“YAMD” – Northern Ireland football supporters, circa Denmark away 2006. When I first backpacked in Ukraine in 2015, I raved about how incredible the bars in Lviv were. It came as no surprise to me of course, as countries such as Poland, Belarus, Ukrainę and Russia generally have the best bars in the world, in Read more about Thirsty Thursdays: STEVEN DAVIS Pub Crawl in Lviv, Ukraine[…]
It was another border crossing on this wacky journey for me recently as I decided on a night train to head from Poland to the Ukraine. I had been staying at the Mosquito Hostel in the city of Krakow and was out touring Auschwitz and Birkenau the day before, so it was a busy few Read more about World Borders: How to Get from Poland to Ukraine (Kraków to Lviv Night Train)[…]
“The place is quiet and so alone. Pretend there’s something worth waiting for” – Richey James Edwards. In December 2015 I finally made the sad and solemn trip to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The accident at Chernobyl which occurred in April 1986 shocked the world and was one of a few controversial blemishes during Soviet era-USSR. Read more about How to Get a Permit to Visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone☢️in Northern Ukraine🇺🇦[…]
“It’s a radiation vibe I’m groovin on” – Fountains of Wayne. It had been a truly incredible day of travel and to a place with a sad history – the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It’s a day I’ll remember for a long time, but after this final part of the story, it’s time to close the Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine🇺🇦: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone☢️Tour Part 9 – Radiation Checks and Escape from the CEZ[…]
This ain’t no “Friday’s Featured Food” for yousens so it’s not. But to keep with the alliteration, I’ll rock it out on a Friday and it is food, I’m just not “featuring it.” You may not have built up an appetite reading my previous Chernobyl Exclusion Zone posts. So after visiting Reactor Number 4 (ouch) Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 8 – Lunch in the CEZ[…]
While backpacking in Ukraine I was able to go on a free night tour of Kiev, the country’s capital city. I was staying bang in the centre of the city at Tiu Kreschatik Hostel. I heard about a free tour starting daily at 12 noon outside the earth monument in Liberation Square (Maidan Square) so Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Getting A Free Night Tour of Kiev[…]
“There’s silence in the air, there’s silence in the ground. A presence moving through the rivers in the moonlight. Desolation all around. The wind blows through abandoned buildings, photos scattered on the floors, possessions of a vanished population. Safe haven for my soul.” – Tim Wheeler (Ash) Of course, it wasn’t the song from my favourite Northern Irish Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Tour Part 7 – The Abandoned City of Pripyat, Top 10 “Sights”[…]
It doesn’t get much more crazy than heading on a backpacking journey to “Reactor Number 4”. Indeed, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone attracts less tourists per year than Antarctica, North Korea and Iraq. Here there are 13,000 tourists per year. That’s only 35 people per day on average! And I mentioned in parts 1 and 2 Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 6 – Visiting the Culprit, Reactor Number 4[…]