Day 7 L´viv-Kiev 589 km
The quality of the roads was getting worse every mile, holes big enough
to make a small swimming pool.
Anyway the petrol was very cheap but the octane didn't reach 80 ...
(Octane) Booster was used and one Amazon was backfiring for over a
minute....
One thing that really makes driving the Ukrainian roads "fun" is the
highway police... Even with laser (radar) guns (obviously without a
battery....)
they gave us a speeding ticket, and very polite (no way)
I was lucky enough to get penalised, driving 30 where I should have
been driving 20 km, I was yelled at by 3 policeman with terrible
breath and unshaved. Normally, being a red beret in the Army, I would
have
confined them to their quarters for a forte night. But I was not that
stupid...
I decided to fake to only speak Dutch, I really was pissed, by playing
dumb I got away with a ticket worth one dollar (US).....
During a party where the Dutch Ambassador told us his favourite joke
on
highway policemen (they earn their living on speeding foreigners)
everything was back to normal, still it is very depressing over there.
I never figured out what he must have done to be transferred to such
a
country.
Next day was a resting day, everybody went into the city of Kiev.
Ever seen a Dutch mechanic dance until daylight in Kiev, I have...
Day 8 and 9 Kiev
Kiev is the place where the two groups meet up for the first time, it’s
only now that I realise how big the group is.
Almost 190 people and 93 cars is some spectacle, we enjoy our first
dinner together and lots of dancing and some drinking.
The two groups mingle and get to know each other a bit better.
The city of Kiev is very nice, we enjoy a bus tour to the old centre
across the river.
It’s the hottest day of our voyage, temperatures rise to a 34 Celsius
and the afternoon drive is cancelled to take a nap and get some rest.
We see some more of the city and one of the main attractions is the
very neatly dressed ladies, so much for poverty - this is a modern
city.....
Some of the guys dance until early morning.
The next day in Kiev was a resting day and all I did was buy a
Babouska (Russian egg in 12 fold).... the rest of the day I slept....
Ed
