LATVIA LITHUANIA BELARUS
MOLDOVA TRANSDNIESTRIA UKRAINE
Riga Siauliai Kaunas Vilnius
Minsk Simferopol Yalta Sevastopol Odessa
Chisinau Tiraspol Kyiv
EMAILS SENT BEFORE,
DURING (FROM CYBERCAFES) AND AFTER
THE TRIP
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All Photos & Many Graphics Can Be Expanded
By Clicking Them
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CONTENTS
27 August: Riga
Mysterious Tribes & Latvian Caribbean; Language Woes and Greek
Gods
28 August: Sigulda & Riga
An Extinct Tribe & A Pseudo-Chinese Meal; Old Heroes No Longer;
A New Hero...from Canada; The Economics of De-Sovietisation; Coffee, Liquor
and Me
29 August: Siauliai & Kaunas
Hill of Crosses – Burn it, bomb it, flood it, and it will remain;
Dodgy Conversations; The Most Lithuanian of Cities...
30 August: Kaunas & Vilnius
Double Whammy – Lost my Bankcard and Stung By a Bee; Warriors &
Friends; Vilnius – Old Glories & Lost Times; First Sight
31 August: Vilnius & Trakai
A Kosher Turkish Meal By A Magical Lithuanian Lake; Holy Icons &
Relics; A Wolf’s Tale & Assorted Heroes
1 September: Vilnius & Minsk
Reclaim the Castle & the Family; Belarus or Belorussia, White
Rus or White Russians; My Kitten, I Want You! ; Can’t You Read the Menu,
Dumb Foreigner!
2 September: Minsk
Spy Chief, the President and a President’s Assassin; Union is Only
Natural; Museums Blues
3 September: Simferopol
I’m Sorry But You Have Overstayed In Belarus; Welcome to Belavia
Belarusian Airlines, the World’s Favourite Airline; A Warm Welcome From
Ukrainian Customs; And an even warmer welcome from the OVIR – You Must
Leave Immediately ! ; Friends and family; A Destroyed Nation; How Pushkin’s
Poem Saved Bakhchysary; Lunatics, Priests and Mysterious Cave Cities
4 September: The Crimean Coast (Alusta
& Yalta) & Sevastopol
Around Crimea in a Red Ziguli; Old Nobles & New Ones; Vodka
Party at Sevastopol
5 September: Sevastopol, Balaclava &
Mangup Kale
The Day I Became A Spy; Ancient Tribes and Modern-day Junkies
6 September: Sudak & Journey to Odessa
Great Wall of China ? ; To Odessa
7 September: Odessa
Tales of A Lost Past; City of Grandeur, Exiles and Love
8 September: Chisinau
The Minnesota Wife-Seeker; We May Have To Depot You; Land of Wines
and Confused Identities; Trying to Launder Money In Chisinau; Getting Drunk
And Travel Back In Time
9 September: Tiraspol
Arrested in a Rebel Republic; The Disappointed Traveller
10 September: Chisinau
Romulus’ Tales; Twenty Dollars Less On the Border
11 to 14 September: Kyiv
11th: Kyiv – First Impressions; Mother of
Rus; Of Poets and Golden Cupolas
12th: Mummies and War Heroes
13th: More Icons and Cobbled Streets
14th: Final Notes & Way Home
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Mailing Lists
Those who want to get in touch with other people who are also interested
in Ukraine, Belarus & Crimea, or have queries on travelling to these
countries can subscribe to a number of mailing lists by sending blank emails
to the following addresses:
Belarus: BelarusTravel-subscribe@egroups.com
Crimea: CrimeaTravel-subscribe@egroups.com
Eugene Snezhkin ("Yevgeny"), who drove and guided
me around Crimea, runs the CrimeaTravel list.
Ukraine: UkrainianTravel-subscribe@egroups.com
To Get Informed About TWC's New Travelogues or
Receive Live Travel Updates,
send a blank email to twc-nomad-subscribe@egroups.com
For those interested in travel mailing lists relating
to other parts of the former USSR,
visit my main
homepage for details to subscribing to them.
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Links
I normally do not put links to my websites because they do get outdated
after a while. But some individuals have been very kind in helping
me on this trip, and I am sure they can assist you in many wonderful ways
as well:
BELARUS: Belarus
Tourist: I did not use their services but they have been extremely
helpful in providing me with advice before the trip.
Sergei Polevikov: This
bright young Belarusian who maintains what is perhaps the best Belarusian
resource page on the net.
LATVIA: Patricia:
They provided me with homestay in Riga
MOLDOVA: Ecoturnova:
The Moldovan agency that helped me with the visa. Also contactable
via email.
UKRAINE: Crimea
A To Z: Fevzi Alimoglu's site on Crimea from a Tatar perspective.
Eugene
Snezhkin: He helped me in Crimea. Contact him via CrimeaTravel
list, as noted above.
Unipress: This Ukrainian
travel agency is run by my friends, Igor and Tanya, who are also active
on the UkrainianTravel list. They have provided me with much valuable
advice and contacts and can assist anyone on visas and invitations.
Very friendly & cheerful people.
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Caveats:
1. The countries covered here are all very fascinating
and one should resist covering them in the short time I did
(which I did so due to my peculiar citcumstances).
2. The occurrence of a few negative events may unfairly
affect my opinion of certain places, and consequently the tone or language
used in my travelogue. However, these do not consitute any intention
to insult the people and culture of any country.
3. Some names and personal details have been modified
to protect the privacy of individuals.
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