I am back in Kiev, this time with my friend Emma who should take a workacation as well as be co/driver and navigator. As we arrive to Kyiv, we have a working day where Emma is working on her assignments and I go and visit the colleagues at Sigma in our beautiful office down at the Dnepr river. Me and Evgeniy have lunch and then take a long walk along the river bank and out on the islands and discuss different ongoing things. A very good way to do work meetings instead of cramming into a conference room.

The day after we go to a tour to Chernobyl since we cannot take the bike there as only certified tour agents can go to this closed area. The day starts early and turns out to be very interesting, mind changing and we are both shaken by the experience. First, we visit a deserted village and then the city of Pripyat – a modern model city built for the employees of the nuclear plant. First thing that strikes me is to see how nature in 30 years gain back its control and slowly break down the man-made constructions – even the solid Soviet concrete that you think would stay around for ever. Our tour guide show us around and have old photos from the same spots as we are standing. You can see the hotel, culture palace, boat terminal, amusement park and sports stadium. After that we visited the enclosed reactor 4 which is covered by the largest movable construction ever made. Amazing that thousands of people work there today to maintain the surroundings and we dine in the worker cantina.

On our way back, we visit the huge Duga radar built to detect incoming nuclear missiles. It was called the woodpecker since it emitted a pecking sound on the radio.

Then comes the exciting day as we go out to Sergey and Anatoly who now lives north of Kyiv in Vyshhorod and where the bike has been standing since last autumn. They are still working on the last on the bike and soon we roll it out from the garage and it starts as a clock. We go for lunch and take it easy and later as we should leave, I ask Sergey about the documents for the bike, which he tell me that he did not have. A short confusion and a thought arise in my head that I might have forgotten it at home. A quick phone call to Birgitta who confirms that I have some documents in Cyrillic – at least the papers sat in the right place…. We go for a tour around Vyshhorod and get a fell for the town and have a look at the Dnepr reservoir.

As DHL gave a delivery time of three working days and since this was Friday, we decide to see a bit more of Kyiv and then go to the ancient city of Chernihiv where neither of us has been. Chernihiv has an interesting history parallel with Kiev and is known as city of churches, which is no overstatement. It also turned out to be a calm city with nice beer – beside the in Ukraine well-known stock beer Chernigivske, they also had a lot of smaller craft beers and good food. We stay for some days and as Emma have a lot of work to do – I have a lot of time to walk around in museums, parks and churches and spend some good time here.

The documents arrives already early on Tuesday so we go to Sergeys workshop. Nice to meet the guys and we decide to go early the next morning and stay at the Viking hotel for dinner and some good laughs.

Before we go we first visit the “Dacha” of former president Janukovytj. This turns out to be a huge area of land with magnificent view out over the Dnepr reservoir north of Vyshhorod. A lot of luxary including a garage filled with nice cars and bikes including a Boss Hoss!

My co-driver/navigator Emma is the perfect road partner – besides being good company, she holds a master of mechanical engineering, artistic with the camera and has a cheerful mind that can bring me up when the bike breaks down. This comes in handy as this Soviet veteran bike from 1966 is not the most reliable. Being structured and well-planned, she also has a great understanding of my ever-changing maximizing plans. This year was no different. The plans were open until now and we finally decide that this years Ukrainian bike trip will take us down the mighty Dnepr river with small detours now and then.

First stop is intended to be somewhere after the river south of Kiev. The bike runs as a clock and beside some rain through Kyiv, the tour goes smooth. The only disappointment is that it is not possible to go by the river so we only see it on occasions. We decide to stop at Kaniv by Dnepr where the poet, writer and national hero Taras Shevchenko is buried. Actually, his remains was moved to this place according to his will to be buried with a view of river Dnepr. As a coincidence we visit at the anniversary day when he was moved which was celebrated with orchestras and speaches. Later even the president was said to visit the monument that day!

The ride continues after the river and the bike runs good. Apart from running out of petrol (…) we have no problems until the bike all of a sudden stops in the rain. Both incidents sort out well. The first as the bike stops 200 m from a gas station after we had been looking for gas 50 km before it stop. The next is slightly more complicated but works as a clockwork every time. I give a call to Anatoly’s 24×7 Dnepr support service and he calls some friends and all of a sudden, a new friends shows up and fixes the bike. This time, it is Alexei, who turns out to be a software developer who ran from his conference to fix the bike. We decide to join him and his friends Julia and Oleg for dinner later and they show us around in Tjerkasy.

Next day, we go to Olegs company “Everlabs”, where Emma could have a good desk and full wifi to complete some work. Oleg help he around to find some tools, oil and other stuff to get the bike in good order before we take off. As they had no cables in the store, we go to Olegs parents who lived in an apartment with a nice view out over the river and then the cable shortage was solved  Then we take a quick sightseeing of the city and have a nice lunch before we hit the road. We should go south but we were curious of the long bridge and view of Tjerkasy so we first ride over the bridge to get the look.

Now, we try to follow the river as close as possible and manage pretty good. The nature is blloming and the river is close all the time.

We decide to book a “resort” by the river. Turns out to be a very silent hotel with a large number of garden goblins that Emma thought looked pretty creepy. Nice view anyhow over the lake close to the river and silent evening.

Next morning we try to find a workshop as we have heard a ticking noise and some more oil. It turns out to be eight (!) spokes that were broken and since they had no spokes we decide to change to the spare wheel. We also got the gearbox oil changed as we were at it.

We ride away over the Dnepr River, heading to the spa town of Myrhorod. First a good feeling of a fixed bike but at the next gas station there is a guy that honks his horn before we leave. Turns out that we have a flat tyre on the new spare and my mood sinks as we have a long way still to go and I am getting tired of mechanical stops. Valery – the honking guy – turns out to be more at peace with what is happening. Before I even get the tools out – he have taken off the rear wheel, told his family to wait and got us into his car to drive some 20 km to the nearest workshop. In the car it turns out that he has been in Sweden many times as he is a trucker going to Sundsvall regularly. As this is Emmas home town – she promise that she or her mother will take him for a dinner next time he is there.

The rest of the ride to Myrhorod is a very wet story with heavy rains and thunderstorms but we arrive safely to this small city after some address confusion. Since 2014 more than 55000 (!) streets have changed their old soviet names to new names. This in combination with transliteration difficulties sometimes leads to unexpected places.

Myrhorod is a spa town and is home of a mineral water with a salty aftertaste that is expected to be healthy. Having seen a lot of nice Ukrainian heritage, I expected something like other spa towns in Europe. As the workaholic needed to work – I took the day on my own to explore the park and its different houses. Sadly, it had been struck hard by the war so it was one of these Soviet complexes more than an old spa feeling.

After hard-working Emma had closed her computer and met up with slacking Hugo, we therefore continue on to Poltava. And today the bike runs good but the exhaust pipe decide to come off now and then so even if it is a Saturday, we manage to get hold of a mechanic who do a quick “redneck” solution with a clamp so we could continue.

Poltava turns out to be a pleasant surprise. Nice avenues, a green park in a large roundabout and a pedestrian area with restaurants and cafes. Poltava is well known to all Swedes, as it was here that the history of Sweden as a superpower ended abruptly in 1709 in the battle of Poltava.

The battle museum is located on the battle grounds that is called “Swedish Grave” and there are some reconstructions around. Interesting to see this spot and to learn more. Outside, there is a monument placed by Sweden in texts in Swedish, Russian and Ukrainian. It often fascinates me how interlinked Swedish and Ukrainian history are over the last 1000 years from the early Kyiv Rus empire. Poltava was not only a disaster for the Swedish empire – it was also an end of a dream of a sovereign Ukraine where Russia took control of the area.

On the way back, we also visit the strategic air force base – now a museum. For me as born during the cold war and spent my childhood over airplane models this is a very interesting stop. We get to climb around in the airplanes with a very knowledgeable guide who also speaks Swedish, as he had been guide before at the Battle museum.

The next day, we continue back to river Dnepr to stay in Dnipro – Ukraines fourth largest city. The new name was taken in 2016 where the earlier name Dnipropetrovsk was guillotined since “Petrovsk” refers to the first Ukrainian communist leader. The anti-communist laws affect city and street names as well as symbols and statues. Dnipro is located on a bend of the river and shopping malls in every corner.

In Dnipro, they have a very interesting historical museum with a special exhibition on the troublesome situation in Donetsk and Luhansk. The number of internal refugees is estimated to nearly 2 million people.

People both from Ukraine and abroad keep asking about the roads. Yes, the quality is shifting from great to extremely bad. Often a mix during same trip. You never know. But sitting high up on a bike makes it easy to navigate but sometimes the Bikes suspension and spokes take a big hit.

Next stop is Zaporizhzhya which is also of historical interest. The name is from the calm waters after the rapids and these rapids were feared by people travelling along the river as they were easy to ambush here. After the rapids, the Cossacks also had their main stronghold with interesting society structure. There is a reconstruction of the fortress that overlooks the huge power dam that was build in the rapids.

On the last stretch down to Melitipol, the odometer turns to 4000 km since Anatoly installed new odometer back in 2015. Melitopol was the city where everything started in 2012 and it feels good to come back.

A lot of nostalgia fills me as I roll into Anatolys garage where I have spent so much fun times in 2012, 2013 and 2015. And so much memories on these roads:
2012 – Gammelsvenskby and Crimea
2015 – Melitopol – Odessa including Gammelsvenskby
2016 – Odessa-> Lviv including Uman, Vinnytsya, Kamenets-Podilsky and Ternopil
2016 – Lviv – Kyiv including Chernivtsi, Kamenets-Podilsky and Zhotomyr.

The city has changed a lot during these years and there are a lot of more restaurants, bars and people on the streets.

We finish this trip by taking some days in Charkiv and visit the annual summer party thrown by my colleagues at Sigma Software. Always a blast! This time in a large lush party garden around a lake and with one of Ukraines most popular rock bands on stage.

 

People have told me repeatedly that I need to go to Lviv. I now understand why. This city is beautiful with its own flavour and feels very Central European and different from other cities in Ukraine. It is proud for three things according to my friends. Its coffee, its chocolate and its beer. I can testify that it certainly lives up to its reputation. The food is good as well 🙂

This region has an interesting history. Even the Swedes have been here on our ancient violent trips. Charles XII even took the town by force but as he was interested in keeping the people as allies in his war on Russia he did not burn it down as was the normal custom. But he found a good way to get some money – he nailed the nobles to a wall and put a bucket in front of each of them. When a ransom was paid, the noble was then released and everyone was happy. The current Swedish self-taxation using text message feels better…

Wonderful city to just stroll around in, take a coffee or a beer. There are restaurants, cafes and bars everywhere.

Sigma has an office in Lviv and Ira at the office has offered her assistance in finding a garage as well as a mechanic who could give the Dnepr some TLC. I go to visit the office which turns out to be a very cool place – top modern with every facility you can think of. My Ukrainian colleagues impress me with their optimism and professionalism and the Lviv office is obviously no different. I join a group of consultants and a client who are down to plan a new release of their software as they went on a city tour and dinner. Feels fortunate to have so many nice colleagues.

But everything has to come to an end. Since it is the Vyshyvanka Day (traditional broidered shirt), I first go out and buy one that I like and get a lecture of its protective benefits. I need to leave the bike in Ira’s caring hands (it turns out that the bike will stay in her own garage). After a nice last lunch at the restaurant next to the office I step on the plane and go home. But I will be back 🙂

Time to get out on the open plains of Ukraine again! Wonderful feeling!

First stop is Uman – some 300 km north of Odessa. A very nice but a bit boring straight road – especially when you sit at a speed at 60-70 km/h. The bike runs as a clock but drinks its fair share of motor oil as usual. Stopping here and there for fuel, oil and coffee but there is no hurry.

Uman is a smaller town than expected and the hotel is located in the Jewish part of the town. Interesting to see the well-established routines but you feel like an outsider when you clearly know nothing about Jewish culture. It also feels strange to be in Ukraine and everything is paid in dollars – more like an international colony.

First thing in the morning is a visit to the famous Sofiyivka Park a 10-minute walk from the hotel. The park has a half million visitors each year and is one of the “Seven Wonders of Ukraine.” Sadly, it starts raining but it is nice to stroll around in this green lung for a while before getting on the bike.

Next stop is Vinnitsa – a larger town and more to see and do than in Uman. I decide to take the backroads since todays trip is shorter. Some nice countryside experience with nice views give a very nice ride.

Vinnitsa has a fountain that is supposed to be one of the 10 most spectacular in the world with music and light shows but today it is idling and not very impressive. But still is is a nice walk though down at the river and a nice view of the town.

Up early in the morning to take the bike just outside town to take a look at the remains of the German headquarters “Werwolf”. Nothing remains of the buildings except scattered concrete blocks but you can see the size of the site and there is a museum at the entrance.

The mighty Dnepr then rolls on down to Kamyanets-Podilsky that has been described as a must see. As you roll into the city you understand why. The old city is surrounded by a deep valley with steep cliff walls and with a river at the bottom. The way into the town is blocked by a huge castle. The city center is filled with old genuine houses and churches. This area is also one of “Seven Wonders of Ukraine” and I can understand why.

I get hold of a guide that seemed very well prepared. It turned out that he was a historian and have done a lot of research on the area, got a number of articles published and was specialized in the early Soviet period. A very interesting guide with a deep sea of knowledge to dig out of. The city is known since the early Kievan Rus and mentioned 1062 and was destroyed by the Mongols in 1241. Over the centuries it has belonged to Poland, Turkey, Russia, Lithuania, Austria-Hungary and USSR. He explains the different groups that have lived there, their impact on both the city and the castle and truly knows his stuff. He gets notably excited when he comes into the Soviet period, which is his main period of his research, and you can tell that he studied this a lot. For a researcher like him, this must be a heaven to work in.

After a couple of fact-crammed hours, it is time for a more fun based tour on the river on an amphibious vehicle. This is more fun oriented but amazing to get to see the surroundings and everything from below. Very fun experience although they do not allow me to drive this cool thing 🙁

Next stop is Ternopil which turns out to be a nice calm city some 100 km from Lviv and second city in the region. Nice place to walk in and a lake forming on the river Seret.

Final stop is Lviv and the road from Ternopil is interesting mix of quality. The neat thing about the Dnepr is that I actually go faster than the cars as I am sitting high up and see the potholes better and know exactly where I have my wheels. Riding into Lviv in the evening with the sun setting through the leaves in this beautiful city gives a good feeling even if this is the end stop.

I have been to Odessa a couple of times and I really enjoy the city. Full of interesting history and an obvious touch of French architecture. Nice parks, good food, street life, beaches and a nice atmosphere.

The main task is obviously to get the bike ready for the road but first day is focused on just walking the city and get the feeling of this nice city.

 

My friend Konstantin that I met last time has been taken care of the bike very carefully. He and his biker friends have given it a thorough check and changed some worn out parts. Feels good and I will have the possibility to road-check in Odessa before going out on the road. After meeting with Kosta, we go for a ride around town, getting some roadside tools and other equipment and just having a good time. Afterwards, his wife Tania joins us and we go down to the port and eat at the Di Mare fish restaurant.

The next day main activity is a visit to the Odessa winery. Beautiful entrance with two heads over the entrance – one of Russia and one of France. The factory was founded in the Russian times by French winemaker Henri Roederer. They make different styles ranging from dry to sweet and white, rose and red sparkling wine. To me the dry is the nicest but their main production is the semi-sweet ones. Interesting fact that they also hold a special line for Kosher wine where only Jews are allowed to be active in the process. Over the factory, red tapes indicate that this is hands-off for us non-Jews. The guide Evgeniy is very skilled and has a good way of explaining both the history and the wines. A very interesting visit.

After the wine tasting, I needed a couple of hours to cool down and the nice restaurant Dacha is within walking distance. A very nice place that my colleagues took me to a couple of years ago. A lot of Soviet nostalgia paired with good food and a huge outside garden. A good place to relax.

Next stop is Battery 411 where there were heavy battle as the Romanian/German troops invaded in the beginning of WW2. This is a site with an interesting range of different weaponry mixed with entrepreneurs selling ice cream and renting carts. There was a small museum connected to the park. Very quiet setting and a good afternoon.

May 9 is a public holiday to commemorate the ending of WW2 and my Sigma colleague Evgeniy came along and we first visited an interesting display at the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern art. Nice building and amazing to see these paintings hanging relatively unprotected and close to the viewer. A very good start of the day that continued with a visit to a good grill restaurant where his family joined topped with a visit to a brewery. A very good day!

And I feel well prepared for a nice road trip!

This year I kick off summer season with a visit to Transnistria. Very turbulent history throughout the years and into our own days.

For a historically interested Swede like me, this corner of the world is of particular interest. Here, the Swedish king Charles XII was in exile and a refugee after lost the battle at Poltava 1709. The king hoped to get Turkey and Poland to join him and his Cossack allies in a new war towards Russia.

Charles XII stayed in this area around the town Bendery for four years. During these years, it was the de-facto capital of Sweden and was named Carlopolis (Karlstad). This was at the time when the king had all the powers and every decision had to go through him. As he took decisions someone had to ride the long way to Sweden with everything to new laws (like our self-taxation), orders as well as appointments to positions of all sorts from priests to new government officials.

The king stayed with his Cossack ally – Hetman Mazepa who also stayed at the same place and wrote a new modern constitution with shared powers for a state that never came into existence.

After four years, the Turks became tired of the king and his soldiers and decided to throw them out of the country leading to the “Kalabalik” in Bendery where the king eventually was expelled. He then had to ride back to Sweden on a horse. This all happened at the third camp in the village Varnitsa 5 km outside Bendery and across the current Moldovan border. This site is now under reconstruction with help from the Swedish embassy.

The modern history of Transnistria is also violent and confusing. Taken by Russia from Turkey, this became a part of Russia. After the Soviet revolution this territory formed a borderline of the early USSR and then taken by Romania during WW2. After the new borders set after the WW2, this region together with the main area of former Bessarabia became Moldovan SSR. When USSR fell apart, MSSR decided to form Moldova as an independent country and come closer to Romania. In Transnistria, they decided to stay in the USSR, which eventually led to a civil war. As USSR disappeared, they found themselves literally as the last Soviet republic recognized by noone except two other states in the same situation. This country is still a disputed area and there has not been a formal cease-fire between the neighbours. However, the country is very calm and the border crossing to Moldova is very undramatic with a bunch of guards standing smoking and gazing at the passports.

One of the industries is one of the largest sturgeon farms in the world producing tons of Caviar. Interesting to see this industry and the amount of work put in this. 150 people working I 3-shifts and huge halls of fish pools. The Belugas are huge fishes and the prices of these fishes are staggering. The regular Russian sturgeons form the main part of the farm and the huge Belugas are not as common and is priced different depending on characteristics. The guide told that the rare albino Beluga could cost up to 500000 EUR (!).

If you decide to go here – and I certainly recommend it – get in contact with Andrey at Transnistria tours who is an excellent knowledgeable guide and who besides perfect English even speaks good Swedish (!).