Kovel’, Ukraine
Thursday, June 25, 2009.
Trip Across Eastern Europe DAY #11
We had to change our travel plans a little bit. We were originally going to travel from Latvia south through Lithuania, then through Belarus and into Ukraine. But we found we needed to purchase visas to travel through Belarus. We had the option of purchasing them in Riga, but didn’t have the budget for them, and because we didn’t have anywhere we were specifically traveling in Belarus to stay or minister, we decided to bypass Belarus, travel the way we came, spend the night in Poland, and then head to the Ukraine border early the next morning. Once again, we needed the stamp on our passports from a non-Schengen country, so that we could legally stay on through September, when we leave for Africa.
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It took us a little less than 4 hours to travel east to the Ukraine border. We had heard some horror stories from Cheryl, as well as from others about getting in and out of Ukraine. So we spent time just praying for God’s favor in this venture. Let this be an official word of warning to anyone who desires to drive through the Ukraine border: Don’t! I mean, unless you have to, or want to purposely deal with hassle and harassment, and have hours and hours of time to waste, don’t attempt it.
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Border going into Ukraine..................................Border going into Poland
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When we got to the border, we waited for hours in a line of vehicles, which seemed to be stopped and going nowhere. After a couple of hours waiting and barely moving, a guard saw our Polish tags on our vehicle and pointed us to another line. It was hard to tell who were officials and who were not. We saw other people handing wads of cash to officials in order to be brought into a different line. We had big, scary looking guys staring us down, trying to get something from us, but I didn’t give anyone anything. I spoke in my limited Polish to all people we had to deal with. We got closer to a booth where they wanted to see our passports and vehicle documentation. I guess I was supposed to have some kind of letter from Andrzej (whose name our vehicle is under) stating I can drive the vehicle through Ukraine. They reluctantly let me past that point anyway, as I explained I didn’t have such a letter. Then we came to a line near another booth. A scary looking lady with a lot of make-up had me get out of the car and wanted to see what we had. I think that maybe she wanted money, too. She was speaking Ukrainian. I just spoke Polish. She even lifted my sleeves to look more at my tattoos. Then I had to walk to the booth, with everyone and our passports and documentation. It was then I was interrogated about why I was coming to Ukraine, where I was going. I had to fill out more paperwork. Then, after looking at the picture of me in my passport (where I had long hair), I was being questioned about smoking marijuana, and perhaps bringing drugs into Ukraine. I could hardly believe it. It was like something out of a movie. Maybe they were waiting for a bribe as well. I think they just got tired of me, and stamped our passports, letting us through.
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As we drove into Ukraine, we observed the line of vehicles trying to get into Poland with disdain. Knowing this, we decided to drive only a little ways into Ukraine. If we had a bit more time, perhaps we would’ve driven south a ways to L’Viv, as it is a bigger city. Instead, we drove toward a town called Kovel’ and turned around to drive back toward the border. Everything in Ukraine is written in Cyrillic script, which we have absolutely no clue as to how to read. Ukrainian is a Slavic language related to Russian and even Polish, so we can understand bits and pieces, but can’t read a thing. Thankfully, I had filled our gas tank in Poland. I wouldn’t have even been sure which fuel was diesel. We just prayed for the people of Ukraine, and sang worship songs as we drove through. The scenery was beautiful. It was a very lush country side, and I am sure that if we were able to spend more time in Ukraine, we would be able to meet the lovely people of this country. Perhaps some other time.
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We thought, perhaps, that the border going into Poland would have been smoother than the border going into Ukraine. Well that was some stinkin’ thinkin’. No way. I mean, I wasn’t harassed quite as much by the “officials.” But there was line after line. We were stopped in these lines for literally hours at a time with no one moving. Everything was a mess. I even passed up a point that I was supposed to stop at and hand off some paperwork that had been stamped. I just played stupid (didn’t have to act too hard, as I felt stupid). Then at one point, after we had made it through two passport control areas, we thought we had made it free and clear. Nope. We then were forced into a long line of vehicles with rude, angry drivers, honking and yelling at each other. I guess there was supposed to be one line for cars and one line for trucks. Instead, the road was strewn with cars at all kinds of angles, trying to merge, with no one letting anyone over. Again, it was like something you would see in the movies. At this point, none of us had used the restroom for hours and hours, and after drinking Red Bull to stay awake, I probably had to go the worst out of all of us. We literally stayed stopped here for about four hours. Then, finally, people started their cars. I tried to get over in front of a guy with Ukrainian tags, but he was just so rude and nearly hit us, not letting us in. Same with the guy behind him. Just as it seemed the lines would move. Bam. Dead stop once again. One thing that was cool, was that there was a huge lightning and thunder storm we were able to watch as we waited. Then, the cars started once again. I wondered how we were going to get over and just prayed. Then the guy next to me, who wouldn’t let me over earlier couldn’t start his car. We quickly jumped in front of him and rejoiced. Then it was the same game all over again. Another guy with Ukrainian tags wanted to get in front of me. I let him over, in plain view of the guy behind me, working in the opposite spirit of what we were seeing. The guy was grateful, got out, shook my hand and thanked us. I spoke to him in Polish and tried to witness to him. Then, later, I saw the guy behind us let someone else in. Perhaps he was convicted by the kindness he saw. After more passport control, vehicle inspections and documentation checks, we had almost made it. Then the guy two cars in front of us was stopped and the guards brought a dog sniffing his car for drugs, so we waited longer. Altogether I think we spent about 8 or 9 hours at the Ukraine border. It was almost midnight by the time we were finally allowed to enter Poland. Then there was still the four hour drive to Piotrków-Trybunalski ahead of us.
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Christian Young
Piotrków-Trybunalski, Poland
