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Chaos in Ukraine – Part 2

Posted by Holly in Holly Mann, Travel

This is a continuation of the travel tales – from a trip Josh and I went on in the Ukraine a couple of weeks ago. If you missed the first post, you can read it here. Our first day in the Ukraine was pretty rough. The following morning, Paco, the a Spanish backpacker, wrote down a few hotel names and addresses on as mall piece of paper for me. We parted ways and I stopped a taxi – and the driver didn’t speak a single word of English, so I randomly asked him to go to one of the hotels on the paper. A couple of minutes after we started driving, the man called someone on his cell phone and handed me the phone. The woman spoke English, so I was relieved to know that. I explained to her that our hotel was overbooked and we needed any decent hotel we could find. She spoke to the taxi driver and he took us to the first place on the list. It wasn’t actually a hotel but a serviced apartment and thank God we found the place. The woman working there was an angel, and she spoke fluent English and knew exactly what I needed: COFFEE!

<<Serviced Apt – it was Very Nice!

We were so fortunate to have found that place, as we were able to book and stay in the absolute last available room that they had (For 24 Hours, it was booked after that). I was just relieved to have a place to rest and recover at. The place that was available was a 2 bedroom apartment in a nice area of Kiev (the capital of Ukraine) and it had a full kitchen and Jacuzzi hot tub bath. It was one of the most beautiful apartments I have ever seen! I loved it!

Unfortunately the bliss could only last so long, and I had a decision to make. I desperately wanted more time to rest and recover so I searched for hours to find an available hotel (any price, I didn’t care). NOTHING was available – not one place. Eventually I looked at the website for the Hyatt Regency in Kiev. I used to think $70 dollars USD per night was incredibly expensive and a waste of money to pay for a hotel. NOW I didn’t care. I wanted relaxation, room service, a warm place to sleep. It was cold and rainy the first few days in Ukraine, so being stuck outside was not fun. I booked one night at the Hyatt, and we went from the serviced apartment to the most luxurious hotel I’ve ever been to. The price tag for that luxury was insane: $850 per night (plus $150 if you add room service and movies).

The next morning, we headed out to the train station. I stupidly (not thinking) asked the concierge for a taxi and when the concierge asked me if I wanted the hotel taxi (which was a limo and a suited driver) I said yes. I didn’t know. I’ve NEVER stayed at a hotel like that before, and never spent so much money in one day either. So, the slick black limo and suited driver took us to the train station. We needed to go to Zhitomyr (that is where I wanted to go to give Leonid Stadnik, World’s Tallest Man, his gifts). I know it all sounds crazy, but we were on our little mission. As we approached the entrance to the train station, the taxi driver went in with us (thank God). Once again nothing was in English and it would honestly have not been possible for us to get on the right train if he didn’t go with us. Not only did he buy our tickets for us, but he walked us all the way into the train (which was a mile from the station entrance). I was so grateful to this man – I tipped him nicely but he didn’t want it. He was very kind!

Four hours later we arrived in Zhitomyr (or Zhitomir) and we went to our “Hotel” there. I will not give a name. It was the worst place I have ever been to in my life. I’m not a neat-freak or high maintenance at all – but this was horrendous. It was so disgusting, dirty, cold and Josh kept tripping over the carpeting on the way to our room because there were small pieces of carpet, and overlapping pieces and there were no lights in the halls. When we entered the room, there was a small (kids size) bed pushed up against the wall, and a small bathroom. The sink had no faucet – you needed to use the faucet from the bath. There was NO hot water at all. Besides that, the town was lovely. Seriously it was adorable, with cable car/buses running along the roads and friendly people all around (all who spoke to me in Ukrainian or Russian, but that’s ok)

I wanted nothing more than to exit the hotel and stay out as long as humanely possible. It was still a little cold, and so we took a taxi and attempted (this took quite a while) to ask a driver to take us to Podolyiantsi – to drop off the gifts to Leonid). Prior to this we spent an hour attempting to get a rental car (I wanted to drive there myself) but apparently they don’t have rental car services in many parts of Ukraine. I was at a travel agency and they were so puzzled by my request, they called someone who called a guy who was an American living there. He explained to me that it was the former Soviet and things are a bit crazy at times. He said that all the water for the city and surrounding area would be cold for almost two months – not sure why but no hot water available. He was very nice, left me the phone number for him/his family to call if I needed anything.

So off we went with the taxi to Podolyiantsi. We stopped about 20 times to ask for directions. One man spoke to me in German and that was the most I was able to communicate with anyone on that adventure!

Ok, so here is the exciting part (or was exciting for me) – after driving for an hour or two, I started to see horse-drawn carriages and little homes and villages.We were in Chudnov, the city closest to Podolyiantsi. This lifestyle and carriages were not for show, this was the real deal. People were self-sufficient and used the horses for transportation – it was UNBELIEVABLE to see! I tried so many times to get pictures of it but only managed one video (since I was in the car while doing this – tinted windows didn’t help). The taxi driver continued to ask relentlessly for directions to Podoliantsi. We thought it was a town (maybe there would be a sign) but this town was comprised of about a half of a street in the middle of nowhere! Miraculously we found it – and we saw the vehicle that Leonid received from the Ukrainian President.

I was nervous before entering the area and knocking, only apprehensive because it was unannounced as a visit. I tried to contact Leonid numerous times prior, but heard nothing from him. You only live once, at the very least I’d drop off the gifts (I had two very large 4XLTall shirts made for him in Thailand). I read online that Leonid has a real hard time finding clothes his size, and it is too expensive on his meager income anyway. More than anything, I feared an awkward situation – and that’s just what I got! LOL..(ever hear of the Law of Attraction – yeah it is real – trust me).

So, I knocked on the door of Leonid’s home and he answered it. Yes, he was very large and had to duck underneath the doorway, but other than that it wasn’t overly noticeable. I’m being serious. So, I spoke to him in German and he also spoke with me in German – that seemed to work out ok. Neither of us are fluent but it was good enough. He was still confused by the situation so he called his friend up, and handed me his cell phone. His friend sounded American (and also spoke Ukrainian to translate for Leonid) and I just explained to him that I contacted Leonid a couple of times, and I was traveling in Ukraine and wanted to drop off some gifts. I could find absolutely no address for Leonid, because if i had found one I would have shipped it from Thailand. He sounded pretty easy-going and laid back, so I also told him that I was not a crazy stalker or anything (I’m sure he has a lot of them) and I mean no harm, just wanted to meet him and give him the gifts.

Ok – so that was understood, and Leonid invited us in. His mother cooked some soup and he poured me tea. That’s one of the only times I noticed the extremely large size of his hands. I could tell that it was difficult for him to pour the tea because of how high up he was and it seemed so tiny next to his hand. So then Leonid was sitting outside and I was urged to eat all this food. Josh then had a huge temper tantrum (which is very rare but he had been traveling so much and had undergone a lot of stress too). As Leonid was outside, his mother sat there observing the situation, making me eat everything and making Josh get his butt in gear and eat too! She may have been a very kind woman, but there was not a hint of her soft demeanor showing to me on her face. I felt very uncomfortable to say the least. Luckily, as soon as Josh took one bite of the soup – he couldn’t stop and he loved it! He ate the whole thing! I told him to give her a hug – thank God he did that because it really lightened the mood in there. She finally smiled!

Next is where it took a turn for the worse – talk about drama! It is interesting to observe (from a distance) how different cultures feel about things. It is hard to know sometimes that a kind act (or so you think you may be doing something nice) could really be offensive to someone else.

Basically, I showed Leonid the website I made for him. I have seen shows about him many times and felt inspired by him, his way of life and who he appeared to be. I also read online that he loves the computer and the internet and hopes that he can take care of his family – supplement his income. (they are very poor).

I wanted the website to be his, so I made the basic site and showed it to him at his home. He was offended – he said something about how he is the person who earns for his family and doesn’t need help or anything from anyone. I felt like I was going to cry again! LOL but I held it all in really well this time and stayed totally composed.

We communicated through his computer translation service and when I saw him type, “How dare you?” I was a little taken off guard.

I replied by telling him I was very sorry and meant no harm in any of it. It was simply a gift for him. I wanted nothing. I just told him that I think he is a good person. His demeanor changed, but it was hard to recover after that! LOL. Honestly, I think I am a very easy person to get along with, maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know. I felt horrible after that. He apologized to me and I apologized to him. He told me “You no sorry, I sorry,” and then we were outside getting ready to leave. The taxi guy kept hovering around, it didn’t help matters at all! I didn’t want him to feel exploited, so I didn’t want to push the issue of having a picture with him. I honestly didn’t even want one, but I did want one of him with Josh. To remember our journey and adventures and ups and downs. Leonid looked at himself, almost sadly, and said he looked so bad and couldn’t be in a picture. That was that and we were off in the taxi as he waved goodbye. It’s sad that some people see themselves in such a light, when others can look at the same person and see him/her in such a different way. He doesn’t realize that he is very handsome – maybe someday he will. Hopefully someday he will let people in a little bit – but at the same time I understand if he is totally content to be where he is, on his own. It may have been another odd situation for me (and Josh) but I’m glad we went. I just wish he could have told me if those shirts fit him or not. But that is life. I wish Leonid Stadnik a happy full life.

I can’t believe that was only DAY 3 of our adventure on that trip. I cannot write anymore and fear I may be boring people with all the details. But from here, we went back to Kiev (lots of adventures on the way) – then to Paris and Bahrain. I will write more on that later but I need to stop for now! Thanks for reading!

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Tags: drama, Holly Mann, Leonid Stadnik, meeting Leonid Standik, russia, Travel, trip, ukraine, Worlds Tallest Man