ukraine: klevan

from kyiv, susannah, marina and i took a marshrutka to a city called lutsk...we spent the first day of the long weekend in lutsk, but this post is about klevan, where we spent our second day...
we bought tickets for an electric train to klevan, it was the only way to go between the two cities...the ride was quite smooth, but there was very little air circulation in the train compartment, so it wasn't super comfortable...the aisle between the seats was quite wide, something i haven't seen previously...for some of these folks, it was clearly a regular train ride, they knew how to entertain themselves...kids, sang, old men played cards, people walked and talked with different groups of friends or family...

when we got off the train in klevan, (the interior of the train station was really nice, especially when considering how small the town is!)we initially started walking in the wrong direction, on the wrong side of the train station, oops...fortunately, we figured that out pretty quickly...
we switched around, and followed a path along the train tracks...soon enough we came along a very small cabin, the guy inside was some sort of guard...i don't know what kind of guard...marina asked him where we could find the so called 'tunnel of love'...

the 'tunnel of love' isn't a real tunnel...there is a set of train tracks going through the forest, and trains used to go very regularly along these tracks...over the years, the trees grew over the space where the trains went, tying themselves together...sortof...i don't know when, but at some point the trains stopped going on those tracks, but the formation of the trees stayed...
it's now called the 'tunnel of love', and is quite picturesque...this tunnel of love is mentioned on a couple 'top natural sights in the world' type of blog posts, so i wanted to see it, so did susannah and marina...what is not mentioned in any guidebook or blog post is the MOSQUITOS...they are EVERYWHERE in this tunnel...if you stop moving for just an instant, they attack you...even when you're walking, they still try to attack...is there anyway to prevent being attacked? i wonder if long clothes would've helped us much...hmmm, something to think about...

our original plan was to walk at least half the length of the tunnel (the full length is 6-7km!!) but all the mosquitos changed our plan...i'm not sure we even made it 1km...ugh...we did manage to take a few photos, but it was tough...standing still was a challenge for both the poser and the photographer...as we got out of the tunnel area we realized it was susannah who had been favoured by the mozzies...
from there we walked into the area of town in which we'd first headed...we followed one street until we got to the center street, and eventually found a couple cafes...

klevan is NOT a tourist town, most people only go to the tunnel and there aren't even many of those visitors...we waited for one of the cafes to open, then had lunch...soooo cheap! while waiting, we took a look at the memorial that was put up 30 years after the end of WWII...a bit strange to see a memorial marking the 30 yr anniversary of the war, but it was as big as we've come to expect in this quirky country...
our server at lunch told us of a church and a fortress we could also visit, but we realized we didn't have enough time...(there was only one train back to lutsk, we knew we had to be on that train)...we walked toward the fortress, just to see how far we could get in 20 minutes...the walk back went faster, for whateva reason...
that was our trip to klevan...we all decided we want to go back, but would prefer to do it when there are no mozzies...which probably means in the dead of winter, when there is heaps of snow on the ground...

india part 7

after hyderabad we visited bengaluru...the name was only officially changed from bangalore in 2006, so people still use the old name quite a bit...it's more of a business destination than a tourist destination...this ended up working in our favor...since the economy is based on business and IT, that means leisure tourism isn't so important, and therefore there are no touts...AWESOME!!! it was great not to be hassled...we found the city market, and enjoyed walking around it...just like so many other markets in india, if you want it, you'll find it at the city market...toys, clothes, silverware, kitchen supplies, spices, food, chai, etc...everything...we were able to buy fresh produce at local prices, and layna even bought a spoon for a whopping 3 rupees...we were also able to take a lot of people pictures inside the market, and received the bindi mark from a guy selling all the powder used for those marks...
i like to visit gardens, and there were some mentioned in the guidebook, so one morning we set off to find those...they ended up not being all that great, but we enjoyed our walk to get there...we passed a sports arena, and in an effort to find a women's bathroom somewhere in the facilities ran into a guy who offered us chai...he just held it out on a tray, with no spoken words...when we finished he showed us where to put the rubbish, then let us go...strange, but awesome...next to the arena we saw a volleyball tournament...according to the sign, it was sponsored by an indian company, and involved teams from all over india...the first time i've seen tall indians...i didn't even know they existed!!! anywho, one of layna's sisters used to play volleyball, and my roomie as a frosh at uni was a volleyball player (we want mudge!!!!) so we were both curious to watch...we stood outside the fence, figuring only people involved in the tourney should go inside...but rather quickly we were motioned in, to seats at one end of one of the courts...then we were left alone to watch and enjoy...AWESOME!!!
i loved bengaluru...a friendly city without any of the hassle we've experienced in other cities...talking to locals was a joy...
our last day there, we reconnected with ben, though only for four hours...he had gotten distracted in hyderabad...hee hee...we were moving on, but agreed to meet up again later...
after bengaluru we headed for a destination that hadn't been on our originally itinerary...goa...the beaches of goa are known worldwide...well, some people think so...goa is a very small indian state, and not like any of the others...it's one of the richest states...(tourists, farming, and fishing are the major sources of income)...we spent 5 days relaxing on a beach...we picked a VERY QUIET beach...ours was populated mostly by older, mostly upper class europeans...there was no night life at all, and very few other backpackers...unfortunately, layna was rather sick for a couple days, so she didn't enjoy it as much as i did...(you all know how i love to soak up sun)...i did wear suncream though, and even covered my face...i guess i've picked up a few habits over the years...lol...on the train to goa layna was bit by mosquitoes again, this time around her feet and ankles...they didn't bite me at all...strange...her bites ended up getting infected, causing her feet to swell a bit, and cause quite a bit of pain...(they looked gross too!)...one day layna rented a bike and went riding down the beach...she stopped for lunch at a random restaurant a ways up, on a totally different beach...she ended up talking to the owner for quite a while, and he wouldn't let her pay for her meal at the end, telling her she could pay when she returned for dinner later that night...so for dinner we walked back to that restaurant...a measly hour and a half walk at a pretty quick pace...(it did feel pretty good though even though it's such a cliche...a long walk on a beach)...dinner was absolutely fantastic, and again the owner sat down with us...not surprisingly, there is a lot of seafood in goa...YUM...and i had the best mango juice i've ever had...in the end, he wouldn't let us pay for our meal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i still feel guilty for that...it was fantastic, and he was a great guy...layna repaid him our last afternoon in goa by calling him up and inviting him down for lunch...he's entirely self made, and helps other people in the community...very very cool...we both want to go back to goa...(yet another idea of what to do after we finish the major portion of this trip...not that either of us knows when or where that will be)...
goa is a part of the country that was formerly ruled by the portuguese...so it seemed that most locals have "Christian" names...they are also Catholic...