Crimean backtrack
Hey Sputniki, getting some more of the backlog pruned back. I can start by recalling my arrival at Kyiv’s Borispol airport, the first stop in Ukraine. I was minus one checked bag per usual. I had only decided that I would proceed directly to Sevastopol, on the Crimean Peninsula’s Black Sea coast, not where I was actually staying. So, I took the airline’s phone number and my claim information with me onto the next plane. It was another two-hour flight piggy-piled on my jetlagged frame, but by that time who’s counting.
It was 9 pm local time, dark but pea-soup warm outside when we arrived at Simferopol, Crimea’s hub, 90 minutes from the coast. I threaded the gauntlet of insistent taxi drivers until I was finally worn down by one who would take me to the train station, for who knows how long a wait until the next train to Sevastopol. I sweated the price out of him just before he got my bags in the trunk–100 hryvnia (about $20)–too much, in my opinion. Another taxi driver hovering nearby was quick to pounce. He had already gathered my final destination was Sevastopol–for three times what the other guy would charge me to the train station, this one would go the whole distance. We bartered a bit but struck a deal, and off we went.
In Sevastopol, the hotels were all booked in peak season, so my taxi driver sold me on renting a friend’s apartment. It was too late to argue. We proceeded apace to his friend Luba’s apartment–comfortable, clean, and $20 a night. As an added bonus, the apartment door had been salvaged from the cruise liner United States, which I had often seen as a boy, moored on New York’s west side. I showered and crashed.
The next morning I took in the deal I had struck. The apartment was a converted garage next to a clean stucco home built into the hill overlooking town. the yard was a terraced profusion of flowers, herbs, and vegetables, studded with benches and a veranda to take in the view. Breakfast was waiting, and the Crimea was mine. Tell you all about it in a bit. Cheers
Sputnik Lee
PS Sorry to be bouncing around like this. Anyone who thinks travel is a linear experience has another thing coming. S-L
Tags: Crimea, Sevastopol, Travel, Ukraine
SputnikLee