Chornomorske – Odessa – Lymanske (Ukraine), 2248km, 25.6 – 30.6

Chornomorske – Odessa – Lymanske (Ukraine), 2248km, 25.6 – 30.6

**A special spirit is literally growing in the church**

On Saturday morning I rode back to Odessa again since I found a Couchsurfing host called Volodymyr and his wife. After a small second breakfast we walked a bit through the old town and city centre and to the stadium because the next day the first Odessa Half Marathon was held and Volodymyr had to register. In the evening we watched football but before we stopped at amusement strip called Arkadia and went swimming. Though in comparison to beginning of May it was kind of disappointing – but is was high season and many Ukrainians spent their holidays at the Black Sea’s coast which was improving the water quality.

On Sunday I slept long and didn’t do much. In the evening Germany was playing and before I tried to get typical German Bratwurst but failed and just got Ukrainian Wiener.

On Monday morning Volodymyr and I went swimming again, this time to another spot where the water was much better and where there were quiet nice waves. Afterwards I strolled around the famous Privoz market where everything can be bought as a rumour says. Later that day I let Volodymyr give me advice on how to continue, which special places to visit before returning to Sosnivka.

So on Tuesday I continued south-west over the spit to Zatoka into as it appeared to me past. The area around Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi seemed having stopped in Soviet times. Even in Transnistria the villages looked more modern. I spent the night on a school property in Semenivka after a friendly gardener tried to convince the priest letting a traveller stay near the church, but without success.

On Wednesday I continued northbound closer to the elektricha station I wanted to start at. I had to cross a little piece of Moldova on the way, but just got a piece of paper at the Ukrainian border post saying “transit” and with the time. The same place I passed in May with A. and Jakub when we were going from Ermoclia to Odessa. Shortly after the Moldovan border post, that I didn’t cross, I sat down at the Dnister river bank, which delta is in that region, and took a late breakfast. Right before I wanted to continue it began raining cats and dogs and mice and birds. Within a minute I was soaked and on my way to the Ukrainian border, many trucks and cars gave me showers from the face to the feet with the water from holes in the street. At least it wasn’t cold so it was still kind of bearable.
At the border post I just had to hand over the piece of paper and continued until I reached a supermarket with some roofed chairs. There I waited for some time until the rain finished and I was relatively dry.
I then cycled to Troitske asking again at the church for permission to stay there. And this time the guy – maybe it was the priest – denied again. But he arranged a place in a kind of orphanage that was just opposite.
They were cool guys and with Dima and Stas I went fishing the next morning. But we just caught some small fish and crabs. Around noon I continued to Lymanske that was recommended to me by Volodymyr. There even two places of high interest to me were agglomerated: A German church that is falling apart, that of course was diverted from its intended use during Soviet times and now marijuana was growing inside and Lymanske international airport which is not working any more. But I saw an old Antonov-2 standing around and signs that this airplane has been moved lately and perhaps been used as a crop duster. When I asked nearby workers they told me I should come back the next morning at zero-eight hundred then it would fly around a bit. At first I was excited but they were laughing like crazy and when I drove on the runway I wasn’t able to see any signs (like skid marks) of airplanes having taken off or landed but many stones. So I reached the conclusion that the workers were making fun of me. So instead of sleeping near the runway I just pitched my tent at the nearby lake having Transnistria on the other side.

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