WEDNESDAY 1st JULY 2009 (PREPARE to go to KYIV)

WEDNESDAY 1st JULY 2009



Following yesterdays news all we could do is W-A-I-T for Alla's phone call to indicate whether or not we can obtain a 'Historical Value and Cultural Significance' exemption for the bike. Talk about ridiculous ... but it was about to get a whole lot more ridiculous...!!! Beyond belief...!!!



We waited and waited and waited....actually, we wanted the call to come sooner rather than later but we knew deep down that it may not come at all - today anyway! But it DID come.





Paul needed to get down to the Customs Brokers office (Oksana & Alla's) early afternoon. The necessary procedure involves getting a 'warrant' (like a Stat Dec we hope) signed by a 'Notary', then this has to be faxed to Kyiv for someone to take all documents to the Cultural Office for consideration - EASY.

(Alla really IS that tall)

It was more than three hours before Paul returned to Hotel Zirka and he looked like he was in a state of shock...a state of numbness...a state of total disbelief...!!! We thought we were getting on top of 'expecting the unexpected' but the bureaucracy always beats us...hands down! WHAT's HAPPENING NOW...???


Speech eventually returned and Paul announced that he has to catch the 11.19pm train to Kyiv, arriving at 8.30am the following morning. WHAT...!!! As soon as the Notary realised Paul had an 'Australian Passport' (like they didn't know that a month ago...!!!) he explained that it will need to be translated from 'Australian' to Ukrainian and checked off with the entry visa's, etc. which can take up to two weeks. The alternative is catch the train to Kyiv and TRY and get the documents signed, stamped and handed over in person...!!! All this with NO guarantees that the request will be fulfilled...!!! SHIT.

Oksana and Alla were brilliant. Alla even drove Paul to the train station and left him to make the arrangements. After Paul explained the whole deal we both walked back to the train station to book an overnight ticket to Kyiv. Paul unsuccessfully attempted this task after Alla dropped him off - language and 'mental shock' being the barrier! We checked out the platform arrangement so it would be familiar later in the evening.





The train station looks more like a Parliament building on the outside and huge, magnificent halls on the inside - I guess to deal with the thousands of people that pass through its corridors each day.






We walked the long way home and stopped off at our 'local' for a beer, pizza and pasta. Paul is desperate for several large glasses of good red wine (to have some kind of normality) but wine here is VERY expensive and not all that good. Beer on the other hand is VERY cheap and good.


Paul checked all his documents about a hundred times, packed his bags and we walked back to the train and he was off. I stayed in Odessa - easier for everyone and everything.

And now we must wait another day .... time is running out ....