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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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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