Ways to enter Ukraine during the Rashist slaughter

I entered Ukraine for the first time on October 25, 2022, and reached Kyiv on October 27. I though it was a good idea to write about about various ways to enter Ukraine on my myUkraine visit anniversary based on my own two trips because I have seen people including Ukrainians offering wrong directions.

Two important points first:

1. The USG is against its citizens traveling to Ukraine understandably. I went to bring donated items requested by people on the frontline.

2. Train usually is the best choice for quick and comfortable border crossing (minutes instead of hours).


Routes from four different countries based on my own experience.

1. Poland.

The direct train from Warsaw to Kyiv is probably the most convenient. I have not taken this 18-hour overnight(17:00CET to 12:00EET). The train had its gauge change (standard to wide) at Rymachi.

I exited Ukraine to Warsaw by taking the Kyive- Przemyśl Express(no gauge change), then a 6-hour overnight bus (taking a train would require waiting till the next day and a long ride with a detour to Krakow). 



I still do not understand why so many people take this Przemyśl route. I did because I was already in Lviv, so I boarded it at its last stop in Ukraine.


2. Hungary

I wrote a separate post for this route a while ago. Budapest is a beautiful city very friendly to tourists. 

You can take a very comfortable inter-city train at 7:23 (CET) and reach Chop in Ukraine at 13:40 (CET), with no gauge change, then catch an overnight train to reach Kyiv the next morning. The train travels through the beautiful Skolivski Beskydy National Park






3. Romania

Cluj-Napoca is the 2nd largest city in Romania with flights from many European cities. You can take an early train (3:35) to reach the border town Valea Viseului, then take a scenic express train ride to reach Rakhiv, Ukraine in the afternoon.



It is a new service started in January 2023. We all know why Ukraine reopened a railway route to Romania at this juncture.

Many trains to Kyiv stop at Rakhiv, so you can pick one to reach Kyiv the next morning. Rakhiv looks like a very nice town.

4. Moldova.

Chisinau has many flights from other European cities. Kyiv-Chisinau Express was restored last year after 24 years of hiatus.  You can fly to Chisinau and reach Kyiv the next morning via this train. I took it to exit Ukraine.



When you take a train to cross a border, the border check of the exited country is always done on the train but the border check of the entered country may be done after you get off the train. Ukrainian officers are very efficient and friendly.

Except for areas near the frontline, Ukraine is safer than many US cities such as Baltimore, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, DC...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Google's Local Guides program's policy enforcement is the worst

Image
Google's Local Guides program's policy enforcement is unbelievably bad. It is despicable. Here is what it does things sometimes: Publishes a review initially, then rejects it later without notifying the reviewer. Suspends the reviewer's Local Guides account because of the above rejected reviews without notifying the reviewer. They do this to users who have made thousands of contributions over the years benefiting millions of Google Maps users. Continues to allow a suspended account  The review rejections are done by their flawed AI. Reposting the review without any changes will get approved often.  Notifies a reviewer of a rejection without giving a specific reason. This is the worst part.  It seems that one may get these punishments by posting multiple reviews quickly. I have not seen any online policy enforcement nearly as bad as Google Local Guides'. Bing Maps is worth trying. For reviews, Tripadvisor may be a better place. My journey of  Local Guides: I have made ov
Read more

PRC COVID mortality estimate: 3M - 5M

Image
Summary PRC COVID-induced excess deaths: Absolute minimum requiring a miracle: 1 M Likely minimum: 2.5 M Likely range: 3 M - 5 M How I derived these numbers: First, if you doubt the current high COVID fatalities based on anecdotes instead of official data, let's think in this way. People are paying what is equivalent to 2 - 3 months' salary to avoid unpredictable long waits at Beijing crematoria, so long waiting lines are common. Beijing has 12 crematoria and many more in its vicinity. If people could drive 100km or more to have timely cremation, they would not spend so much money to save the 1 or 2 hours of transportation.  If Beijing with the best healthcare resources has such a high fatality rate, you can imagine the fatality rates of other places. It is fair to compare the PRC with other East Asian countries. Japan, S. Korea, and TW are exemplary - high vigilance, high vax rates, and orderly opening, so they have much lower excess death rates than most other countries. If t
Read more

Thoughts on the Rashist slaughter in Ukraine

Image
I started to write down these thoughts in February 2023 before my second trip to Ukraine, paused for many months, picked it up intermittently in the summer, and finally finished on Saturday, September 23, 2023. I will not edit this post because I want to come back to it to see how my views will change or remain in the future. It has been a long and brutal 19 months since the Moscow KGB thug launched the slaughter in Ukraine.  My views on this war are simple and straightforward, not much different from freedom lovers who stand with free people fighting for their freedom. I wanted to provide some background. I have some slight differences from others that make me treat certain things slightly differently. Why I support the Ukrainians' fight for their freedom I firmly support people fighting for their freedom regardless of their political leaning (left, right, or center), race, or religion (Buddhists in Tibet, Christians in Ukraine, Muslims in Xinjiang, Iran, and Afghanistan). To me,
Read more