Capital : Kiev

Kiev, capital of the the Ukraine.Where 50% of the people speak Russian and the other 50% speak Ukrainian.Zhenya ,my friend from Kharkov had arranged for me to stay with a friend of hers.( I'm terrible.I forgot her name and I lost her contact as well because her name and email went missing after my notebook and bag was stolen in Malaysia after my trip to the Ukraine ).Let's call her A.A works for a french company and leads an active life ice skating and horse back riding.Her sister is a really attractive model.A is another Ukrainian who lived life to the fullest and is always busy experiencing the best things in life.

It was nice to finally be in a home again,,wash and get some clean clothes.The Chernobyl museum ,Lavra monastry ,Famine museum were some of the highlights including the many churches in the city.The museums here are amazing.They moved me to tears.The pain and tortured suffered by the Ukrainians.

I was shopping around for books on Tymoshenko in english.But apparently the bookshops in Kiev did not stock up on books on Tymoshenko in english.It was a good thing that i didn't buy any books anyway.The weight of my backpack was killing me.

Unfortunately for me, on my 2nd last day in Ukraine, and Kiev, I received some really bad news that I had to return back to Singapore to get my next visa to Russia done,instead of getting it done in Istanbul, my next stop.

Kiev is an amazing city and the people I met here are similarly really cool.It was a great way to sum up my trip in the Ukraine.Insane ,exhausting and totally enriching.And I only have fantastic stories to tell the world and and inspire the people around me to head to the Ukraine for that interesting experience.

West Ukraine :Lvov

1 day in Lvov and it was raining the whole day.I was stuck at Macdonalds with a guidebook and a camera.I've been told of a cool bar in Lvov where you can enter if you know the password and you'll have an amazing experience inside.But in the rain , it was difficult to locate anything.

Running from shelter to shelter,cold and tired,looking for internet cafes and bookstores.The day trip to Lvov turned out to be a sad one.Filled with plenty of food to drown my sorrows.Thanks to the rain.

The roads were a little more difficult to navigate around in because unlike most cities in Russia and Ukraine, the roads were curvy and you can get easily lost wandering around.But you spring into the more interesting sights when you lose your bearings.

I was determined to see the castle at the top of the hill , in a bid to save my trip to Lvov.It turned out that this замок was a little building where weddings were held.Or perhaps I didn't hike up enough to see the actual castle.

I wish i can return to this city on a sunny day and hopefully reverse this sad experience into a cheerful optimistic one.

On the bright side, i bought my favourite souvenir here.A Ukrainian doll!Which comes with a small bag with wheat at the side and some свiточ chocolates.In the times of the USSR,свiточ  chocolates were considered premium quality.It is still based in Lvov but has been acquired by Nestle (What hasn't? ).

Carpathians : Kolomyya

I loved Kolomyya! My favourite day trip in my 12 day trip around the Ukraine.

Waking up at 7am in the morning, i tipped toed out of the room trying not to wake Romain ( the other couchsurfing guest up).I headed to the bus station to catch the first bus to Kolomyya.

It was Sunday.And sunday in Kolomyya means....Sunday market!Everyone brings their 2nd hand goods to the market and hope to sell something.So you get to see all sorts of knick knacks.From 2nd hand clothes,shoes,radios and all sorts of screws and rusty things.Even tombstones!The market was outdoors and people just found a spot on the pavement and started displaying their wares.

I was looking at some soviet pins.And the owner of the table got curious about me.Surprised to find out that I am from Singapore, he announced I was here.The old man he was serving before that, stood there and watch me in curosity.People cycling by,stopped and watched me.
The owner started asking me tons of questions and said that it was a pity that i was staying for so short a time.He would have loved to bring me to see his dacha in the countryside where everything is more beautiful,especially in summer.(perhaps not a very good idea for a girl to follow a 50+year old man to his dacha, but it's the thought that counts isn't it?)

One of the key atttractions in Kolomyya is the Ukrainian Egg Museum( Pysanky Museum )!You find these eggs being sold all over russia but ukrainians claim that it originated from the Ukrainian and they have their very unique style of painting them too.

The Museum of Hutsul Folk Art was interesting as well.Descriptions next to the museum showpieces were in ukrainian and english.(no russian translation)

The one thing i really miss from Kolomyya and some of the cities in Russia was the Pampushky (Doughnuts) especially those with savoury fillings.You can find them sold by old grannies walking around the market.So fresh , so light.It makes american sweet doughnuts taste artificial with heaps of sugar.

I guess I just love savoury doughnuts more!

Central Ukraine : Kamyanet Polidsky

After tea with Luba, I set off to visit Kamyanet Polidsky.A 2hour bus ride away.Known to have a breathetaking castle there.The castle didn't wow me over.But the museum in the castle did.Dimmed with red lights.The ukrainians sure know how to make museums dramatic and interesting.The city wasn't very interesting but it definately looks like it has the qualities to stage a medival sword fighting.And indeed in October,the Terra Heroika Festival is held here.

See link : http://www.ukraine.com/videos/terra+heroika+08+preparations+for+a+military+parade+01/343291/

Carpathians : Chernitvsi

Chernitvsi surprised me.I never expected a Ukrainian city to look so european.The streets were cobbled and the buildings were victorian styled.

I was staying with a host I met over couchsurfing,Luba.After getting changed,I was happy to finally be somewhere homely and meeting people again!Her passion for photography was evident.She was more comfortable speaking in Russian and we had a pleasent conversation about our lifes.There are not many couchsurfing hosts in Chernitvsi and Luba was really kind to let couchsurfers stay with her.

That night, i met another couchsurfer at her place.
wait a minute...i saw this guy running for the bus half an hour ago in the city in the middle of the night!He got onto the bus to Luba's place.I didn't run fast enough , so i had to wait 20minutes for the next bus.He is from France and did an internship in Romania.

Chernitvsi is a city you can check out in just one day.But it is a great place to start from to check out other interesting cities nearby.Like Kolomyya and Kamyanet Polidsky.

I swear that I didn't see a single asian person here.Perhaps asians only study in the russian speaking cities in the Ukraine.

Carpathians :the train ride to Chernitvsi

The train ride
People generally are very curious about foreigners but they always respect each other's personal space.I had never had my personal space invaded into on trains before and this maiden experience toughen me up.

Getting onto the train from Odessa bound for Chernitvsi , it was about 3pm in the afternoon.Drowsy and exhausted , i was busy typing my thoughts into my laptop and dozing off.

There was a man in his early 30ties sleeping in the bunk across from mine.A girl in her 20ties sleeping on the bunk on top of his.Nobody spoke and there was silence between us.Everyone else in the wagon was going about their own business.Knitting,talking to random strangers about their life and so on.I was just another tongue tied "Vietnamese" student to them.

Perhaps I slept too much.But i jolted up at 1am in the morning , I had felt a finger poking me at a not so appropriate area.But when i looked around, there was no hand or anyone in sight.I went back to sleep.A few moments later , it happened again.I jolted up .Что??? The wagon was pitch dark and everyone was sleeping.Except for that hand that disappeared.It wasn't funny to have random things touching you in the middle of the night on the train.

I flipped ,lying on my side , this time, the finger came from the back.I pushed it away quickly.Realizing that he was caught, the man leaned over and whispered ,"Are you sleeping? Oh i'm sorry.i didn't know that you were sleeping."A few minutes later,he leaned over again and said loudly," I wanted to warn you to sleep the other way, you will catch a cold if your head is next to the window".I told him that it is ok.I want to sleep with my head next to the window.A rotten cover up for him.But I think he passed out on his bed and went to sleep.I was not harressed anymore that night.

Thank goodness I knew enough russian to understand what he was saying or I would have totally freaked out.

A friendly sailor sleeping a few bunks away came by in the morning and started talking to me.He knew a little english and has even been to Singapore.So we started talking about Singapore and what i was doing in the Ukraine.The molestor joined in the conversation too.Sailor made it a point to speak to me only in English and the leacherous men didn't not understand anything that we spoke about.

They were all surprised to find out that I was travelling alone and heading to ...of all places....Chernitvsi.And even more surprised to find out that I had a friend there.( Is couchsurfing counted? :) ) Sailor gave me his contact and bade me farewell when the train arrived at his stop.It is a pity that I have lost his number and name after my bag (with my notebook ) was stolen in Malaysia after my trip.

The girl sleeping on the top bunk came down after then men left and we started talking.She studied german and english in her university and is working as a translator.And she is coming to Chernitvsi to visit her boyfriend,so she was hurriedly putting on makeup ,nice clothes and high heels.She smiled.For her boyfriend,she has to look pretty.

As we got off the train , I saw her boyfriend come up to her and they were wrapped in a sweet embrace.Before they left , she turned around smiled and waved at me.

I smiled back,with my heavy 17kg backpack on my back , I trotted out of the station to look for the bus to my host's place.It was drizzling.How I wish that I had boyfriends who will pick me up at the station of every city that I visit.But if i have to look pretty all the time for men and wear killer heels, perhaps it's just easier to carry that 17kg backpack on my back and just find my way around on my own!

Crimea : Simferopol

As I arrived in Simferopol where my luggage was stored, I noticed a banner along the streets advertising tours in Asia and Singapore!Wished that i had the time to take some photos of that!

Although i didn't have time to check out the city , the train ride from Simferopol was really interesting.

The попутчики/poputchiki ( fellow travellers _ there isn't an appropriate english word to describe strangers you meet on the train,sleeping in the same wagon and start conversations with ) sleeping around my berth in the wagon section was a ukrainian couple.The lady was a russian language teacher in Odessa!She speaks english and is good friends with the peace corps volunteers in Odessa.She enlightened me about stories of international students studying in Odessa.The dark side of things.

She told me that she loves the Ukraine but wishes that there is a Singapore styled government running it.And the way the elect for their president is by ...which candidate will do lesser harm to their country.That was my moment of pride!They had a tv program in the Ukraine about Singapore and its achievements.And apparently, my ukrainian friend told me that her teacher spoke of Singapore during her class in university.About Lee Kuan Yew.Our living legend respected by us all!

We had really strange poputchiki sleeping next to us.A very rude and sarcastic old American man in his 70ties who could not take the discomfort of sleeping in 3rd class ,yet did not pay a higher price to sleep in the 1st class wagon.There was this ukrainian woman in her 40ties,wearing leopard print pants and a shiny gold jacket who spoke a little english helping him out.This perhaps led to some stares.Was she dating this 70 year old jackass?It's a disgrace to Ukrainian women!The Ukrainian lady had a daughter who was ignoring her mother the whole journey.Probably because of the old American Jackass.

I later found out at the train station that she was just trying to help the foreigner and they were not related at all.The American man went his own way after getting off the train at Odessa.And I spoke to him briefly at the luggage storage area at the train station.He was much nicer to me there.

It was a pity that I didn't dare to take any photos with these very interesting poputchiki.I wished that I had just asked!

Train Station at Simferopol, Ukraine