I woke to my new pick up time, 16:00! Even then, Oksana remained sceptical. Being in Chernivtsi now with time on my hands, I joined Oksana & Mariia on a hospital appointment to check on Mariia’s adenoids – thankfully she’s much improved & should recover full hearing without treatment.
Back at the house, revised pick up times came & went, creating growing impatience. To pass the time, Svitlana’s mother, Zhenya, who was housekeeping in her absence, gave us a tour of the kitchen garden.
The minibus finally arrived at 20:00, a long wheelbase Mercedes CDI Sprinter, 8 seater layout with a huge storage area to easily accommodate my bike. However, without fixing points I hurriedly laid it flat & jumped in. Now 11hrs late, but we were off – as far as the next two pickups that is. Eventually we did turn south to Romania 50ml away, stopping briefly to show our faces at the Hertsa military checkpoint. By 21:10 we’d arrived at the border & 3hrs after that we crossed into Romania & collected two new Ukrainian passengers plus two new drivers – the lady driver left. We were still not finished! A mile later we turned onto a dirt road then a farm drive & then a dilapidated shed – other than our vehicle lights, it was pitch dark. For almost one hour these four new guys loaded the van’s rear & every empty void with bags, boxes, containers, etc. Finally, we set off again naïvely believing my ride home had finally began in earnest!
John's Epic Cycle Adventures 