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The next day was Saturday, June 16, a working day for millions of Ukrainians. They worked for June 29 which was turned into a day off. The Thursday of June 28 is an official holiday in Ukraine (Constitution Day) and this swap turned June 28 - July 1 into a long weekend.

I was going to my friend’s office and I decided to take a tram. Trams are the cheapest way to travel around the city. The ticket costs 40 kopeyek (under 10 cents) and there is no limit on how far you can go on the same tram. Being the cheapest the trams are probably the most inconvenient type of transportation, challenged only by trolleybuses and buses.

When my tram arrived it was packed by people and I literally had to push my way into it. Trams go every 5-10 minutes during the morning rush hour. There are much less passengers during the days and the trams frequency goes down to 15-30 minutes depending on the line. All trams stop running around midnight, just as do trolleybuses and buses. But don’t count on that last tram to come at 12am, if you want to make sure to get into one, consider 11pm as your deadline. The schedule is very irregular during night time.

Kharkiv is a very old city and has a lot of old buildings, beautiful and not so much. To the right is a very nice church I pass on the way from my house to the office.

The next picture is one of a ghostly building I walk by as I approach my destination. It looks abandoned with windows blown out and graffiti on the front door. As I spend more time around the city, I get an impression that rural areas are not getting nearly as much attention from the administration with some parts of the city clearly not safe to be at in the night time.

The best way to go around the city after sun set is by taxi which is relatively inexpensive in Kharkiv. It costs around 15-30 Grivnas (3-6 US$) to go around the city depending on how far you need to get to. There are several companies offering the service. The cab typically arrives within 15 minutes after you call. The further your destination is — the faster the cab arrives (a homework for you — try to figure out why ).

Subway is one of the fastest and safest ways to travel in Kharkov. The fare is only slightly higher (75 Kopeyek) but travel time is way less. All of the subway lines are deep underground and there are stations where you have to take a long-long escalator down to get to the train. The fare is good to travel anywhere, the transfers between the lines are free.

You can buy coins (each is good for one trip) or a multi-entry pass. I suggest using coins. The pass I purchased wasn’t working and there was no easy way to return or exchange it for a good one (I have to go to some place in the city that does these things, and I am not about to waste over an hour of my time to recover appx. $2 I lost).

One more reason to take the subway whenever it is possible is also to avoid having to deal with the the terrible roads Kharkiv city is plagued with. I was told every mayer taking the office wows to fix the roads problem and every single once miserably fails. Possibly because the problem is simply too big for one mayer to solve. My guess is it will take many more years before the situation improves. The photo to the left is taken in the central city park and is very common where ever you go — by foot or by car.

This will be it for today. The next day brings us shopping and internet access. Hang on there!

The second day in Ukraine started with a trip to a local supermarket. The place is called “Rost” and by square footage was a size of an average Kmart store but with several floors. When you get in you have to pass the gate. No shopping bags allowed behind it. The entrance hall has lockers for the shoppers to leave their bags.

First I went to the exchange booth which was on the first floor near the entrance. There were two ATM machines with a Visa logo on them near the booth. I am yet to take a closer look at them but for now I just needed to exchange some cash. To answer your question about ATM’s and currency exchange, I would not try to do it out in the street since it might not be safe. Any exchange inside a supermarket or a bank is OK. The exchange rate varies slightly from place to place but stays within 5-10% margin.

The shop selling cell phones was on the first floor of the same supermarket. What I needed was a starter package for Kievstar, the largest cellular service provider in Ukraine closely followed by a Russian owned UMC. According to May 2007 numbers they have 43% of the market while UMC has 39% (details here - rus). There are two more smaller companies but I would be reluctant to buy service from them since the coverage may be spotty.

The starter package from Kievstar costs $5 (25 Hryvnas) and includes a new SIM card and $2 worth of air time. Incoming calls to all mobile phones are free for the cell phone owner which means I just bought myself a phone number valid till June 2008 for a mere $5. If I choose to call someone out, the rate will vary depending on the type of the number I call and service plan I have. You can find pricing information online in English from Kievstar or UMC website.

In the spirit of bargain hunting I asked at the shop if they ran any promotion and luckily they did so I ended up with “Happy Spring” which has free limited in-network calling (details here). The plan made sense for me since all my relatives use Kievstar.

As I was leaving the store, I saw a couple of boys checking the receipts and people’s bags, very much like you would see in Costco. I suspect the merchandise doesn’t have anti-theft tags typical in the US.

My day ended kind of sadly. When on my way back I was walking the street towards my in-laws house, a dog ran by me and bit me by the leg. I was taken by surprise since the dog didn’t show any sign of aggression before attacking me. The dog was old, the bite was minor with no blood so a simple disinfection sufficed, but the evening was spoiled.

Seeing a stray dog is not unusual in Ukraine in rural area. Unlike the US, owners are not forces to leash dogs at all times. As I found later the dog that bit me lived in a house near by and just wondered outside as she often does during the day. Seeing a dog out on a city street however is not common probably because very few Ukrainians will let their pets in the car, and you can’t travel with one in public transportation.

This will be it for today. The next day brings me my first experience with public transportation, Ukrainian roads, internet, and more. Hang on there!

We landed yesterday in Borispol airport which is the only international airport in Ukraine that accepts flights from Europe on regular basis. The first impression was somewhat depressing. I can’t say I had very high expectations, I consider myself a very pragmatic person, yet I was hoping that Ukraine has taken its only airport to the world standards.

On our way from Chicago we made a stop over in Warsaw Poland, which is another Eastern European country, and Borispol airport didn’t compare to Warsaw even remotely. The airport has only one terminal with two gates. Some of the personnel didn’t wear uniform. The trucks used out in the field all looked like they were collected from a junk yard. Surprisingly we had no problems at the customs. On our last trip 3 years back the officer was looking for any excuse to collect a “fee”.

My wife’s parents met us at the airport and we drove to Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, on two cars. On our way there we made a stop at a restaurant called “U Sester” (“By the Sisters”). The photo to the left is from that restaurant. I was told this is not a usual restaurant in the sense that normal Ukrainians can’t afford dining there. The menu was an impressive thick book with hundreds of items and prices ranging from $2 for a salad to $5 for a sophisticated dinner dish (all in local currency of course).

Our next stop was a gas station where we filled up for appx $1 a liter (1 US gallon = 3.79 litters) and continued our trip until police stopped our car not far from Poltava, a big city between Kiev and Kharkov. The reason — speeding, the fee — $2. I was explained later $2 (equals to 10 Hryvnas) is the usual bribe to get clean out of a minor traffic violation like this and that everyone is doing it. You just give the banknote with the license, get the license back, and you are free to go. The whole procedure took less than a minute. I consider this accident very symbolic of how corrupt the whole country is.

As we went on with our trip I observed beautiful countrysides with farm animals scattered here and there. Ukraine overall is an agricultural state with industrial regions taking most of the East. Almost all of the farms are small businesses ran by families. The car on the right is pulling a load of chicken turkeys (already slaughtered and w/o feathers) probably to be sold in the city.

The entire trip took around 6 hours (with 1 hour stop for food) and it was getting dark as we approached Kharkiv. The smell of burning fuel is the first thing I noticed as we entered city limits. The buildings of Power Station #5 and the huge exhaust pipe is the first thing that you see as you enter Kharkiv. The hight of the pipe is 330 meters (1083 feet). I was told that later some European body restricted building pipes of this hight because the smoke can go as far as neighboring countries.

When we arrived to my in-laws house I was too exhausted to even talk and after taking the shower went straight to bed. The next day is promising to be more interesting. I will go to city to visit some of my friends, to exchange US$ to local currency, and to get myself a SIM card to activate my T-Mobile phone that I brought with me. Hang on until next time and let me know if you have any questions. By the way, thanks for your comments to my last post and your e-mails. I read ever single one and will try to answer all of your questions as my routine normalizes after the trip.