We've returned to Kiev. But we had a hard time getting there. The day before, the nun who had taken our partner's passport, Kasyana, had promised to return it at 7:00, but she didn't show up. Because of this, we missed the 7:10 bus. In the end, we talked to another nun who was making breakfast in the refectory and had her wake up Kasyana.
It was pitch dark in the monastery before 7 o'clock.
The bus wasn't coming until 8:30. However, we didn't have much time, so we decided to walk into town. We were talking about trying to hitch a ride on the way, but only one car came along after walking for about 40 minutes. The photo shows a church on the way.
The monastery's estate goes on and on.
After walking for about 3km, we found a pension. We were able to get a taxi from here. It cost 35 Lei to get to town. In this way, we were able to return to Trg. Neamti.
And as soon as we arrived, a bus to Suceava was waiting, so we jumped on without thinking (it left at 08:30). You pay the fare when you get on the bus.
When I arrived at the bus terminal in Suceava (09:45), I used the free wifi to make my next plans. However, I was shocked to find out that the train from Chernivtsi to Kiev was fully booked.
However, in the end, when I was looking at the Ukrainian Railways website, a cancellation came in for a moment and there was one vacant seat in the first class sleeper. I had to go back because I had work, so I booked a first-class sleeper. It was quite expensive - about 1020G. My partner was going to look for a bus in Chernivtsi.
Well, I got a timetable at the Suceava terminal, so I'll post it here for now.
There was also a timetable for the bus to Bucuresti.
It was Sunday, so I stopped by the Armenian Catholic Church next to the bus station, which had been closed yesterday, and it was open. The interior was simple, and an old lady was looking after it on her own.
Now that we've come this far, we have about three hours until the 13:00 bus to Chernivtsi. As we've already visited the churches in the city, I suggested to my partner that we take a taxi to the slightly more outlying Dragomirna Monastery (60 lei return). This is the first monastery that Elder Paisiy Velichkovsky entered after returning from Mount Athos.
This place is also surrounded by solid walls.
The church hall rises in the center. There are no frescoes on the outside, but the bricks create a nice pattern.
There was a bell here too. It is used to announce the start of services.
The monastery's orchard stretches to the ends of the earth.
Oh yes, the taxi driver gave us some valuable information. He said that the bus to Chernivtsi would be leaving at 12:00, an hour earlier than usual. This information was true after all. In a sense, it was a frightening experience.
When I returned to Suceava, I had half an hour to spare, so I went exploring the market. For some reason, there wasn't much of interest there.
Many of the shops were closed.
The synagogue nearby. I don't know if it's still in use.
I got some gogosi for lunch.
The bus left at 12 o'clock (the fare was paid directly to the driver. It was 30 lei to Chernivtsi), and after about an hour we arrived at the Romanian-Ukrainian border. It was almost the same as the way there. There were no questions or stops, and our passports were collected and returned a short time later.
This is the Ukrainian side. It was almost the same. Both inspections took about 45 minutes. That's pretty quick.
Even after returning to Ukraine, the houses with roofs in the Romanian style continue.
And here too.
We have arrived at the bus terminal in Chernivtsi. After buying my partner's bus ticket, we went to see the World Heritage Site of Chernivtsi University (by taxi). My partner haggled the price down for me.
Before that, here is the international bus timetable for Chernivtsi bus station, as promised. Suceava, Bucharest (Romania), Chisinau (Moldova), Prague, Plzen (Czech Republic), Seville (Spain), Milan, Palermo (Italy), Riga (Latvia) ), Moscow (Russia), Warsaw, Szczecin, Kolobrzeg, Poznan, Wroclaw, Zelenagora, Krakow, and Bydgoszcz (Poland).
This is where we are now. It's a university, but it used to be the seat of the Bukovinian Orthodox Church. However, when we were told by the gatekeeper that “non-students have to pay”, we ended up having to pay 30 hryvnia between us. Well, it's worth paying that much to see the building.
It's quite big.
Another photo.
It's got a unique pattern.
Now, as it was time to eat and the train was about to depart, we headed to the Chernivtsi station by bus (2G). After shaking hands with my partner, we boarded the train. By the way, this was the first time I had shown my paper ticket on a computer instead of printing it out, but the conductor's scanner couldn't read it, so in the end the conductor had to write down various details by hand. I'm sorry. However, when I got on the train, I realized that it was indeed a first-class sleeper car. It was a filmenny car, as they call them in Russia. And then we set off (17:22). However, at this point I didn't realize something.
I thought the first station would be Kamyanets-Podilskyi, but it was Kolomyia (around 18:15). We were moving away from Kiev.
I thought it would change direction soon, but it continued on to Ivano-Frankivsk (around 19:10). Incidentally, this station was full of energy.
Around this time, I became convinced. Unlike the outward journey, this train did not go directly to Kiev, but took a detour via Lviv. This also explains why the train was so expensive.
And as expected, we arrived in Lviv, the town I had seen before (around 21:25). By the way, up to this point the line was a single track, but from here it was a double track electrified line. We were replaced by a high-speed electric locomotive.
We arrived in Kiev at around 4am. When I thought about going back to Lviv in two days' time, I felt like it was a waste of time. By the way, my partner arrived safely by bus.
