In 2017, our yearly roadtrip was going to the Caucasus, Georgia and Armenia. The road from Norway is long and to shorten it a bit we chose to take a ferry across the Black Sea, from Odessa in Ukraine to Batumi in Georgia. You can read about the ferry trip here Ferry over the Black Sea. A bureaucratic odyssey., and Georgia and Armenia here: georgia-and-armenia .
We were going with Swedish friends from SWES, Swedish Expedition Company. It is always nice to travel with someone, both for the company’s sake, and to possibly help each other if necessary. We chose to drive through Poland by ferry from Karlskrona to Gdynia right by Gdansk. This is our favorite route when we go to Eastern Europe. The ferry is much cheaper than the Kiel ferry, there is affordable food on board, and as much red wine as you could want for the buffet. Without this being decisive. But drivers must be careful. The three times we have taken this ferry, there has been an alcohol test of all cars when landing in Poland.
Gdansk
If you have not been to Gdansk this city can definitely be recommended. The city has a wonderful old town. And for history and / or film interested; here is the post office where some of the first encounters during World War II took place, known from book and film, The Tin Drum by Günter Grass.
Chernobyl
Our first destination in Ukraine was Chernobyl, Europe’s foremost destination for disaster tourism. The ethics of this can of course be discussed, but I think it was a valuable experience. The Swedes chose the shortest route, they drove through Belarus. We did not bother the visa struggle so we drove through Poland, and then met the Swedes in Chernobyl. You can read about the visit to Chernobyl and Pripyat as the nearby city is called here: Visit to Chernobyl and Pripyat
The first night we took on a campsite in Warsaw and then we continued straight to Ivankiv, a small town right by Chernobyl where we had found a hotel where we could wait for the Swedes. We had a roof tent on the car, but hotels are so affordable that we indulged in that luxury. A room for two cost from 10 to 20 USD, dinner a few USD. So Ukraine is probably one of the cheapest holiday countries in Europe now. Most people who visit Chernobyl come straight from Kiev so there are not many accommodation options in the area there. There are a few Chernobyl tour operators who have bungalows, but it is intended for foreign tourists and are very expensive, up to 100 USD for a double room.
Duga-3
Duga-3, or the Russian Woodpecker is a giant radar facility located right next to Pripyat. It was a “behind the horizon radar” for early warning of missile attacks. It was called the woodpecker because it was notoriously disruptive to shortwave radio communications over large parts of the world. A visit here is often part of a Chernobyl trip.
Read more: Duga3-system
Ukraine can offer both city breaks and beautiful nature, especially in the far south where the Carpathian mountain range enters the country. We did not stop there, but we have been to the Carpathians on the Romanian side. You can read about it here: Romania, road trip and off road in Carpathians. The war is taking place in the far east of the Russian border, so there is nothing to fear about.
Pervomaysk Intercontinental Rocket Base
After Chernobyl we spent the night again in Ivankiv before driving towards Odessa the next day. We passed the outskirts of Kiev, but did not stop here. Instead, we stopped at a Cold War memorial, a base for intercontinental missiles located near the city of Pervomaysk. This is a phenomenon that has emerged in ancient Eastern bloc countries, the Soviet Union museums. We were well received by a tour guide who only spoke Russian, but we had our own interpreter who was given the job of simultaneously translating the tour. The guide had previously been in the Red Army and had had a been working here. The place was pretty intimidating. It consisted of several rocket silos equipped with their SS type of intercontinental rocket, each of which was equipped with several nuclear warheads of many megatons. This base, along with 9 other nearby bases, could wipe out all of North America. Up on the ground there were a couple of rockets and a huge car for transporting these, as well as a museum with various military effects. But the highlight was a visit to a control room that lay nuclear-proof at the bottom of a silo, 33 meters below the ground. We went down there in a claustrophobic little elevator and got to see the control room for launching. The museum itself was difficult to find, but it is located along the P06 just north of the village of Lukashivka which in turn is just north of the town Pervomaysk. It was not so common with western visitors there, and those who came had a guide with them.
We concluded after the visit that it was nice that the silos were now filled with concrete as a result of SALT disarmament agreements.
Read more: pervomaysk-icbm-museum
After the museum next stop was Odessa and a new hotel stay in the city center, in a first class hotel. Here we were to be two days to visit the city, and arrange ferry tickets. The latter was a fairly comprehensive assignment that has got its own article, read more here Ferry over the Black Sea. A bureaucratic odyssey.
Odessa
After the museum next stop was Odessa and a new hotel stay in the city center, in a first class hotel. Here we were to be two days to visit the city, and arrange ferry tickets. The latter was a fairly comprehensive assignment that has got its own article, read more here xx.
Odessa is a very beautiful old city that is well worth a visit. There are plenty of good restaurants and streets that are good to walk in. And for those interested in film, a visit to the worlds most famous stair is a must. The stairs where parts of the film Battleship Potyomkin was recorded. Filmed in 1925 by Eisenstein, one of the great pioneers of film art. The scene shows how the Tsar’s soldiers fired at unarmed civilians who tried to escape by storming down the stairs. Eisenstein uses clipping here that alternately shows the faces of those who are shot in close-ups, and the marching soldiers in total photos. Eisenstein was one of the pioneers of this type of technique that gave the films more life and dynamism. Earlier, films were much more static, almost like filming theatrical performances with a fixed camera.
The stairs were nice, but unfortunately I have to say, it looked almost new, as it had been restored quite recently. It’s more fun with old things that look old.
Otherwise, Odessa can offer catacombs, in fact the largest system in the world, over 2,500 km in total. The catacombs were not used as graves, but are the result of underground quarries.
