ワルシャワ中央駅Warszawa Centralnaの電光掲示板で朝、列車を確認。予定通りのはずでした・・・。2番線で列車を待ちます。
ところがどっこい、前の列車が遅れていて、30分遅れで列車が発車です。到着ホームも反対側に急に変更になり、慌てて乗車です。
自分では気づいていなかったのですが、指定を取っていました。それ故、当該車両に移動です。
ヴィスワ川を越えて東に向かいます。最初はスピードも40キロ程度でデンブリンDęnblinくらいまでノロノロ運転。
更に雨が降り出します。途中、プワヴィ・ミャストPuławy miasto駅。
ルブリン（Lublin）駅。ルブリンでは普通に雨が降っていましたが、列車の遅れもあり、早足でバスターミナルのある旧市街方面に向かいます。
旧市街に入る橋を渡る時にはズボンの裾はずぶ濡れでした。
更に進んでいくと中心部分の三位一体教会などが見えてきます。
カトリック専門書店を通り過ぎて・・・
旧市街中心部の入り口、クラクフ門（Brama Krakowska）に到着。ずぶ濡れでしたが休まずに門をくぐって行きます。
宮殿へ向かう道は高台になっており、下に広場があります。一番向こうのあたり（道を越えるのですが）がバスターミナルです。
ターミナルに行くにはやや早すぎたので、早足で宮殿内（博物館になっている）を見てきました。詳しくは書きませんが、出てきた時には雨が上がってました。神はいるものですな。
宮殿の高台から降りて北に向かうとバスターミナル（Dworzec Główny Autobusowy）が見えてきました。
洗練されたワルシャワとは違う、ウクライナの香りがするターミナル。今見てみると分かったのですが、写真のオレンジ色のバスが目的のバスでした。しかしこのバス停、とても広くて、とりあえず右手の方に向かってしまいました。
お目当てのバス乗り場はここではありませんでした。
これもハズレ。この先にも、また右の方にもまだまだ幾つもバス停がありました。
最後に、ぐるっと回って最初の場所に近づいたところでようやくバスを発見。ちゃんと席もありました。僕が乗るのはルブリンからヴォロディームィル・ヴォルィンシキーまでですが、バス自体はワルシャワ発ルツク（Луцьк）行きです。
陽気なビデオが車内に流れるなから、ヘウム（Chełm）の町で新たなお客を乗せてバスは進みます。
道路は続くよどこまでも。麦刈りの季節で、トラクターに幾度も道を阻まれました。
やってきました。ゾシンのポーランド・ウクライナ国境の検問（Przejście graniczne Zosin）です。出国審査所では赤い眼鏡の厳しそうな女性が乗客全員のパスポートを集めます。返却の時には怖い表情が明るい顔に戻っていました。我々のような路線バスは列に並ばずに検問所に入ることが出来るのですが、ただ、審査自体で一時間くらいかかりましたね。外にはトイレもありますが有料2Zlでした。
その後、川を渡ってウクライナ側のウスティルフ（Устилуг）の検問で入国審査。こちらは比較的空いていて、20分程度でスタンプが捺されて返却。出発すると途端に道が悪くなり、EU圏を出たことが実感されます。
比較的すぐにヴォロディームィル・ヴォルィンシキー（Володимир-Волинський）のバスターミナル（Автостанція）に到着。予想通りの田舎町でした。
ターミナルの入り口。脇にトイレがあります。1.5Gでした。ポーランドから来ると安さに驚かされます。
国際線のみ時刻表を載せておきます。ポーランドでは、ヘウム、ザモシチ、フルベシュウ、ワルシャワ、シチェチン行き、ベラルーシ方面はブレスト行きだけですね。
城塞の南側は更に低くなっていて川も流れており、要塞の立地条件を満たしているのですが、しかし13世紀のバトゥ軍には落とされてしまいました。
教会は一つだけ載せておきます。城塞内のウスペンシキー（ウスペンスキー）聖堂（Успенський Собор）。写真だと小さく見えますが、結構巨大なのです。12世紀のムスチスラフ・イジャスラヴィチが命じて建設されたもの。ムスチスラフ公はガーリチ・ヴォルィニの英雄ロマン大公の父、ダニール（ダヌィーロ）公の祖父に当たる人物です。
シェフチェンコ通りをひたすら東に向かうと国鉄の駅が見えてきます。ずっと田舎道で途中の食料品屋でマローズィヴォ（アイス）を購入。
駅前に一件だけあるバー（食事可能）と食料品店。バーは23時まで開いています。食料品店は24時間営業（但し3-5時は休憩）とのこと。
見た目的には相当立派な駅本屋（Вокзал）の建物。しかしお客さんは真ん中の部分だけしか使えません。
切符売り場は真夜中に列車に乗る時もまだ開いていました。
近郊線は多少あります。
構内は旅客用のホームの両面の二本に加え、手前に穀物運び出し用の貨物線が一本、向こう側にヤードが4本あります。もちろん非電化です。
貨物ホームに停まっていた穀物輸送用の貨車。実はおばあさんが一人、こぼれた麦をほうきで集めていて、僕が近づくと警備員かと思ってビビっていました。最終的には40キロくらいの大きな袋にびっしり麦を詰めて去って行きました。まあこれって盗みだよねえ。
ヤードの向こうにも脱穀場と思しき工場があり、どんどん穀物の詰め込みが行われていました。
21時台の近郊列車。ディーゼル機関車が客車を引いています。
23時台の列車はディーゼルカーでした。
目が覚めたら既にキエフに近いコロステニ（Коростень）の駅でした。
この乗降口。一度紹介したかったのですが、走っている最中には左の蓋のような部分が倒れて入り口をふさいでいます。乗降時のみ持ち上げると、階段部分の一番下の段が連動していい高さの位置に飛び出してきます。
奮発した一等寝台（Люкс）の入り口を中から。液晶テレビもついています。同室になった青年イーホリ君はスムィ出身の学生でした。また車掌に頼んだお茶は無料でした。コーヒーは6Gかそれくらい取られます。
スヴャトシン（Святошин）を過ぎればもうキエフ駅はすぐです。
さらばハルィチナ号（因みに僕は14号車でした）。
キエフ駅Київ前のこの雑踏に、ポーランドは遠くなったこと実感しました。
＊11月にもポーランドからウクライナに移動しました。こちらもご参照下さい。
（autobus, IC, Kyiv, pociąg, Ukraine, Volodymyr Volynskyi, Автобус, Варшава, галичина, Люблин, поїзд, Полиша, потяг, ）
Following the plan I had made earlier, I took the train from Warsaw to Lublin, then crossed the border from Lublin to Volodymyr Volynskyi by bus, and then took a night train back to Kiev. I was definitely tired, but not to the point of being worn out.
I checked the train on the electronic display board at Warsaw Central Station in the morning. It was supposed to be on schedule... I waited for the train on platform 2.
However, the previous train was delayed, and the train departed 30 minutes late. The arrival platform was suddenly changed to the opposite side, and I hurriedly boarded the train.
I hadn't realized it myself, but I had a reserved seat. So I moved to the relevant car.
We crossed the Vistula River and headed east. At first, the speed was around 40km/h and we drove slowly until Dęblin.
It started raining again. On the way, we stopped at Puławy miasto station.
Lublin Station. It was raining normally in Lublin, but because of the delay in the train, we headed towards the old town area where the bus terminal is located at a quick pace.
By the time we crossed the bridge into the old town, the bottoms of our trousers were soaking wet.
As we continued on, we could see the Church of the Holy Trinity and other buildings in the center of the city.
We passed by a Catholic bookshop...
We arrived at the entrance to the old town center, Krakow Gate (Brama Krakowska). We were soaked to the skin, but we didn't stop and went through the gate.
If you look closely, you can see that a girl was practicing tightrope walking in the rain.
At last, the palace (Zamek Lubelski) came into view. This is the place where the Union of Lublin (1569), which decided on the union of Lithuania and Poland, was concluded.
The road leading to the palace is on a hill, and there is a square below. The bus terminal is at the far end (you have to cross the road).
It was a little early to go to the bus terminal, so I walked quickly to see the inside of the palace (which is now a museum). I won't go into the details, but by the time I came out, the rain had stopped. God is real, isn't he?
When I went down from the palace's high ground and headed north, I could see the bus terminal (Dworzec Główny Autobusowy).
The bus terminal had a different feel to the sophisticated Warsaw, with a hint of Ukraine. Looking at it now, I realized that the orange bus in the photo was the one I was looking for. However, this bus stop was very large, so I headed towards the right side of the station for the time being.
The bus stop I was looking for was not here.
This one was also a miss. There were still several more bus stops ahead and to the right.
Finally, after going all the way round and approaching the original location, I finally found the bus. There were seats available. I was going to get on the bus from Lublin to Volodymyr Volynskyi, but the bus itself was going from Warsaw to Lutsk (Луцьк).
With a cheerful video playing on the bus, the bus continued on its way, picking up new passengers in the town of Chełm.
The road goes on and on. It was the harvest season, and we were repeatedly blocked by tractors.
We have arrived at the Polish-Ukrainian border checkpoint at Zosin. At the passport control, a stern-looking woman in red glasses collected the passports of all the passengers. When she returned them, her stern expression had turned into a bright smile. Buses like ours can enter the checkpoint without having to queue, but the actual inspection itself took about an hour. There is a toilet outside, but it costs 2 Zl.
After that, we crossed the river and went through immigration at the checkpoint in Ustylug (Устилуг) on the Ukrainian side. This one was relatively uncrowded, and we had our stamps stamped and our passports returned to us in about 20 minutes. As soon as we left, the road got worse, and we really felt like we had left the EU.
We arrived at the bus terminal (автостанція) in Volodymyr-Volynsky (Володимир-Волинський) relatively quickly. It was a rural town as I had expected.
The entrance to the terminal. There is a toilet next to it. It was 1.5G. Coming from Poland, you are surprised at how cheap it is.
This is the bus route map.
I've only included the timetable for international routes. In Poland, there are routes to Heum, Zamosc, Hrubieszow, Warsaw and Szczecin, and to Brest in Belarus.
There is also a ticket office.
It was still light out, so we were able to visit most of the sights afterwards. If you look to the south of the terminal, you can see a raised area. This is the remains of a former fortress.
The south side of the fortress is lower and there is a river flowing through it, so it meets the conditions for a fortress location, but it was taken by the Mongol army in the 13th century.
I'll just include one photo of the church. The Uspensky Cathedral (Успенський Собор) inside the fortress. It looks small in the photo, but it's actually quite huge. It was built in the 12th century by Prince Muscislaw Izyaslavich. Prince Muscislaw was the grandfather of Prince Danil (Danilo), the father of Prince Roman, the hero of Galich Volyn.
If you head east along Shevchenko Street, you will come to the train station. It's a long way along a country road, and you can buy malozhivo (ice cream) at the grocery store along the way.
There is only one bar (where you can eat) and a grocery store in front of the station. The bar is open until 23:00. The grocery store is open 24 hours a day (except for a break between 3:00 and 5:00).
The building of the station bookshop (Вокзал) looks quite impressive, but customers can only use the middle part of it.
The ticket office was still open when I was getting on the train in the middle of the night.
The only long-distance trains are those that depart from Lviv, via Kovel, and go to Kiev (and vice versa).
There are also some suburban lines.
In addition to the two passenger platforms, there is also a single freight line for transporting grain in front of the station, and four yards on the other side. Of course, they are not electrified.
A freight car for transporting grain was parked on the freight platform. As a matter of fact, an old lady was collecting spilled wheat with a broom, and when I approached her, she thought I was a security guard and got scared. In the end, she filled a large bag with about 40 kg of wheat and left. Well, this is stealing, isn't it?
There was also a factory on the other side of the yard that looked like a threshing plant, and they were busily packing up the grain.
A suburban train at around 9pm. A diesel locomotive is pulling a passenger car.
The train at around 11pm was a diesel car.
The date changed and our train arrived. However, it was too dark to take any photos. It was a very long train, with a diesel locomotive pulling around 15 to 20 carriages. As you can't see the entrance to the train unless it's already pulled in, as soon as the train arrives, all the passengers on the platform start running towards their own entrances.
When I woke up, we were already at the Korosten (Коростень) station, close to Kiev.
This is the entrance/exit. I wanted to introduce it to you, but while the train is moving, the part on the left, like a lid, is down and blocks the entrance. When you get on or off, the lid is lifted and the bottom step of the staircase pops up to the right height.
The entrance to the first-class sleeping car (Люкс) from the inside. There is also a liquid crystal TV. The young man I shared the room with, Ehori, was a student from Sumy. The tea I asked the conductor for was free. Coffee costs 6G or something like that.
Once you pass Svyatoshin (Святошин), Kiev Station is just around the corner.
Farewell to the “Halichina” (I was in car 14).
The crowds in front of Kiev Station made me realize how far Poland had become.
(30 July 2016)
I also moved from Poland to Ukraine in November. Please see here as well.
(autobus, IC, Kyiv, pociąg, Ukraine, Volodymyr Volynskyi, Автобус, Варшава, галичина, Люблин, поїзд, Полиша, потяг,)
