TRAVEL TIPS: Ukraine ever more popular as tourist destination (08/07/05)

TRAVEL TIPS: Ukraine ever more popular as tourist destination

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ukraine's attractiveness as a tourist destination is more popular than ever, partly because the Orange Revolution has demonstrated to North Americans that Ukrainians want to steer their nation and its culture toward Europe.

More importantly, President Viktor Yushchenko signed decrees easing visa requirements for those Americans and Canadians visiting Ukraine for 90 days or less. (See story on page 1 for details.)

Those still planning trips to Ukraine this summer should make note of a few nuances that have either arisen in recent years or persist.

Arriving at the airport in Kyiv

Boryspil Airport is as crowded as it's ever been. After you get off the passenger-transfer bus and reach passport control, be sure to immediately reach for a flimsy ID form and fill in your personal information twice in the minuscule boxes. After waiting in line for anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour and a half, you'll proceed to customs where you'll need to fill out a second form, which is available in English or Ukrainian.

When entering the main terminal, you will be approached by at least half a dozen men who are paid to steer you to one of three taxicab companies that have booths set up. You can either allow them to guide you to their company, or proceed directly outside and hail a cab yourself. Twenty dollars is the going price for the ride to Kyiv, and if you have the gift of persuasion you'll get a better deal.

Taxi drivers are as feisty about fares as ever. Once they hear your American or Canadian accent, most will try to tack on an extra $2 or $3, if not more. A 20-minute cab ride in Kyiv should cost no more than six dollars, and in Lviv it shouldn't cost more than $4. Negotiate before riding, and make sure the cabby has change (a common trick is to be taken to a destination, where the cabby will then shrug his shoulders in utter bewilderment that you only have a 50 or 100 hrv bill that you need change for).

Gasoline prices are constantly rising in Ukraine, currently at about $2.62 a gallon (that's 69 cents a liter), so cab drivers have used that excuse to gouge foreigners as well. Although it's not courteous in the West, there's no need to hesitate in refusing a fare or walking away while feigning disgust. In all likelihood, such gestures will prompt the cabbies to offer more reasonable rates.

Train travel the best bet

Trains remain the best way to travel between cities. The lines aren't as long as they used to be, with more ticket windows operating than in the past, so your average wait might be 20 minutes to 40 minutes, instead of an hour plus. Ukrainians are less pushy, though the typical Westerner will still find the customary absentee reservations, shuffling between and cutting of lines utterly nerve-wracking.

Summer Sunday night trains are typically sold out days in advance. If you ride platz-kart, which provides a place to sleep, but no privacy, be prepared for no air-conditioning. An "SV" (spalnyi vagon) ticket is a summer delight, complete with a comfortable bedding already arranged and refreshing air conditioning in a compartment for two persons. However, the typical SV ticket costs about $35 between Kyiv and Lviv. Avoid as much as possible the food sold at train stations or in the trains themselves, as many a traveler has suffered stomach ailments as a result.

Ukrainians' Mecca

Getting to Kaniv, Ukrainians' equivalent of Mecca, will require a taxi cab or driver now that the boat rides from Poshtova Ploscha have been done away with. If you want to get the real experience, ask your driver to take you to the very bottom of the steep, winding steps to Taras Shevchenko's grave, rather than dropping you off at his statue overlooking the Dnipro River. Climbing the 370-plus steps under the hot, humid sun will provide that sense of struggle and suffering needed to truly appreciate Shevchenko.

The museum is still under repair, with no apparent end in sight. Be sure to be prepared for beggars and drunks at the site's lone refreshment stand located at the bottom of the steps just beside the Dnipro. Do not, however, prepare for a swim - the water's filthy at the rocky beach behind the stand.

Kyiv hotels are more expensive than ever, with some rooms costing hundreds of dollars a night (the least expensive room in a four-star hotel will run you about $118, while expensive rooms can cost up to $480 a night, according to a survey by the Kyiv Post). A less expensive alternative is to visit Vash Dim, a real estate firm whose offices are a two-minute walk up Triokhsviatytelska Street from Yevropeyska Ploscha (European Square). Their agents can help find you apartments at European standards for $60, $80 or $100 a night, depending on how much space you need and how close you wish to be to the city's center. The firm's website is www.yourhome.com.ua.

The restaurant scene is as diverse as ever in Ukraine's biggest cities, offering sushi bars, wide-ranging Asian menus, Ukrainian buffets and even Tex-Mex. Service is adequate at most restaurants, but don't hold your breath waiting for your waiter or waitress to greet your table with a peachy Georgia smile.

A $1 or $2 tip is enough for even the more expensive dinners. The advantage in Ukraine is that you can assemble your own meal because restaurants offer the option of ordering a main course (strava) and a side item (harnir) separately. A check is a "rakhunok" and waitress is an "ofitsiantka."

For casual dining fanatics, T.G.I. Friday's has opened in Kyiv. Other than McDonald's, there are no other foreign fast food chains in Kyiv or Lviv, which is likely a relief to many visiting Americans.

Perhaps the biggest new tourist attraction in western Ukraine this summer is the Orliata Memorial at Lviv's Lychakiv Cemetery. Surrounding the graves of 2,500 Polish soldiers who died in the first world war are impressive limestone arches and an enormous monument forming an altar leading to a second-tier chapel. Adjacent is the Ukrainian Galician Army (Ukrainska Halytska Armia, or UHA) monument, which has as its center a dark gray granite tower propping up a defiant St. Michael the Archangel.

The UHA monument rests on a hill, towering above a smaller memorial dedicated to Veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrainska Povstanska Armia, or UPA) that would be of particular interest to western Ukrainian descendants. Visitors can talk to those placing flowers on their parents' graves, who visit the adjoining UPA cemetery daily.

Certainly among the biggest tourist attractions in eastern Ukraine is the annual Sorochynskyi Yarmarok (Sorochyntsi Fair). Held in the village of Velyki Sorochyntsi in the Poltava Oblast between August 18 and 21, the yarmarok draws nearly a million visitors who become acquainted with the nation's most talented craftsmen and folk artists, as well as their work, according to the festival's organizers. The fair also has a particular agricultural influence, with Ukrainian and international companies displaying their agricultural wares and a variety of livestock to admire, as well as a petting zoo.

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