Day 1: Kiev, Ukraine

Chinese Version / 中文版本

Last year, I got to know the news that Hong Kong became one of the visa-free countries/regions to go to Russia. I was thrilled and had been thinking to go back to Russia for one more time. This year, another great news came, that HKSAR passport got visa-free entry to Ukraine, too. How could I miss this chance to be the pioneer to visit Ukraine without a visa, before Ukraine became a hot tourist spot for Hong Kong people later? 

Besides, I also wanted to go to Belarus. Therefore, I had planned to travel to Russia-Ukraine-Belarus for 18 days. However, the visa of Belarus was a sheer frustration. I ended up buying a ticket to go to Georgia instead. And my winter journey of Ukraine-Georgia-Russia officially kick-started on Chistmas Eve this year!!!

My journey from Hong Kong to Ukraine was quite indirect because of the financial reason. There was no direct plane, the cheapest I could find on the internet was Air France, which I had to transit in Paris. Then I made a different search. I first found the ticket from Hong Kong to Moscow, and then found the ticket from Moscow to Kiev. In comparison, the latter search was way cheaper, the only disadvantage was the transit in Moscow was longer and more complicated. Since I never fought against money, I imperatively chose the more indirect way in the end. 

The plane ride to Moscow was fine, there's nothing to complain about Cathay Pacific, unless the seat was still narrow. Also, the custom in Moscow was smoother than expected, though they still took a while to scrutinize my passport if I needed a visa. Then I checked in with Transaero again once I finished going through the custom. There were already many long lines in the departure area and I patiently waited in the line before my suitcase got checked in.

Just landed at Moscow in the darkest morning ever

The plastic socks for going through custom

Everything ran as smooth as silk, until I went to the boarding gate. The plane to Kiev was delayed for an hour, thus I took a seat and nodded off immediately. When I woke up, I saw many people leaving the gate. Actually, the flight was changed to another boarding gate. I moved to downstairs at once and could find no available seat. As a result, I stood by the side and waited for an hour more. 

There was still no sign of boarding and the board-casting calls were made in Russian which I did not even know a word beside 'spasibo'. Then I walked to one of the airline staffs. This gentleman was very friendly and told me that it would start boarding soon. Another half hour later, we could finally board the plane. Nonetheless, that gentleman again, checked my passport very meticulously as if it were forgery, to make sure I had visa-free entry to Ukraine. In the end, they let me board on the ground bus. 

When I was waiting for the bus to move, I was called by the airline staff and they needed to check my passport again. (WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!) They took my passport and asked me to wait by the gate. Then I saw the people, who were on board of the bus, gradually went back to the boarding gate and waited with me. I kind of lost my patience at that moment, but due to language differences, no one could tell me what was happening. Another hour passed, they started boarding again and gave back the passport to me. I was so scared we would have to get off the plane again, but it did take off eventually. Later, I was told that the plane was delayed because of the snow storm in Ukraine. But what did it do with my passport?

The fresh orange juice vending machine was very interesting

Many people were checking in the airport

The plane took only an hour to get to Kiev. The custom area was small by international scale, only 3 were working at that time. However, the computer technology was more advanced than I expected, as it only took them 3 minutes to chop a stamp on my passport. There were many people packed in the arrival hall, since their flights were either delayed or cancelled. 

I immediately went to find an ATM machine and withdrew money to buy bus ticket to the city center. Unfortunately, NONE of them accepted my bank card and I had NO cash (not even HK dollars) with me. I started to feel so agitated and did not know what to do. Then I spotted a group of Chinese students stuck in the arrival area. I asked a guy for help, but he had no idea why I couldn't withdraw money either. 

Therefore, he lent a phone to me to call back to Hong Kong, but the office hours of my bank were passed. At that precise moment when I felt utterly helpless, that nice guy gave me 200 USD. My hope seemed to be reignited and he became my savior!!! My eyes were filled with tears of gratitude and immediately jotted down his bank account and his name and email. I promised I would send him back the money once I go back home. 

Before bidding farewell to him, the savior of my life, again took me to the bus station outside of the airport and helped me to carry my suitcase. I was/am/will be very thankful for his help. I am sure he will always have good karma, as he is one kindhearted and selfless person. I am grateful to ever meet such good person like him. (After I am back home, I send him the money right away. But he never replies my email, and we habe lost contact ever since. Hopefully he does get the money back.)

On the bus, I met another nice person. She is Olga, an Ukrainian girl who married to a Swiss husband, and she is currently going back home to visit her family. As I do not speak Russian nor Ukrainian, I did not know how much the ticket and where the last stop of the bus was. Because Olga has lived in Switzerland for many years, she then translated everything to me in German. 

And she knew that I was going to Lviv tonight, she even took me to the ticket office after we arrived at the train station. Although I seemingly encountered several obstacles today, the nice people were always there to offer help for me. I felt incredibly thankful, otherwise I couldn't imagine how my vacation would become.

Kiev's central train station

As I had planned, I would arrive at Kiev in the afternoon. I would store the suitcase in the train station and then wandered around the city. However, I finally made it to Kiev at night. So, I still bought the night train ticket to Lviv from Kiev, but instead of spending the time in the city center, I spent the rest of the evening in a Mc Donald's near the train station, as I could not walk any further with my exhausting body. In addition, I still needed to fix my bank card problem. Therefore I bought an international phone card and called to the bank of my credit card for advice. They suggested that I could make cash advance to get money. I started to feel a little more hopeful and would definitely try it once I got to Lviv.

My seat/bed in the train cabin