I Cycled into Ukraine as Martial Law was Declared | Solo Cycle Touring from Poland to Ukraine (Lviv)

Cycle Touring from Northern Norway to Azerbaijan – Arctic to Asia 10 (Day 147-170):

I knew very little about Ukraine before I arrived so I had no idea what to expect from this part of the cycle journey. To be honest, my excitement was mixed with a little nervousness after so many of my hosts and friends warned me to be careful once I’d crossed the border, with one Ukrainian expat quipping that cycling in Ukraine “sounds like a good way to get your legs broken”.

I crossed into Ukraine from Przemyśl, Poland on the fourth Saturday of November, which, since 2006, has been the date the country commemorated victims of the Holodomor Genocide – a famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932-1933. At the moment, just 15 countries recognise it as a genocide committed by the Soviet government. Locals gathered outside in Mostyska, the first village I stopped in and sung hymns alongside Ukrainian soldiers to remember the tragedy.

As luck would have it, just three days after my arrival, a conflict between the Ukrainian and Russian navies led to the declaration of martial law across large swathes of the country. It was a tense time to be visiting, while relations between Ukraine and Russia reached a boiling point, but I was well-looked after by two locals, Yurko and Romana, while I waited in Lviv for things to blow over.

Despite the warnings, at least in the West, I felt that Ukraine is safe to travel to. While Ukraine is still at war in Donbass, the conflict is very far to the east, and there is no danger in the rest of the country.

I had a lot of questions: What languages are spoken in Ukraine? Turns out that in the west, most people speak the Ukrainian language, but the further East you go the more people speak Russian, and there are very Russian cities like Odessa which I didn’t get to visit. There are even a few Romanian and Bulgarian-speaking villages. What’s Ukrainian food like? In many ways, it’s not too different from Polish cuisine; a lot of soups (Borscht is delicious), though there are some more unique regional foods like Banosh, and an incredible drink made from smoked fruits called Uzvar. What are Ukraine’s politics like? There is a lot of corruption in Ukraine, though as a tourist that’s unlikely to affect you, and that has hampered its development, even since the Ukrainian 2014 Maidan Revolution that ousted Viktor Yanukovych. Since I left, President Petro Poroshenko lost an election to a comedian called Volodymyr Zelensky, who is now in charge of the country.

I took a detour to visit Kiev (Kyiv) before I came home for Christmas. The stunning city has seen it’s fair share of tragedy. It was ground zero for the Ukrainian revolution, which saw over 100 protestors killed, and is very close to Chernobyl. I took the opportunity to visit to Chernobyl exclusion zone; the 1986 Chernobyl reactor explosion left an area of 2,600km² contaminated with radioactive material, but you can visit Chernobyl safely these days, since the radiation levels have declined over the decades, both naturally and following cleanup operations.

A CORRECTION: Tap water IS safe to drink in most parts of Ukraine, especially the countryside, but it isn’t in some cities like Lviv.
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BACKGROUND:

For the last 1.5 years, I’ve been on a cycle tour from Tromsø in Northern Norway to Baku, Azerbaijan, while interviewing locals along the way for my blog. Cycle touring for beginners like me can be intimidating; I’d ridden a bike 4 times in the previous 10 years before this journey, but I decided to jump in at the deep end and learn about bikepacking and touring while I was on the road. After watching a few videos on “how to cycle tour”, I set off, and covered 11 countries by bike (and took detours to another 2).

Long distance cycle touring alone was always going to be a challenge, but I got used to it after a month, and eventually started to truly appreciate it. I didn’t have much cycling gear or expertise, and I resorted to using an old Trek mountain bike that I got for free, which was frustrating at times, but I found motivation in the locals I met along the way, and the far-flung places I reached off the beaten track.

The adventure by bike introduced me to a new side of travel. I’d never interacted so much with local people and my surroundings, when I’d been abroad or been so exposed to the kindness of strangers. Travelling so slowly as I pedalled made me feel immersed in the countries and cultures I cycled through, and it forced me to stop in some of the more obscure places the world has to offer. All in all, cycling the world shows you a side of some countries that most travellers never get to appreciate.

Cycling into Ukraine – 00:00
Martial Law – 06:37
Visiting Kiev and Chernobyl – 09:21
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