Travelogue Eurasia2005, part 1: Trip preparations

I started to write a travelogue for my Eurasia-journey already long time ago
and recently continued writing. However, in German. Now I decided to write
an English translation and started with part 1.

The German travelogue already consists of 19 parts and has meanwhile reached
Beijing. That means that there is still much work waiting for me: Writing
new reports in German and translating the already written reports to
English. I am student and have some free time, but I cannot spend all of it
for writing travelogues..

So I ask for understanding, if it takes some time untill the next parts are
published.

The travelogue itself will be mostly rail-related, but there will be some
other stuff too.





The first part of the travelogue is about the preparations for the trip.



Originally I was planning only a trip to lake Baikal for 2005. In january a
I found out about an organisation, which was searching volunteers for
building a hiking path round the lake.

See www.baikalplan.de or http://www.greatbaikaltrail.ru/index_en.html for
the english site of the partner organisation in Russia. I liked the idea to
live and work for two weeks far away from civilization and so I signed up.
Oliver, a friend of mine from Switzerland, also liked the idea and he signed
up too.



However, in april I met some people on a discussion board about Interrail
(see http://www.interrailers.net/forum/) which were searching for travel
partners for a Transsiberian trip to China. We finally agreed about a trip
plan that is compatible with my volunteering project at the Baikal. That
plan would leed us not only to Mongolia and China, but on the way back also
to Kazakhstan and Usbekistan. I always wanted to do this route, but lack of
travel partners prevented me. Now I had some travel partners: Veronika from
Vienna, Anja from Trier, Florian from Frankfurt(Main) and Doreen from
Munich. Florian and Doreen would not make the entire trip due to lack of
time, they would fly home from Alma-Ata and Shanghai.



We made a detailed trip plan, discussed different variants and started to
gather information about visa procedures. We would need visas for Russia,
Mongolia, China, Kasachstan and Usbekistan. A additional Belorussian trabsit
visa would be necessary for the German people, who plan to travel to Moscow
by train from Germany.

In the end of may we organized a meeting to get to know each other and
discuss the further visa application procedure.



Trip plan



My camp near Severobajkalsk on the northern side of the Baikal is sheduled
from 1st august till 15th august, so I leave Austria somewhen in july. The
plan was to travel - together with Oliver - via Ukraine (no visa required)
to Moscow and from there to Severobajkalsk. Alexander and Stefan, two
friends of mine, decided to come with us to Kiev, they would then travel
back alone.

The meeting with my travel partners for the trip to China was planned for
15th august in Severobajkalsk. They leave Moscow, where the German part
meets Veronika (she is doing a Russian language course before in Ukraine)
around the 8th of august, on the 11th.

From Severobajkalsk we will go to the island Olchon and then to Irkutsk.
Then, on 22nd from Irkutsk to Ulan Bator, from there on the 27th to Beijing.

Some days in Beijing, overnight train to Shanghai. From Shanghai leaving on
the 2nd september and with only short stops in Xian and Urumchi to Alma-Ata,
where we would arrive on the 7th of september.

We planned to stay some days in Alma-Ata as it is a good place for
excursions to the countryside. On the 15th from Alma-Ata to Tashkent and
then to Samarkand, Buchara and Chiwa. For the way back home from Usbekistan
we had various options and didn't have a fixed plan. The plan was to be at
home in the beginning of october, when university starts again.



It might seem crazy to organize an exact travel plan for such a big trip,
but as time was limited and train timetables don't always offer the
possibility of travelling daily (especially on some cross-border services
like China-Kazakhstan, where there are only 2 trains a week), good
advance-planning was necessary. And of course we ruled out other means of
transportation than trains (except where there is no train service at all,
like to island Olchon).



Finally for me the trip back home was a big detour, but that's another
story. The final route looke like that:

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/421...ltkartepi9.jpg



Visas:



I needed visas for five countries: Russia (double-entry), Mongolia, China,
Kazakhstan and Usbekistan (double-entry). As Veronika lives in Vienna, she
could easily go to the embassies to get all the visas for us.

For Russia and Kazakstan we needed a LOI (letter of invitation). Single
entry Kazakh visa is available without LOI, but we needed double entry.

The business visa invitation for Russia we got from a travel agency in
Vienna, as well as the touris visa invitation for Kazakhstan. For Kazakhstan
it was necessary to book a hotel accomodation for at least three nights to
get the visa support (for two months).



My visas:

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/8...usslandbd2.jpg

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/3...ongoleizk4.jpg

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/8...umchinazn7.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9...achstanqx5.jpg

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/1...ekistansj7.jpg

I paid about 400 Euro for all the visa including LOI, if necessary.





Train tickets:



We also bought some train tickets in advance. It is no problem to get train
tickets and sleeping car reservations for Russia in Austria, so we used the
Eurodomino-ticket for the trip to Severobajkalsk.

We also arranged tickets for the international trips Irkutsk - Ulan Bator,
Ulan Bator - Beijing and Urumchi - Alma-Ata. Alexander, another friend in
Moscow who works at a railway ticket agency, was very helpful and bought the
Irkutsk - Ulan-Bator ticket for us and organized a ticket Ulan-Bator -
Beijing, which we would pick up at Ulan-Bator.

The Austrian travel agency, from which we got the visa support letters,
organized tickets Urumchi - Alma-Ata, to be picked up at Urumchi on 5th
september.

For the other trips we did not arrange any tickets in advance, as trains on
this (mostly domestic) routes run more frequent and buying tickets locally
should be no big problem. Of course also costs were an issue.



Other stuff:



We also booked budget accomodation for Kiev (via http://www.hostelworld.com)
and Moscow (http://www.hostelling.ru/index.php4) in advance.

I also spent some money for some vaccinations like Hepatitis B, typhus, etc.





To be continued...





Helmut Uttenthaler

Graz - Austria

Looking forward to Part 2 already!

JM

Helmut Uttenthaler schreef:
I started to write a travelogue for my Eurasia-journey already long time ago
and recently continued writing. However, in German. Now I decided to write
an English translation and started with part 1.
[snip]

Interesting stuff, already looking forward to the other parts! I'm
especially interested how you liked your visit to Olchon. For me, that
was one of the highlights of my Transsiberian journey.

Regards,
David

Thursday 21st july 2005



Today the big journey to Shanghai starts. It takes me untill 3 a.m. to pack
my backpack - too much stuff for to less room. So I have had only 2 hours of
sleep when the alarm clock rings at 5 in the morning. I take a fast shower
and and eat a fast breakfast, then I call a taxi to bring me to the station.
The trip takes about 10 minutes. At the station I meet Stefan and Alexander,
which will travel together with me till Kiev.



The first train on this big trip is the EuroNight train 241 "Venezia" from
Venezia to Budapest. Meanwhile it has been again rerouted via Zagreb, but in
2005 it ran via Graz.



A small map of the first parts of the trip:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/386...zmoskvavc7.jpg



For the section to Budapest we bought cheap "Sparchiene"-tickets for 19
Euro:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/...Graz_Budapest_
241_20050721.jpg




The timetable from Graz to Budapest:

+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+
| Bahnhof | Ankunft | Abfahrt | Zug |
+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+
| Graz Hbf | 5:45| 6:03| |
| Gleisdorf | 6:34| 6:35| |
| Feldbach(A) | 6:50| 7:01| |
| Fehring | 7:10| 7:11| |
| Szentgotthard(Gr) | | | |
| Szentgotthard | 7:30| 7:40| |
| Körmend | 8:08| 8:09| |
| Szombathely | 8:34| 8:37| |
| Csorna | 9:27| 9:45| |
| Györ | 10:05| 10:08| |
| Budapest-Kelenföld | 11:17| 11:19| |
| Budapest-Keleti pu | 11:33| | |
+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+



The train arrives ontime at 5:45 on platform 3, many people get off. Mostly
commuters from Southern Styria (Styria is the south-eastern province of
Austria, my town Graz is the capital of the province) however, there are few
overnight passengers to Graz.

We find some free places in a MAV open-cabin carriage. The train changes
direction in Graz and continues towards east on a single-track line, which
is not electrified and mainly used for local traffic. The Euronight from
Venice was the only long distance train using this route.

The train gets another locomotive in Graz, an OeBB class 2016. Also a dining
car and another seating car are attached.

The train is running quite slowly (about 60-70 km/h) crossing some hills
east of Graz. As the line is single-track the train has to stop often to
meet commuter trains going to Graz. The passengers of this trains are going
to their working-place, I am goung to Shanghai - nice thought ;-)

In Feldbach in Eastern Styria we stop for 11 minutes, enough time for some
photos:


Romanian sleeping car Venezia - Bucuresti:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ro/...DWA/01_009.jpg


Romanian seating car Venezia - Timisoara:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ro/...200/01_008.jpg


The rest of the train:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...vmz/01_010.jpg


The restaurant car:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...ant/01_011.jpg


OeBB Locomotive 2046 046-1:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/...070/01_012.jpg


Austrian border officials get on the train at Feldbach and start checking
passports during the ride to the border station at Szentgotthard. Here -
already in Hungary - the Hungarian border officials make their inspections
and the Austrian locomotive is replaced by a Hungarian M62 with a generator
carriage for train heating.



The train also gets quite full, but everyone finds a free seat. The trip
goes via Körnend and Szomnathely to Csorna, where the locomotive is changed
again. From here to Budapest the line is electrified.

At Györ we join the main line from Vienna. The Euronight train 467 "Wiener
Walzer" from Zürich to Budapest is sheduled to run 5 minutes before us.
However, the train is some minutes late and so we enjoy a parallel run on
the double-track line for about 5 kilometers. Our train is on the left
track, the train from Zurich on the right track. We can even see Oliver (my
friend from Switzerland), who is looking at the spectacle from the corridor
in the 1st class seating car. But finally our train has to slow down and
follows the "Wiener Walzer" on the same track.

With some minutes delay we arrive at 11:40 in Budapest Keleti station. We
meet Oliver, and store our luggage at the station. Then we go to the
Wasteels office to buy the ticket from Budapest to the Ukrainian border. I
didn't buy it in Austria, as it would have been more expensive.


Station Budapest Keleti:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...est/01_014.jpg


The "Tisza-Express" to Moscow departs at 18:20, so we have enough time.
Alexander knows a nice and cheap restaurant near the station, so we go
there.

After that we are walking around in Budapest a little bit and make a short
visit at Nyugati station.
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...est/01_023.jpg


When we return, the train to Moscow is already standing at the platform:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...est/01_025.jpg


We take our luggage and board the train. Our beds are in carriage no. 429,
which is the through carriage Budapest - Dnepropetrovsk, which ran every
Thursday in 2005:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/...st_Kiev_16.jpg

Our tickets:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...t_ZahonyGr.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...t_ZahonyGr.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/..._ZernovoGr.jpg


Through carriage to Dnepropetrovsk:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...LAB/01_026.jpg

The train is pulled by V43 1108:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...119/01_027.jpg


The train consists of this sleeping cars ( I do not remember the exact
order):

RZD WL Budapest - Moskva
RZD WL Beograd - Moskva
RZD WL Zagreb - Moskva
UZ WL Beograd - Kiev
UZ WL Budapest - Lvov
UZ WL Budapest - Dnepropetrovsk
UZ WL Budapest - Kiev

There is also a MAV seating car till Chop and some cars for domestic trips
till Zahony.


The timetable till Kiev:


+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+
| Bahnhof | Ankunft | Abfahrt | Zug |
+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+
| Budapest-Keleti pu | | 18:20| D 16|
| Szolnok | 19:38| 19:40| |
| Törökszentmiklos | 19:53| 19:54| |
| Kisujszallas | 20:10| 20:11| |
| Karcag | 20:22| 20:23| |
| Püspökladany | 20:33| 20:34| |
| Hajduszoboszlo | 20:49| 20:50| |
| Debrecen | 21:03| 21:07| |
| Nyiregyhaza | 21:39| 21:42| |
| Kisvarda | 22:13| 22:14| |
| Zahony | 22:42| 23:10| D 16LJ|
| Zahony(Gr) | | | |
| Chop | 0:28| 2:58| |
| Mukatschewo | 3:57| 4:02| |
| Karpati | 4:23| 4:25| |
| Swaljawa | 4:36| 4:39| |
| Wolowez | 5:14| 5:24| |
| Lawotschne | 6:04| 6:14| |
| Stryj | 7:38| 7:40| |
| Lvov | 8:59| 9:25| |
| Ternopol | 11:34| 11:39| |
| Chmelnizkij | 13:36| 13:46| |
| Vinnica | 15:49| 16:04| |
| Kazatin Passajirskij | 17:10| 17:21| |
| Kiev Pass | 19:26| 19:56| |
+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+



The train gets quite full and there are also some Austrian citizen using
this train. In the carriage to Lvov there is even a group of pensioners.

After departure at 18:20 the air-condition is switched on, which is quite
necessary, as it was very hot inside the car originally.

During the ride through Hungary we have a small dinner and prepare an
instand-soup using the boiling water from the "samovar". We also fill in the
Ukrainian immigration card and customs declaration, which are given to us by
the conductor.

From 22:42 till 23:10 the train stops at the Hungarian border station
Zahony. The passport and customs checks are uncomplicated. The locomotive is
also changed, as the border section to Chop is not electrified.

The line to Chop is single-track, but has four rails (broad gauge and
standard gauge). The bridge over the river Tisza marks the border. During
the day it would look like that:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...k/hatar_zh.jpg
(Photo by Istvan Halasz,
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/misc/track/pix.html)


Immideately after the border crossing we pass a little service station with
inspection towers and fllodlights. But the train does not stop.

In earler times Soviet border inspections might have taken place here,
similar to Brest-Bug. The timetable from 1984 suggests a riding time from 40
minutes between Zahony and Chop (6 kilometers). Today the ride takes 18
minutes - not fast, but without stop. The track is in a bad condition, hence
the low speed of about 30, 40 km/h.

Here we also have two switsch our watches one hour ahead. Alltough it's
dark, we can already recognize some "real" locomotives, when we enter Chop
station. I mean locos like a WL10 - not our European model railway stuff!

It's good to know that now it's possible to enjoy broad-gauge railway
without any visa hassles just 500 km east of Austria!

We arrive at the platform at Chop and the border officials get on the train.
They collect the passports and immigration cards. The customs officials also
come to get the customs declaration.

After some time the train (the cars which continue to the east) are shunted
to the regauging facility, which is located some meters east of the station.
The regauging procedure takes about one hour. Each car is positionated at a
special place with facilities to lift up the cars.

The boogies are "uncoupled" from the cars, the cars are lifted, new broad
gauge boogies are shunted under the cars and push the standard gauge boogies
away. Then the car is lowered again and the boogies are fixed. Finally the
European couplers are replaced by real, big SA3-couplers.

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...LAB/01_042.jpg


The the cars are coupled together and shunted back to the station. The cars
are coupled to the train Uzhgorod - Moscow, which has meanwile been arrived.

We get our passports back and if the toilets weren't closed, I could go to
bed. So I have to wait for the departure. Just before departure the train in
the opposite direction arrives from Moscow. After 2 and a half hours we
finally leave Chop at 2:58 - the first kilometers on broad-gauge!

Of course I have no problem to fall asleep immidiately after going to bed,
as I am awake already since 5 a.m. (6 a.m. Eastern European time), after
having slept only 2 hours the night before.



Friday 22nd july 2005



I do not notice anything of our our ride acroos the Carpathians and wake up
only some kilometers before Lvov.

In Lvov our trains stops from 8:59 till 9:25. The sleeping car Budapest -
Lvov is detached here and we get our loco changed. The line from Chop to
Lvov is electrified with 3 kV DC, whereas the line from here is electrified
with 25 kV AC. Instead of a WL10 we get a ChS4, which looks a little bit
strange:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...hS4/01_044.jpg

Some ChS4 look normal, however.

Sleeping car Budapest - Kiev:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...LAB/01_046.jpg


A ChME3 with a measuring car:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/work/01_047.jpg


After leaving Lvov we have some breakfast.


The line is double-track, but the track condition could be better. Speed is
about 80 km/h. The landscape is hilly, meadows and forests, sometimes little
villages.
http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/274/010510mx.jpg


In Chmelnizkij the train stops for 10 minutes. Of course we get off to have
a little walk.


Our train with ChS4-084:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...hS4/01_058.jpg


Another train, could be train 86 (Lvov - Simferopol)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...iny/01_059.jpg


Later we decide to visit the dining car. We pass 5 RIC-cars and then some
large-profilce cars of RZD. The dining car is also from Russian Railways
(RZD). The menue is written only in Russian, so I translate for my friends.
The food is quite good, meat with egg, some salad and some fries. And a
Russian beer, of course. See
http://img368.imageshack.us/my.php?image=010627mt.jpg - the guy with the
beer, that's me.


During our lunch we are bypassing the station Shmerinka, where the lines
from Kiev, Lvov and Odessa meet. Usually trains from Lvov to Kiev have to
change direction here, but our train uses a curve linking the lines Lvov and
Kiev and does not stop at Shmerinka. Also two express trains Chmelnizkij -
Kiev use this curve.


Payment in the dining car is only possible with roubles or dollars.
Ukrainian grivni are not accepted. We don't have Ukrainian money, but it's
interesting that it is not possible to pay in the currency of the country,
where the train actually is. Last year I had a similar experience in the
train from Simferopol to Riga (I was going to Kiev only), where the dining
car accpeted only Latvian lats and euros.

So we pay with dollars, which I have taken with me for changing money in
Usbekistan later, as the Euro is said to be not accepted everywhere in
Usbekistan. I pay 30 dollars for us 4. Not so much for us, but quite
expensive for local people.



The further ride to Kiev is unspectacular, more and more "elektrichkas"
(local trains) are on the way and the line has four tracks on the last
kilometers before Kiev.


We arrive on time at 19:26. Some pictures as we arrive at the station Kiev
Passazhirskij:

Local train type EP9LT:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...L9T/01_071.jpg


ChS4 with fast train:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...hS4/01_072.jpg


The station itself makes a modern and clean impression. There is a wide
pedestrian passage over the tracks with different shops. This passage
connects the old station building in the north with the new southern
terminal.


But more concerning Kiev and its station in the next part of the travelogue.

Helmut Uttenthaler wrote:

The rest of the train:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...vmz/01_010.jpg

That's the correct url:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/...pmz/01_010.jpg


BTW, the catenary seen on this pics belongs to the local railway Feldbach -
Bad Gleichenberg, which is operated by "Steiermärkische Landesbahnen"
(www.stlb.at) electrified with 1,5 kV DC or something like that.
The ÖBB main line from Graz to Szentgotthard is not electrified.


Those, who want to see the pictures of the travelogue without opening each
picture separately, can view the travelogue with integrated pictures at
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/...ad.php?t=15354 (part 1)
and
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/...ad.php?t=15355 (part 2)



Helmut

Friday 22nd july 2005



After arrival we make our way to the hostel. As we are four, we decide to
take a taxi. We will explore public transport later.

First of all we need an ATM to get some Ukrainian money. We find this near
the metro station on the northern side of the station main building.

Then we go with a Lada to the hostel in uliza (means street) Artema. We
booked the hostel via http://www.hostelworld.com. More information about
hostelling in Ukaraine is available at http://www.hihostels.com.ua/en/

The hostel is located on the 8th or 9th floor of a house. It's a bit away
from the street.

We get two twin rooms. After having a shower we decide to have a short walk
in Kiev. We also need to buy train tickets for Stefan and Alexander, who
travel back to Austria after two days in Kiev. I have been in Kiev already
in 2004 and know, where the official train ticket office is located. Of
course its also possible to buy tickets at the station, but the before I was
sent to that office to buy international tickets.

On the town map we find a tram line nearby and decide to use the tram for
the short trip. After some minutes a tram of line 18 arrives and we get on.
The trams are staffed with conductor, which sell tickets for 50 kopeeks,
which is about 7 Euro-cent.
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...icket_Kiev.jpg


We ride untill the terminal stop, which is located near the station, and
then walk to the ticket office. Meanwhile it's already 10 p.m. and the
ticket counter for international trips is already closed. So we only buy the
two tickets to Lvov:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/ticket/01_142.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/ticket/01_143.jpg

For the tickets from Lvov to the west we will come back the next day. With
the metro (typical Soviet metro, of course) we go the center of Kiev, which
is located around Chreshchatyk street. We have dinner at Majdan
Nezalezhnosti square.

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/9827/010801lm.jpg

At half past midnight we go back to the hostel by taxi.



Saturday 23rd july 2005


We wake up quite late, so we decide to skip breakfast and have instead a
lunch at 11 a.m. at a restaurant near the hostel.
http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/5092/010869px.jpg


Then we walk to the ticket booking office. In this quiet quarter of Kiev
there are many embassies. Here the embassy of Southern Korea:
http://img290.imageshack.us/img290/678/010969sg.jpg


For us it's interesting to see, that also the Austrian Raiffeisen bank has
already outlets in Ukraine:
http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/1287/010884rx.jpg


Finally we reach the ticket booking office and go to the international
ticket counter. The queues is quite short and after some minutes it's our
turn. Stefans and Alexanders prefered route (in the morning of the 26th
from Lvov with the sleeping car to Vienna) is not possible, as the sleeping
car already appears as fully booked. However, maybe it's just now not yet
possible to book this trip, because the sleeping car comes from Kiev and in
the reservation system of former Soviet railways tickets for boarding at
intermediate stations often only become available at short notice (one day
in advance or so).

So we try the sleeoing car Lvov - Budapest on the evening before, but this
also seems to be fully booked. Finally I have another idea for the two to
get home: From Lvov in the morning to Przemysl in Poland, then via Krakow
back to Austria.

Tickets to Przemysl are available, so Stefan and Alexander won't spend the
rest of their lives in Ukraine ;-)


The tickets:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/ticket/01_144.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/ticket/01_146.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/ticket/01_145.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/ticket/01_147.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/ticket/01_149.jpg



Timetable of long distance trains at Kiev:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...yiv/01_092.jpg


After that we start our sightseeing walk. We walk to St. Sophias cathedral,
then to the St. Michaels monastery, then by cablecar down to the Dnjepr.



St. Michael monastery:
http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/6339/011056nu.jpg



Cablecar:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...lar/01_112.jpg



From the lower station of the cablecar we continue by tram 5 to Kontraktova
square to visit the Chernobyl museum nearby:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...iev/01_117.jpg



At Kontraktova square many tramway routes meet:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...iev/01_118.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...iev/01_119.jpg



Unfortunately we are to late for the museum, which closes at 5 p.m.. And
tomorerow (Sunday) it's closed, so the visit is delayed upon the next trip
to Kiev.



We decide to have a small dinner instead. After that we make tramway
excursion. Meenwhile we have been able to buy a map with the public
transport system. It seems that traim route 12 is interesting, as it goes
through a forest to a suburb in the middle of that forest.

It's indeed an interesting trip. First it leads through a quite run-down
industrial are, then through an area with typical Soviet flat blocks, and
then - after Shevchenko square - we reach the overland part of the tram
route. The ride through the forest takes about 15 minutes.

After that trip we return back to our hostel (using trollebus 18 from
Shevchenko quare).

After a short brake we go again to the city center. This time we use a
"Marshrutka". This is a minibus, which has a fixed route, but not always
fixed stop and no fixed timetable. It runs faster than normal buses and is
therefore more expensive (1,75 Griwnij instead of 0,50 Griwnij).



We walk along Chreshchatyk. The broad street is closed for traffic on
saturday and sunday evenings, and there are many people walking around and
enjoying a nice summer evening.

We also get some food and beer and just relax.
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/2921/01_131.jpg
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/7706/01_128.jpg


At about 1 a.m. we go back to the hostel by taxi.



Sunday 24th july 2005



After a breakfast in the hostel we go the station by tramway. Sopme photos
of the tram stop, which is located norh of the railway station:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...iev/01_160.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...iev/01_161.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...iev/01_162.jpg



At the station we store our backpacks at the luggage room, then we spend
some time taking photos at the station:



"Express-elektritshka" and usual elektritchka:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...L9T/01_164.jpg



Old station buliding at the northern side:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...yiv/01_165.jpg



New southern terminal:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...yiv/01_168.jpg



Displays showing timetable and ticket availability:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...yiv/01_169.jpg



The station is quite modern, all electronic displays showing the timetable
switch every few seconds between Russian, Ukrainian and English.



Fast train Kiev - Astana (Kasakhstan).
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...iny/01_167.jpg



A Chs 8 has just arrived with express train 165 "Stolichnyj Ekspress"
(Dnepropetrovsk - Kiev, with car transportation) angekommen:
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...hS8/01_170.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...isc/01_172.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...isc/01_173.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...isc/01_174.jpg



ChS 4 with fast train 66 (Kishinev - Moskva, RZD-carriages)
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ua/...hS4/01_177.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/ru/...iny/01_175.jpg



After this railway related sightseeing we have some normal sightseeing and
visit the cave-monastery of Kiev (Kiev Pecherska Lavra).

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev_Pechersk_Lavra for more information
about that and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev for general information
about Kiev.



Of course taking photos in the caves is not possible, but also outside there
are some nice churches:
http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/3229/011844la.jpg



After that we have a date with a friend of a friend of mine. She lives in
Kiev, but studies in my hometown Graz. A friend of mine (Olya, also student
from Ukraine in Graz) suggested that we could just for fun meet with her
friend (Ira is her name). Of course it's interesting to meet also local
people, so we organize that date.

We meet at Majdan Nezalezhnosti square and find a nice café to sit down,
talk and have some beer and something to eat.



At 19:20 it's time to go the station. Ira suggest to go with a private
taxi - every car-holder is a potential taxi-driver in Ukraine.

The train to Lvov, which Stefan and Alexander use, departs at the same time
as Olivers and my train to Moscow - at 20:30. We say good bye to Ira, Stefan
and Alexander and go to our train.



For this trip we have an interesting combination of tickets bought in
Austria:



An international ticket Zahony(Gr) (border from Hungary) - Zernovo(Gr)
(border to Russia) with 25% Railplus-discount, a Eurodomino ticket for
Russia and a sleeping car reservation for train 4KJ:



http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/..._ZernovoGr.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/...ussland_200507
24.jpg
http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/at/...kva_4KJ_200507
24.jpg



On trains within the former Soviet Union such tickets are quite unusal, as
they issue ticket and reservation on one sheet of paper and not separetely,
as we do.

So I decide to show only the reservation to avoid unnecessary confusion.
Also the reservation issued in Austria is a big surprise for our provodniza
(conductor): "Ja nikogda ne uvidela takoj bilet" were her words. It means:
"I have never before seen such a ticket".

Well, it indeed looks quite different from normal tickets here, please
compare with the Kiev-Lvov tickets above.

Of course the provodniza believes, that the reservation itself is sufficient
and does not aks for the tickets..



The train consists of Ukrainian cars. Our places are in a classical
Ammendorf-car (built in Eastern Germany). This cars which compartmenst for
four people are more spacious than the cars used for international treains
to the west.

It's always a special feeling to board such a car, because it means, that
now the travel to the real east starts!

The train is quite full, in our compartment there are two Ukrainians
travelling to Moscow.



The timetable till Moscow:



+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+
| Bahnhof | Ankunft | Abfahrt | Zug |
+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+
| Kiev Pass | | 20:30| D 4KJ|
| Konotop Pass | 23:20| 23:40| |
| Zernovo(Gr) | | | |
| Brjansk-Orlovskij | 4:10| 4:45| |
| Suchinitschi Gl. | 6:28| 6:52| |
| Kaluga 2 | 7:55| 8:05| |
| Moskva Kievskaja | 10:58| | |
+-----------------------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+


Ukrainian border inspection takes places in Konotop, the Russian inspection
is at Brjansk - more than three hours after leaving Konotop.

The real border is somewhere in between, and for some trains the inspection
takes place in stations closer to the border (Chutor-Michailovskij or
Zernovo in Ukraine, Suzemka in Russia). But as there is much traffic, the
real border stations don't have capacity for every train (trains have to
stand about 30 minutes and therefore block track capacity).



The provodniza gives us the Russian immigration card, on which we have to
write down some personal data like passport nomber, purpose of entry, name
and birth date.

After the Ukrainian border inspection we go to bed and sleep untill Russian
boder officals wake us at 4:15 Moscow time (3:15 Kiev time). The ckeck
passports and visas, take the entry part of the immigration card. The exit
part is returned to us, it will be used to get the registration stamps and
must be given when leavin g the country.

After the border inspection we continue sleeping.


To be continued....

"Helmut Uttenthaler" writes:

Friday 22nd july 2005

[SNIP]

Great reports, i have been reading these all.

How was the boarder crossing into UA?

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/9827/010801lm.jpg


Thats, nice and its bright.

For us it's interesting to see, that also the Austrian Raiffeisen bank has
already outlets in Ukraine:
http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/1287/010884rx.jpg


I see this bank when i ride into Austria, what are those things
supposed to be on the banks sign?




--
To new to the group to have a real sig

Evolutions Sins schrieb:

For us it's interesting to see, that also the Austrian Raiffeisen bank has
already outlets in Ukraine:
http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/1287/010884rx.jpg

I see this bank when i ride into Austria, what are those things
supposed to be on the banks sign?

As is explained he

http://www.raiffeisen.ru/rBank/about...t-lang&lang=en

it's a house roof ornament symbolizing two horse heads (I think this
used to be common in rural north German areas).

--
tobias benjamin köhler ____________________________________
.._______..__________.._______.._________. _ _
| |_| || |_| |_| || |_| || |_| |_| | .---|'"`|---. .---|'"`|---.
"-o---o-""-oo----oo-""-o---o-""-oo---oo-""o"O-OO-OO-O"o""o"O-OO-OO-O"o"_

tobias b köhler wrote:

As is explained he

http://www.raiffeisen.ru/rBank/about...t-lang&lang=en

it's a house roof ornament symbolizing two horse heads (I think this
used to be common in rural north German areas).

I have *long* wondered what the Raiffeisen symbol was meant to be... as
the organisation originates from farmers' co-operatives I did wonder if
it was two "farming devices" of some sort crossed, in the manner of the
hammer and sickle.

Thanks!

Neil

Evolutions Sins schrieb:

Friday 22nd july 2005

[SNIP]


Great reports, i have been reading these all.

How was the boarder crossing into UA?

See part 2.

Regards, ULF