When I was leaving Kiev well missed my flight
cuz I was late for it so had to wait 7 1/2 hrs and pay another approximately
$90 for another ticket (a King's Ransom in the Ukraine). So had to wait around
the airport where there were few seats as the only place was for both the
Departure and Arrivals were in the same area! The seating was by an automatic
sliding door which seemed to be always open. So it was like friggin cold and
since I wasn't feeling too good shit it was the pits sitting by this open door!
So I just mostly slept but did read a bit of my book to pass the time! Anyway the check in counters seemed to open about 1 1/2 hrs before departure and closed about 45 mins before! This was for a domestic flight as don't know about international flights!
My flight on this Ukrainian airlines left Kiev at 930 pm and got to Odessa about 11 pm! It was dark of course and dam cold but the airlines just brought our bags off the plane on a big trolley and left them outside! We couldn't go inside the terminal building as it was closed (not sure cuz of the time of the day but other travelers told me this is common for a domestic flight) so everyone just searched through all the bags looking for their bags! It was the strangest thing I've seen at an airport never even saw that in poor African airports! Also this didn't happen in Kiev on my flight from Budapest! But a lot of countries want to impress international travelers but don't give a f*ck about the locals which guess they expect are the only people on a domestic flight!
Anyway got my bag and since I didn't know if the buses were running any longer well decided to grab a cab! I bargained with the driver and he only charged me about $5! We went about 15 mins but the guy couldn't find my hostel even though he said he knew where it was when he picked me up! I finally showed him on my paper that it was close to the Cathedral Square (can't remember the Ukrainian name). Then he knew where it was and he got me there! But the guy still wanted a tip but I didn't budge on not giving him one!
The place he took me to didn't seem like it was a hostel! Cuz guess in Odessa the hostels have to stay underground like in no advertising that it's a hostel! The apartment buildings in former Soviet countries all look like they're slum buildings from the outside! The building the hostel was no different as it looked that way too! The front door to the building was wide open and the stairs smelled like someone had urinated there all the time which they probably did given the doors were wide open! The windows in the stair wells were either broken or open! So it was cold as hell in the stair cases and it was dark!
I got to the door of the hostel and thought boy am I late as should have been there around 5 pm as was suppose to be on the 2 pm flight! Then I would have been in Odessa about 6 pn or so! But the guy running the place was up as it was Sat night!
One thing about traveling in the late fall is there are few travelers or tourists! I had a reservation so I knew I had a bed in the dorm! There were only about 3 others in the 12 bed! Then the next day they left leaving me alone until an Australian guy came to stay!!!!
It seemed odd but the Ukraine was the first country I had visited where people visiting from foreign countries were there to try and start a business and make some money! There was an American guy there who was keen on starting up a Groupon business! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupon So he kept telling me about the benefits of starting Groupons there cuz no one had done it so it was virgin territory sort of speaking! Of course I was just humoring him cuz I was in the traveling space and wasn't into doing a business! But of course who am I am to say as everyone is different.
Then the next day an Vietnamese Australian dude showed up and he seemed to be in the same head space as the American so they spent a lot of time talking business. But the American guy had some business in Kiev so he left! So the Australian and I had the entire 12 room dorm to ourselves! This Australian guy was a bit different than me but we still got a long good! We started talking about traveling and life so we kind of fell into a discussion about smoking weed! So I brought out my 1 hitter and we had a smoke on the balcony of the dorm room. The weed was pretty wicked so a couple tokes were all we needed and we were wasted!
So in our discussion the Aussie guy and I said that Budget Traveling in many countries is like Camping in the Wild West 100 years ago!! We have to search for food, water & shelter!! OK so we can go to a supermarket for food & water plus usually head to a hostel or couch surf for a bed! But shit usually u can’t speak or read most languages so u use sign language! So u don’t know what food u’r buying/eating even though it won’t poison u! U get off a bus or train in a strange city & have to search for a hostel or where ever in the dark & maybe rain/cold! Hell u have to fight off predators waiting to attack u & if u’r lucky just rob u & other times if u’r lucky u'll just get pick pocketed!! So shit man u have to be on top of your game, be street smart & not hung over or u’ll be f*cked over AKA robbed of your passport, belongings or cash! Yeah I’m talking from past experiences!
We came to this conclusion while sitting in our hostel dorm room that night chillin & having a doobie!! OK so budget travelers have a beer or smoke cuz it’s the reward we treat ourselves to for making it to where ever we set out for! lol OK so then u ask why the fu*ck would anyone want to travel to sketchy, out of the way places? Well we do it for the adventure as it’s like seeing what’s over the next hill or mtn!! Hell these days we have to search for the Wild West in places like Africa, Central Asia, Russia, India, etc! Yeah there are times u may wish u were at home with a cold beer! But shit man life isn’t about sitting in your warm home watching some shit ass TV show, movie or sports! Cuz everyone's life is an adventure but some of us want to add different experiences to get our adrenaline going!!!
So outside of our weed smoking times well went to this cheap cafeteria where they had some good fidels!! I also went sight seeing a lot as wanted to see the beach area of the Black Sea which Odessa is famous for! So once I saw the Black Sea resort area well that was about all there was to see as far as i was concerned!
Then found that could take a day bus to Moldova where I wanted to see!
There's a wide gap between the transportation people use in the Ukraine! There are old beat up Russian Lada's that look like they're remanents from the Cold War! Then there are the corrupt rich people driving Merecedess! The rich Ukrainians are really arrogant as they drive fast and think they can park anywhere! Reminds me of the Arabs in the Middle East plus rich people in India! Basically I guess there are rich assholes everywhere who they that money makes them important! Asshole corrupt politicians and business people!!
You'd never believe how the Odessa airport baggage carousel works!!! We arrived at 11 pm in the cold and dark & we couldn't enter the terminal! They brought the bags to us outside on carts! Then it was a free for all grabbing out bags!!! Modern technology and method - NOT!!!
So I just mostly slept but did read a bit of my book to pass the time! Anyway the check in counters seemed to open about 1 1/2 hrs before departure and closed about 45 mins before! This was for a domestic flight as don't know about international flights!
My flight on this Ukrainian airlines left Kiev at 930 pm and got to Odessa about 11 pm! It was dark of course and dam cold but the airlines just brought our bags off the plane on a big trolley and left them outside! We couldn't go inside the terminal building as it was closed (not sure cuz of the time of the day but other travelers told me this is common for a domestic flight) so everyone just searched through all the bags looking for their bags! It was the strangest thing I've seen at an airport never even saw that in poor African airports! Also this didn't happen in Kiev on my flight from Budapest! But a lot of countries want to impress international travelers but don't give a f*ck about the locals which guess they expect are the only people on a domestic flight!
Anyway got my bag and since I didn't know if the buses were running any longer well decided to grab a cab! I bargained with the driver and he only charged me about $5! We went about 15 mins but the guy couldn't find my hostel even though he said he knew where it was when he picked me up! I finally showed him on my paper that it was close to the Cathedral Square (can't remember the Ukrainian name). Then he knew where it was and he got me there! But the guy still wanted a tip but I didn't budge on not giving him one!
The place he took me to didn't seem like it was a hostel! Cuz guess in Odessa the hostels have to stay underground like in no advertising that it's a hostel! The apartment buildings in former Soviet countries all look like they're slum buildings from the outside! The building the hostel was no different as it looked that way too! The front door to the building was wide open and the stairs smelled like someone had urinated there all the time which they probably did given the doors were wide open! The windows in the stair wells were either broken or open! So it was cold as hell in the stair cases and it was dark!
I got to the door of the hostel and thought boy am I late as should have been there around 5 pm as was suppose to be on the 2 pm flight! Then I would have been in Odessa about 6 pn or so! But the guy running the place was up as it was Sat night!
One thing about traveling in the late fall is there are few travelers or tourists! I had a reservation so I knew I had a bed in the dorm! There were only about 3 others in the 12 bed! Then the next day they left leaving me alone until an Australian guy came to stay!!!!
It seemed odd but the Ukraine was the first country I had visited where people visiting from foreign countries were there to try and start a business and make some money! There was an American guy there who was keen on starting up a Groupon business! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupon So he kept telling me about the benefits of starting Groupons there cuz no one had done it so it was virgin territory sort of speaking! Of course I was just humoring him cuz I was in the traveling space and wasn't into doing a business! But of course who am I am to say as everyone is different.
Then the next day an Vietnamese Australian dude showed up and he seemed to be in the same head space as the American so they spent a lot of time talking business. But the American guy had some business in Kiev so he left! So the Australian and I had the entire 12 room dorm to ourselves! This Australian guy was a bit different than me but we still got a long good! We started talking about traveling and life so we kind of fell into a discussion about smoking weed! So I brought out my 1 hitter and we had a smoke on the balcony of the dorm room. The weed was pretty wicked so a couple tokes were all we needed and we were wasted!
So in our discussion the Aussie guy and I said that Budget Traveling in many countries is like Camping in the Wild West 100 years ago!! We have to search for food, water & shelter!! OK so we can go to a supermarket for food & water plus usually head to a hostel or couch surf for a bed! But shit usually u can’t speak or read most languages so u use sign language! So u don’t know what food u’r buying/eating even though it won’t poison u! U get off a bus or train in a strange city & have to search for a hostel or where ever in the dark & maybe rain/cold! Hell u have to fight off predators waiting to attack u & if u’r lucky just rob u & other times if u’r lucky u'll just get pick pocketed!! So shit man u have to be on top of your game, be street smart & not hung over or u’ll be f*cked over AKA robbed of your passport, belongings or cash! Yeah I’m talking from past experiences!
We came to this conclusion while sitting in our hostel dorm room that night chillin & having a doobie!! OK so budget travelers have a beer or smoke cuz it’s the reward we treat ourselves to for making it to where ever we set out for! lol OK so then u ask why the fu*ck would anyone want to travel to sketchy, out of the way places? Well we do it for the adventure as it’s like seeing what’s over the next hill or mtn!! Hell these days we have to search for the Wild West in places like Africa, Central Asia, Russia, India, etc! Yeah there are times u may wish u were at home with a cold beer! But shit man life isn’t about sitting in your warm home watching some shit ass TV show, movie or sports! Cuz everyone's life is an adventure but some of us want to add different experiences to get our adrenaline going!!!
So outside of our weed smoking times well went to this cheap cafeteria where they had some good fidels!! I also went sight seeing a lot as wanted to see the beach area of the Black Sea which Odessa is famous for! So once I saw the Black Sea resort area well that was about all there was to see as far as i was concerned!
Then found that could take a day bus to Moldova where I wanted to see!
There's a wide gap between the transportation people use in the Ukraine! There are old beat up Russian Lada's that look like they're remanents from the Cold War! Then there are the corrupt rich people driving Merecedess! The rich Ukrainians are really arrogant as they drive fast and think they can park anywhere! Reminds me of the Arabs in the Middle East plus rich people in India! Basically I guess there are rich assholes everywhere who they that money makes them important! Asshole corrupt politicians and business people!!
You'd never believe how the Odessa airport baggage carousel works!!! We arrived at 11 pm in the cold and dark & we couldn't enter the terminal! They brought the bags to us outside on carts! Then it was a free for all grabbing out bags!!! Modern technology and method - NOT!!!
