Baku (Azerbaijan) and the cities in Georgia which I visited – an overview

Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan) – I only visited Baku

Main things to see: 21st century architecture, Old City, day trips natural and ancient sites

Baku is the capital and largest city in Azerbaijan with a population of about 2.4 million. It’s on a peninsula jutting out into the Caspian Sea, and the Old City and newer parts face the sea. There were many futuristic-looking buildings built within the past decade, and on the overall, many parts of the city are very new or if they are not newly-built, they would have been modernised. The old city is well-preserved and is quite touristy, and is one of the main attractions. Baku is already quite touristy, although less so than Tbilisi.

Baku’s urban development along the sea (taken from Martrys’ Lane which is on a hill accessible by funicular)

One of Baku’s main thoroughfares

However, the cityscape changes quite quickly after you leave the city centre. Similar to many other suburbs/microdistricts in cities in the former Soviet Union, there are many medium-to-high rise apartment buildings. I took the Metro to the microdistrict of Neftçilәr to get a feel of it. Also, once you leave Baku city, the cityscape transforms into one/two-storey houses, oil refineries and factories (both new and old) and gentle hills with only grasses and shrubs – this is because Baku lies in the temperate semi-arid zone, and very few trees grow. While Baku has many leafy trees lining its streets, my walking tour guide told us they’re all imported.

Typical landscape in the areas around Baku (this was taken on the top of Yanar Dağ, which is a small hill with a continuously burning natural fire at the bottom)

The suburb of Neftçilәr, just a few metro stops east of Baku’s city centre, exudes a completely different ambiance from Baku

I took the metro to the suburb of Neftçilər. Perhaps it’s very rare that foreign-looking people appear in Baku’s suburbs, so these boys shyly said hello to me, and posed for a photo

How I got to Baku and then from there to Tbilisi, Georgia

Singapore to Dubai on Emirates, and Dubai to Baku via flydubai

Overnight train from Baku to Tbilisi

Georgia (საქართველო; Sakartvelo)

Generally, mountains, wine, Georgian cuisine, cathedrals, monasteries and Socialist Modernist architecture. Being interested in the semi-abandoned buildings in Tskaltubo and the rusty cable cars of Chiatura, I visited them as well, but for the general tourist, the main cities would be Tbilisi and Batumi. On the overall, Georgia has a lot to offer and its different regions vary widely in terms of what they offer.

Many travel blogs and magazines describe Georgia as an up-and-coming tourist destination in 2017/18, but what I saw in (especially in Tbilisi) is that is already a very touristy place, with many tourists mainly from Western Europe, North America and nearby countries (mainly Russia, Turkey, Iran and the Middle East), many tour operators and many hostels.

Tbilisi

Main things to see: Old Town, cathedrals, Soviet-era architecture, Georgian food and wine

If you only have time for one city in Georgia, it must be Tbilisi. With 1.5 million people, it’s the largest and the capital city of Georgia. The touristy areas are mainly around Liberty Square (accessible by Metro) and the adjacent Old Town, developed on hills. Like most of the region, Tbilisi is hilly, and much of its urban areas are in the valleys and along the rivers. Outside the touristy areas, Tbilisi consists of many residential microdistricts with medium-to-high rise apartment blocks, some of which are quite unique and worth visiting if you’re into such architecture (like how I am).

Tbilisi’s very touristy old town

The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, one of the largest cathedrals in the world

Soviet-era apartment buildings in one of the microdistricts of Tbilisi

When I visited in mid-August, the peak season for tourism, I stayed in Fabrika hostel in Tbilisi, which is highly raved about by travel magazines and bloggers, and I agreed and thought that it was one of the best hostels I’ve ever stayed in. However, in my 3-bed dorm room, I was the only guest (although I heard the larger dorm rooms which were cheaper were more filled up). One downside about Fabrika is that it’s not near the old town, but I also heard from my new friends and fellow travellers from Argentina that their hostel near the old town was very empty too. Surely, it’s a sample size of two hostels, but I’m not sure if that’s a sign that there’s already an oversupply of hostels in Georgia despite the burgeoning tourist numbers?

Fabrika Tbilisi was converted from an abandoned factory to a large hostel

Kazbegi Municipality

Main attractions: climbing Mt Kazbek, the journey from Tbilisi to the town of Stepantsminda along the scenic Georgian Military Highway

Kazbegi contains one of the mountain ranges of Georgia, and those who are interested can hike there for days, although I only went to Kazbegi on a day trip with Envoy Tours from Tbilisi because hiking isn’t my main interest – I’m more into cities.

View from the Gergeti Trinity Church after a short 1.5 hr hike

Gori

Since it’s Stalin’s hometown, main attractions are the Stalin Museum and History Museum

Inside the Stalin Museum

How to get there: shared taxi from Tbilisi’s Didube bus station (next to Didube metro station) for 5 GEL / SGD 2.61 / EUR 1,65. About 1 hr 15 mins. Basically shared taxis depart from the bus station when there are 4 passengers on the taxi, and there are no fixed schedules. I waited for about half an hour for the taxi to be filled up at about 2pm on a Friday.

Kutaisi

With about 150,000 people, Kutaisi is Georgia’s 3rd largest city. I’m not sure if I visited the wrong places or missed out on the nicer parts of Kutaisi, but I generally didn’t think Kutaisi was very interesting. The town centre was nothing out of the ordinary, and there were generally very few tourists even when I was there in summer. However, Kutaisi was the perfect gateway to 2 other towns which would be too small to warrant overnight stays. It’s only a 15-minute minibus (marshrutka) ride to Tskaltubo, and about 1 hour and 15 minutes to Chiatura.

On a mini cable car from Kutaisi’s city centre to an amusement park on a hill

How I got there: From Gori, there are no marshrutki (minibuses) to Kutaisi. I went to the bus station in Gori and told one of the taxi drivers that I was heading to Kutaisi, and he quoted me GEL 80 / SGD 45 / EUR 27,50 for the 2.5 hr / 150km ride, which was very reasonable. According to the tourist info centre, it should cost GEL 120.

The other alternatives would be (1) to take a taxi from Gori to a bus stop along the highway, and then stand at the bus stop and attentively wait for minibuses to Kutaisi to pass by, and then flag them (note that the destinations on minibuses are written only in Georgian script – ქუთაისი, and I wouldn’t have been able to recognise that easily). Luckily I didn’t do that, because many of the minibuses passing by at 100km/h would have been full anyway and I wouldn’t know how long it would take for me to get on one.

OR

(2) go on a detour: take a minibus eastwards back to Tbilisi (Didube bus station), and then take another minibus westwards to Kutaisi on the same highway

Tskaltubo

With its many sanitoria and spas, Tskaltubo was a top travel destination during the Soviet era, but many of these were abandoned after the fall of the Soviet Union, leaving these grand buildings in half-decay. A few spas are still functioning though.

Main lobby of one of the main baths

One of the abandoned sanitoria in Tskaltubo. Currently, some Internally Displaced families from Abkhazia live here

How I got there: Marshrutka (minibus) from Kutaisi for about 15 min. Can’t remember how much it cost, but it’s quite cheap.

Chiatura

Chiatura was a major mining town that developed on valleys, and in the 1950s, an extensive cable car system was built to bring residents up and down the valley between the mines and their homes. The mining industry has declined, and most of the cable car systems have been dismantled, but 2 cable car routes were still functioning as of Aug 2018. A new cable car system is also under construction.

I was initially hesitant to get on this cable car built in 1953, but after seeing a group of Czech tourists do so and two young local girls get off (it’s a daily mode of public transport), I got on it

How I got there: Marshrutka (minibus) from Kutaisi for about 1 hr 15 min. Can’t remember how much it cost, but it’s quite cheap.

Batumi

Georgia’s 2nd largest city, Batumi is a very popular seaside destination on the Black Sea. It features a very long seaside promenade and beach (it’s made up of black pebbles instead of fine sand). Here, 21st-century skyscrapers stand next to Soviet-era apartment blocks and classical buildings. In summer it exudes a very relaxed and touristy atmosphere.

Near Batumi’s seaside

Batumi’s Alphabet Tower, an observation tower that commemorates the letters of the Georgian alphabet (you can see the letters on the DNA-like helices wrapping around the tower)

Batumi has been experiencing a housing boom in recent years

The beach on the Black Sea

How I got there: Marshrutka (minibus) from Kutaisi for about 2 hr 30 min.

From Batumi I boarded an overnight train to Armenia. It would eventually reach Yerevan, but to the surprise of the family in the same train cabin, I got off at the 2nd largest city of Gyumri (at a chilly 15 deg C “summer” morning at 4.20am), which they described as a “big village”. The mother, who is a doctor at a public hospital, asked me “why would I visit Gyumri?!”. More on Gyumri, Yerevan and the rest of Armenia in my next post!

An overview of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia

Here’s an overview of the various places in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. I realise most travel blogs don’t give an overview like this and instead jump into the details of where to visit within each city, what currency they use etc. To me, these are secondary. What’s more important in the first place is for travellers to at least know what this region is about before planning whether to visit these 3 countries the first place, and subsequently, they can zoom into planning which cities/regions to visit.

Azerbaijan (Baku only)

• An interesting mix of 21st-century, Turkish, Persian and European architecture
• Day trips to natural, historical and archaeological sites

Many layers of Baku’s cityscape in a photo: the Old City in the foreground, the 21st-century Flame Towers and one or two Soviet-era apartment blocks in the background

Georgia

• Wine
• Mountains & hiking
• Monasteries & cathedrals
• Georgian cuisine
• Socialist Modernist architecture

The Kazbeg mountains, with Mount Kazbegi in the background

Armenia

• Monasteries & cathedrals
• Wine
• Cognac (although I didn’t try it)
• Yerevan’s pre and post-World War II urban layout

Kecharis Monastery, 60km from Yerevan

Watch out for my next post for an overview of the individual cities I visited in these 3 republics!

Visa requirements

But before going into the details of each of these countries, I should probably highlight that Singapore passport holders don’t need visas for Georgia and Armenia. We only need to apply for an eVisa for Azerbaijan online beforehand (and it doesn’t have to be months in advance!) for USD 24, and it would be issued via email in a few working days. No need for a letter of invitation or going to the embassy.

All these are correct as of Aug 2018 when I travelled there. As visa regulations are subject to changes, please check on the countries’ respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs before you travel.

Costs of travelling

The costs of living in these 3 countries are similarly low, although it felt like Yerevan was very slightly cheaper than the cities in the 2 other countries (despite the metro costing just slllightly more than the other 2 capital cities – see below).

As a comparison to the other Central or Eastern European countries which I’ve been to, I would say that in terms of travelling expenditure, South Caucasus is:

• comparable to Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, or slightly more expensive than them
• slightly cheaper than Romania, Bulgaria and former Yugoslav countries except for Croatia and Slovenia (which I believe are more expensive but I haven’t been there)
• somewhat less expensive than Poland
• significantly less expensive than Russia (Moscow & St Petersburg), Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia or Latvia

For example, a metro ride in the 3 capital cities costs the following:

• Baku: 0,20 manat / SGD 0.16 / EUR 0,10
• Tbilisi: 0,50 lari / SGD 0.26 / EUR 0,17
• Yerevan: 100 drams / SGD 0.28 / EUR 0,18

Crime rates 

Crime rates are generally very low in all 3 countries. I didn’t face any problems at all as a solo traveller with an Asian appearance, carrying a DSLR. At night, it felt quite safe as well, although I tried not to avoid walking along empty streets. Of course, general safety precautions should be taken.

Languages

The only official languages of each of these countries are Azerbaijani, Georgian and Armenian respectively. I think most of the young people speak English, and quite a lot of the older staff in restaurants speak English too, even in smaller towns.

Most signboards are in the official languages and English. Most of the menus in restaurants in Azerbaijan and Armenia are in the respective official languages, English and Russian, while most of the menus in Georgia are in Georgian and English, so there’s no need to worry about not understanding them!

The presence of the Russian language

Since these 3 republics were part of the Soviet Union, the Russian language is still present to different extents. I have learnt some Russian before, and it was very useful, because many of my conversations with people I met and taxi drivers were fully in Russian, and it did help me get to my destinations more quickly. By observation, the presence of the Russian language is the strongest in Armenia, where many shop signboards are in both Armenian and Russian, and the packaging of some of the products in supermarkets might be only in Russian (because these products are imported from Russia).

“Your advertisement here” – in Russian and Armenian. I don’t understand Armenian but I believe it says the same thing

A half-abandoned cafe next to Republic Square metro station with an Armenian and Russian signboard, and some graffiti

 

[Reviving my blog] 16-day trip to Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia (an introduction)

Preamble: reviving my blog!

It’s been many years since I last blogged, and I thought that I would never do so again. But some of my friends have urged me to blog about my travels to places that not many Singaporeans are familiar with.

During my recent travels to South Caucasus, I was also inspired to start blogging about my travels after meeting other travellers who do so. For example, I met 2 new Irish friends who are on an epic and long journey to numerous countries – they’re in Iran now and you should read their posts! https://www.stories2blived.com/blog/categories/_iran 

Moreover, while researching for my solo trip to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia (and trust me, there was a lot of prep work involved), I realised that there are almost no blog posts by Singapore travel bloggers about this region. This, of course, is not surprising, given that almost none of my Singaporean friends (and friends from other countries) have even thought of travelling there. Hence, I thought it would be a good idea to document my travels for memory’s sake and provide guidance to anyone who intends to travel there.

As such, my blog will focus on places that are off the radar of Singaporean travellers. I’ll start off with my most recent trip to South Caucasus, and in the future, probably write about my Oct 2017 trip to Ukraine and Moldova, and my 2016 trip to Belarus, Russia and Latvia.

I might blog about other places that I visit in the future, but since there is really no lack of blog posts about the more popular places in Europe like Prague, Budapest or Kraków (it’s pronounced as /’krakuf/) – often termed as “Eastern Europe” but in fact are in Central Europe – I shall probably not write about them.

And as you have noticed, my blog is titled KYtravelled – because I don’t blog while travelling. I blog after I have travelled and returned home. I don’t bring my Surface (yes I’m a Surface user) when travelling, and in any case, I would usually be too exhausted to blog at the end of a day of intense travelling. So, I blog afterwards!

Also, to keep this habit of blogging sustainable and realistic, my blog posts shall be short – it’s easier for me to write short ones and easier for you to read bite-sized pieces :).

OK enough of the preamble. Here’s the actual content:

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16-day trip to Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia in Aug 2018

I’ve always been interested in the history and architecture of the former Soviet Union, and after my respective trips to Ukraine, Estonia, Belarus, Russia, Latvia and Moldova (in this order) over the past 6 years, it was logical and almost natural to move on to South Caucasus next. When in Ukraine and Russia, I had really amazing Georgian food, which made me look forward to actually eating Georgian food in Georgia. Moreover, Tbilisi, Georgia has been rated as many travel magazines as one of the top places to visit these few years and one which has a rapidly growing tourism industry. Hence, I went!

Where are these countries?

The location of the 3 South Caucasus countries are probably best described as between Russia, Turkey and Iran. Culturally, Armenia and Georgia consider themselves as European, while Azerbaijan is a mix of both Asia and Europe, and there’s no clear way to define it, although I personally felt it was more European than Asian.

[This made me vaguely recall another article I read about how many centuries ago, “Asia” was simply defined as anything east of Greece and “Europe” was defined as Greece and the continent east of it, thus “Asia”, with all its many diverse cultures, religions and languages, was classified as one continent, but I shall not go into that.]

Source: Google Maps

My itinerary at a glance

Day 0: morning flight from Singapore to Dubai on Emirates (7.5 hrs), in transit for about 4 hrs, followed by a flight from Dubai to Baku, Azerbaijan on flydubai (3 hrs), reaching Baku at 20:20

Day 1: Baku (free walking tours in Baku)

Day 2: Day trip from Baku to nearby attractions

Day 3: Baku (museums); overnight train from Baku to Tbilisi, Georgia

Day 4: Tbilisi (free walking tour)

Day 5: Tbilisi (I joined an architecture-themed walking tour with Brutal Tours and I recommend it)

Tbilisi’s Old Town

Day 6: Tbilisi (museums)

Day 7: Day trip from Tbilisi to the Kazbegi mountains

Day 8: Tbilisi in the morning, shared taxi to Gori (Stalin’s hometown) (1 hr) to visit the Stalin and history museums, then taxi to Kutaisi (2.5 hrs)

Day 9: Tskaltubo (a town 20 mins away by marshrutka/minibus) from Kutaisi

Day 10: Day trip to Chiatura (1.5 hrs) for their unique Soviet-era cable car system. Went back to Kutaisi, and then took a marshrutka to Batumi, the city by the Black Sea (2.5 hrs)

Day 11: Batumi

Day 12: Batumi in the morning followed by train ride from 15:40 to 04:20 the next day (12.5 hrs) to Gyumri, Armenia’s 2nd largest city

Day 13: Gyumri for a few hours, followed by shared taxi to the capital Yerevan before lunch (1 hr 15 min). Went for a free walking tour in Yerevan

Day 14: Day trip to attractions near Yerevan

Day 15: Day trip to attractions further away from Yerevan (including Tatev Monastery, 4+ hrs from Yerevan and nearer to the Iranian border than to Yerevan)

Day 16: Yerevan (museums)

Day 17: Flight at 01:40 from Yerevan to Dubai (3 hrs) on flydubai, followed by 5 hrs in transit and then a flight from Dubai to Singapore (7.5 hrs)

OK, that’s all for this post. Stay tuned for upcoming ones!

Visit to National Sports Centre Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine on 15 Jan 2013

145 741 square metres. Capacity of 70050 people. 738 VIP seats

NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine. The largest stadium in Ukraine, the second largest of its kind in Eastern Europe.

The exchange participants of Explore Ukraine in Kyiv were brought on a guided tour to the stadium on 15 January 2013. It was an amazing experience to walk through the interview rooms, soccer players’ rooms and be in the stadium, with our English-speaking guide explaining to us the history of the stadium, especially about the EURO 2012.

The NSC Olympic Stadium is situated about 300 metres away from the similarly-named Olimpiiska station on the 2nd line (blue line) of the Kyiv Metro.

The symbolic Olympic rings at Olimpiyskiy Metro Station

The facade

The facade with the newly-built hotel extension on the right

Our guide brought us into the preparation area, which during the matches are not open to public. We had a view of the conference hall, changing rooms and interview rooms before entering the main arena. The stadium is the home of the famous Dynamo Kyiv soccer team.

Our guide explaining the history of the football team Dynamo Kyiv

It’s hard to believe that the stadium was built in 1923 – it looks almost totally new. But the truth is the stadium was constructed in 1923 after the Red Army of Russia secured the city of Kyiv. It has experienced many historical events, and its name has been changed numerous times. During World War II, the stadium was named unofficially the Sport Palace Stadium, while on 12 July 1942, after all battles had retreated from Kyiv, it was officially opened as the All-Ukrainian Stadium. In 1978, it was closed for reconstruction in preparation for the 1980 Summer Olympic Games hosted by the Soviet Union. The stadium was also renamed as the Republican Stadium. In 1996, the stadium gained its current name, NSC Olympic Complex, though many people from the older generation are used to calling it the Republican Stadium or Central Stadium.

Interview room for Dynamo Kyiv

In the players’ changing room

Shevchenko, one of the most prominent players in Ukraine

Massage chairs for the soccer players

What a good life soccer players lead – they have jacuzzi pools for relaxing

After viewing the behind-the-scene areas, we finally entered the main seating area.

Making the majestic steps from the preparation rooms to the main arena

Awestruck by the sheer size of the stadium

Finally, we visited the souvenir store which sold various designs of soccer jerseys and T-shirts.

Soccer t-shirts at the souvenir store. Each costs about UAH 380 (USD 47.50)

Dynamo Kyiv!

Click here for the official homepage of the stadium: http://www.nsc-olimpiyskiy.com.ua/en/

Here’s a panaromic view of the interior of the stadium, with my familiar and friendly commentaries. 🙂

Музей Історії Міста Києва (Museum of Kyiv History)

This morning we had a guided tour to the Museum of Kyiv History. It is situated right next to Teatralna Metro Station and near the Taras Shevchenko Opera Theatre and the main street, Khreschatyk. I have been to the Museum of Ukrainian History (at Andrivskyy Uzviz, Andrew’s Descent), but this museum specialises in the history of the city. I have always been interested in history and politics, and this time, with our knowledgeable guide, Yulia, I have learnt even more about Kyiv.

We were even featured in an English newspaper of Ukraine, the Kyiv Post! Here’s the link: http://www.kyivpost.com/guide/about-kyiv/kyiv-history-museum-reopens-after-9-years-319016.html

You might want to check the Facebook page of the museum too: https://www.facebook.com/museyhistory

Here are some basic details of the museum, obtained from Kyiv Post’s article:

Kyiv History Museum and Exhibition Center
7 Bohdana Khmelnytskogo St.
(044) 520-28-26
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Monday)
10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (Tuesday-Thursday)
10 a.m. – 8 p.m. (Friday, weekend)
Hr 30 (about USD 3.75), Hr 15 for kids, students
Hr 50-100 (guided tour for a group)
Hr 120 (guided tour for a group of 20), Hr 150 for a group of 30
For reservations call (044) 223-98-92
The first Monday of the month is free of charge

Kyiv has a long history, but unfortunately, during many parts of it, Ukraine had not been a sovereign state, and had been controlled by external powers.

One key location in the city is the Golden Gates, the Zoloti Vorota. It is the birthplace of the Slavic civilisations of the Ukrainians, the Russians and the Belorussians.

Golden Gates, Zoloti Vorota

Being exceptionally interested in languages and scripts, I paid extra attention to texts, such as this one featured below.

A document in the Glagolitic script, which is the oldest Slavic script, and dates back to the 9th century

A prototypical model of ancient Kyiv (being a student of urban design, I am amazed at the high level of details the artists have put in to create such a large scale model. It was already difficult and tedious enough for me to make small-scale detailed models for my course…)

Pharmacists and surgeons’ equipments, probably from the 1930s if I’m not wrong.

A Soviet communist poster from the early days of the Soviet Union. It’s specially made for the Ukrainian SSR, and I’m guessing (I don’t know much Russian) that it’s about 5-year plans about agriculture

Soviet-era propaganda posters

Ukraine is the motherland of aviation. During the Soviet Union era, most aeroplanes such as the Tupolev, Ilyushin and Antonov models were produced in the Ukrainian SSR.

“Ruslan” plane produced in Ukraine during the Soviet era, for Aeroflot airlines

Mykola Amosov (1913-2002) was a famous Ukrainian cardiovascular surgeon who invented many new methods for curing heart defects, and was labelled a Hero of Socialist Labour (Герой Социалистического Труда). He has also written numerous books on his expertise in cardiovascular surgery.

Books by Mykola Amosov, or books about him

One of the most familiar and recent events of Ukraine is undoubtedly the Euro 2012, which Ukraine co-hosted with Poland

All of us with our guide at the museum

 

 

English Speaking Club at Denis’ School on 12 Jan 2013

Two days ago, the Exchange Participants in Kyiv had a fruitful afternoon session with the English learners at Denis’ School (official Facebook page). Adult learners of English had a chance to speak and practice English with each other and with us.

Denis’ School

Preparing for the session

Doing the presentation about Singapore

Rogelio presenting about Mexico

The Colombians, Wady and David, presenting their flag

The Brazilians presenting their country

Our group, the advanced group!

The afternoon started with us Explore Ukraine interns introducing our countries to the students. It was not easy to do an introduction of Singapore in 10 minutes, because even with just 710 sq km of land in Singapore, there is much to say. As usual, I passed my passport, driving license and Singapore dollar notes around the classroom. To me, there is nothing special about these items which I see and use everyday, but the Ukrainian students have never seen them before.

Originally, I was worried that there would be little participation and lots of awkward silences. I had thought of a few English games that could create a friendly atmosphere, but the students were much more enthusiastic than expected. They even suggested games which we played, and the rest of the time was a lively discussion on our different cultures – Ukrainian, Singaporean, Chinese, Colombian, Tajik… that’s how diverse our advanced group was!

What the travel guides don’t tell you – walking in winter

Travel guides sure are helpful and informative. They tell you where to go, where to eat, where to shop, and very importantly, how to take public transport to your destinations. But you shouldn’t forget, that the most rudimentary form of transport, is by foot.

You must be thinking – why is walking such a big issue? Walking in normal circumstances doesn’t warrant a whole blog entry, but walking in the outdoors during winter in Ukraine is not a small matter.

After spending a month in winter in Ukraine, I am certain that when walking in the outdoors, unless you pay special attention to balancing and stepping on the correct surfaces, it is not difficult to fall down.

The importance of boots

One of the first things I recommend you to do soon after reaching Ukraine is to purchase a pair of snow boots. If you come from a tropical country like me, it is not advisable to purchase snow boots before arrival, because demand for them is low, and it is likely that only the high-range boots are imported. Snow boots in Ukraine are not expensive, especially if  you buy them in smaller cities. I paid 400 UAH (about 50 USD) for a decent pair in the market in Ternopil. They are important because they are waterproof and usually cover at least a few inches above the ankle, so you can tuck your jeans into your boots. The bottom of the shoe allows better grip on the ground than normal sportshoes. Also, they are thicker and often contain a layer of fur in the interior, so it protects your feet from the cold as well.

There are many different kind of floor surfaces that you might encounter in the outdoors in urban areas:

1. dry pavements or roads

Such surfaces are rather rare in winter, but you do not need to pay too much attention to keeping your balance.

2. dry pavements with snowflakes

Such pavements are slightly slippery, and often do not appear shiny, but rather, with many specks of white snow on the surface.

3.  pavements fully covered with a thin layer of snow

Walking on these surfaces takes a bit more effort, and it feels like walking on sand. However, it is actually easy to maintain your balance on such a surface.

4. piles of snow

Piles of snow can be deceiving. They are often found on roadsides. Very often, they consist either fully of accumulated snow, or of huge chunks of ice with a layer of snow. If it’s cold (probably less than -8*C), the snow is usually softer, but the warmer it is, the harder the snow, from my experience. Be wary of sinking your entire feet (up to knee level) into soft snow.

5. ice-covered pavements

This is definitely the worst surface to walk on. Try to avoid these as far as possible – they are shiny and you should not have any problems identifying them. These surfaces are extremely slippery. They are formed mainly in places where the temperature fluctuates above and below zero (hence it might be less common in the extremely cold places in the world, such as Ulan Bator, Mongolia or Fairbanks, Alaska, where the temperature always remains below zero throughout the winter. When the temperatures are below zero, snow falls and accumulates. However, during the days with temperatures above zero, the snow melts into water (which cause entire pavements to be flooded as well – another surface to avoid). As the temperatures decrease below zero, this accumulated water freezes into ice (not snow), and forms a strong layer on the ground surface.

This might seem to be a trivial matter, but one needs to experience winter in temperate countries in order to understand that walking is not that easy.

Kyiv (Kiev) Metro

Official Kyiv metro map from http://www.metro.kiev.ua/node/101

When in Kyiv, you’ll discover that the easiest and most convenient method of transportation is the underground metro. There are 3 lines: M1 (red), M2 (blue) and M3 (green). Interchanges between these lines are possible at 3 stations in the centre of Kyiv.

Each ride on the metro costs 2 Ukrainian hryvnias (USD 2), and is one of the cheapest form of urban rail in the world. Passengers can purchase blue plastic tokens from the cashier (who usually don’t speak English ), or from automated machines in the station.

One tip is to purchase tokens in bulk, like five or ten at a time. This saves time and doesn’t leave you with or require small change. If you’re carrying luggage, you’ll need to go through the gate manned by a metro staff instead of the turnstile, and you’ll have to pay double.

 

Station signboards are fully bilingual in English and Ukrainian

After the Euro 2012 held in Ukraine, every station has bilingual signboards.and maps in English and Ukrainian, so finding your train platform is not as difficult.

 

All metro stations are ornately decorated

 

Trains depart very frequently. During evening peak hours on weekdays, you’ll probably only need to wait for less than a minute for a train, while during weekend mornings, the frequency is about 5 minutes.

Riding the long escalator up Arsenalna station, which is 105.5 metres below the ground

Metro stations are mostly deep underground, and to reach the platform, you have to ride down a long escalator from ground level. Here’s a video of me as I ride up Arsenalna station, which is 105.5 metres below the ground and is the deepest metro station in the world.

And now for some history, after all the practical tips.

The Kyiv Metro first started operations on 6 November 1960, and it was the third metro system built in the Soviet Union after Moscow and St Petersburg (Kyiv was also the third largest city in the Soviet Union after these 2 cities). There are currently 50 stations in three metro lines. The four newest stations were opened in December 2010. I’ve never been to these stations, but according to a local whom I have spoken to, the new station designs feature more modern decorations instead of palacial ornaments.

Buvay Ternopil, privyt Kyiv!

Now as I am lying down on my train sleeper on the train from Ternopil to Kyiv, I’m thinking of all the amazing experiences I’ve had in Ternopil, while looking forward to exploring the capital city of Ukraine. Thanks everyone from Ternopil for making my experience so wonderful. Time to sleep now… we’ll arrive at Kyiv at the unearthly hour of 4am.

P.S. Technology is amazing. I’m actually blogging on the train on my phone in the middle of nowhere… probably farms or forests

Snapshots of Lviv on the last few days of 2012

Here’s a collection of some of the photos I have taken in Lviv. Well, almost all were taken in Lviv, except for one. Are you able to point that out? Anyway, many of the photos are not captioned yet. I’ll upload a more detailed guide to Lviv, and caption these photos these few days. Meanwhile simply enjoy these photos.

The grand railway station of Lviv

A typical Lviv tram doing a roundabout near the main railway station on a winter day

Signboard at tram stop outside Lviv’s railway station, indicating that both trains 1 and 9 reach the city centre