Tag Archives: Ukraine

Farewell to the Chernobyl sarcophagus

For thirty years Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant has lay beneath a massive steel and concrete sarcophagus, protecting the outside world from any further radioactive contamination following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. But 2016 has seen this iconic scene change forever, with the completion of the New Safe Confinement structure.

Standing 300 metres from the sarcophagus over Chernobyl reactor 4 Continue reading

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Mobile coffee trucks on the streets of Kiev

Before I visited Kiev I never thought that it would be a city that takes coffee seriously, but it appears that the local residents love to drink the stuff – coffee carts fill the streets.

Another mobile coffee truck in Kiev Continue reading

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Smoking in the former Soviet Union

Cigarettes are dirt cheap all across the former Soviet Union, hence why smoking is so prolific. In Kiev I found cigarette packs for sale between 7 and 30 Ukrainian hryvnia – about US$0.85 to US$3.70! And cigarette displays were in […]

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Kiev to Rostov-on-Don by train

All aboard for another look out the train window – this time the 20 hour journey south-west from Kiev, Ukraine. Our next stop was the Black Sea resort of Sochi, but due to a lack of direct services we made our way to the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, where we would change trains.

Main entrance to Київ-Пасажирський railway station off Vokzalna Ploshcha Continue reading

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Bilingual directional signage on the Kiev Metro

On my visit to Kiev, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to get around the city via the metro network – the key being the well designed directional signage.

Train arriving Khreshchatyk (Хрещатик) station on Line 1 of the Kiev Metro Continue reading

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Dogs on the railway tracks

Dogs on the railway tracks – on my trip across Europe I found plenty of them.

Dog sniffing the railway tracks Continue reading

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Ukrainian Railways and bomb threats

Given all of the civil unrest currently going on in Ukraine, you might expect that railway operations aren’t running as smoothly as they used to.

електри́чка (suburban electrical multiple unit) train outside the city of Ясинувата (Yasynuvata) Continue reading

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Ukrainian Railways clearing the snow

Ukraine has bitterly cold winters, so keeping snow off the railway tracks is a big job.

Yet another snow clearing crew at work on the Ukrainian Railways Continue reading

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Russian retailers advertising their nearest metro station

During my trip to Russia I discovered something I haven’t seen elsewhere – advertisements for retailers, where each store has the nearest metro station listed.

Onboard advertisement list the Metro stations to reach the store in question Continue reading

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Ukrainian grain goes by train

In the middle of winter you would never think that anything other than ice and snow cover the Ukrainian countryside, yet come summer the country becomes the “breadbasket of Europe”, as one of the world’s largest corn and wheat exporters.

Steel grain silos at Popilnia (Попільня), Ukraine Continue reading

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