Story about travel by Crimea from USA guest I had heard of the Crimea before, I think it was when Gorbachev was held hostage in his dacha there during the last days of the Soviet Union. They mentioned something about it being a vacation place that many Russians enjoyed in summer. However, at that time I never thought it would be a place that I would visit. And about 8 months ago, I became interested in taking a trip to one of the countries of the former Soviet Union. At first, I thought Moscow and then I began to research places to go and when I found information on the Crimea, I decided this was the place for me to visit first. I found a travel agent in the U.S. that was recommended on one of the websites and I contacted them to inquire about travel arrangements. |
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They booked my flight, acquired my visa for me, and
recommended a hotel but said we did not need to book it at this time. So, I scheduled my
vacation time from work and continued to research information to become better informed.
During my research I found a website for hotel booking which had a listing for the hotel
that the travel agent had recommended which also included prices and information about the
accommodations which was more than the travel agent in the U.S. could provide at the
time. I contacted the travel agent and told her about the website I had found but said
that I would book it through her if it would be beneficial since she had been very
helpful. But to the contrary she said it might be better for me to book directly since she
would have to make a call to ask for reservations and then wait for a return call to
confirm. So, I sent an email to book and I received a reply from Unipress which is a
Ukrainian travel agent. They were able to book the hotel for only a small deposit applied
to a credit card - no problem. Then they offered to schedule a driver to meet me at the
airport in Simferopol to drive me to the hotel in Sevastopol and this is where I met
Eugene who now seems to be more of a friend than anything else. Read on for the rest of
the story. First, I left New Orleans early on a Saturday morning, flew to Chicago where I
changed to Turkish Airlines, after about a 6 hour lay over, flew to Istanbul where I had a
11 hour lay over, then finally arrived in Simferopol about 10:30 Sunday night. My first
impression upon arrival at the Simferopol airport was that it seemed especially dark on
the runway and where we left the plane and boarded a bus, but there was more light once we
arrived at the airport terminal itself. Then we went inside to immigrations where I
purchased the required health insurance. I read notices about what needed to be included
on the Customs Declaration (this was only the third time I have traveled internationally
and I wanted to ensure I did not overlook something), but when I presented the first form
to the Customs officer he indicated it was not the correct form and he gave me another to
complete. Although the two forms were almost identical except the first form was mostly in
English and had a plain white side whereas the second form was all in Russian/Ukrainian
and had a colored pattern on both sides. So when I went back to complete this form a young
woman Customs officer came to me and told me to see her afterwards as she was the only
Customs officer that spoke English. When I presented her the second form she indicated that I had been too detailed and that I should complete another form with only important items such as my cameras which she helped me complete. She was very friendly and told me that she preferred to have friendly conversations with passengers as opposed to being just a serious official. I appreciated this very much! Also, she said she enjoyed the opportunity to practice English at the same time. As we were speaking her fellow officers were urging her to hurry so they could leave for the night. I apologized for the delay and thanked her for her help and friendliness. Then I went out where Eugene my driver and his work assictante, Alexa, were waiting for me. In fact they had an extra long wait due to the fact that our flight had been about 2 hours late and because I had taken longer than normal in Customs. We loaded my bags and left for Sevastopol. However, we did stop at an all night private cafe' for coffee which was a pleasant change from all the time I spent in the airports and airplanes. We arrived at the hotel at about 1:00 in the morning, Eugene helped me check-in and to carry my luggage to my room where he offered some excursions that we could take over the next several days. Eugene had a good idea where I wanted to go sightseeing because the Ukrainian travel agent that booked my hotel for me had forwarded the emails where I inquired about sightseeing trips. I told him that I thought it was a good idea but that I would probably sleep late on Monday (by this time I had been traveling for about 35 hours) and we should start on Tuesday. He agreed to call me Monday afternoon to confirm our plans. I wished, I would been able to correspond with Eugene directly before my arrival, that way I would have been better prepared but things worked out very well anyway. After waking on Monday, I only walked through a market area near the hotel but I should have taken a taxi to the center of Sevastopol. So, I ended up wasting some time, it was nice to relax but just not so nice to do it alone. Eugene met me at the hotel at 8:30 Tuesday morning and we went to the center of Sevastopol. In Sevastopol we first visited the Crimean Panorama - words do not easily describe it - it felt like walking into the world of the past with the well lit panoramic painting transitioning into a realistic set depicting the battle scenes of the Crimean War. It is definitely a must see for anyone visiting the area. Then we walked Nakimov Plaza and the harbor waterfront where we saw the Monument to Sunken Ships, the Ukrainian Naval Headquarters, and the Black Sea Naval Fleet that were in port. Later, we traveled to Chersones, then to the submarine base located in Balaklava, and finally to the cave monastery located in Inkerman just outside Sevastopol. Eugene informed me that Sevastopol had been a closed city (even to Russians who did not live in the city) due to its status as the home for the Russian naval fleet up until the last few years and that the submarine base we visited had been a top secret location with no visitors allowed. On Wednesday we met at the same time in the morning, had coffee, and then started towards Yalta. First, we stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks near the area where Gorbachev's dacha is located in Foros for photos of the coastline. It really reminds me of the California coast in the U.S. especially with the many vineyards located throughout the area. It is simply beautiful and I thoroughly understand why so many people like to vacation in the Crimea. We parked outside a small cafe' in Alupka, again had coffee and then proceeded to walk to Vorontsov's Palace. While touring the palace, Eugene informed me that the wife of Ukrainian President Kuchma was on the tour just ahead of us. Afterwards we stopped and had a good lunch at the very scenic Swallow's Nest restaurant before proceeding to Livadia Palace, unfortunately it was not open for tours that day but we did visit the gift shop inside. Also, Eugene suggested that I sit on a bench in front of the palace for a photo so that I could be like Roosevelt - he always had an interesting suggestion for the places we visited. We then went to Yalta where we had a leisurely walk along the seashore and also through the central market. On the return trip to Sevastopol we stopped at the beautifully restored church located in the mountains of Foros. On Thursday, we hiked to the cave town of Eski-Kermen where the town church still had a picturesque Christian mural on the wall which I was surprised even existed after all these years. We exited the town through a hand carved stairwell that led down to the town's former water supply. We stopped for lunch at the home of a family in the Tatar village located at the base of the cave town located at Mangup-Kale and had a wonderful traditional lunch with lemon-grass tea. After this, we visited Khan's Palace in Bahchisaray and then a restored cave monastery in Chufut-Kale where one of the Orthodox Christian monks had words directed towards Eugene because I had photoed him (quite by accident) at a distance of nearly 100 meters - they do not want to have photos taken of themselves or even of the interior of the monastery. By the way the monastery was quite a beautiful place to experience. For Friday and Saturday Eugene suggested a trip to Sudak and the Marble Cave but I felt I wanted to just take some time to experience life in the center of Sevastopol - walking, restaurants and a small amount of shopping. On Saturday, while walking along the waterfront, I encountered a group of boys that said they were dancers in a show called Atlantika which I had seen advertised somewhere and they showed me their costumes as well. They accompanied me on a walk up the hill to a WWII monument I wanted to photo and they told me things that they knew of the monuments as well as other things along they way - in other words acting as my tour guides. It was quite enjoyable speaking to them, so when they said they were hungry and wanted hotdogs, I said sure lets go get some. After, they received their hotdogs we parted company and I walked a bit more through town into the early night before getting a taxi back to the hotel. Eugene invited me to spend the night at his house so we would not have to make an early drive between Sevastopol and Simferopol since I had such an early flight. On Sunday morning Eugene met me at the usual time, I checked out of the hotel and we left Sevastopol by ferry, so I could say that I had been on the Black Sea. On the way back to Simferopol, we stopped at a Crimean War graveyard where there were memorials to the fallen soldiers of all sides. We visited the technical institute where Eugene teaches computer & Internet courses and manages their Internet club called "Internet-Club of Cris", had another leisurely walk through the center of Simferopol, had lunch at a Scottish Cafe', and visited a wine shop where I was able to sample some excellent wine, as well as, buy several bottles to bring back to the U.S. After this, we visited a Mosque located in the Tatar part of the city before joining Eugene's friend Vladimir at his private Russian Banya. While enjoying the banya, we had a small discussion about the changes that had occurred since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and I believe that we all agreed that it was great that we are able to freely communicate with each other and to make great friends in the process. Vladimir invited me to go fishing with him in the Ural mountains this summer - I only wish I live closer so that I could take him up on his offer. On Monday, we left Eugene's at about 6:00 am and arrived at the airport with time to drink coffee before checking in for my flight. I went through Immigrations and Customs without any delay this time. I boarded the plane and the next thing I knew I was in Istanbul where unfortunately the Turkish Airline staff at the counter had no concept of customer service. Unlike my flight to the Ukraine, I did not have very long between connecting flights and I needed my boarding pass to get to Chicago. So, after standing in line to answer questions about my baggage and travel movements, I approached the check-in counter where there were a dozen or more Turkish Airline employees talking, not seemingly pursuing work activities while a number of passengers were waiting at the counter without any help. The two agents that were only somewhat helping a couple of passengers just ignored everyone else at the counter. While I overheard an Englishman next to me trying to make alternative travel plans to Germany because he missed a connecting flight due to his previous flight being late - they were not very helpful and he was asking that they check with other airlines because there were no other Turkish flights to Germany that day. After, listening to this discussion for a couple minutes I began insisting to this agent that I needed to get my boarding pass so I would not miss my flight. Finally, he complied and I was on my way. It is a shame because in all other places their service was much better but in their hometown they do not seem to care. I made it to Chicago and then arrived in New Orleans at about 5:45 p.m. that same day - its amazing what effect the time difference makes when traveling in the different directions. On the drive home, I stopped at friends showed some photos, video, and related my experiences. On a side note, if someone asks where is your home and they don't know where it is located - well, if you happen to be from an area near the Mississippi River - just tell them it is near Mark Twain's home and they will probably understand. Apparently Samuel Clemens had visited Crimea and his books about Tom Sawyer were quite popular. Can you tell I would like to visit again? Hopefully, this conveys some of my impressions of my extremely interesting and enjoyable trip to this beautiful place they call the Crimea! Best regards, |
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