Galicia and Ruthenia

Diary

daily stats: 25 km, ~800 km by train
sleeping: glade near Nyírtét, tent
departure from Prague early in the morning, traditional Budapest cuisine for lunch
straight (there were almost no turns) train ride to Nyíregyháza in the afternoon
- the city is well-groomed
evening bike ride to the fields east of the initial deployment is hindered by losing our way and eventually a flat tire
cumulative plan completion: 50%

daily stats: 119 km, 6:19, max 39.4 km/h
sleeping: motel Zaluzhzhia, 100 UAH/person/night
morning ride through forest “road” that hadn’t been used for weeks
- collecting thick layers of webs and catching red dust on all surfaces
no lunch, very hot day
crossing the border
- parked empty cars, smugglers have to walk
- poor user experience: waiting in queues under direct sunlight, armed forces around
late afternoon kvass in a café in Berehovo
first encounter with proper Ukranian roads and cowboys
I have mineral crisis and cannot continue due to cramps
cumulative plan completion: 75%

daily stats: 57 km
sleeping: meadow between Rososh and Keretsky, tent
learning from our hosts that the tap water is not drinkable (after we had drank proper amount the evening before)
Mukachevo
- there were more women than men in the streets around noon
- lunch in the poshest restaurant in the city
afternoon kvass at Shenborniv castle (Шенборнів) with nice surroundings
(women) monastery near Svalyava (Кирило-Мефодіївський монастир), renewed road around the monastery
riding through villages triggers curiosity among the locals; we obtained water even when house owners did not understand us, their consent was unclear
cumulative plan completion: 72%

again (women) monastery near Lypcha (Липча) (Монастир Різдва Пресвятої Богородиці)
lunch in a car repair shop/pizzeria in Lypcha
shortcut through roads/paths passable only without rain and with a jeep
arriving to Kolochava (Колочава) – the Czech Mecca in the region, of course there was a RJ bus parked nearby
- rainy afternoon through valley of the Tereblia (Теребля) river
- not as touristic as expected
- as Czech as expected (Četnická stanice pub full of Czechs, Czech filmmakers shooting another remake)
- partying in Kolochava is hard due to no/dim street light
cumulative plan completion: 68%

daily stats: 70 km
sleeping: hotel Leopoldsdorf, 8.3 EUR/person/night
breakfast in mixed goods shop in Kolochava (including coffee)
highlight of the trip
- Kolochava + Nerovets under bald slopes of Carpathians mountains
- valley of the Tereblia with forests around, paved road and clean air
lake Synevyr (Синевир)
- disappointment – parking lot right at the lake, “street” sellers
shortcut to Lopushne (Лопушне) via hiking trail
- trail in the woods, trail over fallen trunks, passing through thickets, guiding bike downstream
- all of that with heavy packed bikes
- we all started singing and speaking loud as we were scared from bears
running out of cash, dreaming of ATMs in Vyhoda (Вигода)
night climb to two passes (second highest altitude of the trip, 1st was the lake)
surprisingly finding several (overpriced) hotels in Leopoldsdorf
cumulative plan completion: NA, new plan: return to Czechia

daily stats: 38 km, ~65 km by marshrutka, ~140 km by train
sleeping: hostel Lviv, 200 UAH/person/night
delightful descent from the mountains (good that we did not ride this at night)
breakfast from every shop on the Vyhoda main square (saussage, coffee, ice cream)
looking forward to a train from Dolina (Долина) to Ivano-Frankivsk
- the first encounter with Ukrainian public transport
- no train, no bus (for bikes)
- in the end we take “marshrutka”, 200 UAH/3 persons + bikes
unclear plan, so we made hasty decision to travel to Lviv (Львів) by train
- quick lunch in hipster burger-ama
- the second encounter with Ukrainian public transport (we were almost not allowed to board with the bikes)
troubles finding a hostel ad-hoc, quick sightseeing while looking for the accommodation
- streets are very crowded even in the evening, European appearance
- reconstructions around the main train station
- multiple major streets and squares
- opera house, neogothic church
cumulative new-plan completion: -20%

daily stats: 12 km, ~80 km by bootleg marshrutka, ~750 km by train
- total cycling: 404 km
sleeping: EN 407 Chopin, ~1700 CZK/person/night
our return plans collapsed as we learnt that LE connection did not accept bicycles
morning spent in multiple queues at Lviv main train station in order to learn that no train went that day in our direction (booked)
closing a deal on offline Über to get us to the Polish borders for 60 €
- we attempted to haggle as the price was ~10 times the train ticket, in retrospect, it seems a fair taxi price for the distance
- the third (and the last) encounter with the Ukrainian transport
spending the high noon roasting in the queue on the Polish customs check
cycling the last kilometers to get to Przemyśl, felt such a relief being in the EU again
dinner in Kraków and night train to Prague
cumulative new-plan completion: 100%

gipsy children in Berehovo – very curious, fake waitress
cowherd – talkative, even without knowing Czech
girl in Mukachevo – knew good English
security guy – knew a bit of Czech, liked Czechs, helpful
Roman – fixing bridges in Prague after floods, Czech-speaking grandfather, does not like Russians, small house with a goat under mountains now
anonymous boy – ~13 years old buys cigarettes and rides a motorbike (not that unusual in the village region)
Bogdan – yuppie from Chernovitsi, helped us in the train and Lviv, enlightened
Poles (2 guys, 1 girl) – returning from a bikepacking trip from Warszava to Istanbul

unregulated rivers, wilder forests
- OTOH, more litter in the nature
polluted rivers
polluted air – especially the heavy trucks are green only on the coat
bears smell
open bar must have loud hardbass or 90s rap playing
riding the roads is like an arcade game, avoiding the potholes
Ukrainian universities participate in the Erasmus program
double time-zone (official UTC+2, effective UTC+1)
low efficiency
- shopkeeper (cannot do multitasking)
- train station (bureaucracy, technical breaks)
- grocery in Kolochava (pile of assorted goods)
data SIM cards are unbelievably cheap
decentralized settlements, self-reliant houses/villages
great wealth differences (even neighboring houses)
Slav squat is real

fenders are not worth it (hinder manipulation, bike blocks splashes anyway)
packing all above rear wheel is suboptimal (greater moments to carry the bike, overload of rear wheel/axis)
too many bags/luggage complicate leaving a bike alone
little backpack is useful
(the points above apply to lazy cyclists who do lot of for city tourism and frequent public transport travels)
maintain not only hydration but electrolyte concentrations as well
no need to take both “membrane” and PVC raincoat (the former proved well)
sandals almost unused (cyclic shoes stunk though)

Grateful thanks to T for the photos.