Travel News February 2018


HERE’S some useful info if it’s your first time in Kiev, or for that matter, Ukraine:


Price check, safety, travel and Chernobyl


summer and dirt cheap, they're how most locals get around, but watch your wallet.


CURRENCY: Most restaurants and shops take credit cards, particularly American Express and Mastercard. But the local currency hyrvna (UAH) cannot be obtained outside Ukraine so take USD or Euros to exchange - dollars are best. Not every bank or currency exchange will take sterling but you are never far away from an exchange in central Kiev. A guide to the fluctuating value of the hyrvna (pronounced grev-na) is that it exchanges for 28.5 to the US dollar at the moment, whereas when I first visited Ukraine some 10 years ago it was just eight UAH to the Dollar and 12 to the £1 sterling. Now you get 38 to the £1 - good for tourists but bad for locals. Not surprisingly, Kiev and Ukraine in general is astonishing value for money. I put Macondalds to the test on Kreshchatyk Street in the centre and got a Big Mac, chips and a large orange juice for 89 UAH, just over £2. A cappucino was less than £1 in a restaurant jut off Independence Square, how's that for value?.


GETTING AROUND: You can get from Boryspil airport by Bus, but if it’s your first visit to Kiev it's best to organise a taxi to pick you up and take you to your hotel. The price for a private ordered in advance cab like this should be around 24 Euro or 28 dollars, as the airport is a good half hour’s drive from the centre. Do not be tempted to accept the blandishments of taximen as you exit the arrivals area. Ukrainian taxi drivers are notorious rip-off merchants and fleecing foolish foreigners is their forte.


The Metro is a good and fast way to get around the city, and is one of the deepest Metros in the world, some 12 storeys below ground. There are also trolleybuses, some trams on the outskirts and everywhere the ubiquitous marshrutkya, a sort of cross between a bus and a minibus. They're extremely cheap, quite often packed but the workhorse of Kiev, and indeed the whole of Ukraine. Hot and stuffy in


SAFETY: Apart from the odd spontaneous demo around Independence Square or govt buildings you should not encounter any more safety worries in Kiev than you would in any other big European city. Take the usual basic precautions and you will be fine. Never take out your wallet or purse at a stall in the street, it's better to have a few notes in a separate pocket or even money belt instead to pay for your purchases. Kiev- ians can recognise a Westerner a mile away no matter how inconspicious you try to look. Always carry your passport with you in a safe place, as police can often demand that you produce it.


The police force in Kiev got a revamp recently but despite hundreds of new recruits and the elimination of many of the old guard, Soviet-style habits die hard and locals will tell you that the law enforcement officers are still adept at earning a bit on the side, by asking for a few extra grevna to let you go on your way when pulled over for some motoring offences.


CHERNOBYL: Definitely the ‘in’ day tour from Kiev is a trip to the damaged nuclear reactor near the town of Prypat, a ghost town since the day of the explosion. Visitors will be tested for radio activity going in and out of the area and are closely monitored as they trudge round the abandoned streets and flats. Most poignant is the derelict childrens’ fun park which is silhouetted by the Big Wheel which hasn’t turned now in three decades. Trips are now officially approved but must be as part of a group - usually the bigger the group the lower the price. Chernobyl is a couple of hours drive north of Kiev. Luckily for the capital city the nuclear cloud went in the opposite direction...


* A Kiev native Yulia Maruskevska became an internet sensation when she posted a video ‘I am Ukrainian’ about the Maidan protests. Log on to youtube.com/watch?v=Hvds2AIiWLA


ABOVE: Independence Square in Kiev with the writer’s hotel, the Hotel Ukraine, in the back- ground. It may be a Soviet era montrosity to look at on the outside but it has all the faciliites and is great value with double rooms at 70 USD a night including breakfast and a stunning city centre location


LEFT: Another day, another church to explore and have your picture taken in front of....


KIEV UKRAINE 13


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