It started with a train ride.
We entered our 4-bunk cabin on a train heading southbound, explored our 'home' for the night (the spacious room, the hairy blankets, the communal bathroom, the window that didn't open) and eagerly anticipated the arrival of our unknown cabinmates. Several scenarios entered our minds as we sifted through the wide range of personality types we could encounter...the only common trait being that they would most likely speak no english.
Finally, we were greeted by two young men, about our age - who of course spoke NO english. Luckily by now, i have the 'perfect' Russian vocabulary for meeting people (My name is...what is your name...i work in Ukraine. I am teacher. Kiev is very beautiful city etc. etc.) but once it goes beyond those first introductory sentences, I revert to the my even smaller bank of random objects (ex. this is a glass, this is a window, the vase is to the right etc). And we had a good 13 hour trip ahead of us (they were destined to Dnipropetrovsk and left our bunk early - around 2am)
Nonethless, to both my and Will's surprise, I managed to strike up a conversation of sorts in poor (very poor) Russian and we spent the next few hours talking about our lives in Ukraine with the help of my (inadequate) Lonely Planet phrasebook.
Since no food is served on the trains here (not even chips!), we came 'prepared' (or so we thought) with a couple slices of cold pizza to last us the 17 hour trip. Luckily, our new friends, Oleksandre and Igor, brought a feast of food to share with us -- including 3 types of chicken, some beef cutlets, hard-boiled eggs and lots of bread. Will was a huge fan of the boiled chicken.
From what I learned, besides their names, they live in Kiev and work for an elevator company that moves between cities, so perhaps we'll run into each other again sometime! It was amazing how interested they were in us foreigners ("Inistrantsi" as they first called us when they walked in), considering the huge language barrier and the fact that we were just 'bunk mates' for a few hours and would probably never see each other again. They spent a good 45 minutes looking through Will's camera at pictures of both our familes, our friends and the different architecture and winters of North America! From now on I will be sure to use my memory chip as a portable photo album. They were so excited that we were going to Crimea, and somehow managed to communicate a few places we needed to visit..including one to the tallest waterfall in Europe - a trip that ended up being one of our favourites.
Our cabin
cabinmates: Igor and Oleksandre (and the feast)
Will enjoying the boiled chicken
Morning after: admiring the crimean landscape.
And so we arrived in Simferopol - bound for the Crimean coast at Sevastopol (formerly home of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet). After having our passports checked by the local militsia (actually, Will was saluted when they saw him carrying his green army duffle) we met another Ukrainian named Yuri and hitched a ride with him and an older man in his bright blue soviet-style Lada.
The trip down was beautiful.
PART II: ARRIVAL AT BALAKLAVA
When we finally arrived at our hostel in Balaklava (the small harbor town that gave those head garments their name), we wasted no time exploring our new surroundings. We were even given a small DVD player to watch some historical movies on the various wars in Crimea, which was exciting for two reasons: 1) we were able to learn about the history of the surrounding area and 2) it was the most english we had for the next 10 days.
This harbour is said to be ideal because for a ship sailing in the Black Sea, the entrance is hidden.
How "balaclavas" got their name: The British Navy made Balaklava its base during the Crimean War, but during the story winter of 1854 many ships sank and sailors began dying of the cold. Reading about this in the Times, concerned English women began knitting full-cover woolly caps and sending them to Balaclava. They became known as "Balaclava Helmets" and eventually just "balaclavas". [Lonely Planet 2005]
Our meal plan: 2 bucks each for a Ukrainian feast. And yes, she used the abacus to calculate the total. We ate here every day for 6 days.
looking into the Black Sea
15th century ruins atop the cliffs of Balaclava
Day 3: hike to the German Concentration Camp
When the owner of our apartment, Dan, told us about a German concentration camp located in the hills of Balaclava, we were a bit skeptical, thinking maybe there was a miscommunication of some sort. We looked all throughout our guidebooks for any mention of a concentration camp, and when we were still left without answers we decided to try and find out for ourselves. It was one of the few sunny days we saw over the course of 10 days, but perfect for a small hike up the cliffs. On our way we even saw several dolphins fishing in the Black Sea!
As we were walking, we sort of made our own map of where we thought it might be, and headed in that direction. I caught sight of a high cliff and we made that our destination, not knowing what we would find when we arrived.
starting our hike: a different view of 15th century ruins
staggered cliffs hiding the entrance into Balaclava harbour
When we arrived at the top, it was clear that Dan had been right. We saw beautiful ruins of an old fort wall that had 'windows' where we speculated they lineed up cannons or stationed soldiers to be on the look-out.
However, just a few dozen feet away was one of several rectangular-shaped concrete buildings, built into the hills, that housed dozens of chambers with bolts still attatched the door frame, and several gas pipes still in place.
Remains of WW fort with look-out platforms for cannons or soldiers (not sure, since this whole area was not mentioned in either of our guide books)
Remains of one of the concrete gas houses (WWII) intended for Soviets
Inside the chamber halls
Some of the chambers had small windows that still had bolts attatched
When we walked futher towards the cliff we found this contraption, that could fit about 8-10 men inside, with 7 foot doors on either side. We later found out that the Germans would stuff Soviets into this 'cylinder' and open the bottom over the cliff- which dropped down a few hundred feet. Dan told us that between 2,000 to 3,000 Soviets were killed this way.
Here is a picture of the same contraption as we saw it on our way back down (view from the bottom up).
The whole experience took us by surprise and was extremely overwhelming. It is really shocking that there is no mention of it in any of our guidebooks, but at the same time, it made the experience very personal since the whole fort was deserted and we were left on our own to discover more about Balaclava's haunting past.
A look-out tower we discovered on our way down.
All over Balaclava there were pipes lining the cliffs and leading to various buildings. Not sure what they were used for exactly, but it made for interesting pictures.
Secret Nuclear Submarine Factory
Map of the Soviet submarine factory, built into the cliffs of Balaclava harbour. The entry to the factory was camoflaged by a tarp that blended with the mountains - some of the tarp was still hanging from the top.
entrance to the factory
One of the many corridors inside the hideout. All the corridors are designed with a slight bend in them so that if an explosian were to happen, it would be stopped by the curve in the hall. Apparently the Soviets were using this location as both a submarine factory, a storage area for nuclear weapons and a potential shelter for nuclear warfare. Our guide told us that there were food storehouses, movie theatres, medical offices, and oxygen enriched labs to enhance brain power. All the people who worked in this area were sworn to secrecy (some for life) and paid very well to keep quiet. Our guide knew of a friend who was a librarian here and whenever she was asked questions she always responded by claiming she couldn't remember anything from those days. There were a few models of the submarines they built in this secret location, as well as a dozen pictures and some examples of torpedos. Unfortunately, according to our guide, many of the artifacts that belong to this museum are not there, because Russia has claimed them as their own.
Day in Sevastopol
On our day to Sevastopol, the weather was 'as usual' (grey and cold) but it made our discovery of this giant statue all the more exciting. Will had caught sight of it on our way out to Balaclava (neighbouring town we stayed in) and we decided to hunt for it. We also went to some restaurants and found a second-hand shop, but I think we both agree this was the highlight!
Front-view of the giant statue
PART III: YALTA
Liviada Palace : site of the 1945 Yalta Conference (between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin). Apparently it shaped the face of postwar Europe...it was a nice building but the gardens out back were more exciting to look at.
Accidental trip to Alupkinsky Palace Museum/Alupka park
Our experiences with the bus system in Yalta were more frustrating than rewarding, but the uncertainty and unpredicatability of it all took us places we never would have thought to go. On this particular sunny day, we had planned to go to Uchansu Waterfall - the tallest waterfall in Europe. However, a series of timetable changes and an hour and a half of cab drivers heckling us in Russian caused a last-minute alteration and we hopped on the marshrutka next door -- as it was pulling away -- enroute to the mysteries of a small town named Alupka.
When we got off the marshrutka, we were greeted with a series of tourist stalls selling tacky products for extremely high prices. It was a bit disconcerting, since we had just travelled about 45 minutes away from the direction of the beautiful waterfall. Nonetheless, we made our way down the path, took a few wrong turns and ended up on the coast of the Black Sea, with a few locals tanning (naked) nearby. It was a welcomed break from the city of Yalta, and we spent the following 5 hours exploring the coast and various paths in-land that eventually took us to the Alupkinsky Palace, with its unique architecture that Lonely Planet describes as: "Scottish castle on its landward side with Asian-Arabic fantasy facing the sea".
Alupkinsky Palace (click to enlarge)
attempting a timed picture
Alupka park (a little lost)
giant tree
giant tree
Trip to Uchansu Waterfall
After our experience with the bus schedule we made a clear plan of when we would catch the bus up the mountain to the infamous waterfall. Luckily this time, the schedule was reliable. We arrived at the final stop and walked to the platform to admire the view. There is no doubt it was stunning, but beyond the platform there was little more to explore. So we left the main road and went in search of something a little more off the beaten path.
We found trail leading deep into the woods and decided to follow it. Here is what we found:
Halfway there....
We ended up hiking well above the waterfall, but re-visted it (the source of it) on our way back down. The trail was full of different surprises: a broken barrier here, a natural spring there, but the summit we reached was a cliff that extended into a beautiful view of Yalta and the black sea.
Back in Yalta, we frequented this market several times for a taste of its natural Pomegranate Juice (1:1 mixed with Kefir: http://www.kefir.net/)
Our trip ended well...with a semi-frightening marshrutka ride up the mountains in a huge snowstorm (enroute to the airport in Simferopol). We flew back in less than 2 hours, and spent our remaining days enjoying the simplicity of a city like Kyiv, but missing the clean air and spontaneity of Crimea. Overall, our unplanned trip turned out to be a success, and the lack of english, and hence - tourists -, made it memorable in ways we couldn't experience elsewhere in the world.
