Change of Plans

I woke up just before 11 to wake everyone up. It was Nina's last day in Kiev; she went home to Austria after five months studying and living here. The plan was to go to Пузата Хата, the cafeteria place Jonas and I went to several days ago, for a send off meal. Being the only sober one in the hostel, it was my job to wake them all up.

I made the rounds with a bottle of aspirin and a large glass of water.  I found Cooper asleep in bed. Nina and Chadwic had passed out in the movie room in the basement. Amelia had crashed on the floor at the foot of Peter's bed, but was up already. Mike had left at 4am to return to Germany for work, and Joe was up and on the computer. Jonas was, of course, asleep.

We never went to Пузата Хата, but instead made some small eats in the kitchen and sat and bonded in the common room (a common occurrence at this point). This went on for several hours until Nina had to leave around 2. Cooper and Joe went with her to the airport, as they also had flights to catch; they were going back to Germany (like Mike) to take up their positions again as resort employees at a vacation spot for recently returned American combat troops. 

Jonas discovered this morning he was lower on cash than he had anticipated, and we started brainstorming ways to get to Istanbul cheaply and quickly. Odessa, as we have been repeatedly told and only now finally let ourselves believe, is a summer party city, and is dead and quiet at the moment.

Peter had mentioned a few days ago that there's a cheap flight to Istanbul that only leaves from some eastern city near the Russian border. While Jonas and I were debating how to get to Istanbul without spending much money, I realized this might be a possibility.

We looked up flights, and a flight to Istanbul from Харкiв (Kharkiv) was only $111.99, instead of the $200+ from both Odessa and Kiev. The train to Kharkiv was 10 hours, and cost only 134Грн, or $16.75. So here's the solution we came up with:

Today is January 28. We would take a 22:29 train to Харкiв, arriving about half past six the next morning. We would deposit our luggage at a locker in the train station, and explore this very communist-looking city for a few hours. In the early afternoon we would find our bags and make our way to the airport for a 16:25 flight to Istanbul, arriving at 18:35 on Pegasus Air. In Istanbul, we would find our way to a hostel, and Jonas and I would explore the city for the remaining 5 days before he has to go home. Easy.

We booked our flight and left around 4 to get tickets at the train station. Jonas and I walked for 2km in the -14°C cold to the station, a feat that felt a lot shorter without 50kg on our backs and without un-shoveled snow at our feet. On our way back, we got dinner at the Панда Кафе (Panda Cafe), an authentic-looking Chinese restaurant.

The only thing not authentic about the restaurant was the non-Asian workers and the price. The food was really good. We had sweet and sour fish, chicken and beans, crispy yet juicy string beans, and some 包子. All good.

We got back a little after 6 and packed and hung out. We paid Peter for our room and officially "checked out," if you can call it that. I found Peter in the basement after I took a shower and handed him the money, to which he said, "I think this is the first time anyone has paid me in the basement." I replied, "I bet it's the first time someone has paid you while only in their underwear, too." Probably true, too.

At 9 I left my room to find the reception desk in the hallway. Maria had had it moved for a fire show, which she did about 45 minutes later. The tiny dreadlocked Ukrainian girl put on some jovial music and lit a ball on fire, and started swinging it around her head, through her legs, and over our heads and in our faces as we ooh'd and ahh'd. It lasted only 3 or 4 minutes, but it was an incredible sight.

With that, we had to leave. Jonas and I said our goodbyes and left without a ton of fanfare. Amelia grabbed us a cab and negotiated the price down to 30Грн to the station.

We arrived around 10:10. Bought some water and found our track, track 10. And we left, one minute late, which is unacceptable for these ex-soviet countries. Someone should be fired.

We watched the Usual Suspects on the train, and slept. We had the four-person second class car to ourselves.