Magnat Lux Chernivtsi

... You`d have to pay then 10$, otherwise you won`t get through. I could tell what sort of a deal have the vans drivers with the guards. "How many people have you got there? 11?" "Naah, 7..." "9?" "Naaaah, 8..." Fine, lets say you`ve got 8. Do they have more than 1 wagon of cigarettes per person?" "No, we don`t" (that actually was truth). He`d let us go through. 2 hours later on we were in Suceava, Romania...

Another night train was calling us. This time our heading was South into the mountains. There was a fort down there that was calling out to be explored, and as usual, the night train was **** !!! Kamyanets-Podilsky When we arrived, we jumped off and the place was filled with kids. Now according to the LP, there are three hotels for the tight ***** tourist, so we grabbed a cab and was taken to one. Once there, we jumped out and saw that the place was boarded ...

... up their horses and numerous other people dawdling about waiting for the action to start. It turns out that I was able to get into the castle proper, although the walls themselves were off-limits unfortunately. Still, I was certainly able to see the vast majority of it, and the film crew didn't seem the least bit interested in a tourist wandering around the place. Maybe in a few days' time I'd have less luck, but I timed things perfectly today. Like ...

... to pause for a few days before my final Ukrainian stop in Lviv. Chernivtsi is a city that's long been tossed around by great powers. Originally near the northwestern edge of the medieval principality of Moldavia, it later was absorbed by Polish-Lithuanian expansion. The Austrians marched in around 1775, and they promptly built up the city (then renamed "Czernowitz") as the capital of their Bukovina region. A resurgent, newly unified Romania took over in 1918 as they brought ...

... and I needed a new room, now! Somebody's palace was turned into the university here, a rather well-known and special-looking one, in an otherwise very unattractive city. I managed to sneak in and fish around the university for a few pictures of the impressive interior.

Imagine... ...bribing your way to a college degree. It happens everywhere here in Ukraine, and very much so for doctors. What kind of society does that create? It happened in Tajikistan, too. One of Chris's friends we hang out with for a day was playing cards with his professor. The prof ran out of money, so Manush passed his classed as a result. Needless to say, we don't want to see doctors here if we can help it. ...having ...

Greetings Family and Friends- So, I found a great new diet! It's called walking in 85 degree weather for about 10 miles each day, then bringing Montezuma with you on a 15 hour train ride. We are in Chernivtsi, and I had a wonderful tour of Istanbul. I then made my way to Ukraine, and it was so nice to meet up with the group. Chris took great care of me in Tajikistan, then Istanbul I was alone. We now Vera to ...

My final country will be Ukraine. I will fly from Dushanbe to Kiev, where I will meet my friends and colleauges. We will then board a train for the nice 15 hour ride to Chernivtsi. We will then return to Kiev for one full weekend before boarding the plane home.

The night I spent with a friend in train and so reached the city Hmelnitsky. Hamlnitsky is mainly a city with 2-3floored buildings. All that I remembered: the vuilding of Bus station. At 6 a.m. it looked like Space Harbour:). From Hmelnitsky we went by bus to Kamenets-Podolsky. Kamenets-Podolky is placed on many high hills. The place of interesting is the Old Town. To ...

... with a two-toothed grandma looking like a haggled old wicked witch straight out of the Wizard of Oz... **In hindsight...it did feel kinda "Halloween-ish" in that village...well...actually ALL OVER Northern Romania!!!** Then...as night descended, I wandered back into el-bus-station-oh, and was met by Romanian men sharing some liquor who reaffirmed my suspicion--no buses tonight! So...off a walking and a hitch hiking I went...into the night! Many kilometers of walking a ...