily made up of trucks coming
from the border.
I arrived at the entry
of Kyiv about 16:30 and I stopped at a subway station to ask for my way.
The person that I questioned proved to be a policeman who
gave me his business card thereafter. After unfruitful explanations, he led
me to a hotel where I can stay on the free carpark. The intermediary
was made by phone with an English speaking person.
The following day I visited the Kyiv city by bike
with a winter weather. The Kyiver looked me like
an extraterrestrial! The city is built on hills dominating Dniepr. I
visited the main monuments of the historical centre. The orientation
was not easy because there are little street names and they are into
Cyrillic. Despite everything with the assistance of Lonely
Planet guidebook and into communicating by gesture with the local police I can
finding my way and turning over to the truck at the end of the
day.
Caves monastery
Kyiv
March 28, 2006
Caves monastery
Kyiv
March 28,2006
The cathedral St Sophie
Kyiv
March 28, 2006
The day after I
took again the road to head off to the Russian border. The exit of the city was easy, I
were stayed near a subway station located close to the peripheral
leading northwards. However in difficulty at a junction, I was dealt
with by a truck driver to the exit.
The
road was good to the junction of Kipti. Then it was a rectilinear
secondary road with a very degraded coating sometimes. The landscape was
of a snow covered dull flatness. I arrived at the border about 13:00 to be in
Russia about 19:00 Ukrainian hour.
The
queue, trucks primarily, as well at the border of the Ukraine as at that of
Russia, was very long. I went up it by foot to try to pass because
my vehicle is a motor home. In both cases it was possible with baksheesh
in dollars.
The Ukrainian border
consisted of two checkpoints, documents and customs. They lasted
one hour and thirty minutes.
The Russian
border was a tangle of trucks in a muddy enclosure of molten snow. The unit
consists of more or less sordid hutments, overheated and polluted by tobacco.
Controls proceeded in three stages. The first was the recording
of the documents and the delivery of a following card as well as the
purchase of an insurance of the vehicle for the duration of the stay. The
second was the recording of the car license and the delivery of a
card for the exit of Russia. The third stage was a hazardous navigation
between the offices #28, #10 and #22 and the handing-over of a customs document
for the exit of Russia. Truck drivers helped me by indicating the
documents to be produced. The removal from the enclosure was made by the
handing-over of the following card.
Harassed, I stayed about 19:30 Ukrainian hour in a guarded carpark
for TIR trucks.
The trip towards Sergiev-Posad was done in two days with a stop on a service area in
Serpuhov. On the way I was controlled five times by the police and
was racketed twice. It would seem that it is mandatory to have the letter
indicating the registration country of the vehicle stuck at the
back, like formerly in France. I printed with my computer the letter “F”
in an oval that I put in a plastic small pocket stuck at the back of my
truck. To head off to Sergiev-Posad I took the third peripheral of
Moscow, A108, with a deviation towards the second peripheral, A107, and
return towards A108. In Sergiev-Posad, I found a free carpark close to the Zagorsk hotel.
But I went preferably in a guarded carpark for the two overnights.
At the hotel Russky Dvorik I requested the registering my passport. It
was not possible for incomprehensible reasons.
The following days were devoted
to the visit of the “Golden ring”.
