olechko

Everybody, who’s got wheels in Kyiv, climbed the Carpathian mountains to celebrate the New Year’s by the fireplace in the log cabin at the ski resort this season. I did not get there as planned, and was glad to miss the frantic traffic and struggle to find a decent place to sleep after all- good places are booked up there a year in advance. As my smart friend recommended, better times to go there are a few weeks before the holidays or after orthodox Christmas (7-14 January). So I adjusted my plans. Christmas time offers the best entertainment for culture lovers, as the way locals celebrate it, got preserved in its full glory: costumes, caroling, lavish food and all. If I am lucky, I may catch the festivities’ tail end and report on it here. My photographer friend is holding me a spot at the local hata while she fires away her Canon in Verkhovyna as we speak.

The best way to get to the Carpathians from the capital is by car (about 7 hour drive to Yaremche). If you arrive to Yaremche by train (would take a transfer or two to get there from Kyiv) you can hop on a cab for about 150 hrv to Bukovel, which is reasonable considering Yaremche is 40 min away. Obviously putting so much effort into getting there, it can not stand as a weekend kind of trip and is better stretched into 5 days or more.

Accommodations are plentiful and may be secured on the spot if you omit the holidays. The skiing season lasts way past the holidays and into March. My ideal place to stay would be an agrotourism - a local hut with lots of ethnic flare placed on the edge of the village near a stream with a breathtaking view of the mountains. Of course, you have to make sure you can get hot shower/indoor facilities first. Recently a few websites sprung up offering such sights: www.greenworld.com.ua and www.greentour.com.ua.

And finally about Bukovel - the prime ski resort - with European standard facilities as well as prices. My brother came back numb from four days of intense skying and great impressions as he did get up there for the holiday with his friends. He is more into active holidaymaking and seeing everything though his eyes proved to be impressive. You can learn more about all the services, slope maps and specs on Bukovel site.

Besides winter holidays, the Carpathians are attractive during any season. I can’t wait to go down there for a week in the summer to drink fresh goat milk, pick berries and mushrooms and live the simple life. Join me in that to put your money in the Ukrainian Carpathians and help the locals develop their tourism infrastructure to make this beautiful place even more attractive and comfortable to visit. Seems like they get the reinvestment part much better then the Crimea.

21.1.08 Update on the article: Global Comment has also published this article .

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 6th, 2008 at 3:30 pm and is filed under art, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.